:\[arci[ 1, 1887.] 



♦ KNOW^LEDGE ♦ 



star of the 4th magnitude, will disappear at the Mooq's dark limb 

 at Gh. 42™. I'.M. at an angle from her vertex of 108°, and will re- 

 appear at her bright limb at 7li. ilom. P.M. at an angle of 359° from 

 her vertex. On the 29th. fl' Tauri, of the 4ith magnitude, will dis- 

 appear at the dark limb at 9h. 17m. P.M. at a vertical angle of 117°, 

 reappearing at the bright litubat lOh. 13m. p.m. at an angle of 33.")° 

 from the Moon's vertex. At 9h. 2lim. P.M., fl- Tauri, another 4ith 

 magnitude star, will disappear at the dark limb at an angle of 91° 

 from the Moon's vcrte.x. Its reappearance at the bright limb will 

 occur live minutes sooner than that of 8', which was occulted 

 before it. It will happen at an angle of 0°, or at the Moon's 

 vertex. On the 29th, li. A. C. 1391, a star of the 5th magnitude will 

 disappearat the dark limb at lOh. Kim. P.M. at a vertical angle of 159°, 

 its reappearance at llh. 7m. P.M. at the bright limb of the Moon 

 occurring at a vertical angle of 288°. Lastlj', on the 30th, 1 15 Tauri, 

 a (ith magnitude star, will be occulted by the Moon's dark limb at 

 9 minutes after midnight, at an angle of 173° from her vertex, but 

 she will have set ere it reappears. At noon to-day the Moon is in 

 'Taurus, through which constellation she is travelling until 3h. A.M. 

 on the 4th, when she arrives at tlie western edge of the narrow 

 northern prolongat ion of Orion (" The Seasons Pictured," plate xxiii.). 

 It takes her 12 hours to cross this, and at 3 o'clock in the afternoon 

 of the same day she emerges in Gemini (" The Seasons Pictured," 

 plate xxiv.). Her passage across Gemini occupies her until 7h. A.M. 

 on the Cth, when slic quits it for Cancer, fihe remains in Cancer 

 until .5h. 3()m. P.M. on the 7tli, when she enters Leo. Her journey 

 through Leo is completed by 2h. A.M. on the lOth, at which hour 

 she cros.'es into Virgo (" The Seasons Pictured,'' plate xxv.). She 

 quits Virgo in turn for Libra at 9h. P.M. on the 12th ("The Seasons 

 Pictured," plate xxvi.). In the course of her passage over Libra, 

 she arrives at 4h. P.M. on the 14th on the confines of the narrow 

 northern strip of Scorpio ; and when 9 hours later she has traversed 

 this, it is to pass out at its eastern edge into OphiucLus. She quits 

 Ophiuchus and enters Sagittarius at oh. P.M. on the ICth, and 

 Sagittarius in turn for Capricornus at (Jh. A.M. on the 19lh ("The 

 Seasons Pictured,' plate xxi.). At 4h. P.M. on the 20th she passes 

 into Aquarius. Here she remains until 3h. P.M. on the 23rd, when 

 she enters Pisces ("The Seasons Pictured," plate xxii ). She is 

 travelling through Pisces until 6h. 30m. P.M. on the 26th, at which 

 hour she arrives at the northern outlier of Cetus. Before noon the 

 next day she has passed out of this into Aries. At 2h. P.M. on 

 the 2Sth she leaves Aries for Taurus (" The Seasons Pictured," 

 plate xxiii.), and at lOh. A.M. on the 31st arrives, asat the heginning 

 of the month, on tlie western boundary of the northern prolonga- 

 tion of Orion. She remains in this for about 12 hours and a half, 

 and then lenves it for Gemini ("The Seasons Pictured," plate xxiv.). 

 She is, of course, in Gemini at midnight on the 31st. 



d^iir WBWt Column. 



Bv "Five of Clubs." 



M.VTHEWS ON -^VHIST. 

 {Continued from page 71.) 

 r is better to lead from a suit headed by Ace, nine, 

 than from one headed by Ace, ten ; since in the 

 latter case you are more likely to have a tenace if the 

 suit is led by the adversary. [Modern whist would 

 hardly countenance a choice in leading determined by 

 such a consideration as this.] 



Many good players, in leading from tierce major, 

 begin with the King and Queen. [It is now tlie cus- 

 tomary rule to do so.] This is often productive of mischief ; as 

 wlien [King is] played at other times from King and Queen only 

 [that is. King and Queen with small ones, but without the Ace], the 

 Ace may be kept up ; and while each thinks his partner has it and 

 has played accordingly, it unexpectedly appears from the adversary 

 and disappoints their whole plan. [The reasoning here seems un- 

 worthy of so skilful a player as Mathews.] If a player leads King 

 from tierce major, he follows immediately with Queen, unless he 

 betakes himself to trumps, fearing a ruff. Now, on the other hand, 

 if having led King from King, Queen, and another, he is in doubt 

 whether the Ace lies with his partner or not, he may change suit. 

