June 5, 1884] 



NA TURE 



131 



North India, presented by Lieut. E. A. P. Hobday ; three 

 Bla:k-eared Marmosets (Hapale penicillata i $ S ) from South- 

 East Brazil, presented by Mr. H. F. Makins, F.Z.S. ; a Purple- 

 faced Monkey (Scmnopithecns leucoprymnus 9 ) from Ceylon, 

 presented by Mr. J. W. Dring ; a Common Heron (Ardca 

 cinered), British, presented by Mr. T. E. Gunn ; a Leach's 

 Laughing Kingfisher (Dacelo leachi) [from Queensland, pre- 

 sented by Dr. Carl Lumholtz ; a Laughing Kingfisher 

 (Dacelo gigantea) from Australia, presented by Mr. E. 

 R. Oliver ; a Great Grey Shrike (Loniits excubitor), British, 

 presented by Mr. J. Pratt, F.Z.S. , ; a Spotted Bower 

 Bird (Chlamydodera maculatd) from Australia, presented by 

 Lieut.-Col. W. Hill James; four River Frogs (Rana fortis) 

 from Germany, presented by Mr. G. A. Boulenger, F.Z.S., 

 a Green Turtle (Chelone viridis) from West Indies, presented 

 by Mr. J, Wyan Thomas ; a Tarantula Spider from Brazil, pre- 

 sented by Mr. C. A. Craven, C.M.Z.S. ; a Common Boa (Boa con- 

 strictor) from South America, deposited ; a Chimpanzee (An.th.ro~ 

 popithecus troglodytes ? ), a Bosnian's Potto (Perodicticus potto £ ) 

 from West Africa, a Duyker-bok (Cephalophus mergens 9 ) from 

 South Africa, a Ring-tailed Coati (Nasua rufa) from South 

 America, two Blood-stained Finches (Carpodacus hcemorrhous) 

 from Mexico, a Snow Bunting (Plettrophancs nivalis), North 

 European ; an Angola Vulture (Gypohierax angolensis) from 

 West Africa, a Guatemalan Amazon (Chrysotis guatemalce) from 

 Central America, four Elegant Grass Parrakeets (Enphcma 

 elegans) from South Australia, two Wild Ducks (Anas boschas), 

 two Call Ducks (Anas boschas, var.), two Common Wigeon 

 (Mareca penelope), two Common Pintails (Dafila acuta), six 

 Common Teal (Querquedula crecca), two Muscovy Ducks 

 Coirina moschata), European, two Mandarin Ducks (s£x galcri- 

 culata) from China, purchased ; a Common Wombat (Phosco- 

 lomys wombat) from Tasmania, received in exchange. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN 

 The Total Solar Eclitse of 1SS9, January i. — The 

 general circumstances of most of the total eclipses of the sun 

 more or less available for physical observations before the close 

 of the present century have been already described in this 

 column : it remains, however, to make reference to that which 

 will take place on January I, 1SS9, and which will be total in 

 the western part of the United States. 



The central eclipse commences on the North Pacific Ocean in 

 about longitude 17S E. and latitude 53° N. ; it occurs with the 

 sun on the meridian in 137 57 W. and 36 42' N., and ends in 

 about 95° W. and 52 15' N. It strikes the American coast in 

 the State of California in latitude 38° 50', and the town of 

 Hamilton, according to our approximate computation, would 

 appear to be upon the central line : here the middle of totality 

 occurs at ih. 40m. 34s. local mean time, -with the sun at an alti- 

 tude of nearly 25°, and the duration of the total phase is 2m. 4s. 

 The important observatory lately established on Mount Hamil- 

 ton is outside of the zone of totality, the magnitude of the eclipse 

 at that station being o'9S, and the middle at ih. 45m. The 

 following are points upon the line of central eclipse : — 



Longitude 112 34 W. Latitude 43 15 N. Sun's altitude 15-9 

 ,, 106 14 ,, ,, 46 15 ,, ,, IO'2 



,, 100 21 ,, ,, 49 9 ,, ,, 5-0 



It will be seen that the sun will set totally eclipsed on British 

 territory after the total phase has crossed the Assiniboine River 

 and the southern extremity of Lake Winnipeg. 



The second total solar eclipse in 18S9 was described in 

 NATURE in June 1877. It will be visible in Martinique, Si. 

 Lucia and Barbados, but with the sun at a low elevation, totality 

 continuing about one minute and three-quarters, and will meet 

 the coast of Africa in Angola in about io^ south latitude, where 

 the total phase will have a duration of 3111. 30s., the sun at an 

 altitude of 56°. 



