Oct. 26, 1883.] 



• KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



261 



' Meteors,' or other tricycles which employ these large 

 rubbers. 



" While I am quite in accordance with you on the point 

 of lightness, yet it must not be forgotten that anything 

 which removes or neutralises obstructions makes a tricycle 

 virtually light, therefore, even though the weight of a 

 42-in. wheel with large tyres and rubbers should be equal 

 in weight to a 54-in. with |-in. rubbers, I should say that 

 the smaller would be decidedly the better. Yet I am one 

 with you in the matter of lightness. Momentum is the 

 sum and substance of my travelling capabilities, and gra- 

 vitation swallows it up insatiably, and obstructions expend 

 it, and the less weight the less loss either on the hill or the 

 rough road." 



THE FACE OF THE SKY. 



From Oct. 26 to Nov. 9. 

 By F.E.A.S. 



THE usual daily watch will be kept on the sun for .spots, faculfe, 

 &c. Map XI. of " The Stars in Their Seasons," shows the 

 aspect of the night sky. Mercury is very badly placed for the 

 observer during the last part of October, when he is a morning 

 star, but may just possibly be caught with the naked eye 

 before sunrise in the E.S.E., or near the horizon during the first 

 week in November. Venus is about as badly placed for the observer 

 as she can be. Mars rises between 10 and 11 p.m. during the last 

 week in October, and a minute or two before 10 on the night of 

 November 9. As his diameter still very little exceeds 9", he needs 

 a powerful telescope to see him properly. Jupiter rises about 

 lOh. 13m. p.m. to-night, and, of course, sooner and sooner on each 

 succeeding one until, on November 9, he will appear above the 

 horizon about 9h. 21m. in the evening. He is situated to the 

 W.S.W. of the " Praesepe " in Cancer (" The Stars in Their Seasons," 

 Map III.) The phenomena of his satellites visible before 1 a.m. 

 during the period covered by these notes are the group of Satellite 

 II. from transit of his disc at llh. 52m. p.m., on November 1, and 

 the reappearance of Satellite III. from ecUpse on the same night 

 at 12h. 5m. 58s. p.m. Then, on November 6, Satellite I. will dis- 

 appear in eclipse at 12h. 49m. 7s. p.m. On November 7, Satellite I. 

 itself will enter on to Jupiter's face at llh. 18m., to be followed by 

 its shadow at 12h. 22m. p.m. The nest night, that of the 8th, 

 Satellite I. will reappear from occultation at lOh. oOra. p.m., 

 and at llh. 28m. p.m.. Satellite II. will begin its transit. 

 Its shadow will follow it at llh. 47m. Lastly, at 12h. 46m. 14s. 

 p.m.. Satellite III. will disappear in eclipse. Saturn is 

 nightly coming into a more favourable position for tlie observer, 

 and about midnight presents a glorious spectacle in the telescope. 

 He is still above Aldebaran or a Tauri (" The Stars in their Seasons," 

 Map I.). Uranus is invisible, but Neptune is visible, as a little 7th 

 mag. star, all night long to the S.E. of o Arietis (" The Stai-s in their 

 Seasons," Map XII.). The moon is 25'3 days old at noon to-day, 

 and, of course, 29-3 days old at the same hour on October 30th. On 

 the 31st her ago at noon is O'o days, and by November 9th it will 

 evidently be 95 days. Hence she will scarcely be observable before 

 November 3rd at the earliest. No occultationsof st.irs occur before 

 midnight dui'ing the interval covered by these notes. The moon is 

 in Leo up to about 10 a.m. to-morrow (the 27th), when she passes 

 into Virgo ; her passage across which constellation occupies until 

 ten o'clock on the night of the 30th. At this latter hour she crosses 

 into Libra, over which she travels dui-ing the whole of October 31st 

 and nutil 10 p.m. on November 1st. Then she entcr.s that narrow 

 strip which runs up northward in Scorpio. She tr.ivorsps this during 

 the no.it eleven hours, and passes into the southern jiart of Ophiu- 

 chuB. This she quits about 6 a.m. on November Ith for Sagittarius. 

 Her journey across Sagittarius is not completed until 7 p.m. on 

 November 6th, when she enters the upper part of Capricornus. At 

 1 p.m. on the 7th she passes thence into Aquarius, whore, up to 

 midnight on November 9th, she still remains. 



