Dec. 23, 1886] 



NA TURE 



mentary Text-Book of Botany," and that his new work may be 

 expected from Messrs. Swan Sonnenschein and Co. in the 

 nurse of next year. In the meantime the publishers are re- 

 . -filing the existing book without alteration. 



In the annual report of the Leyden Museum for the year 

 ending .September i, 1886, Dr. Jentink, the Director of the 

 Museum >ind the successor of Prof. Schlegel, is able to report sub- 

 stantial progress with the zoological collections, the most notice- 

 able additions being an eggo( ^p/orrns mtixiffius a.nd a skeleton 

 of Ec/iiilim hrtiijnii. Considerable series of animals of all 

 classes have been added to the Museum from the travels of Mr. 

 Stampfli in Liberia and Mr. Van der Kellen in Benguela. 



According to the Colonies and India, the last experiment in 

 sending salmon-ova to the antipodes appears to have been a 

 great success. In January 1885, a shipment of eggs w.is made 

 by Mr. James Youl, by desire of the Tasmanian Government, 

 and the bulk of the eggs reached the colony in good condition, 

 development of the embryo having been suspended by means of 

 Ha^lam's refrigerating machinery. The eggs have developed 

 into " fry," and the "fry" into "smolts," for several young 

 salmon about 8 inches long have been captured accidentally in 

 the Tasmanian Mersey. 



The same journal states that a Mining Institute has been suc- 

 cessfully launched at Sydney, with a programme of future work 

 calculated to increase the welfare of the mining industry. 



In the Reingraben s'ate of Polzberg, near Lunz (Austria), 

 among other fossils a well-preserved skull of Ceratodus has 

 been found. Two years ago a flat-pressed vertebral column 

 was found iu the same place, which seems to have belonged to 

 the same animal. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Red-handed Tamarin {Midas riifimaiius 9 ) 

 from Surinam, a Mauge's Dasyure [Dasyurus maiigtci) from 

 Australia, presented by Mr. Robert J. Hamilton ; two Collared 

 Peccaries {Dicotyles tajaai) from South America, presented by 

 Mr. Thomas Bell ; two Peafowls {Pavo cristatus i 9 ) from 

 India, presented by Mr. Richard Hunter ; two Indian Crows 

 (Corviis splcndens) from India, presented by Lord Lilford, 

 F.Z.S. ; a Yarrell's Curassow {Crax caniHculaia) from South- 

 East Br.izil, a Razor-billed Curassow (lilitua tiiberosa) from 

 Guiana, a Red-billed Tree Duck (Dendrocygna aulitmnalis) 

 from America, two White-faced Tree Ducks (Dcndi-ocygna 

 viduata) from Brazil, presented by the Rev. W. Bramley 

 Moore ; four Herring Gulls {Larns argcntatus), British, pre- 

 sented by C.apt. S. T. Sargent ; six Spectacled Salamanders 

 (Salamandrina perspicilla/a) from Italy, presented by Prof. H. 

 H. Giglioli, CM. Z. S. ; a Macaque Monkey (Macacus cytio- 

 molgtis), an Isabelline Bear {Ursus isahelliiiiis i ) from India, 

 deposited. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN 

 Barnard's Comet. — This comet has become .an exceedingly 

 interesting object, of no small beauty and brightness. Prof. 

 Cacciatore, Director of the Palermo Observatory, in a letter 

 appearing in the GiornaU di Sicilia of December i, speaks of it 

 as visible to the naked eye. He says : — " Its head shines as a 

 star of the fifth magnitude, and is accomp.anied by two tails, 

 the one directed to the north-west, of a length of about a degree 

 and a half, and the other to the west, about half a degree in 

 length." But few observations would seem to have been made 

 of the comet in this country, when the comparative brillkincy 

 of the object is borne in mind ; still, several English observers 

 have called attention to the second tail. Oneobserver speaksof the 

 brighter tail as being, on December 9, more than 10° in length, 

 and visible to the naked eye ; the second tail, which was inclined 

 at an angle of 40' to the other, was much fainter and shorter, 

 and required an aperture of about 2 inches to show it well. 



The comet is now receding rapidly both from the earth and sun, 

 and .as its declination is diminishing, it will soon be lost to 

 English observers. 



Rot.\tion-Time of the Red Spot on Jupiter. — Prof. 

