Nov. 7, 1884.] 



♦ KNOWLEDGE . 



389 



ing Mr. Hossain's statements as in the main correct, there 

 is apparently much that calls for reform in the details of 

 our local Indian administration. 



The Botany of Ilermuda. By General Sir J. H. Lefroy, 

 F.R.S. (Washington, 188-1:.) — This is a cakdorjue raisonne 

 of the whole of the vegetable productions (fungi excepted) 

 of Bermuda, by its quondam Governor, and forms a very 

 useful contribution to botanical science. 



Public Examination Scripture Mamials. The Church 

 Catechism. By Arthur R:ches, F.R.A.S. (London : 

 Relfe Bros.) — Toe chief value of Mr. Riches' little book 

 lies in the detailed explanation it gives of the various 

 questions in the catechism, and of the replies to them ; 

 the illustrations of which are abundant and complete. The 

 Revised Version of the New Testament is quoted through- 

 out. 



We have received, too. Dr. H. E. Armstrong's Address 

 On the Teachinfis of Natural Science, delivered at the 

 Health Exhibition on Aug. 5, in wh'ch the author, as we 

 think legitimately, finds grave fault with the existing 

 system of science teaching, and offers eminently practical 

 suggestions for its improvement. Although Dr. Armstrong 

 derives his illustrations from that branch of science with 

 which he is especially identified, chemistry, yet his remarks 

 may well be laid to heart by teachers of other scientific 

 subjects. 



THE FACE OF THE SKY. 



Fkom No\'e.vbee 7th to Kovember 21st. 

 By r.K.A.S. 



THE sun will be examined on every clear day with the telescope 

 for the spots and groups of spots and faculcc which still con- 

 tinae to appear. Map XI. of " The Stars in their Seasons " shows 

 the aspect of the night sky. On the night of the 15th, a maximum 

 of X Cygni will occur (" The Stars in Their Seasons," Map IX.). At 

 and after midnight, from the 12th to the 15th, and especially on the 

 13th, watch should be kept for the shower of shooting stars which 

 seems to radiate from a point to the right of K and y Leonis (" The 

 Stars in their Seasons," Map IV.), hence called the " Leonids." 

 Mercury is, for all practical purposes, invisible during the next 

 fortnight. Venus continues to be a morning star, but rises later 

 and sets sooner evei'V day. She is still very Virilliant before sunrise. 

 Mars is invisible. Jupiter rises about a quarter past 12 at night on 

 the 7th and at llh. 22m. p.m. on the 21st. Hence he is incon- 

 veniently situated for the ordinary amateur observer. We shall 

 not give any details of the phenomena of his satellites until they 

 begin to occur before midnight. Saturn is visible during practically 

 the whole of the wurking night ; he is still a little to the north of 

 ? Tauri (" The Stars in their Seasons," Map. I.). Uranus cannot 

 be seen ; but Neptune may be fished for in the confines of Aries and 

 Taurus, in a blank region of the sky. The moon enters her last 

 quarter at llh. 22-4m. p.m. on the 9th, and will be new on the 17th 

 at 6h. ll'7m. in the evening. Hence but little will be seen of her 

 during the succeeding fourteen daj-s. She will occult two stars 

 only at convenient hours during that time. The particulars of the 

 first occultation were given a fortnight ago, but we will repeat them 

 here. To night, then, at llh. 14m. the SJ mag. star, 68 Geminorum, 

 will disappear at the moon's bright limb at an angle from her vertex 

 of 35", reappearing at her dark limb 14 minutes after midnight at a 

 vei-tieal angle of 237'. To-morrow night (the 8th) B.A.C., 2,872, 

 a 6th mag. star, will disappear at her bright limb at 12h. 16m. 

 p.m., at a vertical angle of 50°, to reappear at her dark limb 

 at Ih. 18m. the next morning, at an angle of 213' from her 

 vertex. The Moon is in Gemini to-day, but crosses into Cancer 

 at nine o'clock to-morrow morning (the 8th). Her passage across 

 Cancer takes her until 11 p.m. on the 9th ; when she enters Leo . 

 Through this she travels until 5 a.m. on the 11th, when she 

 descends into Sextans ; re-emerging in Leo at 4 o'clock the same 

 afternoon. She does not finally quit Leo for Virgo until 5 p.m. on 

 the 12th. It is 2 a.m. on the 16th ere she has traversed this great 

 constellation and entered Libra ; her passage across which occu- 

 pies her until 3 a.m. on the 18th. She then enters the narrow 

 northern strip of Scorpio, leaving it at Ih. 30m. the same afternoon 

 for Ophiuchus. This she traverses by 1 p.m. on the 20th, when 

 she crosses into Sagittarius. She is still in Sagittarius when these 

 notes terminate. 



iHtgrrllanfa. 



