118 



KNOWLEDGE 



[May 1, 1896. 



been proposed. That Kiulur-lakhgumal, King of Elain, is 

 the enemy, not the ally, of the King of Baliylouia, is 

 probably clue to a change in the feelings anil policy of the 

 two rulers, and presents no dilliculty, as far as our 



Fit;, 2. — Babylonian Talilct.' Kovcrse. 



knowledge at present goes. In whatever manner, however, 

 time may compel the student to regard the events these 

 tablets refer to, there can be no doubt as to their real 

 importance. The absence of any reference to an expedition 

 to the valley of the Jordan is probably due to the mutilation 

 of these clay records (one baked, perhaps by the Arabs 

 who found it, and the other two unbaked), but may be due 

 to the fact that they are written exclusively from a Baby- 

 lonian point of view. They testify, as do other texts, 

 Babylonian and Hebrew, to the power of Elam at a period 

 which Babylonian chronology fixes at rather more than 

 four thousand years ago. 



THE FACE OF THE SKY FOR MAY. 



By Herbert Sadler, F.R.A.S. 



SUNSPOTS and facuJae are still diminishing in 

 number and size. 

 ]\Iercury is favourably situated for observation 

 during May, being at its greatest eastern elonga- 

 tion (22°) on the 16th. On the 1st he sets at 

 8h. 54m. P.M., or Ih. 30m. after the Sun, with a northern 

 decUnation of 20° 59', and an apparent diameter of 5f", 

 ^ths of the disc being illuminated. On the 5th he sets 

 at 9h. 21m. p.m., Ih. 54m. after the Sun, with a northern 

 declination of 22 59', and an apparent diameter of GJ", 

 ^5^ths of the disc being illuminated. On the 10th he sets 

 at 9h. 4Gm. p.m., or 2h. 10m. after the Sun, with a 

 northern declination of 24° 32', and an apparent diameter 

 of 7 0", -i^V^lis of the disc being illuminated. On the 15th 

 he sets at 9h. 57m. p.m., or two hours and a quarter after 

 the Sun, with a northern declination of 25° 11', and an 

 apparent diameter of 7f", y*xjthii of the disc being illumi- 



nated. On the 20th he sets at 9h. 56m. p.m., or 2h. Gm. after 

 the Sun, with a northern declination of 25 ' 3', and an appa- 

 rent diameter of 8^'", -,'■,>', '^8 of the disc being illuminated. 

 On the 25th he sets at !lh. 4'irii. p.m., or one hour and three- 

 quarters after the Sun, with a northern 

 declination of 24° 19', and an apparent 

 diameter of IQ-O", .'.'.ths of the disc 

 being illuminated. On the 30th he sets 

 at 9li. IGin. p.m., or one and a quarter 

 hours after the Sun, with a northern 

 declination of 23" 8', and an apparent 

 diameter of ll'O", f^'„th of the disc being 

 illuniiuated. He is at his briglitcst about 

 the 2nd of the mouth. During May he 

 pursues a direct path through nearly the 

 whole of Taurus, being about 2' south 

 of the Pleiades on the evening of the 

 2nd. 



Venus is too near the Sun to be 

 observed, and Mars is, for the purposes 

 of the amateur, invisible. 



.Tupiter is still a conspicuous object in 

 the evening sky, but is rapidly nearing 

 the west. On the 1st he sets at Ih. 35m. 

 A.M., with a northern declination of 20° 35', 

 and an apparent equatorial diameter of 

 37"0", the phase on the /' limb amounting 

 to ',". On the 10th he sets at Ih. a.m., 

 with a northern declination of 20° 20', 

 and an apparent equatorial diameter of 

 3G1". On the 20th he sets at Oh. 2Gm. 

 A.M., with a northern declination of 

 20° 1', and an apparent equatorial 

 diameter of 85f' . On the 30th he 

 sets at llh. 45m. p.m., with a northern declination of 

 19° 89', and an apparent equatorial diameter of 34 i''. 

 During the month he describes a direct path in Cancer, 

 being rather more than 1° south of the 5\ magnitude star 

 /; Cancri on the 23rd. The following phenomena of the 

 satellites occur while the Sun is more than 8° below and 

 the planet 8° above the horizon: — On the 1st an occultation 

 disappearance of the second satellite at 9h. 28iii. p.m. ; an 

 eclipse reappearance of the third satellite at llh. 42m. 4Gs. 

 P.M. On the 2nd an occultation disappearance of the first 

 satellite at 9h. 50m. p.m. On the 3rd a transit egress of 

 the shadow of the second satellite and a transit egress of 

 the first satellite at 9h. 26m. p.m. ; a transit egress of the 

 shadow of the first satellite at lOh. 42m. p.m. On the 8th 

 a transit ingress of the shadow of the foui-th satelUte at 

 lOh. 5m. P.M., an occultation reappearance of the third 

 satellite at lOh. 45m. p.m. On the 9th an occultation 

 disappearance of the first satellite at llh. 47m. p.m. On 

 the 10th a transit ingress of the first satellite at 9h. 8m. 

 P.M. ; a transit ingress of the shadow of the second satellite 

 at 9h. 7m. p.m. ; a transit egress of the second satellite at 

 9h. 88m. p.m. ; a transit ingress of the shadow of the first 

 satellite at lOh. 16m. p.m ; a transit egress of the first 

 satellite at llh. 23m. p.m. On the 11th an ecUpse re- 

 appearance of the first satellite at 9h. 48m. 143. p.m. On 

 the ISth an occultation disappearance of the third satellite 

 at llh. 16m. p.m. On the 16th an occultation disappearance 

 of the fourth satelhte at 8h. 43m. p.m. On the 17th a 

 transit ingress of the second satellite at 9h. 26m. p.m. ; a 

 transit ingress of the first satellite at llh. Im. p.m. On 

 the 19th a transit egress of the shadow of the first satellite 

 at yh. P.M. ; an eclipse reappearance of the second 

 satellite at 9h. 16m. 55s. p.m. ; a transit egress of the 

 shadow of the third satellite at 9h. 50m. p.m. On the 

 25th an occultation disappearance of the first satellite at 



