March 13, 16S5.] 



♦ KNOAVLEDGE ♦ 



221 



THE FACE OF TilE SKY. 



From JIarcii 13 to March 27. 



Bv F.R.A.S. 



DAILY exnminiition of the San should bo made, if tho sky bo 

 clear, fur spots and facula^. Tlie Zodiacal light may now 

 be beautifully sccu as a bhiut luminous cone, with its axis 

 roughly iu tho ecliptic, over that part of tho horizon beneath 

 which the Sun has set. The aspect of tho Night Sky is 

 shown in Map III. of " the Stars in their Seasons." Mercury 

 is in superior conjunction with tho Sun at seven o'clock this even- 

 ing ; and, of course, afterwards passes to t^o east of him, and 

 becomes an Evening Star. Towards the end of the next fortnight 

 ho may possibly be caught by the naked eye over tho western 

 horizon soon after sunset. Vemis is rather worse placed for tho 

 observer than she was a fortnight ago. Mars and Xepluno aro 

 both invisible. Jupiter is, as wo have said several times recently, 

 the most brilliant object in the Xight Sky. To-morrow night (the 

 14th) he will be just over Kegulus (" tho Stars in their Seasons," 

 Map IV.), and the two objects will afford a curious spectacle to tho 

 naked eye. Numerous phenomena of his Satellites continue to 

 reward the attentive watcher. Hcgiuuing with this evening 

 (March 13), the ingress of Satellite III. occurs at 7h. Im., and that 

 of its shadow at 9h. 11m. Tho ingress of Satellite I. takes place 

 at 9h. liSni., and its shadow follows it at lOh. 17m. Satellite III. 

 passes oft the planet's face at lOh. 39m. ; Satellite I. at 12h. 5ui. ; 

 its shadow at 12h. 37m. ; while, finally, at 12h. lOm. the shadow of 

 Satellite III. quits Jupiter's limb. This transit of the third Satel- 

 lite should be carefully watched throughout for the reason so often 

 given recently in these columns. On tliu 1 1th, Satellite I. is oc- 

 culted at 6h. 53m. p.m. ; to reappear from eclipse at Oh. l.'im. 20s. 

 On the I5th, the egress of the samo Satellite h.ippens in 

 bnght twilight at Oh. 3lm. ; its shadow follows it at 7h. Um. On 

 the IGth the tiansit of Satellite II. begins at 7h. 2Sui.; as does 

 that of its shadow at Sb. 41m. The egress of the shadow of 

 Satellite IV. occurs at 10b. 14m. j Satellite II. passes off at 

 lOh. 24m., and its shadow at llh. 36m. Perhaj s Satellite II. may 

 be seen to reappear from eclipse at Oh. 40in. SGs. on the ISth ; 

 but the bright twilight renders this di ubtful. On the 20th, the 

 ingress of Satellite III. begins at lOh. 21m. ; it is followed by 

 Satellite I. at llh. 31m.; as that is, in tnrn, by its shadow, 12 

 minutes after midnight. On the 21st, Satellite I. will be occulted 

 at Sh. 3Sm. p.m., and reappear from eclipse at llh. 37m. 45s. On 

 the 22nd, the ingress of the shadow of this satellite may possibly 

 be seen at 6h. 41m. The satellite leaves the face of the planet at 

 8h. 17m., and its shadow at 9 o'clock. On the 23rd, the transit of 

 Satellite II. commences at 9h. iOm., and that of its shadow at 

 llh. 16m. ; the satellite passes off 41 minutes after midnight. On 

 the 24th, .Satellite III. reappears (in strong twilight) from eclipse 

 at 6h. 43m. 2Cs. p.m., and Satellite IV. is occulted at 8h. 49m. 

 Lastly, on the 25th, Satellite II. will reappear from eclipse at 

 9h. IGm. 563. p.m. Sattrru gets nearer and nearer to the west, and 

 sonths now in bright sunlight. Hence, he must be looked at at the 

 moment it is dark enough. His position iu the sky differs but 

 little from that described on p. 174. Ur.inus continues to travel 

 in a north-westerly direction from 7; Virginis. The remarks 

 we made a fortnight ago (same page) are still applicable. 

 The Moon will be new at oh. 36m. 9s. in tho afternoon of 

 the loth, and enter her first quarter at 5h. 23m. Is. on that of the 

 23rd. No less than ten occultations will occur before midnight 

 dnring the next fourteen days. On the 18th B.A.C. 181, a star of the 

 6i mag. will disappear at Gh. 58m. p.m., at an angle of 153° from the 

 Moon's vertex ; reappearing at 7h. 54m. at an angle from her vertex 

 of 314". On the 2l5t B. A. C. 1351, also a 61 mag. star disappears 

 at 6h. 30m. at a vertical .angle of 193°; to reappear at Gh. 58m., at 

 an angle from tho vertex of 242° ; on the same night, 75 Tauri, of 

 the 6th mag. disappears at 8h. 37m., at an angle of 111° from the 

 vertex of the Moon ; and reappears at 9h. 34m. at a vertical angle 

 of 336°. On the 2l8t, an occnltation of Aldebaran (a Tauii) will 

 happen, which should be most carefully observed for the reason 

 given on p. 136. The disappearance will take place at llh. i3m., 

 at an angle of 128" from the lunar vertex. The Moon will have 

 set before the star reappears. On the 22nd, 111 Tauri, a star of 

 the oith mag. disappears at Gh. 52m. p.m., at an angle of 84° from 

 the vertex of the Moon. It reappears at 7h. 54m., at an angle from 

 her vertex of 33!°. 117 Tauri, of the Gth mas., will, later on, at 

 9h. 2m. p.m., disappear at a vertical angle of 5G°; reappearing at 

 an angle of 19' from the vertex at 9h. 23m. On the 24th, 68 

 Geminomm, a star of the 5Uh mag., disappears at llh. 39m. p m., 

 at an angle of 122° from the Moon's vertex, to reappear 37 minntes 

 after midnight at a vertical angle of 294°. On the 25th H.A.C. 