It is stated that Lieut. Greely is about to visit England with the 

 view of publishing here his work on " Arctic Exploration." 



The only Gold Medal for maps gained by any British exhibitor 

 at the International Health Exhibition, South Kensington (Class 

 48, Education), has been awarded by the International Jury to Mr. 

 Edward Stanford's exhibit in the Royal Albert Hall. 



M. Alph. Favre has, says the AVicno:um, constructed a map of 

 the erratic phenomena and ancient glaciers on the northern slope 

 of the Swiss Alps, and of the Mont Blanc range. This map is 

 drawn to the scale of 1 : 250,000, and indicates the extreme 

 development of the old glaciers, the glacial drift, erratic bonlders, 

 and moraines deposited during the period of glaciation. 



Mr. Eltringham, boiler-maker. South Shields, has just lighted 

 his works by means of twelve Brush arc lamps, driving the dynamo 

 machine from his works engine. The work has beea carried out 

 by the Hammond Electric Light and Power Supply Company, and 

 groat satisfaction is expressed as to the way the installation has 

 been made. 



Professor Milne in the Transactions of the Seismological Society 

 of Japan publishes a paper " On Earth Tremors," in which he deals 

 with natural tremors aud such as are artificially produced, and he 

 describes the instruments constructed to record these minute move- 

 ments. These motions appear to be more regular than earthquakes, 

 and as yet the two disturbances cannot be connected. The new 

 branch of science which is directed to the observation of these 

 minute tremors is to be called micro-seismology. 



"Put in a Penny and Pcll oct a Post-cakd Company." — A 

 correspondent writes to the Morning Post: — " Will you allow me, 

 through the medium of your columns, to thank the directors of the 

 'Put in a Penny and Pull out a Post-card Company ' for their 

 excellent invention, by means of which anybody can, by dropping 

 a penny into the machine, obtain a post-card ? Anxious to instruct 

 a cousin of mine in the working of this invention, I yesterday 

 dropped the required coin iuto a machine in the Central Gallery of 

 the Health Exhibition, and was pleased to find that I was re- 

 warded for my trouble by receiving no less than seven post-cards. 

 I trust that more of these interesting and useful conveniences may 

 shortly be scattered over the metropolis." 



The editors of Dickens's correspondence have ascertained that 

 a most interesting record of his connection with the Daily Xev:s 

 is still in existence. This is a d-'ary kept by the sub-editor, Mr. 

 Dudley Costello, containing the directions given by Dickens from 

 day to day as to the conduct of the journal. The subjects for lead- 

 ing articles are noted, and directions are given as to the persons 

 by whom they are to be treated, and the manner of treatment. 

 As the editor of Household Words and All the Year Round Dickens 

 is known to have been most careful in selecting subjects and 

 supervising his contributors, and it now appears that he had been 

 equally vigilant when editing the Daily Xews. When these fresh 

 particulars are made public, an interesting view will be given of 

 a part of his career about which comparatively little is set forth 

 in his biography. 



Snake Mortality in India.— From a Government return issued 

 within the last few days it appears that in the year 1882, 19,519 

 human beings lost their lives through the bites of venomous snakes 

 in the presidencies and provinces of British India alone. This is a 

 higher number than any reported in the previous seven years, but 

 the increase may be more apparent than real, and due to the 

 returns from outlying districts being more complete. The highest 

 number of deaths is reported from Bengal — 9,191 ; next come the 

 North-West Provinces and Oudh, with 5,680 ; Bombay, with 1,190 ; 

 the Central Provinces, with 1,058! the Punjab, with 929; and 

 Madras, with 920. During the same year rewards amounting to 

 £1,487 were paid for the destruction of 422,421 snakes. — Medical 

 Press and Circular. 



Death from Lightning. — At a recent congress of German 

 medical men, held at Magdeburg during the end of September, a 

 paper was read by Herr Heusner on the effects of lightning stroke 

 on human beings, and the author showed that when the lightning 

 discharge passed through the skin its passage was much easier, that 

 is to say, the internal organs are much more conductive than the 

 epidermis. This fact was pretty well known, but it is not so well- 

 known that the brain and spinal cord are apparently conductors, 

 and hence a lightning stroke on the head does not materially injure 

 the brain beyond shattering the nerves, and causing temporary 

 derangement. Most persons struck by lightning do not remember 

 anything about the stroke ; but others describe a sensation such as 

 would be caused by their being struck a heavy blow, and some have 

 likened the shock to what they would be supposed to feel if torn 

 into small pieces. The subject is an obscure one, but happily it is 



