SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



301 



Sun 



1896. 

 Feb. 



Mercury. 



Venus 



Mars 



Jupiter 



Last Qr. 

 1st Qr. .. 



Rises. 

 Ii.m. 



A.M. 



„ 742 • 



,. 7-25 . 



• 7-5 • 

 Rises. 



P.M. 



.. 8.4 . 



A.M. 



■ 5-35 • 

 Souths. 



P.M. 



. 1-30 . 



P.M. 

 .. 6.39 . 



P.M. 

 .. 1-3 • 



Rises. 



A.M. 



.. 6.38 . 



. 6.0 . 



■■ 5-27 • 



.. 5-36 . 



• 542 ■ 

 ■■ 5-55 • 



• 544 • 

 ■• 5-30 • 



Souths. 



P.M. 



.. 10.55 • 

 Rises. 



A.M. 



.. 1.1 . 



Sets, 

 h.m. 



P.M. 



• 44C 



• 5.4 



■ 5-23 

 Souths. 



A.M. 



• 2.35 



A.M. 



• 8.49 



Sets. 



P.M. 



• 7-24 



A.M. 



■ 345 



P.M. 



. 6. 11 

 Souths. 



A.M. 



. 11.38 



. 10.42 



• 9-3o 



• 942 



• 9-55 



■ 945 



• 9-37 



■ 9-30 

 Sets. 



A.M. 

 . 6.52 



Souths. 



A.M. 



• 545 



Position at Moon. 



R.A. 



h.m. 

 20.59 

 21-39 

 22.18 



Dec. 



17° 19' 

 14° 5' 

 10° 38' 



io° 51' S. 



... 12° 26' 



50 ... I5 34' 



14 ... 21° 59' S. 



6 ... 21° 42' 



58 ... 20° 22' 



30 ... 23° 49' s. 



3 ... 23° 21' 



35 ... 22° 28' 



8.17 ... 20° 25' N. 

 15.8 ... 15 11' s. 



Moon's Phases. 



Feb. 6 ...12.38 a.m. 

 ,, 21 ... 9.14 p.m. 



New 

 Full 



Feb. 13 ... 

 „ 28 ... 



4.13 p.m. 

 7.51 p.m. 



There will be no prominent meteor showers 

 this month. 



There will be an annular eclipse of the Sun on 

 the 13th, invisible at Greenwich, and a partial 

 eclipse of the Moon on the 28th, partly visible at 

 Greenwich. The first contact with the shadow is 

 at 6.16 p.m., and the last at 9.15 p.m. The Moon 

 rises at 5.27 at Greenwich. 



Sun 



Moon 



Mar. 1 



Mercury... 



Venus 



Rises. 



Sets. 



Position 



at Noon. 



h.m. 



h.m. 



R.A. 



Dec. 



A.M. 



P.M. 



h.m. 





6.46 . 



• 5-39 • 



. 22.58 ... 



7° i/' S 



6.24 . 



.. 5-56 • 



.. 23.29 ... 



3° 24' 



6.1 



.. 6.13 . 



.. 0.5 ... 



o°33' 



Rises. 



Soutlis. 







P.M. 



A.M. 







8.31 



.. 2.4 







A.M. 



A.M. 







4-54 • 



. 833 







Souths. 



Sets. 







P.M. 



P.M. 







0.47 



• • 7-31 







P.M. 



A.M. 







. 6.23 



.. 3.21 







Rises. 



Soutlis. 







A.M. 



A.M. 







• 549 



.. 10.28 



.. 21. 11 ... 



i6 u 11' S 



• 544 



.. IO.34 



■ • 21.55 ». 



14° 13' 



5-36 . 



.. IO.49 • 



.. 2249 ... 



9° 5 6 ' 



• 5-37 



.. 10.6 



.. 20.48 ... 



18 3' S 



• 5-29 



.. 10.16 



.. 21.38 ... 



14 52' 



. 5-K3 



.. 10.24 



.. 22.25 ■•■ 



11° 0' 



. 5.14 



• • 9-23 



.. 20.7 ... 



