33° 



NA TURE 



{Feb. 3, 1887 



-^ = ^1 + V- 



{F^ - ^1), 



the value of the factor at any iatermediate time T will be 

 given by 



r - 7; 



7\ - 7-, 



which can be ea5ily taken from a table of double entry with the 

 arguments barometer reading and thermometer reading. Such 

 a table, together with one giving the values of the mean re- 

 fracti ms computed to hundredths of a second of arc for every 

 ten minutes of zenith distance, and a convenient multiplication 

 table, are all that is required for the practical application of 

 Mr. Schaeberle's method. 



Comet Brooks (18871!') — A Science Observer Circular (No. 

 19) gives the following elements and ephemeris for this 

 object : — 



7"= 18S7 March 2S'o3 G.M.T. 



TT = 121 20 I 



ft = 294. 45 > Mean Eq. iSSyo 

 i = 94 17 \ 

 log q = o'ioi6 

 Ephemeris for Greenwich Midnii;ht 



R.A. 



De 



The brightness at discovery is taken as unity. 



ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA FOR THE 



WEEK 1887 FEBRUARY 6-12 



/"pOR the reckoning of time the civil day, commencing at 



^^ Greenwich mean midnight, counting the hours on to 24, 



is here employed.) 



At Greenwich on February 6 

 Sun rises, 7h. 32111. ; souths, I2h. 14m. iS'Ss. ; sets, l6h. 5601. ; 

 decl. on meridian, 15° 37' S. : Sidereal Time at Sunset, 

 2h. 2m. 

 Moon (Full on February 8) rises, I4h. 54m. ; souths, 22h. 49m. ; 

 sets, 6I1. 37m.* ; decl. on meridian, 18° 2' N. 

 Planet Rises Souths Sets Decl. on meridian 



Mercury ... 7 46 



Venu; 8 14 



Mars S 14 



Jupiter o 10 



Saturn 13 58 



12 l6 ... 16 46 ... 17 38 S. 



13 17 ... 18 20 ... II 47 S. 

 13 23 ... 18 32 ... 10 39 S. 



511 ... 10 12 ... 12 8 S. 



22 6 ... 6 14* ... 22 16 N. 



Indie 



: that the setting is that of the follovvine morning. 



6 ... 6 ... Saturn in conjunction with and 3° 21' north 



of the Moon. 

 6 ... iS ... Mercury in superior conjunction with the Sun. 

 8 ... — ... A partial eclipse of the Moon occurs in the 



morning, not visible in Europe. 

 Saturn, February 6. — Outer major axis of outer ring = 45"'8 ; 

 •outer minor axis of outer ring = 18" "8 ; southern surface visible. 

 Variable Stars 

 Star R.A. Decl. 



h. ni. . , h. m. 



S Ceti 018-3... 9 57 S. ... Feb. 11, o o J/ 



U Cephei o 52-3 ... 81 16 N. ... ,, 10,21 19 w 



Algol 3 0-8 ... 40 31 N. ... ,, 8, I 12 m 



,, 10, 22 I 'It 



V Tauri 4 45-5 ... 17 21 N. ... ,, 12, M 



f Geminorum ... 6 57-4 ... 20 44 N. ... ,, 8, 4 o >ii 



U Monocerotis ... 7 25-4 ... 9 33 S , 6, vJ/ 



S Cancri 8 37-5 .. 19 2G N. ... „ 12, o II w 



5 Librae 14 54'9 ... 8 4 S. ... ,, 10, I 23 m 



U Corons 15 I3'6 ... 32 4 N. ... „ 7, 3 55 "' 



UOphiuchi 17 io-8 ... i 20 N. ... ,, 9, 5 48 '« 



and at interv.ils of 20 8 



/3 Lyrtt iS 45-9 ... 33 14 N. ... FeS. 8, o oM 



,, II, 6 o m 

 S Vulpeculae ... 19 43^8 ... 27 o N. ... ,, 11, •"' 



X Cygni 19 462 ... 32 38 N. ... ,, 6, M 



V Cygni 20 377 ... 47 44 N. ... „ 8, M 



5 Cephei 22 25-0 ... 57 50 N. ... ,, 7, 19 o m 



cciiltations of Stars by the Moon (visible at Greenwich) 



Corresponding 

 angles from ver- 

 ''"P- tex to right for 

 inverted image 



Mag. 



