320 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. I., No. 11. 



2 P.M., 48,64°; at 9 p.m., 40.08°. The mercury fell 

 below the freezing-point on thirteen days. 



The first blossoms of the white maple (Acer dasy- 

 carpum) were observed on the 1st; of the white elm 

 (Ulmus Americanus), on the 8th; and of the dog- 

 tooth violet (Erythronium albidum), on the 23d; 

 these dates being considerably later than usual. 



Rainfall, including melted snow, 1.28 inches, which 

 is 0.96 inch below the March average. Eain or snow, 

 or both, fell on eight days, on one of which the amount 

 was too small for measurement. The snow was at 

 no time more than sufficient to whiten the ground. 

 There was one thunder-shower. The entire rainfall 

 for the three months of 1SS3 now completed has been 

 4.32 inches, which is 0.39 inch below the average for 

 the same period in the past fifteen years. 



Mean cloudiness, 48.92 % of the sky, the month be- 

 ing 0.96 % clearer than usual. Number of clear days 

 (less than one-third cloudy), 13; entirely clear, 4; 

 half-clear (from one to two thirds cloudy), 8; cloudy 

 (more than two-thirds), 10; entirely cloudy, 8: mean 

 cloudiness at 7 A.M., 49.03 %; at 2 p.m., 50.64 %; at 

 9 p.m., 47.09 %. 



Wind: N.E., 30 times; N.W., 24 times: S.W., 23 

 times; S.E., 7 times; N., 4 times; W., 3 times; E., 

 once; S., once. The entire distance travelled by the 

 wind was 12,080 miles, which is 2,728 below the 

 March average. This gives a mean daily velocity of 

 389.68 miles, and a mean hourly velocity of 16.24 

 miles. The highest velocity was 50 miles an hour, 

 on the 18th. 



Mean height of barometer, 29.164 inches; at 7 a.m., 

 29.181 inches; at 2 p.m., 29.147 inches; at 9 p.m., 

 29.164 inches; maximum, 29.774 inches, on the 3d; 

 minimum, 28.630 inches, on the 18th; range, 1.144 

 inches. 



Relative humidity: mean for month, 6.5.6; at 7 

 A.M., 75.4; at 2 p.m., 49.4; at 9 p.m., 72.0; greatest, 

 100, on the 24th; least, 21, on the 17th. There was 

 no fog. 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



— It will be remembered that the great comet of 

 1882 was first noticed by railroad employees in the 

 Argentine Republic, and that Dr. Gould's attention 

 was called to it as seen Sept. 6. On Sept. 7 it was 

 seen at the Cape of Good Hope and in Australia; 

 and on the 11th, Cruls saw it at Rio, and cabled its 

 discovery. Finally, A. A. Common of London an- 

 nounced its discovery in England on Sept. 17. 



By the courtesy of Prof. E. C. Pickering of Har- 

 vard college observatory, we are allowed to publish 

 the following translation of a letter from the director 

 of the observatory at Chapultepec to the secretary of 

 state and interior of Mexico, which sliows that the 

 comet was seen in Mexico on Sept. 14. • 



I have tbe honor to communicate to you, that this day, between 

 five and sis in the morning, there has been observed at this ob- 

 servatory, by Felipe Valle, a comet which was seen yesterday 

 by Francisco Toro, an employe of the central meteorological 

 station. 



The data which Sr. Valle has been able to collect are the 

 following : the appro.ximate position of the comet was lOh. 309. 

 right ascension, and 1* 15' declination south, placing it, conse- 

 quently, in the constellation Sextaus Uraniae, a little below and 

 about half way between a Hydrae and a Leonis (Regulns), with 

 which stars it forms a nearly right-angled triangle. Its nucleus 



appears as a star of the second magnitude, having a strong 

 resemblance to Mars, both on account of its red color and its 

 brilliancy. The nucleus is separated entirely from the coma, 

 both this and the tail having a transparent yellow color. The 

 tail is 5° to 6° in length. The breadth of the coma is about 1' 3", 

 and, of the nucleus, about 40". The tail has sharply defined 

 edges, and is straight at its origin, but appears to bend further 

 on, with the convex side towards tbe zenith. The comet appears 

 on the horizon at 5h. 12m., and can be seen by the naked eye up 

 to 6h. 40m.; that is, eight minutes before sunrise; but with the 

 telescope of our altazimuth instrument, using a magnifying 

 power of thirty-nine diameters, it can be seen even fifteen min- 

 utes after the sun is up. 



I shall give you information in regard to our futui'e observa- 

 tions. 



ClmpultepGc, Sept M, 1882. 



— The Philosophical society of Washington, at its 

 meeting March 24, listened to an account, by Prof. 

 J. R. Eastman, of the methods and success of the 

 Florida expedition for observation of the transit of 

 Venus, and to an historical and critical review, by Pro- 

 fessor Cleveland Abbe, of methods of determining the 

 temperature of the air. A communication from Pro- 

 fessor Charles E. Munroe described a method of 

 ascertaining the specific gi-avity of solids by means 

 of the hydrometer. 



— A mathematical section of the Philosophical so- 

 ciety of Washington has been formed. At the meet- 

 ing held March 29, Professor Asaph Hall was elected 

 chairman for the year 1883, and Mr. Henry Farquhar 

 secretary. Mr. Alex. S. Christie read a paper on ' A 

 quasi general differentiation,' which was discussed 

 by Messrs. C. H. Kummell and E. B. Elliott. 



— Mr. Albert E. Menke has been elected to the pro- 

 fessorship of agricultm-e and agricultural chemistry 

 in the Kentucky state college. 



— The Ohio weather bureau has decided on a set 

 of signals which will be displayed on the sides of the 

 baggage-cars of moving trains. A red sun will indi- 

 cate higher temperature ; star, stationary; and moon, 

 lower. A blue sun, general rain or snow; star, local 

 rain or snow; and moon, clear or fair weather. These 

 signals will be placed, one above the other, on a white 

 ground, and will be as large as the space will allow. 

 It is believed that they can be distinguished at a con- 

 siderable distance. 



— The Boston society of natural history has just is- 

 sued a list of its officers and members, — the first that 

 has been printed for fifteen years. It shows that its 

 resident membership has fallen in that period from 

 492 to 422. Women have been admitted to member- 

 ship, and a new class added of associate members, 

 through which all must pass on their way to corporate 

 membership. In the same way its list of honorary 

 members has fallen from 31 to 20, and of its corre- 

 sponding members from 228 to 109. The latter lists 

 have clearly been strengthened by the decrease. 



— A treatise on projections by Dr. Thomas Craig 

 has been published by the U. S. coast and geodetic 

 survey in a quarto volume of 247 pages. 



