698 ASTRONOMICAL NOTES. 



ing, and at the latter place, strawberries were reported in bloom. At Lex- 

 ington, the eggs of the "fly" were hatching in large numbers in the wheat 

 fields — (24th). A rainbow was seen at Clinton at 4 p. M. on the 22d, and 

 half an hour later at St. Louis. Lightning at Poplar Blutf, 24th. At St. 

 Louis, earth-worms came to the surface in immense numbers on the 24th^ 

 and frogs were heard on the 18th at Lexington and St. Charles. 



The rainfall at St. Louis was 3.24 inches, a slight excess over the normal, 

 Avhich is 3.03. In the State, the rainfall was least in the northwest; being 

 1.30 at Corning, "1.68 at Hopkins, but increasing regularly towards the 

 southeast, being 1.98 at Pleasant Hill, 2.70 at Clinton, 4.05 at Ironton, and 

 4.55 at Poplar Bluif. 



At the Central Station, the highest temperature reached was 69° on the 

 12lh, the lowest was 19° on the 2d. (At Lexington the maximum and mini- 

 mum were 67° and 15°). 



The total run of the wind for the month was 7,742 miles, an average of 

 250 miles per day. The highest daily run was 495 miles, on the 30th ; the 

 lowest was 117 miles, on the 17th. 



Washington University, St. Louis. 



ASTRONOMICAL NOTES FOR JANUARY.-^ 



BY PROF. C. W. PPtlTCHETT, GLASGOW, MO. 



Yenus. — In the telescope, Yenus is now a sharp and beautiful crescent, 

 closely resembling the Moon seen in twilight when four dsiys old. Along 

 the imie?' edge of the crescent are numerous irregularly shaped notches, 

 which plainly reveal the inequalities of her surface. Though her iHumi- 

 nated surface is constantly diminishing ^ she will continue to grow brighter 

 to us, till January IG-. This is because her distance from us is constantly 

 diminishing. After this date she will diminish in brightness till February 

 20, when she will be in inferior Conjunction, and consequently i'mu'sit/e to 

 us. Soon after this latter date, she will reappear in advance of the Sun, 

 as th-e Morning Star. 



Mars. — Mars is now near the Meridian at sun-set, and appears wonder- 

 fully shorn of his recent glories. Micrometer measures of his diameters,, 

 both from east to west and from north to soutli, made here about Sept. Ist, 

 gave about 25.5" of arc. His diameters have now fallen to 8.5", showing 

 that he is 3;^ times as far from us now as he was at opposition, Sept. 5. 

 Still he is a conspicuous object in the southwest sky, in the early hours of 

 the ni^ht. In the telescope, he still shows the vast accumulations of snow 

 and ice near his south pole. Also the outlines of his seas and continenta 

 are still visible. But the change is vast from the splendid views he gave 

 us in August and September. His opposition for 1877, will henceforth be 

 memorable in the history of Astronomy, 1. For the first time his satellites 



* This article was received too late for insertion under the proper he.iding.— [Ed. 



