Jan. 28, 1 875 J 



NA TURE 



249 



rhiuiim majiis, making .1 hole at the bottom of the corolla of the 

 flower near the stalk, ami so getting at the honey from the out- 

 side. It was too late in the season to be able to observe it much, 

 or often, but we are pleased to find others have seen it too. 



In Sir John Lubbock's lecture at the London Institution he 

 said some " humble-bees sucked the honey of the French bean 

 and scarlet-runner in the legitimate manner, while other bees 

 cut a hole in the tube, and so reached it surreptitiously." 



This flower I speak of is one with the corolla much more 

 marked than those the lecturer quoted. Next season we will 

 hope to watch it again, and see if it only happens late in the 

 year, for the injured blossoms seemed to wither very soon after 

 the incision was made. Mary J. Plarr 



Tunbridge, Jan. 9 



Iron Pyrites. — Curious Phenomenon 

 Some iron pyrites exhibited in a particular case in the Maid- 

 stone Museum have crumbled into a coarse, finely-divided mass. 

 The specimens have been exhibited for about two months, and 

 the decomposition has been effected in that time. Some other 

 specimens recently removed from another case are becoming 

 soft. 



Could any of your readers'account for this, and has such a 

 thing ever been observed^before ? Frederic Ca.se 



Maidstone, Jan. 19 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN 



Antares as a Doubt^e Stak.— The small bluish 

 companion of Antares was detected by Mitchcl at the 

 Observatory of Cincinnati in July 1845. Measures taken 

 by him in the summer of 1846 are published in No. 4 of 

 his Sidi-iral Mcsscut^ci: They gave the distance 2"'52, 

 the companion preceding on the parallel, at the epoch 

 i846'59, and Mitchel thought this distance was half a 

 second greater than at the time he discovered the small 

 star. He mentions that on the 13th of August, 1S46, he 

 saw the star distinctly at 5.30 P.M., "the sun shining, 

 unobstructed by clouds or mist." Early in the year 184S, 

 Antares was repeatedly measured by Bond with the great 

 refractor of Harvard College, and by Dawes in this 

 country. Their mean result, weighted according to the 

 number of nights, is — 



i84S"24 : Position ... 273°7i. Distance ... 3"'574. 



The proper motion of the large star, though small, is 

 still sufficiently sensible. Leverrier {Aniialcs, tome ii.) 

 assigns for the secular motion, — os'o5g in Right Ascen- 

 sion, and — 3"'36 in Declination. If the above angle 

 and distance are brought up to the present time with 

 these values, we find on the assumption of merely optical 

 pro.ximity of the companion — 



i875'25 : Position ... 28S''-S. Distance ... 3"'54. 



We would suggest that the star should be carefully 

 re- measured, now that it is drawing away from the sun's 

 place in the morning sky, to decide on the optical or 

 physical connection of the components. Dawes' last 

 measures in 1 864 certainly rather favour the latter view, 

 but they were made on a single night, and the object is 

 one of difficult observation. It will be seen that on the 

 assumption of optical duplicity, the distance is just now 

 very nearly stationary, but the change of angle during the 

 last twenty-five years amounts to 1 5 degrees, and will be 

 easily confirmed or otherwise. 



The " Temporary Stars " of Tvcho Brahe and 

 Kepler. — The position of the famous star of 1572 in the 

 constellation Cassiopea, with which Tycho's name is 

 usually associated, has been determined with all the pre- 

 cision that his observations admit of, by Prof. Argelander, 

 of Bonn. His place, reducing to the commencement of 

 the present year, is in 



Right Ascension ... ... oh. 17m. 52s'6 



North Declination ... ... 6;>,° 27' 18". 



Near to this position is a star of about the eleventh 



magnitude, which, by micrometrical comparison with two 

 of its neighbours meridionally fixed, is found to have for 

 the same epoch. 



Right Ascension oh. 17m. 525-1. 



North Dechnation ... ... 63" 26' 24". 



It is, therefore, distant less than one minute of arc 

 from the most reliable position of Tycho's star that can 

 now be assigned. On this account alone it would be 

 worthy of attention, but we are able to state, further, that 

 during the last four years this small star has e.xhibited 

 slight fluctuations of brightness at irregular intervals 

 which increases the probability of its identity with the 

 star of 1572. It may also be noted that in August 1874 

 there was a decided ruddiness in its light. 



Kepler's observations of the star which suddenly 

 assumed such extraordinary brilliancy in the constella- 

 tion Ophiuchus in the autumn of 1604, are contained in 

 his work " De Stella nova in pede Serpentarii," but the 

 best position we possess is doubtless that deduced by 

 Prof. Schonfeld of Manheim, from the observations of 

 David Fabricius. For the commencement of the present 

 year we have 



Right Ascension I7h. 23m. Ss.'g 



South Declination ... ... 21^ 22' i6". 



This position is probably liable to greater error than in 

 the case of Tycho's star. 



The nearest object at the present time is a star of the 

 twelfth magnitude (or rather fainter), following the above 

 place 6s'5 and 2V south of it, which has not sensibly 

 varied during the last few years, but it is a suspicious 

 circumstance that Chacornac has entered upon his chart 

 No. 52, a tenth magnitude about 8s. preceding Schonfeld's 

 place, and nearly on the parallel of declination, which is 

 not now visible, or was not last summer. The neighbour- 

 hood requires to be closely watched. The observer may 

 set the circles of his equatoreal for Oeltzen 16872, R.A. 

 i/h. 23m. 34s., N.P.D. Ill' 23'. The observations for 

 Chacornac's chart were made between the 31st of May 

 and I2th of August, 1861. 



The Zodiacal Light.— On the evening of Sunday 

 last, the 24th inst., a surprisingly bright display of this 

 as yet problematical phenomenon was exhibited. There 

 was a repetition on the following evening, but in a less 

 favourable sky. The light had the usual yellowish or 

 pale lemon tinge of the more notable exhibitions in these 

 latitudes. The axis of the light appeared to pass X 

 Piscium, and the vaguely-defined apex was situate some- 

 where about 19 Arietis, but it was not possible to locate 

 it with anything like precision. The light was broad and 

 of a deeper, perhaps, ruddy tint near the horizon. The 

 display to which we have adverted, excelled in brightness 

 any that has been witnessed in the neighbourhood of 

 London for many years. It appears very probable that 

 opportunities for favourable application of the spectro- 

 scope may be afforded in the dark evenings of the present 

 and following months. 



PLANETAR Y THEORIES * 

 'T'HE theory of Neptune, which I have the honour of 

 -'■ presenting to-day to the Academy, completes the 

 ensemble of the fundamental theories of the planetary 

 system, of which the first dates back to September 16, 

 I S39, thirty-five years ago. 



The numerous developments added year after year are 

 all mentioned in the organ of the Academy. Some of 

 them figure only by their titles, and as they are scattered 

 through a great number of volumes, the Academy will 

 tno doubt permit me, at the moment when I have arrived at 



* " New Theory of the Motion of the Planet Neptune ; with Rem.irns on 

 ihe ,v/s,v;//i.',- of ihe Theories of the eiglu principal Planets, Mercury, \'cnus, 

 the Eaith. Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune " A paper reail U:!.nt: 

 llic French Academy of Sciences by M. Leverrier, Dcccmbsr si, 1074 



