90 



NATURE 



[May 25, 1882 



from .Scotland, presented by Mr. J. Faed j a Great American 

 Heron (Ardea heivdias), captured at sea off Cuba, purchased ; a 

 Ruddy-headed Gone [Btmicla rubidueps), bred in the Gardens. 

 The foil 'wing species of Butterflies and Moths have been exhibited 

 in the Insect Ilrue during the past week: — Silkmoths : Samia 

 cecropia, Attacus cyuthia, Attacus pernyi, Atiacw atlas, Attacus 

 roylei, Adias Stlene, Actios /una, Cricula trifenestrata ; Butter- 

 flies : Papilio machaon, Anthocharis cardamines, Thats polyxcna, 

 Melit&a cinxia; Motbs: Smcrinthus ocellatus, Cheerocampa 

 elpenor, Proserpinus another a, Srsia sccli.cfjrmis, Sesia spheei- 

 formis, Trochilium apiforme, Sciapteron tabanifornic, Pygcera 

 bucephala. Twelve specimens of a leaf insect (PAy Ilium scythe) 

 from epgs transmi'ted by Mrs. M. A. Meres and Mr. Wood 

 Mason from India, have also emerged. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN 



The Trapezium of Orion. — Prof. Hoklen, in an appendix 

 to the Washington ol servations for 1S77, has discused a long 

 series of measures of the multiple' s'ar 2 748, made with the 26- 

 ir.ch refractor by Trof. Asaph Hall in 1877 and 1S78. It is now 

 known that the nebula in Orion was discovered by Cysat in 161S, 

 thirty-eight years before Hayghens published an account of it, 

 and his discovery is mentioned in his " Mathemeta Astronomica 

 de Cometi Anni, 161S ' ; Bessel refers to-it in his investigation 

 of the elements of the great comet of this year, in the Berliner 

 Jahrbuch for 1S0S. Cysat does not distinctly mention the 

 number of stars, but clearly indicates their locality. Huyghens, 

 in the " Systema Satnrninm," 1659, describes his own discovery 

 of the nebula, and re f ers to " three stars close together," which 

 are shown in an accompanying figure. He saw the fourth star, 

 completing what is now Known as the trapezium of Orion on 

 January 8, 16S4, and Prof. 1 [olden records tha f the last obser- 

 vation made by Huyghens was upon this system, on February 4, 

 1694, and the sketch in his manuscript journal under that date 

 gives the four stars. In Hoobe's " Micrographia," published in 

 1665, is a no*e (to which the attent'on of the American astro- 

 nomer was drawn by Mr. H. B. Wheatley), which would imply 

 that he was aware of the existence of the fourth star (notified by 

 Cassini in his treatise on the comet of 1652), and of the fifth 

 star, the discc very of which is usually attributed to W. Struve. 

 He writes : "In that notable asterism also of the sword of Orion 

 where the ingenious Monsieur Hugens van Zulichem has disco- 

 vered only three little stars in a cluster, I lnve, with a 36-foot 

 glass, without any aperture [diaphraui] (the breadth of the glass 

 being some three inches and a half), discovered five, and the 

 twinkling of divers others up and down in divers parts of that 

 small milky cloud." Sir John Herschel, in the Memoirs of the 

 Royal Astronomical Society, vol. tii. mentions that Sir James 

 South had pointed out to him in the original M.S. journals of 

 the Royal Society a note which runs thus: "Se; tember 7, 1664 

 Mr. Hooke . . . the same relateth to have found those sta's in 

 Orion's belt, which M. de Zulichem maketh but three to be 

 five." Prof. Holden made some special experiments in January, 

 1878, with the 26-inch refractor at Washington, the aperture 

 reduced to 3i inches, and arrived at the conclusion that if the 

 fifth star were of the same brightness in 1664 as at this time, it 

 would not have been discovered by 1 [ooke ; but, on the contrary, 

 Mr. Burnham has brought together a number of cases in winch 

 'he fifth star has been seen recently with such an aperture. The 

 si eh star was detected by Sir John Herschel in 1830. Of ether 

 5 'ars, suspected by several observers, Prof. Holden, during six 

 .ears' observations of the nebula surrounding the trapezium, has 

 not discovered any trace. 



The Wa-hington measures in 1S77 were made in a dark field 

 with the wire- illuminated by a red-glass lamp ; those of 1S7S were 

 made with the field illumin ited, ami w ith black wires. The mean 

 results of the two years' observations of the four principal stars, 

 after a complete reduction, are as follow, for the epoch lS78'0: — 

 P o, in. Distance. Pjsition. D 



ab 



etc . 

 ad 



The results obtained by South in 1820, W. Struve in 1S36, 

 Liaponoff in 1849, O. Struve in 1870, Nobile in 1876, and 

 Jedrzjewicz For 1878, are brought together for comparison in 

 Prof. lb Iden's paper. 