 2872, a 6th mag. star will disappear at 12h. 41m. p.m. at a vertical 

 angle of 113°, reappearing at Ih. 3Sm. a.m. on the 2Gth, 295° from 



tho lunar vertex. Lastly, on tho 27th B.A.C. 3529, of tho Gth mag. 

 disappears at lOh. 2tm. at an angle of 37" from tlio vertex of the 

 Moon ; aiul reappears at llh. 23ni. at an angle of 303° from that 

 vertex. Later, 43 Leonis, another Gth mag. star, disappears at 

 llh. 37m. at a vertii-al angle of 131°, reappearing 2S minutes after 

 midnight at an angle of 233° from tho lunar vertex. In every ono 

 of these cases tho disappearance happen.s at tho dark limb of tho 

 Moon, and tho reappearance at her bright limb. The Moon is in 

 Aquarius when our notes commence, and is travelling tlirough that 

 constellation until 1 a.m. on the IGth, when sho enters I'isces. It 

 takes her until 2 a.m. on tho 19th to cross I'iscos into Aiies, in 

 which she remains until 5h. 30m. p.m. on tho 20th, at which hour 

 i^he enters Taurus. In her passage (hrougli this last-named con- 

 stellation she arrives at G a.m. on tho 23rd on tho conlines of tho 

 narrow northern strip of Orion, crossing which she, 1 1 hours later, 

 emerges iu Gemini. At 7h. 30m. a.m. on tho 25tli slie (piits 

 Gemini for Cancer, out of which sho moves at 9 p.m. on tho 2Gth 

 into Leo. Sho is iu Leo until 2 a.m. on the 28th, when sho desoondii 

 into Sextans. 



THE "FAITH-HEALING" OASES. 



(From tho Mcdicul J'cc-« «ii(Z Circular.) 



'■ ~\T7"E dislike such nonsensical gossip as is not supported by 



VV symptoms, but only by faith," is tho opinion expressed 

 by Paracelsus 390 years ago, and it is no less truo now in reference 

 io th J so-called " Fa th-healing " of tho Salvation Army. 



Soaie very goi d accounts of this extraordinary work have 

 appeared in tho daily press, with no lack of critical inquiry con- 

 cerning them. But, notwithstanding this, to most persons the 

 evidence is very nnsati-factoiy, and it is difficult to eift what may 

 be real from what is clearly false. With a view to forming a 

 definite opinion concerning the reported cases, I have made inquiry 

 into a fair number of them, and have taken the opportunity of 

 attending one of the "Faith-healing" services of tho Ilanley 

 Salvation Army. My experiences may interest others, and tho 

 inferences drawn from them may perhaps convince some sceptics 

 that so far as supernatural cures aro concerned, tho tiling is a 

 delusion. 



It seems to mo unnecessary to enter into the general iiue^tion of 

 faith in the cure of disease. Every medical man is familiar 

 enough with tho influence whicli tho mind can, especially under 

 certain states of excitement, exert over the body. Wo meet with 

 such instances daily, and the physician is ready enough, as a rule, 

 to acknowledge and avail himself of them. We aro not un- 

 frequently told that our visits to our patients do more good than 

 the medicine we prescribe — and truly enough. We are now asked 

 to believe that tho power to work miracles haj been given to 

 certain men and women, notably some of the " officers " of the 

 Salvation Army, in a manner, to say the least of it, repugnant to 

 one's common sense. 



Let me first describe what I saw and heard. A large circus, 

 crowded iu every part with a very orderly and well-behaved audi- 

 ence, the arena containing a number of lame, deaf, infirm, or sick 

 persons come to be healed, whose faces bore evideut signs of 

 sincerity in their belief. Some had crutches, some sticks, some 

 were brought in bath-chairs, some were children iu arms. After 

 singing, prayers, and so on, one respectable man was requested to 

 state what he had witnessed in the afternoon. This was to the 

 effect that a man who said ho had been deaf for furty-eight years 

 was cured. As usual, there was no evidence forthcoming that the 

 man was deaf, and he was not there to he examined. Another, a 

 merchant, as he informed us, had seen a boy at Manchester who 

 was both deaf and dumb, who, after the healing process, was 

 able to hear and speak. But this, again, had to bo ac- 

 cepted on faith, as tho boy was not present. This gentle- 

 man told us an extraordinary story of how a child of 

 his own was once at the point of death from bronchitis, 

 and, after the doctor considered the case hopeless, ho and his 

 friends pr.ajed for tlio child, but still without any result, wheu 

 a lady arrived on the scene who recommended champagne to be 

 given, and from that time the child recovered ! This is a fair 

 specimen of the sort of logic introduced into the discussion of this 

 matter. What connection it had with "Major" Pearson's assumed 

 powers I entirely fail to appreciate. Next came the man concoming 

 whom some letters appeared in the Stunclard. He is there stated 

 by the Maj'or of Newcastle to have " been suffering for some time 

 from acute rheumatism, and scarcely able to get off a chair." The 

 man himself stated that he had bronchitis most winters, more or 

 less, and in summer had rheumatism also. Uo had been to Buxton 

 in September, had not been out of his house for two months. Ue 

 said he could have gone with his stick, but was afraid. Ue believed 

 he would be healed ; he went to the meeting, lost his fear, and, no 



