248 
NATURE 
[ Fan. 11, 1883 
stars of the 4th or 5th magnitude could be distinctly seen through 
the tail. The tail pointed in a direction about midway between 
Sirius and Procyon. M. Dechevrens, the director of the Zi-ka- 
Wei Observatory (near Shanghai) has devoted a good deal of 
attention to this comet, the result of which will directly be 
published. 
Amateur Mechanics is the name of a new illustrated monthly 
Magazine, conducted by Mr. P. N. Hasluck, and published by 
Triibner and Co. 
WE have received from the U.S. Naval Observatory the 
results of the observations made to determine the longitude of 
the observatory of the J. C. Green School of Science, Princeton, 
N.J. The final result is that the latter is oh. gm. 34s.°538 
east of the central dome of the observatory. 
THE earthquake in Panama on November 7 was followed by 
a violent shock on November 13 at 2.30 a.m. It was observed 
also at Taboga and Colon, It is remarkable that all the Central 
American earthquakes since August last have occurred between 
midnight and daybreak, Their general direction was invariably 
from north to south, and it is supposed that they proceeded from 
one and the same cause. The West Indian cable broke, at a 
point about thirty miles from land, during a violent shock. The 
centre of the disturbance seems to lie near the West Indian Isles- 
During the second week of December seven shocks were felt in 
the Spanish province of Almeria. On December 8 at 10.1 p.m. 
a fearful shock lasting four seconds was felt at Tecuci (Roumania). 
Its direction was from south-east to north-west. Another earth- 
quake is reported from Hermagor (Carinthia). It occurred on 
December Io at 2 a.m., and was preceded by a terrible thunder- 
storm. 
AN “‘Illustrirte Bienenzeitung,” organ for the propagation of 
rational apiculture, will be edited by Prof. Adolphson of Ziirich. 
beginning on the Ist inst. 
In the Pelion district a moderately violent earthquake occurred 
on December 11, but no damage was done. Upon the island 
of Santorin new yolcanic activity has recently been noticed ; 
also in the subterranean volcano which formed near Missolunghi. 
THE additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during the 
past week include a Himalayan Bear (Uysus t2detanus) from 
Burmah, presented by Capt. Connor ; two Bronze Fruit Pigeons 
(Carpophaga enea) from India, presented by Mrs. A. H, Jam- 
rach ; four Barred-shouldered Doves (Geofelia humeralis) from 
Australia, presented by Mr. Ernest L. Bentley ; a Lesser Sulphur- 
crested Cockatoo (Cacatua sulphurea) from Moluccas, presented 
by Mr, K. Digby ; a Gannet (Sw/a Zassana), British, presented 
by Mr. Thomas Keen ; a Cape Bucephalus (Bucephalus capensis) 
from South Africa, presented by Mr. H. Pillans; a White- 
fronted Lemur (Lemur albifrons @ ) fromm Madagascar, four Wood 
Thrushes (Zurdus mustelinus), a Golden-winged Woodpecker 
(Colaptes auratus) from North America, two Cirl Buntings 
(Emberiza cirlus), two Crested Grebes (Podiceps cristalus), a 
Razorbill (A/ca torda), a Bar-tailed Godwit (Zimosa latponica), 
a Red-throated Diver (Colymbus septentrionalis), British, pur- 
chased. 
OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN 
THE TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE ON May 6.—The right ascensions 
and declinations of the moon for 1883, both in the Navz‘ical | 
Almanac and the American Ephemeris, depend upon Hansen’s 
Tables, with the recent corrections of Prof. Newcomb. They 
furnish as accurate positions as are obtainable from existing 
tabular data, and it will be of intere t to trace their bearing upon 
the circumstances of the total eclipse of the sun which cro ses 
the Pacific on May 6. On laying down the belt of totality upon 
the Admiralty chart of this ocean, it appears that the following | 
islands are included within it, viz. —Rance, Buffon, Beveridge, 
Flint, Caroline, and Chanel Island (in the Marquesas) ; the 
positions read off from the general chart or for Flint, Caroline, 
and Chanel Island, from the enlarged Admiralty charts are as 
follow :— 
Rance Island, Long. 176 22 West. Lat. 24 20 South, 
Buffon bed oD 170 ° 39 ” 20 39 7 
Beveridge,, 3 AO75O |, a5) (2DE LORY 35 
Flint , ” » 51 50 4, sg WAGZ5e “saa, 
Caroline ,, Pe ui) Os » 9 54 9 
Chanel 9 ” 140 31 32 ” 7 55 ” 
From direct calculation for each of these points the following 
local mean times of beginning of totality, the duration of the — 
same, and the sun’s approximate altitude at the time, result :— 
Totali i - x 
eae? S Dantes | gree 
h. m. s. m. s. a 
Rance Island, 8 47 36a.m. S27 29 
Buffon ,, 2218 5 4 20 38 
Beveridge,, 9 34 48 ,, quTE 41 
Flint = Dl) 19/43) %5 5 26 61 
Caroline ,, a eae ee i ee 5 fe eda 
Chanel ,, O 43 32 p.m AT ee ae 
It should be mentioned that the semi-diameter of the sun has 
been taken from the Mautical Almanac ; that of the moon was 
obtained from her horizontal parallax, using the factor 0°2725. 
The duration of totality at Sohag in Egypt in the eclipse of last 
May was exactly given by this arrangement, 
THE MINOR PLANETS.—The part of the Berliner Astrono- 
misches Fahrbuch for 1885, containing ephemerides of the minor 
planets for 1883, has been issued to the various observatories in ad- 
yance of the publication of the annual volume. It contains approxi- 
mate places for every twentieth day of 224 of these bodies, the 
latest being No. 225, with accurately calculated opposition 
ephemerides of 43, each extending over about five weeks ; this 
division of: the Jahrbuch occupies upwards of one hundred 
ages, 
; There are six cases during the year where the planets 
approach the earth about opposition, within her mean 
distance from the sun. On June 22 FPhocea is at a dist- 
ance of 0°93, declination + 16°; on July 12 the distance of 
Clio is 0°96, declination —354°; on August 1 that of Js%s is 
0°90, declination —28°; on October 1 that of Folyhymnia is 
0°98, declination +84° ; on October 20 that of Virginia is 0°98, 
declination +13°, and on December 11 Fora in perigee is ata 
distance of 0°97, with declination +18°. Galle’s method of 
determining the solar parallax, so strongly advocated and ably 
applied by Mr. Gill, is not likely to fail for want of opportuni- 
ties of applying it. As regards the magnitude near opposition 
we have in the case of Phocea 9:0; Clio, 10°2; JLsis, 8°85 
Polyhymnia, 9°7 ; Virginia, 9°9 ; and Flora, 8-2. 
During the year 1883 four of these planets descend below 
I4m., from coming into oppo:ition not far from aphelion. 
Comet 1882 c.—Mr. Gill has secured five complete obser- 
vations of this comet (discovered by Mr. Barnard in September) 
on the meridian S.P., with the transit-circle at the Cape of 
Good Hope, between November 11 and 30, so that places for 
upwards of a fortnight after the perihelion passage will be 
available for calculation. 
THE EDUCATION OF OUR INDUSTRIAL 
CLASSES |! 
T is, I believe, according to precedent, now that another 
year’s work of the Science Classes here has been crowned 
by the award of prizes, that I should address you on some topic 
allied to the matters which have brought us together to-night. 
I need not search long for a subject, for the scientific education 
of those engaged in our national industries—upon the success or 
failure of which, in the struggle for existence, the welfare of our 
country so largely depends—is now one of the questions of the 
day. I propose, therefore, to lay before you some facts and 
figures bearing upon the education of our industrial classes, and 
| shall attempt to make what I have to say on that special point 
clearer, by touching upon some preliminary matters, which will 
show how it is that such a question as this has not been settled 
long ago ; and further, that we can, if we wish, settle it now in 
t An address delivered in presenting the prizes at the Coventry Science 
| Classes, by J. Norman Lockyer, F.R.S. 
