March 12, 1885] 



NATURE 



44J 



FraDklin, U.S.X.. Superintendent of the Observatory at Wash- 

 ington, issued a programme of work which it was proposed to 

 undertake in that establishment during the present year. With 

 the great equatorial, measures of a selected list of double stars, 

 showing rapid motion or other peculiarity, are to be continued ; 

 the conjunctions of the inner satellites of Saturn will be observed, 

 and a complete microrhetrical measurement of the I 

 cuted ; observations which have been commenced for stellar 

 parallax will be finished. The Transit Circle is to be employed 

 on observations of the sun, moon, and larger planets, the latter 

 being observed from fifteen to twenty times near opposition, and 

 in addition each minor planet will be observed at least five 

 times, if practicable, near opposition. The 9/6-inch equatorial 

 will be utilised for observations of all the minor planets whose 

 brightness at opposition is greater than their mean bri 

 for positions of comets, and for occultations. The prime-vertical 

 transit instrument is to be used in observing a selected list of 

 stars, in conjunction with the Royal Observatory at Lisbon, in 

 pursuance of a plan recommended by the International Geodetic 

 Association, for the determination of variability of latitude. 

 With the mural circle observations will be made of stars don n 

 to the seventh magnitude, south of 10° north declination, the 

 positions of which have not been recently determined at any 

 northern observatory, the observatory list including stars in 

 Gould's Uranomctria Argentina not found in Varnall's catalogue, 

 the transit circle list of B.A.C. stars, or the recent catalogue 

 of the Glasgow Observatory. These principal items in the 

 programme prove that it is not intended that the Naval 

 Observatory shall fall short of its usual activity during the year 



ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA FOR THE 



WEEK, 1S85, MARCH 15-21 

 (For the reckoning of time the civil day, commencing at 

 Greenwich mean midnight, counting the hours on to 24, is here 

 employed. ) 



At Greenwich on March 15 

 Sun rises, 6h. 16m. ; souths, 12'n. Sm. 58' is. ; sets, iSh. 3m. ; 

 decl. on meridian, i° 57' S. : Sidereal Time at Sunset, 

 5I1. 37m. 

 Mood (New on March 16) rises, 5I1. 34m. ; souths, nh. 9m. ; 

 sets, i6h. 52m. ; decl. on meridian, 5 51' S. 



Planet 



Mercury ... 



Venus 

 Mars 



Jupiter ... 

 Saturn 



Rises 



Souths 



Sets 



6 25 ... 12 17 ... 18 9 ... 



6 2 ... n 23 .. 16 45 .. 



... 6 10 ... 11 45 ... 17 20 ... 



... 15 14 ... 22 27 ... 5 40* .. 



... 9 30 ... 17 34 ... 1 3S* ... 



Indicates that the setting is that of th 



Occultations of Stars by the Moon 



Mag. 



Disap. 



Reap. 



Decl. on Meridian 

 2 29 S. 



S 17 S. 



5 34 S. 

 13 24 X. 

 21 44 X. 



Corresponding 

 n mver- 



ht for 

 inverted image 



... B.A.C. 481 



... B.A.C. 1 35 1 



... 75 Tauri . . . 



... B.A.C. 1391 



... Aldebaran ... I 



t Occurs on the following day ; 



.. 6i 



.. 6 



•• 5 



IS 5S ... 

 18 30 - 

 20 37 



19 54 

 18 58 

 21 34 



22 o near approach 43 — 



23 43 ... o 32T... 128 305 

 is below horizon at Greenwich. 



• 153 314 



• 193 242 

 336 



March 

 '5 



Phenomena of fttf iter's Satellites 

 March h. m. 



I 21 II. occ. disap, 



5 22 II. eel. reap. 



18 31 I. tr. egr. 



19 28 II. tr. ing. 

 22 24 II. tr. egr. 

 18 40 II. eel. reap. 



5 4 I. tr. ing. 



... 2 12 I. occ. disap. 



5 9 '. eel. reap. 



22 24 III. tr. ing. 



23 31 I. tr. ing. 

 ... I 51 I. tr. egr. 



2 2 III. tr. egr. 



20 38 I. 01 



23 37 I- e/l- reap. 



The Occultations of Stars and Phenomena of Jupiter's Satellites are such 



are visible at Greenwich. 



