Nov. 12, 1885] 



NATURE 



43 



bright as it should be for it to be possible to obtain any imxge 

 of the corona. To these points Dr. Huggins has replied in the 

 Observatory for November. Dr. Hiiggins states ihat he has 

 had no difficulty at all in photographing the moon in full sun- 

 shine, and that the observations of Prof. Langley and others of 

 Mercury and Venus, which have been seen as black disks before 

 they reach the sun, proves that the corona must have a sensible 

 brigh'ness as compared .with the atmospheric illumination. 



He also points out that Mr. Pickering fails to obtain any trace on 

 his photographs even of the defects of his own instrument. Dr. 

 Huggins declines further discussion, preferring to wait the re- 

 sult of the work now being carried on by Mr. Ray Woods at 

 the Cape Observatory. Mr. Pickering replies in Sciena: for 

 October 23, admitting the possibility of photographing the moon 

 in full sunshine, but contending that these very photographs of 

 the moon supply an additional proof of his opinion that tlie 

 light of the atmospheie near the sun is more than 300 times too 

 intense for it to be possible to obtain a photograph of the corona, 

 since the sky light near the sun was fifty times as bright as that 

 near the moon, and coronal photogra)5hs, to be of any use, 

 should be able to record differences of illumination of only one- 

 tenth the brightness of the full moon. 



He explains the visibility of Venus and Mercury as being 

 caused by the refraction of the sun's light through their atmo- 

 spheres, the black disk being thus surrounded by a narrow 

 luminous ring. 



ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA FOR THE 



WEEK, 1885, NOVEMBER 15-21 

 (For the reckoning of time the civil day, commencing at 

 Greenwich mean midnight, counting the hours on to 24, is here 

 employed.) 



At Greenwich on No~ce}uh;r 15 

 Sun rises, yh. 2im. ; souths, iih. 44m. 48 '43. ; sets, l6h. 9m. ; 

 decl. on meridian, 18° 37' S. : Sidereal Time at Sunset, 

 igh. 49m. 

 Moon (one day after First Quarter) rises, I3h. iSm. ; souths, 

 iSh. 37m. ; sets, oh. 3m.'" ; decl. on meridian, 8' 43' S. 

 1'l.inet Rises Souths Sets Decl. on meridian 



Mercury ... 9 6 



Venus ... II 28 



Mars ... 23 40* 

 Jupiter ... 2 14 



Saturn ... 18 48* 



12 54 . . 16 42 ... 24 8 S. 



15 2 ... 18 36 ... 25 59 S. 



6 46 ... 13 52 ... 12 2 N. 



S 23 ... 14 32 ... I 5 N. 



2 56 ... II 4 ... 22 20 N. 



" Indicates tliat the rising is that of the preceding and the setting that of 

 the fallowing day. 



Occnitatio,, of Stir by the Moon 



Correspondin. 

 Nov. Star Mag. Disap. Reap. 



tex to right for 

 inverted image 



No 



.. B.A.C. 8365 ... 6i ... 22 41 ... 23 44 ... 166 29S 

 Phenomena of Jupiter s Satelliti s 



... 4 35 II. tr. ing. 

 ... 6 56 I. tr. ing. 

 ... 3 16 -I. eel. disap. 

 6 34 I. occ. reap, 

 of Jupiter's Satellites are such as 



15 ... 5 o IV. OCC. reap. 17 



16 ... 2 45 HI. eel. disap. 1 20 

 16 ... 5 51 III. eel. reap. 21 

 16 ... 6 47 III. occ. disap. 21 



The Occultations of Stars and Phenomena 

 ire visible at Greenwich. 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

 The last number of the Izvestia of the Russian Geographical 

 Society (xxi. 3) contains a variety of interesting papers. M. 

 Ivanoff describes some Turkestan antiquities : namely, the 

 Akhyr-tash, situated at the foot of the Alexander ridge, twenty- 

 seven miles from Aulie-ata, one of the grandest buildings of 

 antiquity, which covers nearly 20,900 .square yards, and must 

 have been some projected immense temple or palace ; it was 

 built from immense stones, weighing about one ton each, and 

 brought from Tash-tube. M. Ivanoff gives for the first lime a 

 plan and a detailed description of the ruins of this immense 

 building. Stone idols on the Issyk-kul, as also a burial-ground 



on'the shores of the same lake, are described and represented by 

 drawings. The whole is a most valuable contribution M. 

 Trusman's paper on Finnish elements in the Gdov district of 

 St. Petersburg will be welcome to Russian archceologists. 

