JO 



NA TURE 



[Nov. 15, I i 



Dearborn Observatory for 1883. The 18-inch Alvan Clark equa- 

 torial has again been eniployed in close observation of the great 

 red spot and other phenomena of the planet Jupiter. Since the 

 first observations at Chicago in September, 1879, it is slated 

 that the red spot had not changed very materially in length, 

 breadth, outline, or latitude. There had been a slow, retro- 

 grade drift in longitude, causing an apparent increase in the 

 lime of axial rotation. At the last opposition the deduced 

 mean-rotation period was gh. 55m. 38 •4s. against gh. 55m. 34 "Ss. 

 in 1879. 



Prof. Hough gives the following mean results of micrometri- 

 cal measures of the red spot : — 



1879 1880 1881 1882 



Length ... 12-25 ■■• "'55 ■•■ '• '3° •■• "'^S 

 Breadth ... 3-46 ... 3-54 ... 3-66 ... 3-65 

 Latitude ... -695 ... -7-14 ... -7'40 ... -7'S2 

 The Chicago obsfrver considers that while the spot has 

 remained nearly stationary in latitude, the south edge of the 

 great equatorial belt has gradually drifted south during the late 

 oppoition, until it is nearly coincident with the middle of the 

 spot, and further, that "the two do not blend together, but are 

 entirely disiinct and .separate." A depression formed in the 

 edge of the belt (ts shown in two drawings of the planet's disk, 

 on December 29, 1882, and February 20, 1883), which cor- 

 responded inshaje with the oval outline of the spot, the distance 

 between the two being about a second of arc. The spot was 

 extremely faint at the last observati in for longitude on May 5. 

 The equatorial white spot, first observed in 1879, was again 

 visible during the last opposition ; the rotation period gh. 50m. 

 9"8s. deduced in the previous year, satisfying the observations. 



The great comet of 1S82 was micronietrically measured from 

 October 4 to November 20, and sketches of the nucleus and 

 envelope made. Subsequently to Octi>ber 6 three centres of 

 condensatiiin were usually visible. As the cnmet receded from 

 the sun, the head increased in length from 25" on October 4 to 

 139" on Novemt.er 20. As late as March 6 there appeared to 

 be three centres of condensation connected by matter of less 

 density. 



Difhcult double-stars have been measured by Prof. Hough and 

 Mr. S. VV. Burnham, amongst them the interesting binaries, 40 

 Eridaiii (2 518), ;3 Delphini, 5 Equulei, and 85 Pegasi. 

 Measures of the companif/n of Sirius gave for the epoch 1S83.12 

 position 39°'9, distance 9"'04 ; the distance is diminishing about 

 o"'3 annu.illy, so that in a few years it will be beyond reach of 

 any except the largest telescopes. With the excellent measures 

 obtained at Chicago more must soon be known as to the period 

 of B Equulei, reputed the most rapid of all binaries. 



TEMi"tL's Comet, 1873 11. — The following are places for 

 Greenwich midnight, deduced from M. Schulhof's elements : — 



N.P.D. 





Log. dis 



Eartli Sun 



113 42'i ... 0-2867 .. 0'1288 



113 52-1 ... 0-2877 ... 0-1287 



114 0-6 ... 0-2888 ... 0-I2S6 

 114 76 ... 0-2900 ... 0-1287 

 114 13-1 ... 02912 ... 0-1289 



Nov. 16 ... 18 20 48 

 18 ... 18 28 22 



20 ... 18 35 59 

 22 ... 18 43 38 

 24 ... 18 51 19 



This comet approaches pretty near to the orbit of the planet 

 Mars; in heliocentric longitude 312° (equinox of 1878), corre- 

 sponding tu true anomaly 6°'i, the distance is 0-050. 



D'Arrest's Comet.— M. Leveau's ephemeris of this comet 

 termuiates on November 25. The following places are reduced 

 from it to 6h. Greenwich M.T. ; — 



„„ R.A. N.P.D. Log. dist. Intensity 



'°°^ h. m. s. , , from Earth cfliRht 



Nov. i6 ... 17 15 44 ... 105 13-3 ... 0-3637 ... 0-084 



17 ... 17 18 51 ... 105 22-1 



18 ... 17 21 59 ... 105 30-8 ... 0-3628 ... O-0S6 



19 ... 17 25 8 ... 105 39-3 



20 ... 17 28 ig ... 105 47-7 ... 0-3620 ... 0-087 



21 ... 17 31 30 ... 105 55-S 



22 ... 17 34 43 ... 106 3-7 ... 0-3611 ... 0-089 



23 ■■■ 17 37 57 ... 1=6 11-5 



24 ... 17 41 12 ... 106 19. 1 ... 0-3603 ... 0-090 



M. Leveau mentions that when Prof. Julius Schmidt last ob- 

 served the comet at Athens in 1870 with a refractor of 0-1711. 

 aperture the intensity of light was 0-150. 



