538 



NATURE 



[April?,, 1886 



from that usually adopted in that ihe principle of transmissibility 

 of force is discarded ; while the conditions of equilibrium of all 

 bodies, including liquids and flexible strings, are deduced from 

 those of a sini^le particle by means of D'Alembcrt's principle. 

 The Newtonian definition of force is, of course, the one 

 employed. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a White-fronted Capuchin Monkey (Ccbtis 

 albifrons) from South America, presented by Mr. Matthews ; a 

 Ring-tailed Coati {Nasiia nifa) from South America, presented 

 by Miss Agnes Shouman ; a Common Kingfisher (-4/«(/o ispida), 

 British, presented by Mr. Cuthbert Johnson ; two Cambayan 

 Turtle Doves {Tiiitur semgiilcnsis) fro;n Egypt, presented liy 

 M. J. M. Corncly, C.M^Z.S. ; a Chinese Mynah (AaiJo- 

 (heres crislatel us) from China, presented by Mr. T. Douglas 

 Murray, F.Z. S. ; a Huanaco {Lama /iuana:os) from Bolivia, 

 two Llamas {Lama peruana) from Peru, a Dingo {Canis dingo), 

 a Roseate Cockatoo (Cacalua rosdcapilla) from Australia, two 

 Sonnerat's Jungle Fowl {Callus sonnerali) from Southern India, 

 seventeen Tuatera Lizards {Sphcnodon punctatus) from New 

 Zealand, deposited ; two White-eared Scops Owls {Sops Imcolis) 

 from West Africa, a Red and Black Lizard {Clenosaura erythro- 

 melas), purchased ; two Geoffroy's Doves {Peristera geoffion) 

 frjm Brazil, two Blood-breasted Pigeons (PAlogtcnas cruenlala) 

 from the Philippine Islands, received in exchange ; a Black 

 Lemur (Lemur macaco), an Axis Deer {Cafus axis), born in the 

 Gardens. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN 

 An Astronomical Directory. — M. Lancaster, of the 

 Brussels Observatory, has compiled and published a most useful 

 list of observatories, with their geographical co-ordinates and 

 the astronomers attached to them, of astronomical societies and 

 institutions, and of reviews and journals specially devoted to 

 astronomy. The pamphlet also contains a select list of the 

 names and addresses of those astronomers wlio are not attached 

 to any ob.servatory, and of amateurs, as well as a further list of 

 makers of astronomical instruments. As is practically inevitable 

 in a work of this nature, there are faults both of omission and 

 of cominission noticeable in it. The most consjncuous of the 

 former perhaps occurs in the account of the English Nautical 

 Almanac office, where the staff is represented as consisting of 

 the superintendent and one assistant. There are, we believe, as 

 many as eleven assistants attached to this ofiice. A good many 

 mistakes have also been made in the addresses of individual 

 astronomers. We hope that in a second edition M. Lancaster 

 will be enabled to remove these blemishes from what must be 

 considered, on the whole, as a very valuable publication, and 

 one which ought to be in the library of every astronomer wlio 

 is engaged in the active work of his profession. 



RousDON Observatory, Devon. — Mr. Cuthbert Peek has 

 recently published a short ihumS of his astronomical work 

 during the years 1882-85, including a description of his private 

 observatory near Lyme Regis. This observatory, of which a 

 photograph is given, is solidly built, and seems to be very 

 thoroughly equijiped for its size. It contains a transit instru- 

 ment, by Troughton and Simms, of 2 inches aperture ; an equa- 

 torial by Merz, mounting by Cooke, of 6 '4 inches aperture; 

 solar and sidereal chronometers; position- circle micrometer by 

 Hilger, &c. Beneath the equatorial room is a room used as a 

 laboratory and fur photography. Of the observations, the most 

 important is a monograph on the nebula surrounding i) Argus. 

 Mr. Peek had joined the Expedition under the command of 

 Capt. W. G. Morris, R.E., which was sent out to Queensland 

 10 observe the transit of Venus in 1S82, and, whilst at Jimbour, 

 I he place selected as the observing- station, made the observa- 

 tions here recorded. The other observations are of comets 

 1883/' (Pons- Brooks), 1SS4 11. (Barnard), 18S4 <r (Wolf), 

 lincke's comet, the lunar eclipse of 1884 October 4, occulta- 

 lions of Aldebaran, Saturn, Nova Andromedse, and the meteor- 

 ^hower of November 27 last. As the observatory was in course 

 of erection during the years 1884 and 1885, and therefore no 



systematic work could be undertaken, this record must be con- 

 sidered as very satisfactory. 