TnK Ancient Monuments of Egypt. — The Society for the Pro- 

 tection of Ancient Buildings has recently issued its " Report on the 

 measure adopted by the Go%'ernment of his Highness the Khedive, 

 for the preservation of monuments of Arab Art in Egypt." The 

 report, which bears Mr. Thackeray Turner's signature, gives a 

 succinct and interesting sketch of the measures which have been 

 adopted for the i)reservation of these beautiful monuments since 

 the date of tho fii-st Khedivial decree of Dec. 18, 1S81. 



/ C 



" Let Knowledge gi'ow from more to more." — Alfred Tennyson. 



Only a small proportion of Letters received can possibly be in- 

 serted, C orrespotidents must not be offended, therefore, should their 

 letters not appear. 



All Editorial communications should be addressed to the Editor op 

 Knowledge; all Business communications to the Publishers, at the 

 Office, 74, Qreat Queen-street, W.C. If this is not attended to 



DELAYS ARISE FOB WHICH THE EDITOR IS NOT RESPONSIBLE. 



All Remittances, Cheques, and Post Office Orders shmdd be made 

 payable to Messrs. Wyman & Sons. 



The Editor is not responsible for the opinions of ccnrespondeiUs. 



No communications are answered by post, even though stamped 

 AND directed envelope be enclosed. 



THE BAKN OWL. 



[968] — A part of Mr. Grant Allen's interesting article on the 

 Barn Owl would give the impression that the owl is never guilty of 

 feeding on young birds. 



A gamekeeper of some experience held the same view until he 

 shot one in the act of taking away a young pheasant from the coop. 

 Where pheasants or partridges are reared by hand, the barn owl is 

 a nightly visitant of the coops, clearing off any young birds that 

 may have strayed from their foster-parents. If the owls once get 

 a taste of the young birds, their visits will be as regular as the 

 nights come round. It is, of course, natural that, as a bird of prey, 

 it should take the readiest means in its power of supplying its 

 wants. Kerry Bis. 



PALEOLITHIC MAN. 



[969] — Enclosed please find extracts copied from Mr. W. B. 

 Dawkins' " Early Man in Britain," and " Hunting- Grounds of the 

 Old Worid," by H. A. L. (" The Old Shekarry"). In reading 

 Mr. Dawkins' book I found the enclosed passages, and remem- 

 bered the quoted passage from H. A. L.'s work, which I was read- 

 ing a short time ago, and I wondered if it was within the bounds 

 of possibility that the race or tribe mentioned by H. A. L. were 

 descended from the Pala3olithic Eiverdrift men whom Mr. Dawkins 

 mentions. 



I do not suppose that any connection can be proved, but on 

 turning to H. A. L.'s account of his introduction to this tribe, I 

 thought the description he gives of them so like what one may 

 suppose the Kiverdrift men to have been, and the state of their 

 civilisation and the arms used, allowing for tho differeuce of 

 situation, so similar, that I thought it worth while to copy the 

 passages out and send them to you for your opinion. Myopi.i. 



Extracts from " E.4Rly Max :n Britain." 

 (Page 173, referring to Palajolithic Man in Britain.) 



" We cannot refer them to .any branch of the human race now 

 alive, and they are as completely extinct among tho peoples of 

 India as among those of Europe." 



Page 233 : — " This difference in range implies, as we have already 

 observed, that the Kiverdrift men belong to the southern group of 

 mammalia, while the cave men must be classified with the rein- 

 deer, &c." Again, on tho same page: — " We are without a clue to 

 the ethnology of the Kiverdrift man, who, most probably, is as 

 extinct at tlio present time as the woolly rhinoceros or tho cave 

 bear ; but the discoveries of the last twenty years have tended to 

 confirm the identification of tho cavo man with tho Esquimos." 



" Hunting tirounds of the World," by H. A. L., p. 99. (Description 

 of two most oxtraordinarj' creatures in human shape.) One was 

 old and wrinkleil, the other quite a child, and both belonged to the 

 weaker sex, but whether to tho genus '' man" or " monkey," I was 

 not at all sure. They were of a dark olive colour, and the tallest 

 was nothing like four foot high. She just was a beauty, without a 

 stick of clothing, except a piece of ei'eepor tied round her hair to 

 keep it out of her eyes, which were small and very piercing when 

 she opened them, but she kept them shut, just taking a peep now 

 and then like a frightened ape. She grunted very hard, and I saw 

 a couple of tears roll Aovra her cheek as the gang tied her by the leg 

 to tho root of tho tree. Tho nose was nearly flat, the mouth most 



