6l2 



NA TURE 



{April 30, 1885 



of observations, draws a conclusion contrary to the current belief 

 — viz. that a mild summer follows a mild winter. He studied 

 the warm summers of Berlin from the year 17 19 in one particular 

 aspect — that is to say, with special reference to the succeeding 

 winters. He regards that summer as warm when the tempera- 

 ture in June, July, August, and September, or at least in three 

 of those months, is above the normal. Fifty-two such summers 

 occurred between 1719 and 1885. Unfortunately there were 

 certain gaps in the observations which could not be filled up ; 

 but there was no break in the observations between 1755 and 

 the present, in all 130 years of uninterrupted observation. 

 During this period there were 45 warm summers, or a propor- 

 tion of I : 2'S9. But, as in the case of mild winters, there was 

 no periodicity of three years. Thus after the hot summer of 

 1763 there was not another for 12 years, and at the beginning 

 of the present century there were 19 successive years (1799-1817) 

 without a single hot summer. But in the case of the summers, 

 as in that of the winters, a certain grouping is observable. In 

 the 52 warm summers, in 31 cases 2 hot summers followed each 

 other in succession, ' ' so that one may wager 596 to 404 that one 

 hot summer will be succeeded by a second." The influence of 

 a hot summer on the succeeding autumn and winter (October to 

 February) is that of these months 2 '82 were too warm. For the 

 individual months, with the exception of November, the proba- 

 bilities are about equal. Given a summer with July, August, 

 and September hot, and a cold January, a warm December and 

 February may be expected. As a general rule two warm winter 

 months may be expected after a hot summer. But warm 

 summers differ : they do not last the same length of time, they 

 have not the same intensity ; and these variations exercise an 

 important influence on the succeeding winter months. The 

 author then discusses the cold winters of Berlin and the respective 

 probabilities of the succeeding months being cold. The results 

 of the whole investigation he sums up in three propositions 



arranged and stated as follows: — (1) A ) moc era e y \ mild 



very 

 cool 



-) 



winter will most probably be succeeded by a j : 



( hot 



(2) A j moderately | hot 



(. very J 



, , , I miderately mild ) 



ceeded by a - — — -, f— 



( cold J 



summer will most probably be suc- 



(3) A 



1 line 1 



moderately | 

 very J 



cold winter will most probably be succeeded by a j C — I 



i cold 1 

 summer. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Suricate (Suricata tetradactyla) from South 

 Africa, presented by Miss F. M. Savill ; two Common Badgers 

 (Meles taxus), British, presented by Lord Willoughby de Broke ; 

 a Common Marmoset (Ilapale jacchus) from Brazil, presented by 

 Miss Henderson ; a Cereopsis Goose {Cereopsis nova-hollandia), 

 a Black Swan (Cygnus atratus) from Australia, presented by 

 Mr. F. L. Frodsham ; a Mealy Amazon (Chiysotis fariiiosa) 

 from South America, presented by Mr. W. Hodder ; two Alli- 

 gators {Alligator mississippiensis) from the Mississippi, presented 

 by Mr. Charles Ridley; an Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) 

 from the Mississippi, presented by Miss Heimlicher ; a Red- 

 tailed Amazon (Chrysotis erytarura) from Brazil, three Upland 

 Geese (Bernicla magdlanica 6 6 6 ) from the Falkland Islands, 

 three Wigeons (Mareea penelop; 6 6 6), European, purchased. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN 

 Occultation OF Aldeijaran on May. 15. — The ephemer- 

 ides do not take cognisance of occultations of the brighter stars, 

 when near to the sun's place, nor indeed, as a rule, of occulta- 

 tions generally which occur whilst the sun is above the horizon 

 of the place to which the calculations are adapted. In the 



Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society for March, 

 1868, is a note communicated by Mr. R. S. Newall, drawing 

 attention to an occultation of Aldebaran on May 22 in that 

 year, when the star was little more than 8° distant from the 

 sun, and suggesting that observation would be possible with a 

 good equatorial, and, at any rate, would be worth trying, merely 

 as a matter of curiosity. It does not appear from the succeed- 

 ing numbers of the Monthly Notices that the occultation in 

 question was anywhere observed, but on May 15 in the present 

 year one of the same star will take place when its distance 

 from the sun is 14^°, and >ome observers may be inclined to 

 make an attempt to record the phenomenon. At the Royal 

 Observatory, Greenwich, the star escapes occultation ; in the 

 north of England and in Scotland the times for the various 

 observatories are as follow : — 



Liverpool 



Stonyhurst 



Glasgow 



Edinburgh 



Dunecht 



At Dublin the star disappears at 2h. 46"2m. G.M.T., and 

 reappears at 3I1. i"om. ; angles 19° and 354° respectively, 

 counted as usual in the Nautical Almanac. 



Variable Stars. — (1) Dr. Gould, in the Uranometria 

 Argentina, enters into some detail with respect to the relative 

 magnitudes of the bright stars in Corvus, to the discrepancies in 

 estimating which Argelander first directed attention in vol. vii. 

 of the " Bonn Observations." It was considered that the 

 Cordoba observations "served to remove all doubt as to the 

 variability, within moderate limits, of all four of these stars, 

 thus explaining the apparently contradictory nature of previous 

 observations." On the other hand, Mr. E. F. Sawyer, of 

 Cambridgeport, Mass., says he carefully observed the bright 

 stars of Corvus during the years 1882-84, ar >d found that " /3 is 

 certainly variable by nearly one magnitude, but that the other 

 stars appear to be sensibly constant," and he thinks the whole 

 difficulty is thus solved. From Dr. Gould's remarks, however, 

 there is room for doubt on this point. 



(2) A minimum of R Leonis may be expected about May 26. 

 The observations from 1840 to 1883 afford indications of the 

 existence of a perturbation in the period. 



The Double-Star 7 Equulei. — The duplicity of this star 

 vvas detected by Mr. G. Knott in 1867 ; his measures in that 

 year give for 1867543, position 276 0- 84, distance 2"'I3I. For 

 the epoch 1877728 Mr. Burnham found the position 274° - 5, 

 distance 2"'i6. The annual proper motion of the principal 

 star appears to be -I- 0'0027s. in right ascension, and - o"'i69 

 in declination, and if Mr, Knott's measures of 1S67 are reduced 

 to Mr. Burnham's epoch, with these values, they become — 



Position 3o8° - o — Distance 3"'2o, 

 differing so widely from the Chicago results as to be strongly 

 indicative of the binary character of the object. 



ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA FOR THE 

 WEEK, 18S5, MAY 3-9 



(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 May 3 

 Sun rises, 4h. 30m. ; souths, nh. 56m. 42-05. ; sets, 19I1. 24m. ; 



deck on meridian, 15° 48' N. : Sidereal Time at Sunset, 



ioh. 11m. 

 Moon (at Last Quarter on May 7) rises, 22h. 32m.* ; souths, 



3h. om. ; sets, 7I1. 27m. ; deck on meridian, 18 17' S. 



Planet Rises Souths Sets Decl. on meridian 



Mercury ... 4 17 



Venus ... 4 33 



Mars ... 3 59 



Jupiter ... 11 50 



Saturn ... 6 32 



n 25 



11 56 



10 51 



19 7 



14 39 



* Indicates that the rising is that of the pn 

 the following day. 



18 32 ... 12 28 N. 



19 19 ... 14 58 N. 

 17 43 ... 9 27 N. 



2 24* ... 13 56 N. 

 22 46 ... 22 11 N. 



eding and the setting that of 