March 

 15 



19 ... Venus in conjunction with and 3' 32' south 

 of the Moon. 

 6 ... Mars in conjunction with and 2' 32' south 

 of the Mood. 



March h. 



16 ... Annular eclipse of Sun ; not visible in 



England. In Ireland the commencement 

 of the eclipse may be seen, the sun setting 

 very shortly afterwards. 



17 ■■• t ■•■ Mercury in conjunction with and 1° 37' south 



of the Moon. 

 20 Sun in equator. 



GEOGRAPHTCAL NOTES 

 The Australian journals which have arrived by the last mail 

 contain full reports of the four days' conference of the Geo- 

 graphical Society of Australasia at Melbourne. Gen. Sir I dward 

 Strickland was elected President, and Baron F. von Muller, 

 Vice-President. The first resolution proposed that the term 

 " Australasia " should be strictly defined. The expression was 

 first used by Mr. Wallace, but it appears to have already had 

 various inconsistent meanings applied to it. The proposer 

 suggested that the following definition would serve all purposes : 

 Australasia is that part of Oceania of which Australia is the 

 geographical, commercial, and political centre. Limits : on 

 the west and part of the north the 100° of longitude ; east, to 

 the point of its intersection with the 20° south latitude, thence 

 by a line running in approximate parallelism to the western and 

 northern coast of Xew Guinea, and around its north-western 

 extremity to the equator ; thence on the north, by the equator, 

 to its intersection with the 120° of longitude west, and on the 

 east by the 120° to the south pole, including groups of islands on 

 the equatorial line. The question was ultimately referred to a 

 strong committee. The next resolution affirmed the desirability 

 of a scientific exploration of New T Guinea under the auspices 

 of the Society. A corollary calling on the Government to define 

 the boundaries of the British possessions in that island was re- 

 jected in favour of one for complete annexation. The compila- 

 tion of standard works on the geography of Australasia, as well 

 as of school maps, was also discussed. After much discussion 

 it was decided that the consideration of the aptest means for 

 if the fate of Leichhardt and his party should be left 

 to the Colonial Councils of the Society, with a suggestion that 

 a circular should be addressed to pastoral tenants in Western 

 Queensland and Central Australia, requesting information on 

 the subject. The formation of geographical societies, and their 

 affiliation with the central body, in South Australia, Queensland, 

 Western Australia, Xew Zealand, and Tasmania was also 

 recommended. The next Conference will meet at Sydney. 



At the meeting of the Geographical Society of Paris on 

 February 20 a communication was read from Dr. Gustave Le 

 Bon, the author of a work on Arab civilisation, who is at present 

 travelling in Xepaul. For the purpose of measuring the ancient 

 monuments of various native states he has employed certain new 

 instruments, which he will explain to the Society on his return 

 a few months hence. X T epaul is closed to Europeans, and Dr. 

 Le Bon is said to have been the first who has been permitted to 

 travel through it. — M. de Lavigne spoke on the French law 

 protecting cartographers from piracy, which he held to be ample. 

 A method of discovering counterfeits, adopted by certain French, 

 cartographers, is said to be the insertion of some street, town, 

 or place with an imaginary name. — M. Pinart described a 

 journey which he made in Chiriqui, in Panama, to study the 

 manners, language, and monuments of the inhabitants. — M. 

 Potel discussed the present situation of French trade in the 

 River Plate. 



From Science we learn that several expeditions to Alaska are 

 projected during the coming season. Gen. Miles, commanding 

 the military district of which the territory forms a part, desires 

 to acquire a knowledge of the unexplored region between the 

 head of Cook's Inlet and the Tananah watershed. n he course 

 of the Tananah is likewise unmapped, except from hearsay, 

 though often traversed by traders in the last fifteen years; so 

 that the opportunity exists here for a fruitful expedition. It is 

 hoped that arrangements may be practicable by which Lieut. 

 Ray, well known for his successful direction of the Point- 

 v party, may be able to command such an exploration. 

 The plan contemplates work either from the Yukon as a base, 

 with a steam-launch and a small party, ascending in June and July, 

 and returning before navigation closes, or an expedition by way of 

 Inlet, miking the portage to the Tananah, and then de- 

 scending ; but a final decision is not yet reached. The party under 

 Lieut. Abercrombie did not succeed in obtaining native assistance, 



