52 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



although my interest in it is undiminished. I 

 have, however, frequently seen it from Ilfracombe 

 and Instow. Some of the residents still occa- 

 sionally write to me, and though great changes have 

 of late been made among them, they are not of 

 such a character as to require any recasting of 

 what I have said above. 



Mr. Heaven could not do better than invite some 

 famous field club to an alfresco existence of a week 

 among the rocks of Lundy. What vegetable 

 treasures they would unearth — what discoveries 

 would make their visit memorable in scientific 

 annals ! And how greatly a born naturalist like poor 

 Thomas Edward, of Low Shore, Banff, would 

 enjoy a few months on Lundy. 

 Wimbome, 



GREENWICH OBSERVATORY. 



npHE annual visitation of the Royal Observatory 

 ■^ by the Board of Visitors took place on 

 Saturday, June 4th. The Chairman of the Board, 

 Lord Lister, the President of the Royal Society, 

 being unable to be present, his place was filled 

 by Professor Sir R. S. Ball. The visitors, other 

 than the official Board, were perhaps not quite 

 so numerous as in some former years. The chief 

 centres of attraction to unofficial visitors were 

 the Thompson Photographic Equatoreal and the 

 New Alt-Azimuth instrument. During the past 

 year the 26-inch object-glass of the equatoreal 

 had to be sent back to Rathmines, Dublin, for 

 improvement, and even now Sir Howard Grubb 

 is engaged at the Royal Observatory retouching 

 this glass. The 9-inch photo-heliograph was 

 taken from over this instrument, and used by 

 the Astronomer Royal, at Sahdol, Hindostan, in 

 obtaining photographs during the solar eclipse 

 in January last. These photographs were placed 

 for exhibition and were of great interest. The 

 photographic spectroscope has been completed, 

 and fitted to the 30-inch Cassegrain reflector 

 mounted opposite to the 26-inch on the same stand, 

 but the reflecting prism to divert the light rays 

 into the spectroscope is not yet put in position. 

 The Alt-Azimuth instrument was got into working 

 order in December, but it was only possible quite 

 recently to commence regular observations, owing 

 to the time absorbed in determining the errors 

 of division in its circles, and also its stability. 

 Discordances in the readings of the two circles 

 were traced to the wheel carrying the reading 

 microscopes having worked loose. This has been 

 remedied ; but, notwithstanding, there are some 

 difficulties still to be surmounted in the reading of 

 the azimuth circle in different positions. 



During the year no less than 11,441 observations 

 were made with the transit circle, without 

 reckoning those made to rectify its adjustments. 



The Sheepshanks Equatoreal has been principally 

 used in the observation of comets. The 28-inch 

 has been employed in the micrometric measure- 

 ment of delicate double stars, the size and shape of 

 Neptune, and the position of its satellite. 



The sun has been above the horizon during the 

 year for 4,454 hours. The sunshine recorder at 

 Greenwich indicates that he was shining 1,529 

 hours, that at Kew, 1,575 hours, and that at. 

 Bunhill Row, in London, 1,279 hours. Either 

 at Greenwich, India, or Mauritius, photographs 

 of the sun have been obtained on 364 days out 

 of the 365. On forty-two days no spots were 

 recorded, against si.x without spots in the previous 

 year. The day of the visitation itself was one with- 

 out sun spots, whilst small groups were on the disc 

 both on the preceding and succeeding days. 



With the 1 3 -inch photographic charting tele- 

 scope 526 plates were taken, but 107 had to be 

 rejected from various causes. An unfortunate 

 discovery has, however, been made that many of 

 the earlier plates for this chart have been injured 

 by damp. 



The site for the new Magnetic Pavilion is about 

 three hundred and fifty yards east of the present 

 observatory, and it is hoped that it will be built 

 during this summer. The mean temperature for 

 the year was 09^ above the average of the fifty 

 years 1841-90, a result of the mild winter. The 

 recorded rainfall was only i7'33 inches, which is 

 7-2 inches less than the average fall for fifty years. 

 During that period only one year, 1864, had a 

 smaller fall, the record being 16-33 inches. 



FR.A.NK C. Dennett. 



BENEATH THE DEVIL'S DYKE. 



T T OWEVER bare and treeless may be the 

 rolling downs of Sussex — in this respect so 

 greatly in contrast to the Surrey Downs — one 

 occasionally lights upon a sheltered hollow at the 

 foot of the escarpment on the north, where a few 

 feet of loamy chalk soil allows of the growth of a 

 picturesque bit of woodland. Such an one is to 

 be found at the mouth of that gap in the South 

 Downs which runs out on to the Weald at 

 Poynings, and which is known as the Devil's 

 Dyke. The junction in this gap of the chalk with 

 the chalk marl is marked by a small oozy tract, 

 whence issue some springs, which uniting form 

 a brook of no mean dimensions. A lovely little 

 oasis of verdure is found for about a couple of 

 hundred yards, where the soil is fertilized by this 

 life-giving brook. Here forest trees of respectable 

 height clothe the sides of the valley. Though 

 well into June, the hawthorn (Crataegus oxyacantha) 

 this year is in lull blossom, and underneath the trees 

 the pink and crimson campions [Lychnis diurna) are 

 drawn up for three feet or more. In the soft 