The Great Melbourne Telescope. — The first part of 

 observations of the southern nebulce made with the great Casse- 

 grain reflector at Melbourne has just been published. Other 

 parts, containing the results of observations for the revision of 

 the southern nebulae observed by Sir John Ilerschel at the Cape 

 of Good Hope in the years 1834 to 1838, the work to which the 

 tele-cope has been chiefly devoted since its erection in 1869, are 

 to follow at short intervals. The present part contains a de- 

 scription of the instrument itself and of the methods employed 

 in using it, together with observations of some of the smaller 

 nebulae, and it is illustrated by two good photographs represent- 

 ing the great telescope and its surroundings, and by three litho- 

 graphic plates of the nebula: observed. The report as to the 

 performance of the great telescope is to the effect that on the 

 average of ordinary fine nights it is somewhat disappointing to 

 one accustomed to observe with smaller apertures, but on really 

 good nights it is quite different. So large an aperture, that is to 

 say, requires specially good atmospheric conditions for its fidl 

 powers to be displayed. The number of nights fit for using the 

 telescope is given as about 40 per cent., but of best nights only 

 17 per cent. Moonlight nights are reckoned as bad nights, as, 

 though used for lunar photography, they are unsuitable for the 

 special work to which the instrument is devoted — the observa- 

 tion of nebulce. The observations of the nebulae given afford 

 several remarkable instances of apparent changes having taken 

 place in a few years. Nebula; Nos. 187 and 567 (" Gen. Cat.") 

 seem to differ from Herschel's description, and the group of 

 four nebulas — Nos. 962, 963, 966, and 968 — appear to have 

 altered in their relative positions in a very striking manner in 

 the interval between Mr. Turner's observation in i876"8 and 

 Mr. Baracchi's in 1884 '8. It seems very difficult to explain the 

 differences between the descriptions of this group by Herschel, 

 Turner, and Baracchi. 



ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA FOR THE 



WEEK 1 886 APRIL 11-17 



(''pOR the reckoning of time the civil day, commencing at 



^ Greenwich mean midnight, counting the hours on to 24, 



is here employed.) 



At Greenwich on April 1 1 

 Sun rises, 5h. 15m. ; souths, I2h. im. 17s.; sets, i8h. 47m. ; 

 deck on meridian, 8° 24' N. : Sidereal Time at Sunset, 

 8h. 6m. 

 Moon (at First Quarter) rises, loh. 15m. ; souths, iSh. 6m. ; 

 sets, ih. 52m.* ; decl. on meridian, 17° 41' N. 

 Planet Rises Soudis Sets Decl. on meridian 



ti. m. h. m. h. ni. 



Mercury ... 4 56 ... II 43 ... 18 30 ... 8 31 N. 



Venus 3 48 ... 9 14 ... 14 40 ... 7 26 S. 



Mars 14 9 ... 21 IS ... 4 21* ... II 56 N. 



Jupiter 16 23 ... 22 37 ... 4 51* ... 2 2 N. 



Saturn 8 41 ... 16 53 ... I 5* ... 22 51 N. 



* Indicates that the setting is that of the following morning. 

 Vartable-Stars 

 Star K.A. Decl. 



h. ni. o , h. m. 



.Algol 3 o-S ... 40 31 N. ... Apr. 12, 23 38 m 



,, 15, 20 27 m 

 U Monocerotis ... 7 25^4 ... 9 32 S. ... ,, 12, m 



U Canis Minoris... 735-2... 8 39 N. ... ,, 12, m 



V Cancri 8 15-2 ... 17 39 N. ... ,, 12, M 



R Hydrte 13 23'5 ... 22 42 S. ... ,, 14, m 



5 Libra; 14 S4'9 ... 8 4 S. ... ,, 11, 4 18 m 



,, 15, 20 o m 



R Corona; 15 43-9 ... 28 30 N. ... ,, 17, m 



S Scorpii 16 109 ... 22 37 S 15, M 



U Ophiuchi 17 io'8 ... i 20 N. ... ,, 14, 3 52 m 



•and at intervals of 20 8 



X Sagittarii 17 40-4 ... 27 47 S. ... Apr. 14, 2 20 m 



, , 17, o o M 

 W Sagittarii ... 17 57-8 ... 29 35 S. ... ,, 13, 21 30 AT 



^ Lyrte 18 45-9 ... 33 14 N. ... ,, 13, 19 10 Wj 



,, 17, o oM 



R Lyrje 18 5I'9 ... 43 48 N. ... ,, 12, M 



S Delphini 20 378 ... 16 41 N. ... ,, 13, m 



5 Cephei 22 24-9 ... 57 50 N. ... ,, 14, 21 40 M 



