168 



KNOW^LEDGE 



[May 2, 1887. 



we can hardly say. Probably, like our " I'embridge " * to-day, they 

 would have found ordinary words too weak to express their con- 

 tempt and abhorrence of all such practices. But, as I have said, in 

 their day unnecessarily high cards were played — (ilii'ai/.t, however, 

 as false cards to delude the enemy. An opponent is making his 

 high cards in a suit of which a player holds, say, ten and three : if 

 the ten is played, the > pponent naturally expects to see the suit 

 rutfed next round or early ; and as naturally, he will discontinue the 

 strong suit (unless the strategy of his game makes it desirable that 

 he should play for a force), and probably lead trumps. The partner 

 of the player, who has thus dropped an unnecessarily high card, 

 will infer that the trump lead is wanted ; and if the enemy fail to 

 be deceived by the false card, he will lead trumps himself. In that 

 sense, but in that sense only, thounnecessatily high card in Hoyle's 

 time was, as it were, a call for trumps. 



All this belongs to the delightful strategy of whist. There were 

 in such cases several interpretations of tbe observed play to the 

 particular trick, several inferences suggested by the previous fall of 

 the cards. Neither the enemy nor the partner of the player who 

 had dropped the high card, having a smaller one, could feel quite 

 sure what the plaj' might mean. That pleasing mixture of doubt 

 and confidence — doubt because of the enemy's craft, confidence in 

 the just discrimination skill affords between the probabilities for 

 and against various interpretations — which constitutes the charm of 

 real whist comes in — or, alas ! that I should have to change the 

 tense, came in, of yore — to give interest to such a stroke, and to the 

 measures taken either to meet or foil it 1 



In the whist of to-day, which is calmly described by the pro- 

 fessors of the signalling system as scientific whist, as if the whist 

 of Hoyle and Mathews (far more soundly scientific in reality) were 

 child's play, the unnecessarily high card does not involve any whist 

 interest whatever. It means one thing, and one thing only. It is a 

 command to partner to lead trumps. 



THE FACE OF THE SKY FOR MAY. 



^IlE stm is now so free from spots for days and even 

 weeks at a time as to render a daily watch for 

 them almost a waste of time. There is no real 

 night in any part of Great Britain after the 22nd, 

 twilight persisting from sunset to sunrise. The 

 aspect of the night sky will be found depicted in 

 map V. of "The Stars in their Seasons." No 

 minima of Algol will, practically, be visible through- 

 out the month. The best chance for the observer 

 to detect Jlercury will be before sunrise at the beginning of May. 

 Venus is an e.'euing star, sh'ning most brilliantly at dusk over the 

 W. by N. and W.N.W. parts of the horizon. At the end of the 

 month she does not set until between eleven and twelve o'clock at 

 night. She is gibbous in the telescope. She will be 2° 15' north 

 of Saturn at 5 p.m. on the 30th. Mars is totally invisible. Jupiter 

 is above the horizon all night long, but, having south declination, 

 should be observed as near to his time of meridian transit as possible. 

 He is travelling through Virgo towards Spica. (" The Stars in their 

 Seasons," map v.) The observable phenomena of his satellites 

 occurring at convenient hours are tolerably numerous. On the 

 3rd, Satellite III. will begin its transit at 9h. 30m., followed by its 

 shadow an hour later. The satellite will leave the planet's opposite 

 limb at Uh. 5m. P.M., and its shadow twenty-nine minutes after 

 midnight. On the 5th, Satellite II. will be occulted at 9h. 55m. 

 P.M. On the 6th, the transit of Satellite I. will begin at lOh. 25in 

 P.M., and that of its shadow at lOh. 47m. At I2h. 37m, the satellite 

 will pass off Jupiter's face, as will the shadow it casts at 12h. 59m. 

 On the 7th, Satellite I. will reappear from eclipse at lOh. 13m. lis. 

 P.M. On the 10th, Satellite III. will enter on to the planet's limb at 

 forty-seven minutes after midnight. On the 12th, Satellite II. will 

 be occulted at ]2h. 12m. P.M. On the 13th, Sarellite I. will begin 

 its transit ten minutes after midnight, as will its shadow thirty- 

 one minutes later. On the Ilth, Satellite I. will be occulted 

 at 9h. 25m. P.M. One minute later Satellite II. will pass off 

 Jupiter's disc, its shadow following at lOh. 34m. Satellite I. 

 will reappear from eclipse at 12h. 7m. Kis. P.M. On the I5th, the 

 egress of the same satellite from Jupiter's limb will hapjien 

 at 8h. 48m. P.M., its shadow following at 9h. 22m. On the 21st 

 the ingress of Satellite II. in transit occurs at 9h. 9m. P.M. ; then 



* It was Pembridge who brought into use, if he did not actually 

 invent, the pleasing word " Burablepuppy," as the name for that 

 kind of whist which the constant follower of conventions is in the 

 habit of playing ; as Bumbledom has found a place in dictionaries 

 written since " Oliver Twist " appeared, I conceive that Bumble- 

 puppy ought soon to be similarly authenticated. 



Satellite III. will reappear from eclipse at lOh. 28m. 55s. At 

 lOh. 33m. the shadow of Satellite II. will follow it on to Jupiter's 

 limb; at llh. 10m. Satellite I. will be occulted ; and at llh. 42ra. 

 Satellite II. will have left the face of the planet. On the 22nd the 

 ingress of the .shadow of Satellite I. happens at 9h. 5m P.M., and 

 the egress from the opposite limb of the t-atellite ca.sting it at 

 lOh. 35m. The shadow does not quit Jupiter's face until llh. 17m. 

