NA TURE 



[Nov. 6, i J 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN 



Barnard's Comet. — The following ephemeris of this comet 



for Greenwich midnight is deduced from the elliptical elements 



of Dr. Berberich, of Strasburg, which assign a revolution of 



5i years : — 



„„ R.A. N.P.D. Log. distance from 



lSb4 h. m. s. . , Earth Sun 



Nov. 6 ... 22 5 32 ... 101 27-8 ... 0-0041 ... 0-1985 

 8 ... — to 28 ... 100 50-3 ... o'Oi47 

 10 ... — 15 20 ... 100 13-3 ... 0-0253 ... 0-2054 

 12 ... — 20 8 ... 99 36-8 ... 0x1358 

 14 ... — 24 51 ... 99 07 ... 0-0463 ... 0-2122 

 16 ... — 29 30 ... 98 25-2 ... 0-0567 

 ■ 18 ... — 34 6 ... 97 501 ... 0-0670 ... 0-2191 

 20 ... — 3S 3S ... 97 15-5 ... 0-0772 

 22 ... 22 43 7 ... 96 41-4 ... 0-0874 •■• 0-2259 

 The theoretical intensity of light on November 6 is 0-39, and on 

 November 22, C24. As previously remarked, it is very desir- 

 able that observations of this comet for position should be con- 

 tinued as long as practicable, that its mean motion may be deter- 

 mined with sufficient precision to enable a trustworthy estimate 

 of past planetary perturbations to be obtained. The general 

 resemblance of the elements to those of the short-period comet 

 of De Vico in 1844 will render such an investigation one of 

 much interest. 



The November Meteors.— The earth arrives at the de- 

 scending node of the first comet of 1866 on the afternoon of 

 Thursday, November 13, and a watch may be favourably insti- 

 tuted on the night of that day for meteors of the stream which 

 appears to lie in the comet's track. Oppolzer's definitive 

 elements give for the radiant point, R.A. i5o 0, 2, N.P.D. 67^-2 

 (equinox of 1866). 



The Lick Observatory, California.— The following is 

 an extract of a letter from Prof. Edward S. Holden, Director of the 

 Washburn Observatory, University of Wisconsin, dated October 

 17 :—" I have just returned from the Lick Observatory, where 

 I have mounted a beautiful meridian-circle by Repsold of 6 

 (French) inches aperture, ft has north and south collimators of 

 the same aperture, and its axis is a telescope of 2-5 inches aper- 

 ture, which is viewed by an east (or west) collimator for con- 

 trolling the azimuth, &c. There are two circles, each divided 

 to 2', one fixed, the other movable by a wheel and pinion, so 

 that it is not essential to determine the division errors of any 

 lines except those for each 1°, and those 2' lines belonging to 

 4 degrees, 90° apart. The room is double throughout, a wooden 

 building 40 X 4° feet inside of a structure in louvre-work, which 

 gives a continuous air space all around ; and this air space is 

 connected with a tall ventilating tower which enables the free 

 circulation of air to be maintained. It appears to me to be in 

 all respects satisfactory. The Lick Observatory now needs only 

 its 36-inch refractor to be complete, and they hope for this 

 within three years." 



It will be remembered that this Observatory is situate on the 

 top of Mount Hamilton. 



Variable Star in the Orion-Nebula.— The late Prof. 

 Schmidt found that the star which he distinguishes as J" 

