122 



NATURE 



[Dec. 17, 1874 



and cusps were taken. The phases closely resemble 

 those of the model, except a hne of light round the 

 planet's edge, which appeared with strong sun just after 

 the above contacts. It perplexed me and made me lose 

 my best cusps. When I found that it continued two 

 minutes and that it would be so indefinitely, I turned to 

 cusps. I have exchanged bad telegraph signals twice 

 with Thebes, and good ones three times with Suez. — 

 Mokattam Country, lat. 59° 58' 14"." 



Mr. Hunter (Suez) :— 



" Sky cleared partly a few minutes before contact. 

 Contact satisfactorily observed, and a considerable num- 

 ber of micrometer measurements made." 



Capt. Abney (Thebes) : — 



"Beautiful morning. Sun rather shaky at fiist, nice 

 and sharp at time of contact, and good observations, 

 though differing slightly in time. Sun pictures good. 

 The fifty photographs in Janssen's slides include internal 

 contact ; external contact not taken. No black drop 

 apparent in photographs after careful examination." 



This, then, is all we know at present, or are likely to 

 know for some little time, of the work done at purely 

 Delislean stations. We now come to the stations at 

 which the various methods of determining the least dis- 

 tance between the centres of the sun and Venus during 

 the Transit, observed from different stations, are appli- 

 cable. 



And we may clear the ground by referring to the news 

 from the southern stations first. From Hobart Town has 

 come the best news in a telegram to the Times .■— 



" Prof Harkness, of the American Transit Expedition 

 at Hobart Town, reports, although the weather was bad, 

 observations were particularly successful ; 113 photo- 

 graphs were taken duiing the passage over the sun's 

 disc." 



We had previously heard of success from Melbourne 

 and Adelaide ; but these stations are not so well situated 

 as Hobart Town, and it is doubtful if all the resources of 

 a first-class fixed observatory, possessed by Mr. EUery at 

 Melbourne, will make up for his comparatively poor 

 position. 



We now come to that region where, in fact, the whole 

 interest of the Transit has centred during the past week : 

 to Asia and the adjacent Japanese Archipelago, neglected 

 in the English arrangements even after the Board of 

 Visitors of the Greenwich Observatory had very clearly 

 indicated their opinion of the original official programme, 

 by insisting upon the employment of the "method of 

 durations" in the Southern Hemisphere. But, fortunately 

 for the credit of English science, an English possession — 

 India— has something to say in the Asiatic work. On the 

 representation of Col. Tennant (who has done so much 

 for astronomical science by his observations in India) of 

 the importance of a station in the northern part of that 

 country — a representation which was at once warmly 

 received by the Viceroy — the Home Government at once 

 took the matter up, and the result has been that a first- 

 class observatory was erected at Roorkee. This was the 

 Asiatic station from which news (which we chronicled last 

 week) was first received. 



But Northern and Eastern Asia was thickly studded 

 with Russian, American, and French parties. In the 

 Russian territory, Nertchinsk, Orianda, Charbarovka, 

 Kiachta, Tschita, Port-Possiet, Wladiwostok, and many 



other places that we might name, were strongly occupied, 

 and the wealth of results, whether in photography or 

 heliometric measures, has been man'ellous. One of these 

 places — Wladiwostok — was occupied by an American as 

 well as a Russian party. Herr Struve's telegrams to the 

 Times regarding the observations at these places are as 

 follows ; — 



" Wladiwostok. — Transit of Venus observed at both 

 contacts, numerous chords and distances of the two limbs 

 were measured. 



" Port-Possiet. — Much clouds and mist ; two interior 

 contacts observed, and thirty-eight photographs taken. 



" Cliarbaroi'ka. — First two contacts and some chords 

 observed. 



" Tschita. — Contacts observed, and four series of mea- 

 sures with heliometer. 



" Oriaitda. — Satisfactory observation of last two con- 

 tacts. 



"Nertchinsk. — Three contacts observed, and two 

 diameters and twenty distances of the planet measured 

 with heliometer. 



" Teheran. — Full success of observations. 



" Thebes. — Splendid weather ; very important obser- 

 vations. 



" A7rti:/;/(r.— Much cloud ; got only eight photographs. 



" Naratow. — Clouds ; complete failure. 



" Possiet. — Photographs satisfactory after development, 

 though taken through mist." 



The work done by the American party at Wladiwostok, 

 as stated in a Renter telegram in the papers on the nth, 

 was as follows : — 



" CopenJiagen, Dec. 9. — Prof. Hall telegraphs from 

 Wladiwostok to-day, at 10 A.M., that the observations of 

 the Transit of Venus made at that place by the American 

 party under his direction have not been very successful, 

 on account of the hazy and cloudy weather. The first 

 and second contacts were observed, and thirteen photo- 

 graphs were taken." 



In Japan there were French parties under Dr. Janssen 

 at Nagasaki and Kobe, an American party also at 

 Nagasaki, and Russian and Austrian parties at Yoko- 

 hama. 



The telegrams giving the account of Janssen's work 

 we must transcribe as they were received. 



" Nagasaki, Dec. 9. — M. Dumas, Secretary Acaddmie 

 des Sciences and Minister Instruction, Paris. — Transit 

 observed and contacts obtained. Fine telescopic images. 

 No ligament. A'cnus seen over sun's corona. Photo- 

 graphs and plaques. Cloudy at intervals. Two members 

 of our mission have made observations with success at 

 Kobe." 



" Transit observed at Nagasaki and Kobe. Interior 

 contact, no ligament. Photographs revealed several 

 clouds during transit. Venus seen over corona before 

 contact. Gives demonstration of the existence of the 

 coronal atmosphere." 



The American party at Nagasaki has recorded its work 

 in the following terms : — 



" Day cloudy, but obtained second contact well — two 

 observers ; first and third contacts through clouds, and 

 doubtful ; 1 50 micrometric measures of cusps, separation 

 of limbs, and diameter of Venus ; thirty-one meridian 

 transits both Hmbs, Sun and Venus ; eighteen micrometric 

 measures for difterence of declination of limbs at meri- 

 dian. About sixty good photographs. Ends threatening 

 rain. Telegraph difference of longitude with Wladi- 

 wostok in November. All well." 



