Oct. 28, 18806 | 
NATURE 
627 
is given in appendixes. Among these may be specially men- 
tioned presentations in exchange from the Royal Museum at 
Florence ; about 2009 Indian fishes from Dr. Day ; three whales, 
caught on the coast of New South Wales ; and sundry specimens 
of ethnology from the South Sea Islands, casts of natives of 
Micronesia and Polynesia, from Dr. Finsch, &c. A compass 
and collecting-jar belonging to Capt. Cook, purchased by the 
Agent-General and presented by the Colonial Secretary, are not 
without interest. Great alterations and improvements are still 
in progress, by the erection of additional glass cases. It is con- 
templated shortly to re-fit the old wing of the Museum with cases 
suitable for the mineralogical collections, which will then be 
exclusively placed there. Rooms have been fitted up for the 
osteological collections, which are now being removed thither 
from other parts of the building. The want of sufficient space 
in the present building for the constantly-increasing number of 
exhibits is still felt as a serious drawback to the usefulness of 
the Institution. The trustees are preparing a proposal for con- 
sideration by the Government, which, if adopted, will provide a 
useful and permanent extension now urgently required, at a 
comparatively small cost. Catalogues, not only of the various 
collections in the Museum, but also of all branches of Australian 
zoology, are still in course of preparation. The following new 
publications have been issu2d during the past year :—‘‘ Cata- 
logue of Hydroid Zoophytes” ; ‘* Catalogue of Echinodermata, 
Part I. Echini”; ‘Catalogue of Minerals.” Catalogues of 
Sponges and Medusz are in the printer’s hands ; and it is hoped 
that, by the liberality of the Government, the continuation of 
“*Scott’s Lepidoptera” will soon be commenced. 
A TELEGRAM from Srinagar, Cashmere, states that a 
severe and prolonged earthquake was felt there early on the 
morning of the 2oth inst. The damage caused is not yet 
known. Sharp shocks of earthquake were felt early on the 
morning of the 22nd at Charleston, Savannah, Augusta, 
Columbia, Orangeburg, Wilmington, North Carolina, and 
several other places. 
5 o'clock in the morning, and some sharp shocks followed at 
3 o'clock in the afternoon. No damage is reported to have been 
done. A shock was felt at Louisville in the afternoon. The 
shocks of earthquake felt in the evening were more severe than 
any that have been experienced since the great earthquake of 
August 31. The shock was severely felt at Summerville, where 
some persons were thrown down and slightly injured. Several 
geysers have appeared in the neighbourhood of that town. 
A CORRESPONDENT of the Z¢mes (October 21) who appears 
to have made a special study of Burmah, referring to the ethnology 
of that country, says that tradition points to three main streams 
of colonisation into Burmah. The northern sea-board, now 
known as Aracan, is said to have received its earliest population 
and polity from the Buddhist kingdoms of Bengal. The southern 
sea-board, or Pegu, with Rangoon as its modern capital, is sup- 
posed to owe its civilisation to settlers who crossed the sea from 
the Madras coast. The ancient kings of the inner country, 
which we call Upper Burmah, also claimed an Indian affinity. 
But, as a matter of fact, they and their people poured across the 
mountains and down the river valleys from the confines of China 
and Mongolia. These three prehistoric divisions have left their 
mark on the political geography of Burmah at the present day. 
Each of them has in turn advanced upon and crushed its neigh- 
‘ours, while the whole has been from time to time submerged 
by fresh avalanches of wild races from the north and east. 
NeExtT March the railway from Oran to Tunis a/@ Algiers and 
Constantine, will be completed, and will be between 800 and 
goo miles long. 
WE have received from Messrs. Goolden and Trotter a small 
illustrated pamphlet descriptive of their dynamos, which appear 
to be well-designed modifications of the familiar Gramme machine, 
The first shock of earthquake was felt at | 
| classes. 
lamps, and other appliances for electric light. The panphlet is also 
a price-list, and though with the latter feature we have nothing to 
do, we may remark on a curious and scientific innovation in stating 
the price of dynamos in a mathematical relation to their output, 
being, in fact, stated as 8/2. ros. per 1000 watts plus a constant 
of 25/. Trotter’s dioptric shades, which are another speciality 
of this house, are an example of a great improvement effected in 
acommon manufacture by the application of good geometrical 
and optical principles, and we have pleasure in noticing them 
on this account. 
