426 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 



A letter has been received from Henry M. Stanley, the African explorer, 

 dated Congo River, July 4, in which he states that he was seriously ill all through 

 the month of May, so seriously that on the fifteenth day of his illness he gave, as 

 he thought, his last orders to his European companions ; but the crisis passed and 

 he is now strong and hearty. 



ASTRONOMY. 



TRANSIT OF MERCURY AND NOTES FOR NOVEMBER, 1881. 



BY W. W. ALEXANDER, KANSAS CITY, MO. 



On the evening of the 7th at 59 minutes before sunset, the planet Mercury 

 will begin its transit. The Kansas City Mean Time of the visible phases are : 



Exterior Contact Ingress, 3h 57m 34s P. M. 



Interior Contact Ingress, 3h 59m 17s P. M. 



Apparent diameter of Mercury 9.9", of the Sun 1910.6". 



The place where it will first appear on the Sun will be a litde south of east, 

 or 129° from the north point toward the east. The transit will not be visible to 

 the naked eye, and need only be looked for with a telescope magnifying at least 

 fifteen or twenty times. 



THE SUN. 



Date. Right Ascension. Declination S. M. T. of Meridian Passage, 



ist. I4h. 28m. 14° 38' iih. 43m. 43s. A. M. 



5th. 14 44 15 53 II 43 45 



loth. 15 04 17 20 II 44 07 



15th. 15 24 18 40 II 44 51 



20th. 15 45 19 51 II 45 56 



2Sth. 16 06 20 53 II 47 21 



30th. 16 27 21 45 II 49 04 



Semi-diameter on he ist 16' 10", on the 30th 16' 15". Sidereal time of mean 



noon on the ist, i4h. 44m. 41.04s., on the 15th, i5h. 39m. 52s., on the 30th 

 i6h. 39m. 00s. 



THE MOON. 



Date. Right Ascension. Declination. Semi-diameter. 



iSt. 23h. 03m. 0° 27' S. 16' 10" 



5th. 2 38 17 52 N. 15 48 



loth. 7 09 19 16 14 59 



15th. II 01 00 38 14 54 



20th. 15 09 19 27 S. 15 49 



25th. 20 08 15 56 16 15 



30th. o 34 8 35 N. 15 55 



