6o West American Scientist. 



whole tree possesses the useful properties of the family to which 

 it belongs, and flourishes on only two islands in the Seychelles 

 group, which are named Praslin and Curieuse. 



What rice is to the Hindoo, what wheat is to the European, is 

 the Banana (Order Musaceae) to the inhabitants of the tropical 

 islands. They would perish without It; or be reduced to feed, 

 like the beasts, on the herbage of the fields. But the banana 

 supplies them with a wholesome and abundant food, with a pleas- 

 ant drink, with a valuable medicine, with materials for clothing, 

 In a word, with almost all the necessaries of their simple and 

 easily contented life. It is now understood to be a variety of the 

 plantain. — Science Series. 



ASTRONOMICAL NOTES. 



Progress In astronomy no longer depends upon chance observa- 

 tion, but Is now eftected by a division of labor and a concentration 

 at certain polnt'^ upon some particular object of research. The 

 leading observatories all work at specialties. At Harvard, the re- 

 lative magnitude of the stars receives chief attention; at Prince- 

 ton, spectroscopy ; at Alleghany Observatory, the dark part of 

 the solar spectrum and the effect of the Invisible heat rays on the 

 earth; at the National Observatory, positions and orbits of satel- 

 lites; at CIncinnatti, double stars; at Chicago, the surface of Jupi- 

 ter; at Albany and Yale, the perfecting of maps of the heavens. 



A striking Illustration of the value of the camera to astronomy 

 Is furnished by the recent discovery of a new nebulae near the star 

 Mala In the Pleiades. Until photographed at the Paris Observa- 

 tory, this nebula had never been seen by the best glasses although 

 It has since been detected with the great telescope of the Pulkova 

 Observatory. The Emperor of Brazil now announces his deter- 

 mination to co-operate, at the Rio de Janeiro Observatory, In the 

 general project of photographing the entire heavens, already be- 

 gun at Paris with such unexpected success. 



A recent photograph of the Pleiades shows 142 1 stars, while a 

 carefully drawn chart, with about the same Instrumental power, 

 gives only 625. Many small objects seen In the photograph do 

 not appear In direct eye observations. The importance of the ac- 

 curate photographic method of star-mapping, Is Indicated by the 

 fact that the hand-drawn chart gives ten stars which have no ex- 

 istence. 



The principle of telescopes was described by Roger Bacor^ 

 about 1250, and Leonard DIgges — who died about 1573 — Is sakl 

 to have arranged glasses so that he could see very distant objects. 