 On the 28th Satellite III. will be occulted, disappearing at 

 9h. 21m. P.M., and not reappearing until llh. 14m. Then 

 Satellite II. begins its transit at llh. 26m. ; Satellite III. disappears 

 in eclipse at 12h. 44m. 44s., and Satellite I. is occulted at I2h. 57m. 

 On the 29th Satellite I. began its transit at lOh. 10m. P.M., followed 

 by its shadow at llh. The satellite leaves Jupiter's opposite limb 

 at I2h. 22m.; the shadow not imtil the next morning. Lastly, on 

 the night of the 30th, Satellite II. will reappear from eclipse at 

 lOh. f7m. I9s ; as will Satellite I. at lOh. 24m. 12s. Saturn is 

 now approaching the west, and must be looked for the moment the 

 sky is dark enough, even at the beginning of May. He is pretty 

 close to 8 Geminorum (" The Stars in their Seasons," map ii.). 

 Uranus is about south at sunset, so like Saturn must be looked 

 for as soon as ever the twilight deepens. He is S.W. of y Virginis 

 (" The Stars in their Season.?," map v.). The Moon is full at 

 2h. 13m. P.M. on the 7th, and enters her last quarter at 

 8h. 17'4m. P.M. on the 14th ; she is new at llh. 5 4m. on the 22nd; 

 and enters her first quarter at 5h. 19"m. A.M. on the 30th. Four 

 occultations only of fixed stars occur at convenient hours during 

 the May nights. They are as follows: — On the 4ih 7I Virginis, a 

 star of the 2^th magnitude, will disappear at the Moon's dark limb at 

 25 minutes after midnight at an angle of 141° from her vertex. 

 It will reappear the next morning at Ih. 8m. at her bright limb 

 at a vertical angle of 230°. Then, on the 29th, 45 Leonis, 

 a 6th magnitude star, will disappear at the dark limb at 

 8h. 37m. P.M., at an angle of 69° from the vertex of the Moon, its 

 reappearance at her bright limb happening at 9h. 34m., at an 

 angle of 314° from her vertex. Later, at llh. 10m. P.M., p Leonis, a 

 star of the 4th magnitude, will disappear at the dark limb at a 

 vertical angle of 88°. It will reappear at her bright limb at 

 2 minutes after midnight, at an angle from her vertex of 311°. 

 Lastly, on the 30th, tr Leonis, also of the 4th magnitude, will dis- 

 appear at the dark limb at 7h. 46m. P.M., at an angle of 152° from 

 the iMoon's vertex, its reappearance at the bright limb occurring at 

 8h. 6m. at a vertical angle of 188°. When these notes begin, the 

 Moon has just entered on the confines of Leo (" The Seasons 

 Pictured," plate xxiv.), through the whole length of which con- 

 stellation she is travelling until lOh. p.m. on the 3rd, at which hour 

 she enters Virgo (" The Seasons Pictured," plate xxv.). Her pa.ssage 

 across Virgo occupies her until 6h. 30m. P M. on the 6th, and she 

 then crosses into Libra (" The Seasons Pictured," plate xxvi.). 

 T avelling over Libra, she arrives at noon on the Sth on the 

 boundary of the narrow northern spike which runs up from Scorpio, 

 and when, by 9h. o'clock the same evening she has crossed this, it is 

 to emerge in Ophiuchus. At 11 A.M. on the 10th, she quits 

 Ophiuchus for Sagittarius, which she leaves in turn for Capricornus 

 at 8h. 30m. P.M. on the 12th (" The Seasons Pictured," plate xxi.) 

 Her journey over Capricornus is completed by 4 A.M. on the 14th. 

 when she enters Aquarius. She continues in Aquarius until 4h. A.M. 

 on the 17th. She then crosses into Pisces (" The Seasons Pictured," 

 plate xxii.). She remains in this great straggling constellation 

 until 8h. AM. on the 20th, and then arrives on the confines of the 

 northerly prolongation of Cetus. By 10 o'clock the same night she 

 has gone through this and come out in Aries (" The Seasons 

 Pictured," plate xxiii.). She is in Aries up to 2h. 30m. A.M. on the 

 22nd, when she enters Taurus. Pursuing her path through Taurus, 

 we find her at 9h. 30m. P.M. on the 24th on the boundary of the 

 most northerly part of Orion. Twelve hours later she has crossed 

 this and emerged in Gemini (" The Seasons Pictured,'' plate xxiv.). 

 Her passage over Gemini terminates at 3h. A.M. on tlie 27th, when 

 she leaves it for Cancer. She quits Cancer in turn for Leo, at 

 4h. P.M. on the 28th. She is in Leo up to 5 A.M. on the 31st, and 

 she then crosses the boundary into Virgo. She is still in Virgo at 

 midnight on the 31st. 



CONTKNTS OF NO. 18. 



P-iGE 



Tlie Complesity of Things. By 



Grant Allen 121 



Prize Competitions. By Eicbard 



A. Proctor 122 



The Juniority of Beasts. By 



Oswald Dawson 123 



Myths of Night and Winter. By 



■ Stella Occidens ' 125 



America's Giowth 126 



Evolution of Language. By Ada 



S. Ballin 129 



Oar Puzzles 130 



Mathematical Recreations 132 



PAOB 



Tne Southern Skies 133 



The One Scale Atlas 134 



The New Comets. By Richard A. 



Proctor 135 



The Origin of Mountains 136 



Gossip. By Richard A. Proctor . . 137 



Reviews 130 



Our Chess Column. By "Me- 



phisto" 142 



Our Whist Column. By " Five of 



Clubs" U3 



The Face of the Sky for April. By 



F.E.A.S 1« 