Measures of the fifth and sixth stars in 1877-78, give the 

 position, and distances subjoined, (or 1878-0 : — 



a and a ... 121 25'2 ... 3984 

 a and b' ... 320 43'3 ... i6 - j04 

 5 and I' . 352 So ... 4'194 

 Tn conclusion, Trof. Holden remai !;s : " It appears that after 

 making due allowance for the unavoidable, acci ental, and sys- 

 tematic errors, the comparison of all our measures on the six 

 stars of this system shows their pr liable physical association." 



The Comet. — During the last fortnight the increase in tbe 

 brightness of the present conet appears not to have differed 

 sensibly from that indicated by theory. On May 21 it was 

 hardly below 5 5m. 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

 At the Anniversary Meeting of the Royal Geographical 

 Society on Monday, the medals were presented, as we said some 

 time ago they would be, to Dr. Nachtigal and Sir John Kirk. 

 Mr. Francis Galtongave some account of the progress of geogra- 

 phical teaching in scho Is, which the Society endeavours to pro 

 mote by holding examinations and the grant of medals, &c. He 

 quoted a passage from the report of tbe examiner, Prof. H. N. 

 Moseley : — " I have," Prof. M. seley says, " to congratulate the 

 siciety on the good work effected by its annual award of school 

 medals. As my experience as an examiner in geography increases, 

 the more I am convinced of its pre-eminent fitness as a subject 

 of education, aid the more I deplore that it is almost entirely 

 neglected as such in this country. Competent teachers of the 

 subject appear to be scarce indeed, but it is amply apparent from 

 the society's examinations that most valuable results can be pro- 

 duced by really able instructors." This was the fourteenth year 

 in which these examinations had been held, and fifty-six medals 

 — four annually— had been awarded, while altogether ninety- 

 eight boys had obtained honourable mention. Of fifty-two 

 schools invited to compete, forty-one had sent no candidates. 

 Among the-e the Liver, o .1 School hail been distinguished, its 

 scholars hiving gained medds fifteen times ; while Dulwich had 

 obtained eleven medals since 1875, and two in each of the last 

 thr^e years. In the Scotch and Irish schools the boys were 

 yourger than in the bi_;h schools of this c untry, and that ac- 

 counted, perhaps, f ir the fact that of five Sc tcb and seven Irish 

 schools invited to compete, only two in each country had ac- 

 cepted the invitation. He regretted that the great schools of 

 Rugby, Shrewsbury, King's College Scho 1, and St. I 

 School, London, had not yet sent competitors. The president 

 then review cd the progress of geography during the past year. 

 He referred to various efforts which were being made to train 

 those uli , mi dit have opportunities of pursuing geographical re- 

 search. Sir Allen Young, the president stated, was busy getting 

 ready the w baler //c/,-,'whiehdie has hired, for the search for Mr. 

 Leigh Smith and his party. 



We referred some weeks ago to the unusually early date at 

 which ice appeared in the Atlantic this year; the supply has 

 gone on unceasingly since, and the New York corre-p indent of 

 the Standard states that the reports made by ships coming west- 

 ward read like accounts of Arctic explorations ; — One ship 

 passed icebergs almost d ily between May 7 and 17, in latitude 

 43 deg., longitude 37 deg. Many were of immense size, and 

 » ere visible 'or forty miles, others were niihin arm's length of 

 the shi,is tide. Arctic animals were seen upon them, some 

 living, and others skeletons. The Atlas liner Ailsa, from 

 Aspinnall, reports that in the middle of the afternoon of the 7th 

 it was dark, and lights were necessary. Ten waters! outs were 

 observed whirling in dangerous proximity to the ship. They 

 were rendered vi ible by the lightning. The captain of her 

 Majesty'- ship Ttticdes reports that the ice is nearly solid from 

 Cape Breton to Newfoundland, and that two ocean steamers have 

 nght in it. The brigantine Rescue was completely crushed 

 near Belle Isle. The crew, numbering seventy two, took to the 

 ice, although there was a heavy rolling swell surging among the 

 floes. A perilous passage was made by the steamship Mastiff, 

 of Scotland, which has arrived at Montreal She was among 

 the ice fir nine days. The crew and passenger*, becoming des- 

 perate, cut a passage through the ice, which, wis sometimes 

 twenty feet above the water. Another ship, the Western Belle, 

 from Greenock, struck an iceberg off Newfoundland on May 1, 

 and sank instantly v ith her captain (Frew) and thirteen hand's. 



Heft V. of Petermann's Miltheilungen contains a 1 ing ac- 

 count, by Dr. Woeiltof, of his journey in Mexico and Central 