Disap. 



3 Cancri 6 



B.A.C. 2731 ... 61 



54 Cancri 6j 



o' Cancri 6 



46 Virginis ... 6 

 48 Virginis ... 6 



t Occurs on t 



21 17 ... 22 27 ... 77 239 

 2 13 ... 2 47 ... 172 239 



16 29 ... 17 14 ... 77 195 



19 21 near approach 132 — 



23 17 ... o igt ... 23 226 



I 43 ... 2 7 ... 336 299 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

 Various rumours have been afloat during the past week as to 



difficulties having arisen between the Egyptian Government and 

 Mr. .Stanley and as to the escape of Emin Pasha. To these 

 rumours Mr. Stanley has telegraphed a positive contradiction, 

 and it should ba remembered that there is a small party in 

 Egypt opposed both to the expedition and to Emin Pasha. Mr. 

 Stanloy leaves Cairo this week for Zanzibar, and every prepara- 

 tion has been made for his taking the Congo route. Meantime 

 important information has reached Europe from Dr. Junker as 

 to his explorations in what is known as the Wellii-Makua region. 

 Dr. Junker's furthest position on the River \yelle, according to 

 the calculation of Dr. Schweinfurth, was the vill.age of Bassanga, 

 22° 47' 40" E. of Greenwich, and 3° 13' 10" N. lat. This posi- 

 tion, combined with what we already know of the course of the 

 Welle, leaves little doubt that it is an affluent of the Congo. 

 But that it reaches the Congo through the recently-discovered 

 Mobangi is by no means so certain. Taking into account the 

 altitudes and the general lie of the country, it seems more 

 probable that it reaches the Congo at some point between the 

 Mol)angi and the Aruwimi. However, this is one of the problems 

 which it is hoped Mr. Stanley will be able tosolve. .\nd even 

 if Emin Pasha has escaped, it is to be hoped that the expedition 

 will proceed, if not to take possession of the Ecpiatorial Province, 

 at least to carry out ih? exploring work which Mr. Stanley has 

 planned for himself. The attempt of the Balloon Society to get 

 up a second expedition by the Congo it is impossible to treat 

 seriously. 



To the new number of the Proceedings of the Royal Geo- 

 graphical Society Dr. Edmund Naumann, late head of the 

 Geological Survey of Japan, contributes a paper of great scientific 

 value, on the physical geography of Japan, in which he gives the 

 results of his own surveys. Considering the Japanese chain as 

 one continuous mass, the lowest parts of which are submerged, 

 this great wave of the earth's surface bears the ssnie relation to 

 the Pacific Basin, according to Dr. Naumann, as the Himalaya 

 mass does to the Indian peninsula. The dimensions of the two 

 colossal earth-waves are almost equal. The ocean-bed on 

 the Pacific side of Japan really rises veiy gradtially to 

 the coast-line, making an angle of not more than 3", while 

 on the opposite side the inclination is very slight indeed. 

 The general character of the Japanese earth-wave establishes 

 its close relation to the Asiatic continent. In fact, it is nothing 



I else than the advanced frontier of Asia, and not a chain of 

 volcanic ejections accumulated over a fissure of the ocean-bed, 

 as certain famous geographers of past periods conjectured. One 

 of the most original and intereiting parts of Dr. Naumann's 

 paper is that in which he deals with the magnetic map of Japaii, 

 a reproduction of which is given in the Proceedings. On this 

 map is perceived a most remarkable correspondence between the 

 lines cf equal declination (the trogones) and the leading lines 

 of geological structure described by Dr. Naumann. In general, 

 the magnetic lines e.xhibit very striking and quite unex- 

 pected irregularities, and these irregularities are found to 

 be in most intimate connection with the abnormal curvature 

 of the folds. No less than two hundred complete observa- 

 tions for magnetism, at a like number of stations, were 

 made. The results seem extremely satisfactory. Across the 

 centre cf the main island is a great depression which Dr. Nau- 

 mann calls the Fossa Magna, and the map shows that the mag- 

 netic lines are infltienced in their course by this cleft, in the 

 same manner as by the folds. He is even inclined to say that 

 the deviations of the lines of equal declination and the fold lines 

 coincide to a certain extent. Where one of the great lines of 

 horizontal dislocation, separating two unequally advanced 

 sections of the Japanese Archipelago, crosses the chain, the 



