Dec. 14, 1882] 
NATURE 
155 
station at Montagu Road, Cape Colony, in longitude 
20° 3’ E., with 33° 20’ south latitude. At the date 
of his letter he was fearful that one of the whirl- 
winds of sand and dust of which he had had much 
experience might at the last moment spoil all. The 
heat during the day was overpowering, but at night he 
was in need of his winter overcoat. The transit obser- 
vations, however, were very successful. 
The following telegram from Mr. Talmage, chief of 
the British party at Barbados, was forwarded to the 
Times by Mr. Stone :—“ Internal contact at ingress, 
and internal and external contacts at egress were well 
observed.” The observers were Mr. Talmage and 
Lieutenant Thomson, R.A. On this the Zzmes re- 
marks ;— 
The observations at ingress will combine with those 
made at the Cape and those at egress with the Australian 
and New Zealand observations. An official telegram 
received from Captain Morris, R.E., confirms that from 
Mr. Peek, announcing a complete failure at Brisbane. 
Lieutenant Darwin, R.E., who accompanied Captain 
Morris, will, before returning to England, determine 
the difference of longitude between Point Darwin and 
Singapore, thus completing a connection between the 
Australian and English longitudes. Information has now 
been received from all the British stations with the excep- 
tion of Madagascar and Bermuda. 
“From tke Paris telegram it will be seen that no news is 
expected from the Patagonian stations for about a week, 
and it is feared that the Chilian mission has failed. The 
Russian, Austrian, and Italian Governments have sent 
no parties out for observation of this transit; but the 
former have lent two heliometers to MM. Perrotin and 
Tisserand, and an equatorial to Dr. Pechtle, who has 
been sent to St. Thomas by the Danish Government. 
Spain has sent two parties to the Havannah and Porto 
Rico ; these are provided with instruments of the same 
class as those of the British parties. 
‘“« Many observers have noticed the phenomenon known 
as the ‘black Crop,’ and in some cases a grayish light, 
probably similar to that seen by Winthrop in observing 
the transit of 1769 at Cambridge, U.S., the Ameri- 
can observers appear to have specially looked for 
traces of a satellite of the planet but could see none. A 
very Curious phenomenon was seen by Prof. Langley and 
others observing at the same station. When half the 
planet was on the sun’s disc a small patch of light 
appeared near the limb outside the sun; it extended for 
about 30 deg. along the limb, and was totally distinct 
from the luminous ring Seen surrounding the planet by 
Prof. Langley and several other observers at different 
places. Spectroscopic observations were taken at several 
places in the United States; the spectrum showed some 
strange lines, and a watery vapour was suspected in the 
atmosphere of the planet. With regard to the observa- 
tions made by M. Janssen at Oran, no details have been 
received, but it would appear that they are likely to prove 
of considerable value, and will add to our knowledge of 
the physical condition of the planet. 
“The phenomenon of the ‘ black drop’ takes place at 
the contacts of the limb of Venus when the planet last 
touches the sun’s edge at entry on, and first touches 
when about to pass off, the disc ; it has been noticed by 
some observers at all preceding transits which have been 
observed, while others have noticed a brown or greyish 
ligament joining the limbs of the sun and planet. The 
atmosphere of Venus was remarked by Hirst, who ob- 
served the transit of 1761 at Madras, and subsequently by 
other observers. When part of the planet has entered on 
or has moved off the sun, a ring of light has been seen 
“surrounding Venus ; this arises from the reflection of the 
solar light on the atmosphere surrounding the planet. 
This ring of light was noticed during the transit of 1761, 
and has been seen at all those of 1769, 1874, and on 
Wednesday. The phenomenon observed by Prof. Langley 
has not been observed at previous transits, and is probably 
due to some local causes. This is the only phenomenon 
mentioned in the accounts received which has not been 
previously noticed.” 
Under date December 12, Mr. Stone sends the following 
to the 77es -—I have received the following telegram 
from Mr. Plummer, at Bermuda :—‘Ingress well ob- 
served. Egress observed amid clouds.” The telegram 
probably indicates that the.observations at egress are 
not of much value. The egress, however, appears to have 
been better observed than the ingress at some of the 
American stations, and there will be plenty of observations 
of accelerated egress to balance the observations which 
will be available of retarded egress for New Zealand and 
Australia. Reports have now been received from all the 
British stations except Madagascar. which is a most impor- 
tant ingress station, and from Captain Wharton, H.M.S. 
Sylvia. Captain Wharton has two good telescopes, and 
will have established his party somewhere on the South 
American coast, where he may, if the weather was favour- 
able, have observed both the ingress and egress, but with 
small factors of parallax. These observations, if secured, 
would however be very valuable, as a check upon the 
results obtained from the discussion of the observations 
at stations where the time is largely affected by parallax. 
We are not likely to hear any news of the Madagascar 
expedition for some weeks. The British expeditions 
have, on the whole, been most successful, and a valuable 
result is assured. 
Up to the present time the following additional details 
have appeared in the Zzwzes as to the observation of the 
transit at home and abroad. At home the meteorological 
conditions were generally unfavourabie :— 
At Greenwich Royal Observatory the Astronomer Royal 
had made considerable preparations for observation, and 
shortly before two o'clock the whole of the staff were at 
their instruments, ready to take advantage of even a 
break in the clouds ; but unfortunately the dense stratum 
of cloud which lay beyond the occasional rapidly passing 
patches of scud prevented even the sun’s position being 
discerned. Arrangements were made for taking a num- 
ber of photographs, a photoheliograph having been 
specially erected to view the sun until it reached the 
horizon. At the Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford, Mr. E. 
J. Stone had{made considerable preparations for observa- 
tion, but the sun was only visible for about five seconds, 
when the planet was seen on the solar disc, well separated 
from the limb. At Bath the haze which was prevalent 
during the morning cleared away, and the transit was 
visible till sunset. In South Wales the sky was clear 
until shortly before sunset. At Penzance, Plymouth, and 
Cork the sky was cloudless. Mr. J. Burns, at the Castle, 
Wemyss Bay, observed the external contact at 2h. 6m. 
38s., and internal contact at 2h. 20m. 32s. (Greenwich 
mean time). The Rev. W. S. Lach-Szyrma, at Penzance, 
saw the transit from the time of contact to sunset ; the 
black drop was clearly seen. 
The astronomers at Potsdam succeeded in taking 
good photographs of the transit. In France, no obser- 
vation could be made. At Paris, Bordeaux, Grenoble, 
Lyons, and Marseilles it was cloudy. MM. Thollon and 
Gouz, in Portugal, could also take no observations. M. 
Dumas received telegrams giving the main results of the 
observations of the transit in Oran, Martinique, and 
Mexico. In Martinique, M. Tisserand detected the first 
contact of the planet and the sun, but unfortunately he 
had scarcely commenced recording his observations when 
a cloud came over and concealed the rest of the pheno- 
menon. At Puebla, on the other hand, M. Bouquet dela 
Grye had an unmixed success. The entire transit was 
visible, and he was able to take observations for deter- 
