May 1, 1898.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



99 



peculiar tickling sensation, some plaster detached from the 

 ceiling fell upon his head, and an explosion occurred 

 which did not resemble the sound of thunder. 



A case is recorded in Mr. Symons' Mctconilociicul 

 Matjazine for 1883 as having occurred on July 28th, about 

 6 p.m., in the printing office of Mr. Burt, Mount Washing- 

 ton, New Hampshire, U.S. Mr. Burt says: — " I saw a 

 ball of fire as large as a man's head in front of me, not 

 three feet off. It exploded with a tremendous noise, my 

 left leg seemed to be completely paralysed, and I fell to the 

 floor. Three of my printers were in the room at the time, 

 two sitting at the table near me, and one standing up a 

 little farther off. The latter had the skin of one hand torn, 

 another was hit in the back, and the third escaped without 

 injury." A tree-like mark was found on Mr. Burt's back, 

 a not unusual figure impressed by the fiery hand of the 

 meteor. 



In conclusion, it will be seen that notwithstanding the 

 mistakes made in the cyclopaedias already referred to, it is 

 quite possible to distinguish low-lying meteors as consisting of 

 marsh-gas or of phosphuretted hydrogen, which are now 

 of rare occurrence for reasons already given, while those of 

 the third class, due to electricity, are of frequent occurrence, 

 and will always continue to be observed. 



THE FACE OF THE SKY FOR MAY. 



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



SUNSPOTS are as prevalent as ever, some even having 

 been visible lately to the naked eye. Conveniently 

 observable minima of the Algol type variable 

 8 Librae occur at lOh. 4m. p.m. on the 2nd ; at 

 9h. 37m. P.M. on the 9th ; at 9h. 12m. p.m. on the 

 16th ; at 8h. 46m. p.m. on the 23rd ; and at Bh. 20m. p.m. 

 on the 80th. 



Only two of the major planets are observable this month, 

 Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Neptune being, for 

 the purposes of the amateur, quite invisible. 



Saturn is an evening star, and is well situated for 

 observation. He rises on the 1st at 3h. 48m. p.m., with a 

 southern declination of 0' 22|',and an apparent equatorial 

 diameter of 18-6" (the major axis of the ring system being 

 43" in diameter, and the minor 4|"). On the 15th he 

 rises at 2h. 50m. p.m., with a southern declination of 0° 9', 

 and an apparent equatorial diameter of 18^" (the major 

 axis of the ring system being 42;^" in diameter, and the 

 minor 4-6"). On the Blst he rises at Ih. 48m. p.m., with 

 a southern declination of 0' 2|', and an apparent equatorial 

 diameter of 17f" (the major axis of the ring system being 

 41" in diameter, and the minor 4-4"). He is occulted by 

 the Moon on the 25th, but the phenomenon will only be 

 visible in the southern hemisphere. lapetus is in superior 

 conjunction on the 8rd ; Rhea at inferior conjunction at 

 10-5h. p.m. on the 4th ; Titan at greatest eastern elonga- 

 tion at 0-8h. A.M. on the 18th ; Rhea at inferior con- 

 junction at ll-3h. p.m. the same evening ; Rhea at 

 inferior conjunction about midnight on the 22nd; lapetus 

 at greatest eastern elongation at llh. p.m. on the 23rd ; 

 Titan at greatest eastern elongation at ir4h. p.m. on 

 the 28th. A map of the path of Saturn during May will 

 be found in the " Face of the Sky " for March. 



Uranus is an evening star, and but for his southern 

 declination would be excellently situated for observation. 

 He rises on the 1st at 6h. 50m. p.m., with a southern 

 declination of 13° 56', and an apparent diameter of 3-8", 

 the apparent star magnitude of the planet being 5-5 in the 

 photometric scale. On the 31st he rises at 4h. 49m. p.m.. 



with a southern declination of 13° 84'. A map of his path 

 during May will be found in the " Face of the Sky" for 

 April. 



There are no well-marked showers of shooting stars in 

 May. 



The Moon enters her last quarter at 2h. 24m. a.m. on 

 the 9th ; is new at lOh. 47m. p.m. on the 15th ; enters her 

 first quarter at 2h. 52m. p.m. on the 22nd; and is full at 

 8h. 23m. p.m. on the 30th. She is in apogee at 6h. a.m. 

 on the 3rd (distance from the earth 252,430 miles) ; in 

 perigee at 7h. a.m. on the 16th (distance from the earth 

 222,090 miles), and in apogee again at 8h. a.m. on the 

 30th (distance from the earth 252,500 miles). 



a^tM atolutan. 



By 0. D. LooooK, B.A.Oxon. 



All communications for this column should be addressed 

 to the " Chess Editor, Knowledge Office," ani posted before 

 the lOtb of each month. 



Solution of April Problem (A. G. Fellows) : — 



Key-move : 1. R to K8. 

 If 1. ... Kt moves, 2. QxPch, &c. 

 n 1. . . . K to Q5, 2. Q to Ktsqch, &c. 

 If 1. . . . PtoB5, 2. PxPch, &c. 

 If 1. ... P to K5, 2. BxPch, &c. 



Correct Solutions received from H. S. Brandreth, 

 Alpha. Additional solution of March problem from J. E. 

 Gore. 



Alpha. — After the key-move which you sent to the 

 March problem, there was no mate if Black replied 

 1. . . . Q xPch. Hence the assumption that you " over- 

 looked the check." 



H. hi. S. — Too late to reply to last month. (1) The 

 address is: Mr. J. E. Whincop, 23, West Hillary Street, 

 Leeds. Price 3s. 2d. post free. The "men" appear 

 to be sUps of ivory. (2) Either Gossip's " Theory of 

 the Chess Openings," or Freeborough and Eankens' 

 " Chess Openings, Ancient and Modern," of which a 

 new edition is in the press. Both works are published 

 at six or seven shillings. There are also two excellent 

 shilling handbooks by J. Mortimer and G. H. D. Gossip 

 respectively. 



Adelaide Observer. — Received with thanks. 



PROBLEM. 



By G. K. Ansell. 



BliACE. 



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White to play, and mate in two moves. 



