446 



NA TURE 



[Jllarck lo, 1 88; 



one far less marked than that shown by the spots. The follow- 

 ing numbers derived from notes by the Rev. S. J. Perry in the 

 Obsc>~,-a!ory iot Kebniary iS86, and March 18S7, .shows that the 

 mean extentof the prominence arc has greatly diminished, though 

 the mean height of the prominences h.is sutTered little change. 

 This diminution in extent was especially marked during the last 

 three months of the year. 



Mean height of 



chromosphere, 



excluding 

 prominences 



I height 



prominences 



2867 

 247S 

 2571 

 s 9" 54'. 



.. 28 25 



■■ 32 45 

 for November 



Lewis Swift, director 

 of Rochester, N.Y. , 

 a description of the 



1555 800 ... 



1556 8-05 ... 



Mean iSSo to 1885 ... 8 07 



The "mean extent" for October 



^' 25', and for December 9° 31'. 



Comet iS%t J (B.-\rn.\rd, Febru.^ry 15).— Prof. Boss has 

 furnished other elements of this comet than those he gave in 

 his first circular, the first set of elements being thus superseded. 

 They are as follo^vs : — 



T = 1S87 March 28-47 



"= 36 37 ) 



a = 135 28 > Mean Eq. 1887-0 



■ = 139 45 ) 

 log q - I -0059 



Prof. Krueger [Aslr. Nach., No. 2774) has computed the 

 following ephemeris for Greenwich midnight from these 

 elements : — 



i3S7 R..\. Decl. log • log a 



March 13 ... 54 13 



15 - 52 53 



17 - 51 44 



19 ... 50 41 



21 ... 49 46 



The W.^rxer Observatory. — Mi 

 of the private observatory of Mr. Warr 

 has recently published a pamphlet givins^ 



dome and 16-inch refractor and other accessories of the obser- 

 vatory. The great telescope has been used by Mr. Swift, since 

 July 1SS3, in a systematic search for new nebuls;, of which 540 

 have been discovered up to January i, 1887. The places and 

 descriptions of over 400 of them are given. Mr. Swift is also 

 engaged in searching for comets. The pa.nphlet, in addition, 

 contains a list of the recipients of the Warner Prizes for cometary 

 and other astronomical discoveries, as well as a reprint of the 

 essays on comets and on the " sky-glows" of 18S3 and 1S84, to 

 which prizes have been adjudged. 



ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA FOR THE 

 WEEK 1S87 MARCH 13-19 

 /pOR the reckoning of time the civil d.ay, commencing at 

 Greenwich mean midnight, counting the hours on to 24, 

 is here employed. ) 



At Greenwich on March 13 



Sun rises, 6h. 2im. ; souths, I2h. 9in. 39-3s. ; sets, I7h. 58m. ; 



decl. on meridian, 2° 56' S. : Sidereal Time at Sunset, 



5h. 22m. 



Moon (at Last Quarter March 16) rises, 2lh. 43m.*; souths, 



3h. Sm. ; sets, Sh. 23m. ; decl. on meridian, 9^ 34' S. 



5 33 N. 



5 52 N. 



o IS N. 



II 53 S. 



22 29 N. 



; and the setting 



that of the foUowins 



OccuUation of Star by the Moon (visible at Greenwich) 



Corresponding 



7 Libra; 

 h. 



Mag. 



batiirn stationarv 



■ right for 

 ted image 



Star 



7) Geminorum 



R Lyncis 



R Crateris ... 



5 Libra; 



U Coronas ... 



U Ophiuchi... 



W Sagittarii 

 U Sagittarii... 

 R Sagittie ... 

 U Capricorni 

 R Vulpecula; 

 5 Cephei 



R.A. 

 h. m. 

 ... 6 8-1 

 ... 6 51-9. 

 ... 10 55-0. 

 .. 14 54-9 . 

 .. 15 136 . 

 .. 17 IO-8 . 



Decl. 

 . 22 32 N. 



55 29 N. 

 17 43 S. 



8 4S. 

 32 4N. 



I 20 N. 



Mar. 15, 

 „ 18, 



19. 



