Sc'PL 13, 1877] 



NA TURM 



427 



members on excursions up and down the Tyne, the first 

 steamer proceeding up the river as far as the New Cut, 

 for the purpose of affording members an opportunity of 

 witnessing the extensive dredging operations of the Tyne 

 Improvement Commissioners, and thence sailing down 

 again to the shipping spouts, the new Coble Dene Doclc, 

 and the piers, while the second steamer will take another 

 party to some of the most important works down the 

 river, as Leslie's and Mitchell's ship-building yards, 

 Forstcr and Co.'s lead-works, the Jarrow chemical works, 

 &c. On Wednesday evening a conversazione will be held 

 in the Town Hall, Newcastle, when it is hoped that the 

 telephone will be exhibited. 



Doubtless one of the most interesting excursions will 

 be that of Thursday afternoon, when a special train will 

 convey the members to the Elswick Works (Sir W. G. 

 Armstrong and Co.), thence proceeding to the Steel 

 Works of Messrs. John Spencer and Sons, at Newburn. 

 Friday will be entirely devoted to an excursion to 

 Middlesbrough and the works on Tees-side. In the 

 forenoon the new Browney Colliery Works and the 

 Clarence Works of Messrs. Bell will be visited, and the 

 Eston Steel Works and Blast Works of Bolckow, 

 Vaughan and Co. After luncheon in the Royal Exchansje, 

 Middlesbrough, ten different works will be visited, 

 including the Tees-side Iron Works, where the first 

 Danks' rotary furnaces constructed in this country will be 

 seen in full operation ; the Ayresome Iron Works ; the 

 Tees Iron Works ; the Tees-side Engine Works (Hopkins, 

 Gilkes, and Co.) ; the Linthorpe Iron Works (Lloyd and 

 Co.) ; the Newport Rolling Mills (Fox, Head, and Co.) ; the 

 Ayrton Rolling Mills (Jones, Brothers, and Co.) ; the 

 Middlesbrough Wire Works (Hill and Co.) ; the Newport 

 Ironworks (B. Samuelson and Co.) ; the Middlesbrough 

 Tube Works. 



Among the papers to be read are the following : I. L, 

 Bell, M.P., F.ix.S. — Part II. of paper on the Separation 

 of Carbon, Silicon, Sulphur, and Phosphorus in the 

 Refining and Puddling Furnace and in the Bessemer 

 Converter. Dr. Percy, F.R.S. — On some Scientific Facts 

 connected with the Manufacture of Iron, &c. R. How^on. 

 —On Mechanical Puddling. T. W. Plum, Old Park, Salop. 

 — On Improvements in Blast Furnace Watcr-Cooled 

 Tuyeres. A. L. Steavenson. — On the Manufacture of 

 Coke in relation to the Iron Trade of the North of 

 England. Mr. Greenwell. — On the Geological Features of 

 the Great Northern Coal Field. Chas. Wood. — On Four 

 Years' Improvements in the Utilisation of Slag. F. 

 Giesbers. — On the Removal of Phosphorus from the 

 Materials used in Smelting Pig Iron under M. Stein's 

 Patent. A. Thomas. — On the Latest Improvements in 

 Belgian Merchant Rolls. William Walker. — On a New 

 Machine for Drilling Ironstone. M. Gautier, C.E. — 

 Results of Experiments with Cannon manufactured from 

 Steel without Blows. 



When we state that in addition to what we have 

 mentioned, an exhibition of various objects connected 

 with the Iron and Steel Trades will be held in the Wood 

 Memorial Hall, it will be seen that the members of the 

 Institute have plenty of work before them, and that the 

 meeting is likely to be one of great interest and practical 

 importance. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN 

 The Outer Satellite of Mars.— As a guide to 

 those who may be examining the immediate vicinity of 

 Mars, with the view to detecting the exterior satellite, an 

 ephemeris of its positions from September 8 to 18, for 

 8h. 30m. and iih. cm. each evening is subjoined. It 

 will enable an opinion to be formed as to the chance of 

 any object glimpsed within ninety seconds' distance from 

 the centre of the planet, being the satellite or not. The 

 elements employed in the calculation are the follow- 

 ing :— i 



Pjissage of Ascending Node, 1S77, Aug. 117495 Greenwich M.T. 



Longitude of the node 8248 



Inclination of orbit to ecliptic -5 24 



Daily motion in orbit 285 26'Q28 



Logarithm of the radius of orbit in seconds, j 

 at the mean distance of Mars from the sun \ ' '3^795 



The angles of position in the ephemeris are reckoned as 

 in double-star measures — 



Sept. 



II 



.. 13 



,, 14 



„ IS ... 256 ... 82 



„ 16 ... 325 ... 28 



.. 17 ■•■ 65 ... 77 



„ 18 ... 96 ... 54 



The apparent diameter of Mars according to Kaiser's 

 measures is 25"-o on the 8th and 24"o on the i8th. 



M. Leverrier characterises Prof. Asaph Hall's discovery 

 of the satellites of Mars as " une des plus importantes 

 observations de I'astronomie moderne." It is in the 

 highest degree an honour to American science. The 

 magnificent instrument with which they have been de- 

 tected, a masterpiece of mechanical skill, is of American 

 construction, and we think every astronomer must admit 

 that since it was mounted at the Naval Observatory, 

 Washington, the national astronomical institution, ad- 

 mirable discernment has been shown in the selection of a 

 class of observations upon which its extraordinary optical 

 power could be brought to bear with the greatest advan- 

 tage in the actual state of the science. Already our 

 knowledge of the motions of the four satellites of Uranus 

 and of the satellite of Neptune has been greatly advanced, 

 and tables to facilitate the calculation of their positions 

 have been skilfully prepared by Prof. Newcomb, with the 

 aid of measures made with this instrument. The period 

 of rotation of Saturn has been determined, and a series 

 of observations of all the eight satelUtes of this planet 

 has been vigorously prosecuted, which must soon allow 

 of a much more intimate acquaintance with their motions 

 than we yet possess. The notable discovery of two 

 satellites of Mars is a fitting achievement in the same 

 interesting branch of astronomy. 



In striking illustration of the truth of the assertion of 

 Sir W. Herschel, that when a very faint object has been 

 once discovered with a large telescope, it may be seen 

 with a much smaller one, we receive, since the above was 

 written, a communication from Mr. Wentworth Erck, of 

 Sherrington, Bray, dated September 8, in which he 

 writes : " The outer satellite has been seen here three 

 times ; ist, on September 2, at 22h. 40m. G.S.T., when 

 the position v/as about 290^, and distance from limb 

 something less than three diameters of the planet ; 2nd, 

 on September 3, at 23h. om. G..S.T., when the position 

 was 64° ; this position is pretty accurate ; on this occasion 

 I watched the satellite lor two hours, during which I saw 

 it move from 64^ to 55'^^ ; at the latter position its distance 

 from limb was equal to two diameters of the plantt ; 3rd, 

 on .September 8, at 22h. 35ra. G.S.T., when the position 

 was about 78°. It was steadily vis ble with 7-inche5 

 aperture on my Alvan Clark, and was, I should say, 

 something brighter than Enceladus, the second satellite 

 of Saturn." 



On comparing these observations with positions calcu- 

 lated from the above elements (which closely represent 

 the Paris observation of August 27), it is evident the 

 object observed on September 2 was a star, the satellite 

 at the time being on an angle of 325°, and onjy fifteen 

 seconds from the limb, but it appears beyond doubt that 