 (Bond 822 = Liapunov y), which follou s 6 Orionis 34 -3s., and 

 5' 5" to the south of it, disappeared at minimum in his 5-feet 

 refractor, and at maximum reached 9-5111. On April 3, iSyS, it 

 timated 12-8, equal to Bond 7S4, but before the end of 

 the month it ro^e to 9-7. The star may deserve frequenl 

 observation. 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

 The Rev. Francis A. Allen has issued a reprint of the paper 

 read by him at the late Congress of Americanists in Copen- 

 hagen on Polyne-ian antiquities. The stupendous Cyclopean 

 monuments, platforms, terraces, walls, colossal statues, scat- 

 tered over the South Sea Islands are graphically described, and 

 regarded as forming a connecting link between the ancient 

 civilisations of Asia and America. The theory is that America 

 was mainly peopled by two streams of migration from Asia — a 

 nomad Mongolic, proceeding directly by the Straits of Behring, 

 anil now represented by the Apaches, Utes, Comanches, and 

 other wild tribes of California, Oregon, Colorado, &c. ; and a 

 semi-civilised, proceeding from Further India and China across 

 'he islands of the Pacific Ocean to Mexico, Ccnbal America, 



and reru. On their way across the archipelagoes these peoples 

 left traces of their presence in Micronesia, Hawaii, Tahiti, and 

 especially Easter Island, the last-named distant only some 2600 

 miles from the mainland of South America. The resemblances 

 between these monuments and those of Peru and Mexico 

 are dwelt upon, and they are further compared with those 

 of Java (Boro-Boro), Cambodia (Angkor-Vaht), and others 

 in Southern Asia. The theory, which is not altogether 

 novel, is supported by other arguments based on con- 

 siderations of traditions, usages, religions, languages, and the 

 like, brought together from various sources not always of a 

 trustworthy character. It is suggested that the Chinese tradition 

 of the discoveiy of Fusang by the monk Hoen-Shin may not be 

 altogether an idle tale. Allusion is made to Schoolcraft's 

 exploded legend of Hiawatha ; and some more than doubtful 

 authorities are referred to in proof of the affinities between the 

 American languages and those of Japan, North-East Siberia, 

 and Indo-China. Nevertheless, if not always critical, the paper 

 is learned and lucid, and worth reprinting, if only for the great 

 number of data here brought together as bearing directly or 

 indirectly on the point at issue. 



Herk von Haardt contributes an instructive memoir to the 

 last number of the Proceedings of the Vienna Geographical 

 Society on the services rendered to the progress of the geo- 

 graphical sciences by the Austrian navy. A brief historical 

 survey is given of the famous Nonara Expedition round the 

 world (1S57-59) ; of the survey of the Adriatic coastlands by 

 Capt. T. Ritter (1871) ; the simultaneous determination of the 

 magnetic relations in the same waters by Lieut. J. Schellander ; 

 the expedition of the Friedrich and Donau to the East Asiatic 

 seaboard (1868) ; the second voyage of the Donau to Asia and 

 South America (1874-76) ; the circumnavigation of Borneo by 

 Capt. T. F. von Oesterreicher ; the circumnavigation of Africa 

 by the Helgoland and Friedrich (1874-75) ; the voyages of the 

 Pola to Jan Mayen and the Arctic Ocean (18S2-S3) ; Wey- 

 precht's discovery of Franz-Josef Land, &c. The memoir con- 

 cludes with a brief reference to the expeditions now in progress 

 or promised in the near future, such as that of the Saida 

 to Australasia (18S4-86) ; of the Aurora to South America 

 (1SS4-85) ; of the Helgoland to the West African seaboard, and 

 of the Frundiberg to the Indian Ocean. 



The same periodical contains the first part of what promises 

 to be a very valuable contribution to the physiography of Cau- 

 casia. Much useful information is here brought together from 

 the latest sources regarding the orography, river systems, ad- 

 ministrative divisions, and statistics of that region. The present 

 area of the northern section (Cis-Caucasia) is given at 4037 

 German geographical square miles, of the southern (Trans- 

 Caucasia), 4400 ; total, 8437, or 2740 more than that of the 

 British Isles. 



To this journal F. Blumentritt also sends an account of the 

 little-known Negrito tribes of the district of Principe in the 

 Island of Luzon, Philippine Archipelago. These a lorigines, 

 collectively known as Atas (Aetas), and -howing distinct physical 

 resemblances to the non-Malay wild tribes of Malacca, are being 

 gradually evangelised by the Spanish missionaries stationed at 

 Haler. Hemmed in between the semi-civilised Taga'as and the 

 fierce Ilongotes, both of mixed Malay stock and speech, they 

 have already been largely affected by Malay influences. But 

 although their language contains numerous Tagala words, ex- 

 pressions, and even grammatical forms, its fundamentally distinct 

 character has been clearly determined. For the purpose of com- 

 parison useful vocabularies of about 150 words are app 

 five languages: Spanish, Tagala, Negrito of Mariveles (Bataan), 

 Negrito of Zambales, and Negrito of Baler (Principe). 



At the opening meeting of the Royal Geographical Society 

 on Monday, Mr. Joseph Thomson gave an eloquent and highly 

 interesting account of his recent explorations in the country of the 

 Masai. Both the country and the people are of the greatest 

 interest to science, and, as was shown last week, Mr. Thomson's 

 botanical collections are decidedly novel. One or two zoological 

 novelties he has also obtained, and we shall be glad to have the 

 detailed account of his discoveries, which will appear in his 

 forthcoming work. 



It appears from the Anglo-New Zealand^ and Australian 



Times that Mr. II. O. Forbes, F. R.G. S., is organUing a scien- 



dition with the view of exploring the botany and 



zoology of the Mount Owen Stanley Mountains, the great cen- 