On November 16 the comet sets at Greenwich 2h. lom. after 

 the sun. 



The planetary perturbations during the next revolution are not 

 likely to be large, so that in 1890 the comet may be observed 

 under similar conditions to those of 1870. 



STANDARD RAILROAD TIME 



'T~'HE following letter, addressed to our American contem- 

 porary Science, is of interest : — 



Though the subject of standard and uniform railway time has 

 for some years been under consideration by various scientific and 

 practical bodie.s, it does not appear in any way to have been 

 exhausted, even in its main features. Besides, a certain bias 

 has shown itself in favour of the adoption of a series of certain 

 hourly meridians, and thus keeping Greenwich minutes and 

 seconds, when contrasted with the practicability of a more simple 

 proposition. There is also a feature in the discussion of the 

 subject which bears to have more light thrown U]'Ou it : namely, 

 what necessary connection there is between the railway companies' 

 uniform time and the mean local time of the people, or the time 

 necessarily used in all transactions of common life. Directly or 

 by implication, certain time-reformers evidently aim at a standard 

 time, which shall he alike binding on railway traffic as well as on 

 the business community ; and to this great error much of the 

 complexity of the subject is to be attributed, and it has directly 

 retarded the much-needed reform in the '^time-management of 

 our roads. 



We say all ordinary business everywhere must for ever be con- 

 ducted on local mean solar time, the slight difference between 

 apparent and mean time having produced no inconvenience ; 

 and we may rightly ask the railway companies to give in their 

 time-tables Ik^x pitbtic use, evei-ywhere and always, the mean local 

 time of the departure and of the arrival of trains. It is the 

 departure from this almost self-evident statement, and the sub- 

 stitution and mixing-up in the time-tables of times referred to 

 various local standards, v hich has in no small measure contri- 

 buted to the confusion and perplexity of the present system. 

 The people at large do not care to know by what time-system 

 any railroad manages its trains, any more than they care what 

 the steam-pressure is, or what is the number of the locomotive. 

 All the traveller is. interested in is regularity and safety of 

 travel ; hence it was to be desired that, whatever the standard 

 or standards of time adopted, the companies would refrain from 

 troubling him with a matter which only concerns their internal 

 organisation, or which is entirely administrative. We look 

 upon the publication of the railway time-tables, by local time 

 everywhere, as a sine qua non for the satisfactory settlement ol 

 the time question, so far as the public at large is concerned ; and 

 it would seem equally plain that the best system for the ad- 

 ministration of railroads would be the adoption of a unifomi 

 time, this time to be known only to the managers and employes 

 of the roads. 



We are informed in Science of October 12 that the solution of 

 the problem of standard railway time is near at hand, and 

 probably has already been con-.ummated by the adoption of four 

 or more regions, each having uniform minutes and seconds of 

 Greenv\ich time, but the 1. ical hour of the middle meridian. To 

 have come down from several dozen of distinct time-systems to a 

 very few and uniform ones, except as to the hour, is certainly a 

 step forward, and, so far, gratifying ; but why not adopt Green- 

 wich time, pure and siuiple, and have absolute uniformity? 

 Probably this will be felt before long. The counting of twenty- 

 four hours to the day in the place of twice twelve, and the oblitera- 

 tion from time tables of the obnoxious a.m. and p.m. numbers, 

 would seem to be generally acknowledged as an improvement 

 and sim|dification, and perhaps can best be dealt with by 

 adopting it at once, accompanied by a simple explanatory 

 statement. C. A. ScHOTT 



Wa.shington, October iS 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE 

 Oxford. — No election has yet taken place either for the 

 Professorship of Botany or that of Rural Economy, which are 

 now separated from each other. The Delegates of the Common 

 University Fund have agreed to attach a Readership to the Chair 

 of Botany, which will raise the income to 500/. a year. The 