Variable Stars. — In 1859 Hencke of Driesen drew atten- 

 tion to a star in Carrington's Redhill Catalogue which he had 

 found to be variable. It is No. 1902, and was observed on 



three nights in March and April 1856, the magnitude being 

 twice noted 9-5 and once 1C5. Hencke had observed it 8m. at 

 the time he wrote, but believed it had probably been invisible 

 with his means for some years previously. His notice appears in 

 Peters' Zeitschrift fur popnlare Mittheilungen alls deni Gebictc der 

 Astronomic &c, vol. i. p. 131. The star is not found in the 

 catalogues of Fedorenko or Schwerd. Its approximate position 

 for the beginning of 1S85 is in R.A. 12I1. 44m. 49s., N.P.D. 

 7° 39' -8. 



At p. 150 of the Redhill Catalogue Carrington mentions that 

 Oeltzen's No. 515, a seventh magnitude once observed by 

 Schwerd had been looked for ineffectually. Oeltzen had re- 

 examined his reduction of the observation which was made at 

 Speyer on October 19, 1826, and found it correct. The star's 

 place for 1SS5 is in R.A. Sh. 27m. 54s., N.P.D. 6°52'7'. Close 

 to this position there is a star in Fedorenko's catalogue from 

 Lalande's observations (Nos. 1305-6) which is once called 8m., 

 and once 5 "6, the observations having been apparently made on 

 March 19 and 20, 1790. It is 6m. in Groombridge, and 7m. in 

 the Durchmiisteritng and in the Radcliffe Catalogue. Perhaps 

 the discordance in Lalande's published estimates is occasioned 

 by a misprint, and unfortunately there are several obvious errors 

 of this kind in the catalogue deduced from his observations. The 

 star in question is Groombridge 1431. 



While writing upon polar variables we may once more refer to 

 Bradley 396, R.A. (1885) 2h. 53m. 58s., N.P.D. 8° 58'-6, 

 which, unless the existence of very improbable errors of estima- 

 tion in the various catalogues is admitted, would appear to vary 

 between the fifth and seventh magnitudes at the least, and there 

 is a suspicion that the period may not be long. 



A minimum of x Cygni was due on May 22, and a maximum 

 may be expected about November 16 ; from three determinations 

 Schmidt found that the minimum preceded the maximum 178 

 days. The average period since 1877 has been 408^ days. The 

 variable is the true x (Bayer) Cygni, not the 17 Cygni of the 

 catalogues. 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES 



The fifth fascicule of A. E. Nordenskjbld's " Popular Scien- 

 tific Appendix to the Voyage of the Vega " ( " Studier och 

 Forskningar fdranledda af mine resor i hoga norden") will be 

 most welcome to the general reader, and we hope it may 

 be translated into English. It contains a profusely illus- 

 trated, lively sketch, by M. Hans Hildebrand, on art among 

 lower primitive populations. The drawings of the Chukches 

 are especially remarkable. Caravans of sledges drawn by rein- 

 deer or by dogs, hunting scenes, splitting drift-wood, and sea-hunt- 

 ing, are most interesting, and not the slightest mistake is possible 

 as to what the Chukche artist intended to represent. The 

 Chukches are as successful, too, in drawing subjects less known 

 to them, such as the Vega at its winter-quarters, or two men of 

 the crew exercising in fencing. The most remarkable piece is 

 that given to Baron Nordenskjbld by Lord Walsingham, which 

 is reproduced by means of photography. The original is drawn 

 on walrus-skin, and represents on the borders of the skin the 

 shores with their hills, Chukche settlements, and a variety of 

 scenes from Chukche life on shore ; while the interior contains 

 a variety of scenes from sea-hunting, harpooned whales pretty 

 well represented with their waterspouts, ships, boats, and so on. 

 The Europeans, sometimes with umbrellas, sometimes fighting 

 with Chukches, are perfectly recognisable. The engravings 

 showing the carvings in bone that are made by Chukches and 

 Esquimaux are also very interesting, whilst other drawings allow 

 us to compare the Northern primitive art with the art of Boshmans 

 and North American Indians. M. Hildebrand's remarks on the 

 art of prehistoric man and his parallels with the Normannic 

 draw ings — also well illustrated — will be equally attractive to the 

 general reader. The same fascicule contains the first pages of a 

 paper on the life of insects in Arctic regions, by M. Christopher 

 Aurivillius. 



The Bollctino of the Italian Geographical Society for May 

 contains a brief account of Signor Maurizio Buonfanti's late ex- 

 pedition across North Africa. The traveller, leaving Tripoli 

 early in the month of April 1881, proceeded first in the direction 

 of Lake Chad, mainly along the route already followed by Den- 

 ham and Clapperton, Barth, Rohlfs, and other modern explorers. 

 His chief object was to penetrate into the hitherto unexplored 

 region stretching south from Adamawa, which territory was 

 reached by the direct road from Kuka on Lake Chad through 



