156 
NAT ORE 
[ Fune 17, 1886 
reduced. The second Melbourne general catalogue, containing 
the meridian results from 1871 to 1884 inclusive, thus incor- 
porating the whole of the results obtained with the old transit- 
circle up to the date of its disuse, is in process of formation. 
An alteration has been made in the photo-heliograph, so as to 
secure a picture of 8 inches diameter instead of 4 inches, as 
formerly. There have been several interruptions to the con- 
tinuity of the sun-photographs during the year, owing to de- 
rangement of the instrument and dome, and only 130 pictures 
were obtained up to June 11, when the instrument was dis- 
mantled for repairs. The sixth volume of the results of astro- 
nomical observations for the years 1876 to 1880 inclusive, was 
published in February 1885, and has been distributed. The 
first part of the observations with the great Melbourne tele- 
scope (NATURE, vol. xxxiii. p. 538), from its erection in 1869 to 
the present date, has also been published during the year to 
which this Report refers. 
ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA FOR THE 
WEEK 1886 JUNE 20-26 
( OR the reckoning of time the civil day, commencing at 
Greenwich mean midnight, counting the hours on to 24, 
is here employed.) 
At Greenwich on Fune 20 
Sun rises, 3h. 44m. ; souths, 12h. tm. 14°§s.; sets, 20h, 18m. ; 
decl. on meridian, 23° 27’ N.: Sidereal Time at Sunset, 
14h. 14m. 
Moon (four days after Full) rises, 22h. 7m.*; souths, 2h. 49m. ; 
sets, 7h. 36m, ; decl. on meridian, 15° 34’ S. 
Planet Rises Souths Sets Decl. on meridian 
h. m. h. m. h., m. ey 
Mercury 4 07). 12545 21 13 2AeS EN 
Venus ... TSO) rer One: 16, 38. ces SUS MeN 
Mars II 28 17 45 ©) 62") ae a eaTN,: 
Jupiter... ©... 1% qo 17 56 0) 12" 22 eLOENI. 
Saturn... 4 40 02 50) | 200 0 Boe 7Ne 
* Indicates that the rising is that of the preceding evening and the setting 
that of the following morning. 
Occultations of Stars by the Moon (visible at Greenwich) 
Corresponding 
angles from ver- 
June Star Mag. Disap. Reap. ‘tex to right for 
inverted image 
h. m. h, m. a 5 
2lae (DeASCa7487) «ORs. 3) 1OuS0) 3. X55 89 258 
24 ... 24 Piscium Gree OLAS ac I 47 87 241 
June 
21 Sun at greatest declination north; longest day in 
northern latitudes. 
Variable Stars 
Star R.A. Decl. 
hee ms Owes h. m. 
U Cephei ... © 522... 81 16 N.... June 24, 1.14 m 
R Virginis . T2U32s7ere 7) STON: ee ee m 
WoaVairginisy... g:-.-) 13 120;2).. 2 479.) c 55 OSE O LI. 
6 Libre are LA 5459 <0 AS ee peeOmeaEs cus 
WeCorone!.:. s.., 15 1376 .:. 32) 4 Ne %.. sa eeOmeOna ter 
U Ophiuchi... D7) O78) 2.0 I 2OUN.sen es Lee aaa? 
and at intervals of 20 § 
XGSagittari... 15... 117/404 «.. 27 A705. se UReTZO mee OT 
WiSagittariic.., se) 1S) 25°2)...49° 02) 0.1 seco. 
B Lyre... 1 1S) A529) --~ 33) 14 Nine eso ESOLZ: 
mAguilz* ...) 2. 19) 4077... 10 43 °N. ... | 5323 ez. 72 
TDelphini=.. =. 20l4071 =. 15 50) Nie. ees M 
5 Cephei e) 2292450) 2.0157) 5OUNisieenin os ue ese SORT? 
R Pegasi 231100) OS OEN ae ee ees M 
M signifies maximum ; # minimum. 
GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES 
THE paper on the aborigines of Formosa, by Mr. G. Taylor, 
in the China Review, to which we have already adyerted, is 
continued in the last number (vol. xiv. No. 4), and as it pro- 
gresses it contains more and more information, especially with 
regard to the number of different tribes end their various customs, 
which is wholly new, either in European publications or in those 
of the Far East. The number last noticed concluded with the 
Paiwans, the tribe with which the Dutch came in contact in the 
seventeenth century, during their temporary occupation of part of 
Formosa, and of which therefore we had the most information. 
