May lo, 1877] 



NA TURE 



29 



promised to remove the Barrackpore menagerie to the 

 new site as soon as the necessary preparations were made. 

 All the native princes, nobility, and gentry subscribed 

 liberally towards the proposed gardens — for instance, the 

 Maharajah of Burdwan gave 3,000/. : others followed this 

 liberal e.xample, and the greater part of the required 

 capital of 30,000/. was quickly raised. Such rapid pro- 

 gress was made that occasion was taken of the Prince of 

 Wales's presence in Calcutta on December 27, 1875, to 

 inaugurate the new institution. His Royal Highness ex- 

 pressed his gratification at the results already achieved, 

 praised Mr. Schwendler for the public spirit he had dis- 

 played, and accepted the patronship of the gardens. 



The Royal Zoological Gardens of Calcutta thus inaugu- 

 rated were opened to the public for the first time on I\lay 

 6 of last year. From that date up to the close of the 

 year more than 50,000 persons had visited them, without 

 including members and donors, and soldiers with their 

 wives and children who have a free entrance. The build- 

 ings are, of course, yet far from complete, but amongst 

 those finished are, as we are informed, many deer-pad- 

 docks, which are already well tenanted ; a large and 

 several smaller aviaries, also well filled ; a large bear- 

 house in three compartments, and furnished with a large 

 bath ; two monkey-houses, and a very large pit fitted up 

 for the residence of rhinoceroses. Within the gardens is 

 also a large tank or lake, with two islands used for water- 

 fowl, and a restaurant and keepers' dwellings have like- 

 wise been erected. 



At the present time Mr. C. T. Buckland, C.S., is the 

 president of the Association for the maintenance of the 

 gardens, and Dr. J. Anderson and Mr. H. M. Tobin have 

 the general superintendence and honorary care of them, 

 the paid officials consisting of natives only. A European 

 director was appointed in January, 1876, but the Govern- 

 ment of Bengal were shortly afterwards stopped by the 

 Supreme Government from contributing to the expenses 

 of the gardens, and his services had consequently to be 

 dispensed with. 



This change of front in the Supreme Government, who 

 had virtually pledged themselves to assist in the scheme, 

 and who have not yet redeemed their promise to transfer 

 the Barrackpore menagerie to the new gardens, is a sub- 

 ject of not unnatural complaint on the part of the com- 

 mittee, who are now striving hard to have matters 

 replaced upon their former footing. As the Indian 

 Government keep up botanical gardens in Calcutta, and 

 pay a scientific officer a liberal salary to superintend 

 them, they would surely be fully justified in treating the 

 Zoological Gardens in the same way, especially untd the 

 new institution is fairly set a-going. Living animals, as 

 we all know, are far more attractive to the general public 

 than living plants, and there can be no question, we 

 believe, that in Calcutta, as in London, zoological gar- 

 dens are more popular than botanical. The public of Cal- 

 cutta have come br.avely down with a sum of 30,000/. to 

 set the institution going, and will be greatly disappointed 

 if the Government do not support them. A scientific direc- 

 tor for the establishment is an absolute necessity, as it 

 cannot be expected that Dr. Anderson and others who now 

 manage it can continue their gratuitous services. Lord 

 Northbrook is now earning his well-merited repose in this 

 country, but looking to the countenance and favour that 

 he has already shown to the Zoological Gardens at 

 Calcutta, we cannot doubt that he will assist in the appeal 

 that is, we understand, now being made to the authorities 

 at homo, to obtain permission from the Government of 

 Bengal to continue the support which it gave at first. 

 We may also fairly call upon Lord Salisbury, who has 

 on many occasions shown his appreciation of scientific 

 work, to devote a few minutes' attention to this subject. 