THE additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during 
the past week include a Macaque Monkey (A/acacus cyno- 
molgus 3) from India, presentel by Mrs. H. Reader; two 
Green Monkeys (Cercopithecus callitrichus 6 9) from West 
Africa, presented respectively by Mr. J. W. Bacon and Mr. G, 
D. W. Ingham ; a Canadian Beaver (Castor canadensis 2 ) from 
Canada, presented by the Earl of Carnarvon ; a Crested Porcn- 
pine (/ystrix cristata Q) from Ceylon, presented by Mrs. E. 
Dunn ; a Grey Seal (Halicherus grypus 9) from the North 
Atlantic, presented by Mr. H. Overton; a Quail (Coturnix 
communis), an Asiatic Quail (Perdicula asiatica) from India, 
presented by Dr. A. Giinther, F.Z.S.; a Pig-tailed Monkey 
(MWacacus nemestrinus &) from Java, six Mute Swans (Cygnus 
oler), a Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbs), British, deposited ; a 
Scarlet Ibis (Zudoctmus ruber), a Common Boa (Boa constrictor) 
from South America, received in exchange ; a Vulpine Phalanger 
(Paalangista vulpina), born in the Gardens. 
OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN 
THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE STARS IN SCHONFELD’S 
‘© DURCHMUSTERUNG.”—The extension of Argelander’s survey 
of the heavens from the North Pole to 2° of south declination 
undertaken by his successor, Prof. Schonfeld, has recently been 
published, and contains the places of stars down to mag. Io, 
situated between 2° and 23° of south declination. Prof. Seeliger, 
in a paper entitled ‘‘ Ueber die Vertheilung der Sterne auf der 
Siidlichen Halbkugel nach Sch6nfeld’s ‘ Durchmusterung,’” pub- 
lished in the Proceedings of the Mathematico-Physical Section of 
the Bavarian Academy of Sciences, has discussed the question 
of the distribution of these stars. He divides the stars into eight 
Class I. contains those of mag. 1-675, Class II. those 
of mag. 6°6-7°0, and so on down to Class VIII., which contains 
stars of mag. 9°6-10'0. Prof. Seeliger then gives the number 
of stars in each class arranged in zones embracing 1° in declina- 
tion, and grouped by intervals of 4om. in R.A. ‘The totals for 
each class are: Class I. 1265, Class II. 1276, Class III. 1828, 
Class IV. 3516, Class V. 7601, Class VI. 18,633, Class VII. 
55,505, and Class VIII. 43,896. The total number of stars thus 
counted is 133,580, and adding to this 79 objects which are 
classified as nebulae or variables, there results the grand total 
33,659. This total agrees with the summation of the numbers 
given by Prof. Schénfeld. Comparing the results contained in 
this paper with those in a similar paper on the stars in Arge- 
lander’s ‘“‘ Durchmusterung,” Prof. Seeliger finds that, as far as 
Schénfeld’s work can be considered typical of the southern 
hemisphere as a whole (it must be remembered, however, thatit 
only embraces one-third thereof), the influence of the Milky 
Way on stellar distribution, at least for stars down to mag. 8, 
appears to be less marked for the southern than for the northern 
hemisphere. With regard to the question as to which hemi- 
sphere is the richer in stars, it appears that there is no decided 
difference shown by the two surveys under consideration. Re- 
ducing Argelander’s numbers so as to make them comparable 
with Schinfeld’s, and taking stars down to mag. 9 inclusive, we 
have for the former the total 34,324, and for the latter 34,119, a 
difference which may reasonably be a'tributed to accidental 
circumstances. 
ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA FOR THE 
WEEK 1886 OCTOBER 31—NOVEMBER 6 
(igo the reckoning of time the civil day, commencing at 
Greenwich mean midnight, counting the hours on to 24, 
is here employed.) ‘ 