 But it is only when he has led from King, Queen, without the Ace, 

 that he would change to another plain suit. Doubt then can scarcely 

 ever arise. Moreover, if in doubt whether partner holds the Ace or not 

 (and it is seldom good play for cither adversary to hold the Ace if he 

 has it, though some of the over-clever often do it), it is best to go on 

 with the suit, leading a small one, since the chances are in favour of 

 bringing out the Ace this second round. In any case, the lead of 

 King followed by Queen indicates unmistakably that you hold the 

 Ace also. 



From King, Queen, Knave, as from all high tierces, the highest is 

 led, except that with two small ones or more the Knave should be 

 led [to draw the Ace from your partner if he has it.] 



From King, Queen, ten, in all suits lead the King; but if it 

 passes do not pursue the lead, ascertain the Ace is in your partner's 

 hanil ; for it may be kept np : but change your lead, and wait for 

 the return of your partner — when you have the tinesse of the ten if 

 necessary. 



This is no longer considered good Whist. It is nearly always 

 better to go on with a small card than to change suit. All good 

 players put the Ace on the King, led by an adversary, in nine cases 

 at least out of ten. The chances are so great if your King is passed 

 that either your partner holds the Ace or that you can do no harm 

 by going on with tlie suit, that it is contrary to sound Whist policy 

 to incur the almost certain mischief arising from a change of suit, 

 on account of the minute chance that going on may do harm. 



From King, Queen, four others, or fewer, lead the King always in 

 plain suits, unless you hold the t.vo last tramps, when you may 

 [safely] play a small one. [It is not easy to see what you gain by 

 so doing, whether the Ace lies with the enemy or with your partner. 

 For with the two low trumps you are sure to get the lead as soon 

 as you need it.] In trumps, lead the lowest \generalli/~\. With 

 King, Queen, and five others, the King should be led in all suits. 



From King, Knave, ten, &c., in all sui's, lead the ten. From 

 King, Knave, and two or more small ones, lead the lowest. 



[From King, Knave, and one small one, lead only if it is clearly 

 your partner's suit, in which case lead King, and if it passes con- 

 tinue with Knave.] 



[From Queen, Knave, ten, kc, lead the highest, in all suits.] 

 From Queen, Knave, nine, and others, lead the Queen. [This is no 

 longer approved, except sometimes late in the hand, when it is seen 

 that the game can only be made or saved by the successful finesse 

 of the nine.] From t^uecn. Knave, with two more, lead the lowest. 

 From Queen, Knave, one other, lead the Queen. From Queen, ten, 

 two others the lowest; [if with one other, do not open the suit 

 unless sure it is your partner's, in which case lead Queen, and if it 

 makes follow with ten.] With Queen and three small ones, lead the 

 lowest. From Queen, with only two, lead [if at all] the Queen [but 

 to do this you should have reason to think that it is your jiartner's 

 suit.] 



[BVom Knave, ten, nine, &o., lead Knave; from Knave, ten, and 

 small ones, lead the lowest ; but with only one small one the Knave. 

 From Knave, three or more small ones lead the lowest; but with 

 only two small ones besides the Knave, lead [if at all] the Knave.] 



[Ten may be led from ten, nine, eight, and two or more small 

 ones, but it is not a satisfactory opening, and seems only justified by 

 a good chance of establishing and bringing in the suit. From ten, 

 nine, and a small one, or ten, two sma 1 ones, lead ten.] In general, 

 the lead of a ten indicates either a sequence to the King, King, 

 Knave, ten, and another, or that the ten is the best of a weak suit. 



Nine is never led by good players from a head sequence of three 

 [though if there is great length in the suit, and trump strength, the 

 lead may be justified]. In general, the lead of a nine indicates 

 either — 



1. A sequence up to the King. 



2. King, Knave, ten, nine, with or without others not in sequence 

 with- the nine. 



3. A weak suit, not more than three in number, tlie nine being 

 the best. 



If, when ten or nine is led by your partner, you hold either King 

 or Knave in your own hand, you are certain the lead is from weakness, 

 and that the" whole strength of the suit [outs de your own hand] is 

 with the adversary, and play accordingly. [The inference is equally 

 obvious if the lead of ten or nine is from either adversary, and you 

 hold either King or Knave.] 



To lead from only three cards, unless in sequence, is bad play, and 

 only proper when you have reason to think it is your partner's suit, 

 in which case play off the highest, even if the King or Queen. 



[With Ace or King, or Queen or Knave, and one other, if you 

 lead, which you will only do when you have reason to think the suit 

 is your partner's, invariably lead the highest, except, of course, 

 ton-ards the close of a hand when you may have obtained such know- 

 ledge of the position of the cards that plain strategic reasons, as 

 clearly recognised as in Double Dummy, show that the small one 

 should be led. Such exceptions as these, however, are not con- 

 sidered in discussing general rules for leading.] 



It is highly necessary to be correct in leads. When a good player 

 leads an eight and then a seven, I know he leads from a weak suit ; 

 the contrary when he plays the seven first. It is the same even with 

 a tray and a deuce. This is what bad players always err in, as they 

 never can see the difference. [Of course these considerations do 

 not apply in the same exact sense to modem play, though the 

 necessity of correctness on the part of the leader and attention on 



