428 



NA TURE 



{April I, 1875 



Destruction of Flowers by Birds 



As a sequel to the discussion in the columns of Nature (vol. 



ix. pp. 482 and 509) on the destruction of flowers produced by 



small birds nipping off tlie bottom of the jierianth, 1 may record 



that their cducalion in this habit is progressing here. 



My own crocuses, in a town garden, have suffered for years, 

 each one being nipped off as soon as it expanded, but the country 

 gardens have hitherto escaped ; this year, however, I noticed 

 that a garden five miles from the town and close to a large farm- 

 yard was attached, and no single flower left uninjured. 

 Eurton-on-Trent, March 30 P. B. M. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN 



Southern Double Stars.— (i) y Corona: Australis. — 

 This fine binar>' must have very much charged its angle 

 of position since the last published measures, if, as is 

 most probable, the late Capt. Jacob's elements afford an 

 approximation to the true orbit. They are as follows : — 

 Periastron passage, i863'o8 ; period, loo'S years; node, 

 352° 13'; distance of periastron from node, 266° 25' (or 

 its angle of position, 256° 12'); inclination, 53° 35' ; ex- 

 centricity, 0-602, and semi-axis, 2"'549. Calculating from 

 these elements, we find the subjoined angles and distances 

 about the present epoch : — 



1874-5 1557 I'-gS 



75-5 153-0 204 



76-5 150-4 2-09 



The last measures recorded by Capt. Jacob gave for 

 1858-20, angle, 343°'o ; distance, i"-53. Though 7 Corona; 

 Australis is accessible at the observatories of Southern 

 Europe, our information respecting it comes so far, we 

 believe, from India or the other hemisphere. 



Amongst the southern binaries, certain or suspected, to 

 ■which we would also draw attention with the hope of 

 seeing measures put upon record during the present year 

 are h 4087, which, as measured by Jacob, showed consi- 

 derable change since Sir John Herschel's Cape obser- 

 vations ; y Centauri, a difficult object in 1 85 3, but 

 comparatively easy at the end of 1857, though the angles 

 so far are very puzzling ; ]i 5014, with the view to decide 

 as to its binary character or otherwise; and // 5 1 14, 

 ■which is in all probability a revolving double-star of short 

 period ; it is E. A. c. 6632 : if this star is regularly mea- 

 sured, an orbit may soon be feasible. To save trouble of 

 reference, we append the places of these stars for the 

 commenceme:-it of 1S75 : — 



R.A. N.r.D. 



// 40S7 



7 Centauri 



// 5014 



7 Coronx Aust. 



h 5114 ... 



8 17 43 130 35-5 



12 34 38 138 16-4 



■7 58 3S 133 24-2 



iS 57 48 127 14-3 



19 17 46 144 34-4 



Variable Stars, — In Astron. Nach. No. 2031, Herr 

 Julius Schmidt, of the Observatory at Athens, publishes 

 results of his observations of this class of objects in 1874. 

 He has many maxima and minima of the three short- 

 period variables in Sagittarius discovered by him in 

 1866 ; the positions for 1875-0 and latest assigned periods 

 are as follows : — 



R.A. N.r.D. PERIOD, 



h. m. s. o , 



X Sagittarii (3 Fl.) 17 39 41 117 46-8 7''-oii85 



W „ 17 57 2 119 35-1 7 '59327 



U „ 18 24 32 109 12-7 674518 



There appears to be some confusion in Schmidt's refer- 

 ence to W and X as regards the star which is identical 

 with 3 Sagittarii of Flamsteed. In Astioii. Nach. No. 

 1832, where he gives positions for 1S70, he calls Flam- 

 steed's star X, and Schonfeld has followed him in his 

 catalogue of 1875, but in the last number of the same 

 periodical Flamsteed's star is called W. With periods 



so nearly alike, this difference of nomenclature may prove 

 troublesome. The second of the above stars has also 

 been termed by Schmidt 7' Sagittarii. The period of 

 68 ;/ Herculis, according to this zealous observer, is about 

 forty days ; it has been seen as high as the fourth magni- 

 tude and as low as the sixth, but the variation appears to 

 be generally within narrower limits : the times of minima 

 are more easily determined than those of maxima. 

 Schmidt fixes the last maximum of the remarkable star 

 X (Bayer) Cygni to 1874, Nov. 8, and thinks this a pretty 

 certain determination. Argelander's last formula in vol. 

 vii. of the Bonn observations, assigns 1874, Sept. 6, or 

 sixty-three days earlier, but the errorof this formula in 1870 

 amounted to ninety-three days, and had progressively 

 reached this figure since the year 1854, when the calcu- 

 lated and observed time of maximum nearly agreed. 

 Schonfeld gives a formula which still shows errors exceed- 

 ing forty days and in opposite directions in 1842 and 1871. 

 The interval between the last two observed maxima is 

 399 days, and another may be expected to occur about the 

 middle of December ne.xt ; the minimum may be looked 

 for early in June, a Herculis, according to Schmidt, has 

 been more than usually changeable during the past year. 

 {i Pegasi continues irregularly variable through not more 

 than a half magnitude in about forty-one days, occa- 

 sionally remaining a considerable time without percep- 

 tible change. 



Minor Planets. — Ephemeridcs of these bodies for 

 1875, so far as elements were available, were circulated 

 some time since by Prof. Tietjen, of Berlin, in anticipation 

 of the publication of the Berliner Asiroitnmisches Jahr- 

 biich, with the preparation of which he is now charged. 

 The brightest of those coming into opposition during the 

 month of April are Thalia on the 1st, of loth magnitude ; 

 Flora on the 7th, of 9^ mag. ; Hecuba on the i6th, of 10^ 

 mag. ; La^titia on the 17th, of 9th mag. ; Europa on the 

 1 8th, of loi mag. ; and Urania on the 25th, of the same. 

 The only minor planets since No. 7 which rise higher 

 than the 9th magnitude during the remainder of the pre- 

 sent year are Metis, Fortuna, and Eur) dice in September, 

 Clotho in November, and Massalia in December. 



DANIEL H ANBURY, F.R.S. 



T^HE memorable list of those who during the past 

 ■'■ winter have departed from the scientific world, 

 received last week another name for whose loss there is 

 no palliation to be drawn from the consideration of 

 advanced age or of completed work. Daniel Hanbury 

 died on March the 24th, of typhoid fever, aged 49. Hardly 

 any figure was more familiar than his to those who fre- 

 quented the meetings of the Royal or Linnean Societies 

 at Burlington House. The same simplicity and quiet 

 enthusiasm which will make his death a matter of sincere 

 regret to those who were accustomed to meet him there, 

 influenced and animated his scientific work. A member 

 of a business house which has almost a historic character, 

 he began, a quarter of a century ago, investigating and 

 writing upon subjects suggested by his occupations. Any- 

 one who has had occasion to follow him in such matters 

 will need no defence of the utility of his work ; nor 

 can indeed anyone dispute the value of critical and 

 accurate knowledge about the matei-ials of pharmacy. 

 There was no side, whether literary or scientific, from 

 which he left the subjects of his studies unapproached. 

 A few )ears since he retired from business in order to 

 obtain greater leisure, and he successfully brought what 

 proved to be the work of his life to a close by the publica- 

 tion, at the end of last year, in conjunction with Prof. 

 Fliickiger, of the " Pharmacographia." This was reviewed 

 in these pages at the time of its appearance.-* It is only 



• Nature, vol. xi. p. 60. 