16, 23 



17. 3 

 '3. 



0.1/ 



M 



M 



13 in 



18 m 



40 m 



... 17 57-8 

 ... 18 25-2 

 ... 20 8-9 

 ... 20 41-9 

 ... 20 59-4 

 ... 22 250 

 M signifies 



Meteor- Showers 

 R..-\. Decl. 



and at intervals of 20 

 29 35 S. ... Mar. 13, 22 o M 



19 12 S. 



i6 23 N. 

 15 12 S. 

 23 22 N. 

 57 5° N. 



15, 21 

 19. 

 16, 

 19, 

 18, II 



M 



M 



oM 



Near a Persei 



SVirginis 



5 Ursa; Majoris. . 

 i8 Draconis 

 7) Serpentis 

 K Cephei 



50 

 175 

 185 

 263 

 276 

 300 



48 N. 

 10 N. 

 58 N. 

 50 N. 

 6N. 

 80 N. 



Slow bright meteors. 

 March 17. 



Very swift meteors. 

 Slow bright meteors. 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES 



0.\ Tuesday last, the Sth inst., the Expedition under Mr. 

 IL M. Stanley for the relief of Emin Pasha, arrived at Simons- 

 tow n from Zanzibar. They were to resume their voyage on 

 Wednesday, after taking supplies on board. Mr. Stanley is 

 accompanied by Tippoo Tip, through whose agency, it is ex- 

 pected, Stanley Falls will be restored to the Congo State. 

 Messengers have been sent across the continent to the Congo, 

 and Mr. Stanley expects that a large addition to his caravan 

 will be awaiting him when he arrives on the Upper Congo. 



LiEur. Baert, of the Congo Free State, has recently 

 made a journey up the Mongalla, a northern tributary of the 

 Congo, considerably to the east of the Mobangi. The river had 

 previously been navigated to some extent by Mr. Grenfell, but 

 Lieut. Baert has succeeded in getting much beyond Gren- 

 fell's furthest. In fact, he attained the limit of navigation, at 

 over 200 miles from the mouth of the river, where its course is 

 broken by falls. The river flows in a general southward direc- 

 tion, through a well-wooded country, and its rapids are situated 

 in about 3° 30' N. lat., and 22° E. long. The 5longalla is very 

 sinuous ; its rapids are situated in a mountainous district 

 inhabited by a people named Sebi, who do good work in iron. 



A French traveller, M. ChaflTanjon, is exploring the 

 Orinoco. He has already surveyed the Bolivar and the San 

 Fernando, and discovered numerous errors in existing maps. 

 He has made large collections in ethnology, archa;ology, and 

 philology. He hoped to solve the puzzling problem of the 

 Casiquiare, and reach the sources of the Orinoco last December. 



In the first number for 1887 of the Mittcilungcn of the 

 Vienna Geographical Society, is a German translation of the in- 

 teresting paper by D. Isabelo de los Reyes, on the Tinguians of 

 the Philippine Island, Luzon. The author is himself an Ilocan, 

 a tribe which marches with the Tinguians, and has had excep- 

 tional opportunities of investigating the origin, and customs, 

 and beliefs of his fellow-countrymen, and, being educated, can 

 tell what he knows. A good map accompanies the paper, and 

 to this Dr. Blumentritt contributes explanatory text. To the 

 same number Herr Edward Glaser contributes a sketch of his 

 journeys in South Arabia, which, while mainly for archa;ological 

 purposes, have yet been the means of adding much to our 

 knowledge of the little-known South Arabian mountain-land. 



The Bollctlino of the Italian Geographical .Society for 

 January publishes a detailed account of the recently ac- 

 quired Italian possessions on the Red Sea coast, extracted 

 from an official memoir presented to the Chamber of 

 Deputies by S. E. di Robilant. These possessions are grouped 

 under three separate divisions: (l) territory garrisoned and 

 administered by Italy, including Massowa, Emberemi, the Abd- 

 el-Kader peninsula, Gherar, Taulud Island, and the neighbour- 

 ing Dahlak Archipelago ; (2) protected territory, comprising the 



