292 



♦ KNOWLEDGE 



[Nov. 9, 1883. 



©tutorial (gossip. 



It would not be right to pass without a word of recog- 

 nition the very kindly greeting given lue in Plymouth 

 during the last three weeks, where crowded audiences met 

 to hear each of my six lectures, giving me also the greatest 

 compliment a lecturer can have — constant attention — 

 though owing to the great size of the Guildhall and some 

 slight acoustical difficulties the lectures were not given 

 under quite the conditions that (for my audiences' sake) I 

 prefer. 



One hears with regret of the difficulties under which 

 Mr. Matthew Arnold gave his first lecture in America. 

 Want of practice in public speaking, and perhaps some 

 vocal weakness, must be assigned as the reasons why Mr. 

 Arnold was not heard throughout Chickering Hall ; for 

 the acoustical properties of that hall are almost perfect. 

 During my four visits to New York, I have lectured in 

 Chickering Hall ten times, in Association Hall eight times, 

 and in Steinway Hall (which seats 2,000) twelve times. 

 All three are good ; but Chickering Hall is the best. How 

 reading instead of speaking may affect the sound of the 

 voice there, I cannot say, as I have never read during my 

 Sectures ; but I should suppose no one who really wished 

 to influence his audience actually reads : he may refresh 

 his memory by an occasional look at his MS., but not read 

 word for word from it. 



New York while accepting English judgment as of 

 weight in literature, regards it — according to the Tribune 

 — as absolutely without weight in art. Hence after their 

 first few nights, Mr. Irving and his company have had to 

 rely on their qualities rather than on the credit they have 

 attained at home. It is not altogether surprising that, 

 thus tried, Mr. Irving has not at once leapt into favour in 

 America. For there is much in his acting to mar the efiect 

 and influence of his real merits. But in the long run — 

 though the attendance has for awhile thinned — his sterling 

 good qualities must tell. As to INIiss Terry's success in 

 America there can l)e no doubt. 



In answer to several correspondents I note that my 

 lectures at the Kensington Town Hall, on Monday, 

 Wednesday, and Friday next, will begin at eight. I trust 

 all who can will be in their seats at that hour. A lecturer 

 is .sometimes blamed for waiting a few minutes when part 

 of the audience is still coming in at the announced lecture 

 hour. It does seem unfair to those who are there in time. 

 But it is not in reality his fault. If he begins while still 

 there is the sound of entering footsteps, he is not properly 

 heard ; and therefore in the interests of his audience he 

 is bound to wait a little. But it is not fair on the part 

 of those who come late (at least if they can help coming 

 late — as they generally can) that the rest of the audience 

 and the lecturer should be put to inconvenience. 



The first lecture, on the Birth and Death of Worlds, 

 will close with De Quincey's version of Richter's Dream. 

 De Quincey's translation of that Dream (a very diflerent 

 matter), is given this week for comparison. The second 

 lecture, on the Sun, will close with Yega's Poem which 

 appeared in Knowledgk for October 12, No. 102. The 

 third and last lecture, on the Moon, will close with Anster's 



singularly fine translation of a famous passage in Goethe's 

 Faust, beginning 



See ! all things with each other blending, &c. 



Considering the recent attempt to kill and maim many 

 British folk in the Underground Railway, it is a curious 

 question — let the miscreants who made the attempt be who 

 they may — whether a theory of evolution associating man 

 closely by kinship of blood with the most hateful of the 

 brute creation, would not be a relief from the thought that 

 those wretches are akin to us. 



THE FACE OF THE SKY. 



Prom Nov. 9 to Nov. 23. 



By F.E.A.S. 