 It is certain that no better step could be taken for the 

 advancement of Zoological Science in India than the 

 establishment of the Zoological Gardens of Calcutta on a 

 firm footing. Like our Gardens in London they might 



easily be made a centre whence encouragement is diffused 

 to zoological investigations of every kind. A well-selected 

 director, appointed and paid by the Government, would 

 at once place matters on a satisfactory foundation, and 

 tend to bring together support to the Institution from every 

 quarter, and we cannot doubt that the present obstruc- 

 tion will be removed by the Central Authority as soon as 

 the real facts of the case are brough before them. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN 

 Douele-St.\r Measures at Cincinnati. — In Nos. 2 

 and 3 of the publications of the Cincinnati Observatory are two 

 series of micrometrical measures of double-stars made with the 

 1 1 -inch Merz refractor. The first series includes measures by 

 Prof. O. M. Mitchell at the old Observatory, confined, with 

 few exceptions, to the stars of the great Dorpat Catalogue, and 

 male in the years 1846-48, a small number of which only had 

 appeared in the Sidereal Messenger. — The second series com- 

 prises measures of objects situated for the most part beyond 

 Struve's limit of south declination made in the years 1S75-76, 

 and will probably be found the most useful of the two, obser- 

 vations of these southern stars being as yet in small number. 

 Mr. Ormond Stone, the present director at Cincinnati, remarks 

 that "no systematic survey of the southern heavens similar to 

 that made by Struve of the northern heavens has ever been under- 

 taken," and a large proportion of Sir John Herschel's doubles 

 have never been properly measured raicrometrically. The Cin- 

 cinnati object-glas; having been refiguredby .-Vlvan Clark during 

 tlie last winter, the director purposes devoting the instrument to 

 supplementing the labours of other astronomers by measuring 

 doable-stars between 15" and 35° of south declination ; no doubt 

 in the course of this work new binary systems will be detected. 

 Amongst the stars in the second of the above series, is /( 

 2036, the duplicity of which wa> first remarked by -Sir John 

 Herschel with the 20-feet reflector in sweep 307 (1830, Oct. 15), 

 when the position was registered 53" 'O, and the estimated 

 distance was 2". The last Cincinnati measures give for 187678, 

 position 26°'4, distance I "■64, and Capt. Jacob's intervening 

 measures at Toona and Madras, confirm the retrograde motion 

 in the angle ; indeed, he first pointed out the probable binary 

 character of the star, and also suggested another noticeable 

 feature, viz., the apparent variability of both components 

 (Mem. R. A.S., vol. xxviii. p. 41). A comparison of the whole 

 of the estimates of magnitude to 1876, is certainly confirmatory 

 of Capt. Jacob's suspicion. The stars have not been noted as 

 differing more than half a magnitude, and generally have been 

 considered of equal brightness, yet the estimations vary from 67 

 (Jacob 1857) to 90 (Ormond Stone, 1S75). The object is well 

 within reach in this country, and deserves watching. It may be 

 remarked that the N.P.D. given in Sir John Herschel's fifth 

 series of measures with ihe 20-feet reflector, is 1° too small. By 

 an observation in the Washington zones, the position for the 

 beginning of the present year is in K.A. ih. 13m. 547s., 

 N.P.D. 106° 26' 15". 



Change of Colour in a Urs.e Majoris. — Herr Weber 

 continues his observations upon the colour of this star, a periodi- 

 cal change in which from intense fiery-red to yellow was first 

 suspected by Dr. Klein of Cologne about fifteen years since. 

 According to Herr Weber tlie change is from fiery-red to white 

 or slightly yellowish white. The following are recent observed 

 epochs of red light :— 1S76 : September 5, October 10, No- 

 vember 14, December 21. 1877 : January 16, March 23, whence 

 an average period of thirty-three days is indicated. The star 

 was white or nearly white, 1876: October 28, December 30. 

 1877 : February 8 and March 13. The star is said to remain 

 rel or .-eddish for a shorter time than it is seen white or yellowish 

 white. See Astron. Nach., Nos. 2,111 and 2,127. 



