118 Transactions, — Miscellaneous, 
of which the exquisite pain so enraged him that he ran the New Zealander 
through with the bayonet. M. Crozet found great quantities of dresses, 
arms, tools, and raw flax in this pa, together with a prodigious store of dried 
fish androots. Hecompleted the repairs in his ship without interruption after 
accomplishing this enterprise, and prosecuted his voyage after a stay of 
sixty-four days in the Bay of Islands.—Forster’s Voyage, Vol, IL, pp. 
461-465, 
Art. VII.—On Temporary and Variable Stars. By Professor A. W. 
Bicgerton, F.C.S., Associate of the Royal School of Mines, London. 
[Read before the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, 4th July, 1878.] 
Tue sudden appearances of stars in various regions of the sky have been 
recorded from very early dates. Some of these stars have had an intensity 
of light greater than any of the fixed stars, and in some cases have remained 
visible for a year or more, the intensity of light all the while gradually 
diminishing. 
Two considerable stars of this kind have appeared within the last twelve 
years, and in both cases they have been examined with the spectroscope. 
Unfortunately the results have not been so satisfactory as could be desired. 
The spectrum of the star of 1866 appears to have been continuous, with 
bright lines. The lines diminished in number and intensity until they 
finally disappeared, leaving only a feeble continuous spectrum. The light 
of the star of 1877 at first appeared yellowish, and when five or six days 
afterwards it was examined with the spectroscope, a line spectrum was 
seen. The number of lines gradually lessened until only one was left, and 
that the same line as is seen in some nebula. 
A few considerations will show the stupendous nature of these pheno- 
mena. Temporary stars have all appeared to be fixed in the heavens, this 
fact showing them to be at true stellar distances, and consequently, like the 
fixed stars, their luminosity is comparable to that of our sun. The sun 
may be roughly classed as a star of the second magnitude ; its intensity is 
approximately one four-hundredth that of Sirius, which is a very short 
distance from us relatively to the size of the universe, therefore it is not 
improbable that these temporary stars should be, on an average, at least 
as far away as he is. 
We may therefore safely assume that most of the temporary stars whose 
appearance has been recorded, have had an intensity of light as great as the 
sun, and probably in some cases many times greater, The amount of heat 