The present instalment deals with several other tribes, including 
one very peculiar and hitherto unknown people, the Caviangans, 
who are comparatively few in number, inhabiting lofty moun- 
tains, and having many superstitions with regard to hills and 
the spirits which inhabit them. We have also an account of 
the Tipuns, the most powerful tribe in southern Formosa, 
inhabiting the great plain inland from the headland marked 
Double Peak on the charts of the east coast. These have a 
tradition that they came from some other country hundreds of 
years ago, but they appear now to differ little from their neigh- 
bours the Paiwans. But there is one very radical distinction, 
viz., that when a man marries he enters his wife's family, 
whereas amongst the Paiwans the reverse is the case. Amongst 
them tattooing is a mark of rank, and is strictly prohibited to 
the commonalty. Another tribe described is the Amias. The 
Chinese class these as aborigines, but the true aboriginal tribes 
look on them as foreigners. They have a curious tradition of 
their origin, but the aborigines have the more prosaic one of 
shipwreck, and it appears that the Amias do not consider them- 
selves entitled to equal social rank with the other savages. In 
appearance and customs they differ much from their neighbours, 
and worship one Supreme Being, not a multitude of spirits. 
They believe in an after state, dependent on personal conduct in 
this life, and they have a sort of purgatory amongst their 
beliefs. They have a vague notion of lands and peoples where 
communication is carried on by means of other than oral speech. 
This, says Mr. Taylor, is the only trace in South Formosa of 
any original idea of writing. Their explanations of certain 
natural phenomena, such as thunder and lightning, sunset and 
sunrise, are curious. Earthquakes they believe to be caused by 
a pig scratching itself against an iron bar stuck into the earth. 
This paper leaves on the mind, even more strongly than its pre- 
decessor, the impression that in the future Formosa will offer 
ethnological problems as interesting and complicated as any 
equal area on the earth’s surface. It is clear, too, that all the 
divisions of the inhabitants of the island hitherto given by 
writers, whether Chinese or Europeans, are wholly incorrect 
and unscientific. There are wider differences amongst the 
tribes, and a far greater number of different tribes, than has ever 
been supposed. Moreover, it is obvious that in the present 
state of our knowledge of the tribes, it would be idle to theorise 
about them. Mr. Taylor, dealing only with a very small section 
in the south of the island, has described six or seven tribes ; 
amongst these we find some calling themselves aborigines, and 
looking down as strangers and new-comers on others who have 
been generally supposed to be aborigines. In view of the wild 
aud inaccessible nature of a large part of the eastern half of 
Formosa, and of the danger of entering it on account of the 
chronic state of war which exists between the natives and their 
Chinese masters, it must be a long time before a clear or trust- 
worthy ethnological account of Formosa can be written. It is 
quite possible that some of the largest ethnological problems of 
the Far East may be involved in Formosa; the knot may, 
perhaps, lie there. Meantime, Mr. Taylor deserves thanks for 
his careful and interesting collection of new facts which are 
vital to the discussion of Formosan ethnology. \ 
A REPORT addressed by Col. Fontana, the Governor of 
Chubut, to the President of the Argentine Republic, gives 
details of the exploration of Chubut up to the Andes lately made 
by the Governor. The Expedition, consisting of thirty men, 
left Raiwon, the chief town of Chubut territory, on October 14, 
and returned on February 8, having traversed about 1000 leagues 
in four months. It first followed the tortuous course of the Rio 
Chubut to its sourcé in the Cordilleras, about the 42nd degree 
south latitude, the northern limit of Chubut, and then, cossing 
well-watered and fertile prairies and enormous forests, reached 
the 46th parallel. It discovered three passages into Chili, and 
laid down accurately the courses of several rivers heretofore 
fixed by guess-work. Col. Fontana believes he was the first to 
quench his thirst in the spring from which the River Senger 
takes its rise: he has removed the doubts which existed respect- 
ing Lakes Colne and Musters, and verified their positions; and 
he has determined the geographical position of the spots at 
which the Senger and Chico debouch into the lake. He 
promises in a short time to have completed maps which will 
correct many errors concerning the hydrography and orography 
of this region. 
we 