THE student will not fail to point his telescope to the sun on 

 every clear day. Map XI. of " The Stars in their Seasons " 

 shows the stars at present visible in the night sky. Mercury is now 

 moving rapidly behind the sun, and is, for the observer's purpose, 

 invisible. Venus is practically invisible, too, from her great south 

 declination. Mars does not rise until between 9 and 10 o'clock at 

 night, but, of course, does so sooner every day. He is still only 

 fairly observable in a powerful telescope. Jupiter does not south 

 until the morning hours, but he is some 23* high at midnight to- 

 night, and 8° or 9° higher at the same hour by the 23rd. His place 

 in the sky varies but little from that described a fortnight ago on 

 p. 261. The phenomena of his satellites visible before 1 a.m. 

 during the next foui-teen days are as follow. On November 12 

 Satellite III. will pass off his disc at llh. 14m. p.m. On the 14th the 

 shadow of Satellite I. ■svill enter on his face at llh. 56m, p.m. 

 On the 15th the same phenomena will occur with the shadow of 

 Satellite II. at llh. 28m. p.m. ; 40 minutes after midnight. 

 Satellite I. will reappear from occultatiou behind Jupiter's disc. 

 Satellite I. will begin its transit over Jupiter on the 16th at 

 9h. 57m. p.m, and the shadow of Satellite IV. enters on to his 

 limb at 12h. Im. p.m. On the 17th Satellite II. will reappear 

 from occultation at llh. 39m. p.m. The shadow of Satellite III. 

 will enter on to the face of the planet at lOh. 9m. on the night of 

 the 19th, and will be followed by SatelHte III. itself at llh. 24m. On 

 the 22nd Satellite I. will disappear in eclipse at llh. 3m. 37s. p.m. 

 Lastly, the shadow of Satellite I. will leave Jupiter's disc at lOh. 38m. 

 p.m. on Nov. 23, to be followed by the Satellite easting it at 

 llh. 47m. p.m. Saturn is above the horizon during the greater part 

 of the night, rising as he does by the 23rd of the month about 

 22 minutes past four in the afternoon. He is still above Aldebaran. 

 He is an all-repaying object just now, even in the most moderate 

 telescope. Uranus continues invisible, but Neptune, as we have 

 so often said lately, may be picked up as a small 7th mag. 

 star in that blank part of the sky south-east of S Arietis. The 

 Comet discovered by Pons in July, 1812, and rediscovered in 

 America by Brooks on September 2 of the present year, is now 

 visible, with but small optical aid, in the constellation Draco. During 

 the period covered by these notes, it will describe an arc very rudely 

 parallel with a line joining ji .and y Draconis ("The Stars in their 

 .Seasons," Map XI.). On the night of November 9, the Comet will 

 be found less than 1' south and a little to the west of H ; and some 

 1° 40' due south of that star on the 11th. It will be situated about 

 2° south of y Draconis on the 20th. From these data, its path may 

 be laid down on the map with sufEcient accuracy to enable the 

 observer to fish for it in the sky. As yet, it has developed no proper 

 tail, so-called, in any moderate-sized instrument; but presents the 

 appearance of a minute stellar nucleus suiTounded by a diffused 

 nebulosity. 



The Moon's age at noon to-day is 9'5 days, and quite evidently will 

 be 23'5 days at the same hour on Nov. 23. She will be fairly well 

 ]5laced for the observer during the greater part of the next fourteen 

 days. During that period two oecultations of stars only occur 

 before midnight. "The tirst is that of the Cth mag. star 

 B.A.C. 1119, which will disappear at the Moon's bright limb at 

 8h. 12m. p.m. on Nov. 14., at an angle from her vertex of 29°, and 

 will reappear from behind her dark limb at 9h. 2m. p.m. at a 

 vertical angle of 287°. The second one is an occultation of A' 

 Cancri, a 6th mag. star, which on the night of the 19th wiU dis- 

 appear at the Moon's bright limb at llh. 24m. at a vertical angle of 

 66°, to reappear at her dark limb at 12h. 19m. at an angle from her 

 vertex of 191°. The Moon is travelling across Aquarius to-day and 

 to-night, but about 3 o'clock to-morrow morning will cross the 



