Dec. 24, 1874] 



NATURE 



^%% 



THE TRANSIT OF VENUS 



THE following telegrams have been received by the 

 Times since our last issue. 



" Milboiirnc, Dec. II. — The American Expedition in 

 Tasmania experienced unfavourable weather for their 

 observations of the Transit of Venus." 



'■'Sydney, Dec. 10.— The Transit observations here 

 proved satisfactory." 



" Berlin, Dec 17. — A telegram has been received from 

 the German Astronomical Expedition at Tschifu, in North- 

 eastern China, announcing that the observation of the 

 Transit of Venus was quite successful. The observation 

 of the contact, the heliometer measurement, and the 

 photographs succeeded splendidlj-. The expedition was 

 admirably supported by His Imperial Majesty's ship 

 ArconaP 



From Major Palmer, Christchurch, New Zealand : — 



" English, nothing valuable anywhere — clouds. Ame- 

 ricans got ingress, and photographs till near third con- 

 tact. Nobody egress." 



From Mr. Todd, Adelaide :— 



"Transit of Venus. — Ingress cloudy. Egress well 

 observed. Contacts 34434, 3475- (Probably 3h. 4m. 

 43'4S., and 34m. 7'5s. Adelaide mean time, for internal 

 and external contacts.) No black drop." 



From Vienna : — 



"According to a telegram received by the Imperial 

 Academy of Sciences from Drs. Weiss and Oppolzer, 

 who went to observe the Transit of Venus at Jassy, the 

 observation of external contact at the moment of the exit 

 has succeeded. As they had time to fix the exact longi- 

 tude and latitude of their point of observation, they ob- 

 tained reliable data for calculation. The longitude was 

 determined by telegraphic time signals with the Observa- 

 tory in Vienna. As Jassy lies on the limits of the line 

 where the phenomenon was visible, they attribute some 

 importance to their observations." 



Through Reuter's agency: — 



" Pekin, Dec. 9. — The French astronomical party, 

 under the direction of M. Fleuriais, succeeded in ob- 

 serving the first and second contacts. There was a 

 slight black hgament. Photographs were taken. The 

 weather was slightly hazy." 



It will be seen that the news from New Zealand is of a 

 most serious character, so far as the English scheme of 

 observation is concerned. In fact, unless the French, 

 Germans, and Americans have secured observations, the 

 Delislean attack, so far as egress is concerned, has failed 

 altogether. We shall postpone any further remarks till 

 next week, as in the interval some information may be 

 received from the stations to which we have referred. 



NOTES 



We are informed that the Council of the Royal Society has 

 appointed a Committee to consider the means of securing ob- 

 servations of the total eclipse of the sun in April next, to which 

 they attach great importance. 



Prof. Clbrk- Maxwell, F. R.S., has promised to give a 

 lecture at the Chemical Society on Feb. 18 next, " On the 

 Dynamical Evidence of the Molecular Constitution of Bodies." 



The Times states that Prof Huxley is to' undertake the duties 

 of the Chair of Natural History in the University of Edinburgh 

 during the ensuing summer session, in the absence of Prof 

 Wyville Thomson, who is with the C/ialleiiger Surveying 

 Expedition. 



The Arctic Expedition Committee sits twice a week, and is 

 making steady progress in organising preparations. The engines 

 of the Cygnet gunboat, a new vessel, are to be removed and 

 placed in the Alert, now in dock. Although not yet officially 



announced, we believe that the Admiralty have selected Com- 

 mander Albert Markham as one of the commanding 'officers 

 of the Arctic Expedition. Lieut. Aldrich, of the Challenger, 

 is coming home with Capt. Nares to tate part in the expe- 

 dition. The decision recently made public that none but those 

 of the Royal Navy would be permitted to take part in the 

 expedition has been somewhat relaxed, and it is not improbable 

 that some men of experience in whaling will be engaged as 

 "ice quartermasters." 



We believe a few French naval officers desire to join the 

 forthcoming English Polar Expedition, as Lieut. Bellot did on 

 the occasion of one of the most interesting searches for Franklin. 

 As is known, Bellot lost his life during the expedition, and the 

 fact is commemorated by a column erected at Greenwich 

 Hospital at the expense of the English Government. 



Lieut. Cameron, in a despatch to Lord Derby, dated Ujiji, 

 May 14, tells of an important discovery to which we briefly 

 alluded last week in our report of the meeting of the Geogra- 

 phical Society. ■ He has been all round the southern portion of 

 Tanganyika, and believes he has discovered its outlet in a river 

 named the Lukuga, a little to the south of Speke's Islands. He 

 thinks also, from what he has heard from the Arabs, that the 

 Lualaba is the Congo. The Lukuga he found to be obstructed 

 Mitli grass, but he believes a w.iy might easily be cut through 

 that. If Lieut. Cameron's conjectures turn out to be correct, 

 and there appears to be great likelihood that they will, he will 

 deserve to take an important place in the ranks of African ex- 

 plorers. He shows the great capabilities of Central Africa as a 

 field for legitimate commerce, and if it turns out that navigation 

 is possible from the mouth of the Congo to the Tanganyika region, 

 mucli good may be expected to accrue to Africa as well as to 

 the commercial world at large. The curse of the country is still 

 those degraded Arab slave-dealers who vexed the soul of poor 

 Livingstone, and it is a monstrous pity that some steps could not 

 be taken to stamp out the demoralising and devastating traffic. 

 Full details of Lieut. Cameron's explorations are in the hands ot 

 the Geographical Society. 



The last two parts of Petermann's MitlhcUungeii are naturally 

 full of the Payer- Weyprecht expedition. The December number 

 contains two letters from Lieut. Weyprecht, and one ftom Lieut. 

 Payer, to Dr. Petermann. The former intimates that the amount 

 of material collected in connection with the geography, meteor- 

 ology, magnetism, &c., is immense; during the course of next 

 year he will be preparing these for publication. He briefly 

 states, as some of the conclusions he draws from the work of the 

 expedition, that it is erroneous to conclude either that an open 

 polar sea exists in the north, or that the ice on the south of 

 Franz-Joseph's Land is impenetrable ; that the drift of the ship in 

 the ice was in no way owing to the Gulf Stream ; and that he still 

 adheres to the opinion that much valuable exploratory work can 

 be done towards the east, with the Siberian coast as a basis of 

 operations. Lieut. Payer believes that the nearest road to the 

 pole is th.at by which the English Arctic Expedition is to go- 

 Smith's Sound. 



The Daily Telegraph of Monday contains a long letter giving 

 a very interesting account of Zanzibar, from i\Ir. H. M. Stanley, 

 the leader of the expedition sent out by that paper in conjunction 

 with the New York Herald. Another is to follow giving a 

 description of the preparations for Stanley's long African march 

 of discovery, and the detailed plans of route. This expedition 

 is exceedingly creditable to the two papers, and it is a hopefu 1 

 sign that a daily journal finds it answer to fill its columns with 

 such healthy excitement. 



A COMMUNICATION from her Majesty's ship Scout states that 

 a monument has been erected on one of the islands of the 

 Pacific to the memory of Captain Cook, who was killed by the 

 natives of Owhyhee, ninety-fiveyears ago. The monument is an 