 Young, in the December number of the Sidereal Messenger, 

 gives a fresh determination of the rotation-period of the great 

 red spot on Jupiter. The determination rests upon eight obser- 

 vations made in the spring of the present year, and the rotation- 

 period deduced is gh. 55m. 4073. ±025. ; the probable error 

 of a single observation being ± 44s. This rotation-period 

 shows that the gradual retardation of the period still persists, 

 the following having been the values deduced in former years : — 



h. m. s. 

 In 1879 Mr. Pratt made the period 9 55 34-9 

 l88o~8l Mr. Hough ,, 37-2 



1S82-83 ,, ,, 38-4 



1883-S4 „ „ 38-5 



1884-85 ,, ,, 40-1 



Prof. Young remarked the apparent overlapping of the 

 southern belt and the red spot which took place towards the 

 end of M.irch and the beginning of April, and which was ob- 

 served by many English observers [Obsei-Mtory, May 1886, 

 p. 188) ; but, whilst admitting that it was impossible to say which 

 was uppermost, Prof. Young was inclined, in opposition to Mr. 

 Denning's view, to believe the red spot to be the lower. Mr. 

 Denning has pointed out that the apparent partial coalescence of 

 the two markings was simply due to an arm of the southern belt 

 overtaking the red spot, the former having a rotation-period shorter 

 by about igs. than the latter. Prof. Young observed a white 

 spot in a yet higher latitude than this part of the southern belt, 

 and deduced a period of rotation for it of gh. 55m. 11 •14s. It 

 would thus appear that the red spot moves more slowly than the 

 markings on either side of it, to the south as well as to the north. 



ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA FOR THE 



WEEK 1886 DECEMBER 26—1887 JANUARY i 



/TIJ"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 December 26 

 Sun rises, 8h. 7m. ; souths, I2h. cm. 5i'4s. ; sets, ish. 54m. ; 

 decl. on meridian, 23° 22' S. : Sidereal Time at Sunset, 

 22h. 14m. 

 .Moon (one day after New) rises, 8h. 32m. ; souths, I2h. 56m. ; 

 sets, I7h. 22m. ; decl. on meridian, 18° 54' S. 

 Planet Rises Souths Sets Decl. on meridian 



h. m. 

 Mercury ... 6 18 



Venus 8 35 .. 



Mars 9 47 ■■ 



Jupiter 2 32 ., 



Saturn 17 6* .. 



* Indicates that the 



ID 28 ... 14 38 ... 20 50 S. 



12 25 ... 16 IS ... 23 49 S. 



13 57 ... 18 7 ... 20 55 S. 

 7 40 ... 12 48 ... 10 52 S. 

 I 10 ... 9 14 ... 21 44 N. 



iing is that of the preceding evening. 



Variable Stars 

 Star R. A. (18870) Decl. (1887-0) 



h. m. o , h- m- 



U Cephei o 52-3 ... 8l 16 N. ... Dec. 28, o 24 m 



Algol 3 0-8 ... 40 31 N. ... ,, 27, o 58 /« 



,, 29, 21 47 m 



\ Tauri 3 54'6 ... 12 10 N. ... ,, 28, 4 27 m 



Jan. I, 3 19 m 



5 Libra; 1454-9... 8 4 S. ... Dec. 27, 20 ■] m 



„ 30. 3 5« "> 



U Coronje 15 13-6 ... 32 4 N. ... „ 27, 17 40 m 



,, 31. 4 31 '" 



R Serpentis 15 45'5 •■ '5 29 N. ... ,. 29, M 



3 Lyr* 18 45-9 ... 33 14 N. ... ,, 28, o o m., 



,, 31, 5 oM 



R Lyra; iS 519 ... 43 48 N. ... ,, 29, in 



5 Cephei 22 250 ... 57 50 N. ... „ 26, 21 30 ;« 



.l/sisnities maximum ; m minimum ; m^ secondary minimum. 



Mcteor-Siowers 



On December 30 and 31 slow bright meteors fall from a 



radiant near 2 Lyncis, R.A. 92°, Decl. 57° N. Other showers 



of the season radiate from near ( Ursae Majoris, R.A. 201°, 



Decl. 57° N., and from near Bootis, R..\. 221", Decl. 41° N. 



