Dec. 31, 1874J 



NA TURE 



171 



herited the peculiar position of its flowers from the 

 ancestors of the family of Orchids, which undoubtedly, 

 like the most nearly allied families, possessed an untwisted 

 ovary, and the imperfectly twisted condition of the ovaries 

 of some individuals of G. odoratissiina may be looked at 

 as an effect of atavism. 



Nigritella differs from Gyimiadenia odoratissima in the 

 position of its flowers, and in being fertilised in the day- 

 time. Whilst the latter seems to be fertilised especially 

 by crepuscular and nocturnal Lepidoptera, the former, on 

 the contrary, is easily seen to be fertilised by diurnal 

 butterflies. In contrast to the pale flowers of G. odora- 

 tissima, those of Nigritella are of a dark purple red 

 colour, shining magnificently in the sunlight, whilst at the 

 same time they exhale so remarkable a vanilla-like odour 

 that I have more than once recognised this species sooner 

 by smell than by sight. I have never met with any other 

 flower which attracts diurnal Lepidoptera more effica- 

 ciously than this. When descending from the pass of 

 Fluela, towards Zernetz (July 9), during about an hour 1 

 collected in a small locality the following species, having 

 observed them all fertihsing the flowers of Nigritellas. 

 {a) Rhopalocera : (i) Lycana seiiiiargiis Rott., frequently ; 

 (2) Melilaa Athalia Rott. ; {2,) Argyitnis Euphrosyne L. ; 

 (4) Ilesperia scrratiila Ramb. van ? (/;) Sphingidse ; (5) 

 Ino staticcs L., Alpine varieties, in great number. (<) 

 NoctuEe : (6) Agrotis ocellina W. V., several specimens ; 

 (7) Protliymia tznca W. V. ((/) Crambina : (8) Bo/ys 

 aercalis Hb., var. opacalis H.; (9) Diaseinia littctata 

 Scop., in great number ; (10) Crai/ibiis dumctellus H. var., 

 very frequently. (<■) Tineina : (11) Btitalis %^e.z\ts.* In 

 the subnival region round " Ouarta Cantoniera," besides 

 Nos. 3 and 5, I observed (12) Mclitiva Parllicnie Ekh., 

 var. -L'aria ; (13) Zyifavia c.xii/ans Reiner, both not only 

 perseveringly seeking for the honey of Nigritella in the 

 sunshine, but also loJging after sunset in the heads of 

 their favourite flower, from which in the evening and 

 morning numerous individuals could easily be taken off 

 which had been killed or benumbed by the cold. 



Hermann Muller 



THE TRANSIT OF VENUS 



DURING the past week a few additional telegrams 

 have appeared in the Times ; these, with the Times' 

 notes upon them, in a condensed form, we give here. 



From the Hague we learn that the Government has 

 received advices from the Dutch expedition sent to 

 Ri^union for observing the Transit of Venus. The sky 

 being cloudy, the expedition was only partially successful. 



The Astronomer Royal has received the following 

 telegram from the Sandwich Islands : — 



" Transit of Venus well observed at Honolulu and 

 Atooi ; cloudy at Owhyhee. Sixty photographs ; Janssen 

 failed ; internal contact uncertain several seconds ; com- 

 plete disc of Venus seen twelve minutes before ; 120 mi- 

 crometer measures." 



From New York intelligence has been received that 

 the observation of the Transit of Venus made by the 

 British astronomical party at Honolulu has been success- 

 ful, except as regards the photographs, which failed. 



It will be seen that the bad news for the English 

 plans from New Zealand is fortunately not followed up 

 from the Sandwich Islands. There the ingress, at one 

 end of a base hne stretching to Kerguelen's Land, has 

 been secured, and if the observations have been success- 

 ful at the latter place, Delisle's method can be applied for 

 the ingress. 



The telegram from New York is enough to give rise 

 to some uneasiness. The first telegram stated that 

 the Transit was well observed at Honolulu and Atooi, 

 while there were clouds at Owhyhee; and then followed 



• For all the names I .imSindebted to Dr. Speyer, of Rliodcn. 



some statements which might have applied either to 

 Owhyhee solely or to the whole attempt. From the last 

 telegram we learn that the photographs failed at Honolulu 

 where in the telegram to the Astronomer Royal it was 

 stated that the Transit had been well observed. There 

 is, therefore, a distinct strengthening of the idea that the 

 remarks "Janssen failed," "internal contact uncertain 

 several seconds," apply to all the stations. We sincerely 

 trust this may not be so, for the whole value, to the 

 English plans, of the occupation of Kerguelen's Land is 

 that observations of ingress may be made there to cor- 

 respond with those made in the Sandwich Islands, — the 

 ingress being accelerated in these latter and retarded at 

 Kerguelen. A long experience with transits of Mercury 

 and solar eclipses has now convinced astronomers that 

 corresponding observations mean observations made by 

 similar instruments under similar conditions. For 

 instance, it will be useless to compare an eye observation 

 of a contact made at the Sandwich Islands with photo- 

 graphs of the contact made by Janssen's beautiful con- 

 trivance at Kerguelen, whence we are not afraid of hearing 

 that "Janssen failed," for Father Perry, in whose charge 

 the revolving apparatus is, is one of the very few men 

 long practised with astronomical instruments who form 

 part of the English staft". 



Lord Lindsay telegraphs to Lady Lindsay from the 

 Mauritius : — 



" Transit observed ; last half satisfactory. Good 

 photographs, measures, and time determination. Alto- 

 gether well satisfied." 



The private expedition of Lord Lindsay to the Mauritius 

 deserved to succeed. We regret that the degree of success 

 obtained is not so high as that which Lord Lindsay's 

 energy, skill, and care had merited. Had observations 

 been secured here and at Reunion at the coin»icncc)iiciit 

 of the Transit, both Mauritius and Reunion would have 

 been Delislean stations for observations of ingress — 

 almost, indeed, as good as Kerguelen's Land, where it is 

 to be hoped the official astronomers have obtained obser- 

 vations to pair with those made at the Sandwich Islands. 

 But, as Lord Lindsay saw nothing of the beginning 

 (ingress), and as the sky was cloudy at Reunion, the 

 parties at Kerguelen's Land are now the only hope of the 

 Delisleans, and this makes one regret all the more that 

 the Americans were foiled in their attempt to occupy the 

 Crozets. But Lord Lindsay's hopeful telegram evidently 

 ineans that he has obtained enough photographs and 

 measures to employ with advantage the direct and helio- 

 metric methods of determining the least distance of 

 centres ; these methods being precisely those which the 

 German parties, also in the Mauritius, were to employ, 

 obtaining corresponding observations at Chefoo, in the 

 north of Chin^. 



The Times Malta correspondent writes under date 

 ^'aletta, Dec. 15:— "The Transit of Venus was dis- 

 tinctly witnessed at Malta on the 9th inst. The external 

 egress of the planet from the sun occurred precisely at 

 7.26 A.M. local mean time." 



"Melbourne, Dec. 29. — Intelligence from New Zealand 

 announces that the American astronomer, Prof. Peters, 

 was successful in his observation of the Transit of Venus. 

 The German expedition to the Auckland Isles also 

 achieved satisfactory results." 



THE SPECTROSCOPE AND THE TRANSIT OF 

 VENUS 



A RECENT article in the Times (Dec. 24) speaks of 

 -'*- the application of the spectroscope to the observa- 

 tions of transits ; it is so much to the point that we repro- 

 duce a portion of it here : — 



The news from Malta which we gave yesterday of the 

 unhoped-for observation of external egress there under 