 Capt. Gedeonoff gives a list of forty-three places in the Trans- 

 caspian region, whose positions have been determined by means 

 of astronomical observations, as also their heights, determined 

 by barometrical measurements. We notice the following : 

 Khiva (house of Mat-murat), 41° 23' o"'i N. lat., 60° 22' i8"'9 

 E. long., 351 feet above the sea-level ; Merv (Koushut-khan- 

 kala), 37-' 35' 37"-6 N. lat., 6l" 50' 27"-9 E. long., 565 feet ; 

 and Tchardjui, 39° i' 33"'S N. lat., 63° 36' I2"'9 E. long., 433 

 feet. M. Konshin's paper on the Sary-kamysh lake basin and 

 the western basin deserves more than a short notice, as it sums 

 up the latest researches in this region, and presents the whole 

 que-tion as to ilie bed of the Amu-daria in qu'.te a new 

 light. A report on cartographical work in Russia in 1S84 will 

 be summed up under a separate head, as also two letters from 

 Col. Prjevalsky and M. Potanin. Finally, the same issue con- 

 tains two most valuable maps, by Gen. Tillo. One of them, on 

 a larger scale, gives the lines of equal magnetic intensity, full 

 and horizontal only, for Russia in Europe, reduced to the year 

 1880. On this map all places wdiere observations have been 

 made, as also where anomalies have Ijeen observed, are marked. 

 Two other maps, on a smaller scale, give the lines of equal 

 secular variation, both of the horizontal and of the total mag- 

 netical intensity. All three have explanations in German. 

 These maps thus complete the remarkable work on "Earth- 

 Magnetism in Russia," undertaken a few years since by M. 

 Tillo, and already mentioned in Nature. 



The last news from M. Potanin's expedition is embodied in 

 a letter, dated San-chuan, January 25, and published in the 

 last issue of the St. Petersburg hvatia (,Nxi. 3). Leaving .San- 

 chuan on November 14, M. Potanin followed the right bank of 

 the Hoang-ho up to He-cheu. The same red sandstones and 

 conglomerates, covered with loess, were met with ; the ridge 

 which separates the Hoang-ho from the Tao-ho, intersected by 

 deep ravines, is all covered with cornfields and villages ; the soil 

 abounding with moisture, villages are situated as high as 2000 

 feet above the bottom of the valleys. Crossing the Tao-ho and 

 next the Da-sya-ho, the little half-ruined town of He-cheu was 

 reached. The Da-sya-ho River is formed by the junction of 

 three rivers — the Huishu, the Tumun, and the Leu-guan — 

 situated 70 li above tlie town. This last river was followed 

 by the expedition, and its source was reached after a two days' 

 march. Its valley is wide and well-peopled in its louver half, 

 the upper one being a mere gorge thickly covered with brush- 

 wood, and quite unpeopled. Crossing a ridge at the sources of the 

 Leu-guan and its tributary, Urunka, the broad valley of the 

 Tchitai was next reached. Its banks consist also of sandstones 

 and conglomerates, and it is thickly peopled with Salars, its 

 upper part being occupied by Tanguts. Descending this valley, 

 a two days' march brought the expedition to the confluence of the 

 Tchitai with the \'ellow River ; and another two riays' march 

 brought them to San-chuan. On this stretch the \'eIlow River 

 flows in a narrow gorge between steep crags of the red sand- 

 stones and conglomerates, and the road ascends these crags or 

 follows their slope on narrow wooden balconies, or by flights of 

 steps cut in the hard rock. The right bank of tbe river is 

 inhabited by Salars. They have maintained their Turkish 

 language in great purity. The men wear a Chinese dress, but 

 the women wear broad trousers, and a broad overcoat with 

 sleeves, and a pointed bonnet which covers the upper part of the 

 back. They are all Mussulmans, but their mosques are of 

 Chinese architecture, and are decorated with dragons, lions, and 

 tigers. Above its gorge the Yellow River flows through a de- 

 pression seven miles long and less than two miles wide, 

 which has received the name of San-tchuan, or Gurban-tala, 

 and ii pe )pled exclusively by Mongolian Shirongols. Their 

 central village is Ni-ja. The Shirongols seem to belong to the 

 same stem as that described by M. Prjevalsky under the name 

 of Dalda in the vicinity of Kuku-nor. Both are called Tu-jen 

 by the Chinese. If this supposition is correct, they would appear 

 to occupy the territory fiom the longitude of He-cheu to that of 

 Gan-cheu. They speak Mongolian, with an addition of Chinese 

 words, l)ut have some words of their own which must be re- 

 mains of the Language they have spoken in their former 

 territory, the Urdus. Their dress is Chinese, but the women 

 have maintained the same trousers as the Salars, and their 

 houses have much likeness with those of these last. They live 