2I Q 12' S 



■ 4-56 



•■ 9-15 



.. 20.38 ... 



19° 34' 



• 4-35 



... 9.6 



.. 21.9 ... 



17° 37' 



Souths, 

 h.m. 



Sets. 



h.m. 



Position 



R.A. 



at Noon. 

 Dec. 



P.M. 



. 9-28 . 

 . 8.6 . 



A.M. 

 •• 5-27 • 

 . 4.6 . 



h.m. 

 .. 8.9 - 

 . 8.6 ... 



20 52' N 



21° 3' 



Rises. 



Souths. 







P.M. 



A.M. 







11.43 • 

 10.22 . 



. 12.23 . 



. 10.27 • 



Souths. 



• 4-27 • 



• 37 • 



• 447 ■ 



• 2.47 . 

 Sets. 



. 15.9 ... 

 . 15.8 ... 

 . 15.29 ... 

 . 15-27 ... 



15° 10' S 

 14" 59' 

 18° 37" S 

 18 31' 



P.M. 



6.16 . 

 . 4.20 . 



A.M. 



. 2.18 . 

 . 0.22 . 



• 4-57 •■■ 

 . 4-58 ... 



21 13' N 



21° 17' 



1896. 



Jupiter ... Mar. 1 

 ,, 21 



Saturn ... ,, 1 



.. 21 



Uranus ... ,, 1 



., 3i 



Neptune ... ,, 1 



Moon's Phases. 



Last Qr... Mar. 6 ... 11.29 a m > New ... Mar. 14 ... 10.48 a.m. 

 1st Qr , 22 ... 11.57 a.m. Full 29 ... 5.21 a.m. 



No prominent meteor streams will visit us this 

 month. 



Mercury is at its greatest elongation west on 

 the 5th, at 4 p.m. 



An admirable short article upon indexing of 

 scientific papers, by Mr. H. Seward, appears in 

 the January number of " Monthly Notices of the 

 Royal Astronomical Society." It bears especially 

 with regard to astronomical records. 



Earth's Rotation and Sleep. — In looking 

 through the last number of " The Asclepiad," the 

 remarkable magazine entirely written, edited and 

 published by Sir Benjamin Ward Richardson, 

 M.D., F.R.S., I notice he returns to the often dis- 

 cussed question of the effect of position of human 

 beings when reclining in the nightly sleep. That 

 is to say, is it best to lie with the body in the 

 direction of the earth's rotation or across its axis ? 

 Dr. Richardson considers it a matter of much 

 importance, especially to invalids, feeble and 

 sleepless people. The tendency of the blood in 

 the body is to be affected by the rapid "swing" 

 of the earth. Thus if the position taken is 

 with the head in a westerly direction, the blood 

 would be inclined towards the head, and the 

 reverse occur when the feet are turned with the 

 earth's rotation. Sir Benjamin finds he sleeps 

 most comfortably, and awakes more readily, with 

 his head in the westerly direction. One thing 

 he points out is, that it is a subject which has 

 not been properly investigated. There is another 

 well-known fact connected with the effect upon 

 sleeping animals of the earth's rotation to which 

 Dr. Richardson does not refer, but which is more 

 evident. About an hour before dawn of day, no 

 matter at what time of the clock that occurs, 

 according to the season, sleeping animals become 

 temporarily uneasy. Children often turn round 

 and moan in their sleep. Elder people frequently 

 awake, turn over to a different position, and sleep 

 again. Cocks crow, dogs become uneasy, though 

 perfect stillness obtains in the place where they 

 may be asleep. In a farmyard, horses and cattle 

 may be heard moving for a short period, and then 

 sleep and stillness returns for a time. What is 

 the cause of this ? Are the animals affected by 

 some magnetic wave which precedes sunrise an 

 hour or so. or is the habit one of those which are the 

 outcome of heredity, passed down through number- 

 less generations from an original wild state, a 

 habit which was then of protective value, by 

 causing a general alertness shortly before the hour 

 when they would become visible to predatory 

 enemies in the approaching daylight 1—John T. 

 Carrington. 



