Miscellaneous Intelligence. 87 



2. Investigation of Corrections to Hansen! s Tables of the Moon ; 

 by S. Newcomb.— This memoir forms Part III of 'papers pub- 

 lished by the Commission on the Transit of Venus. For determin- 

 ing the longitude of the Transit Stations from moon oeeullations 

 it became necessary to determine the errors in the tables of the 

 moon which 13 years' observations and the discussions of earlier 

 data develop. It was already known that an unexplained correc- 

 tion to the moon's mean motion must be applied, that now 

 amounts to about 10". In addition to this and to several other 



t Prof. Newcomb finds an empirical term necessary to 



satisfv observations, the form of which is, 



l",50sin.[(/+^r,r,(V-Is(i.Vl)], 

 where g is the mean anomaly, and Y the date in years. This term 

 is not yet explained in the theory of the moon. 



3. KnobeVx lb fry nee C,//, /,',,,'//,, ,,f ,\.<t, -,,„,, m!<;il i',i r ,rs a,,, I 

 Researches. — We have received advance sheets of the Monthly 

 Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society for November, 1876, 

 which contains an important bibliographical paper by E. B. 

 Knobel, F.R.A.S., with the title above. The author has selected 

 various subjects of Stellar Astronomy, and has made nearly 

 exhaustive indices of the various memoirs and papers relating to 

 these published in the many astronomical and scientific periodi- 

 cals and in separate treatises. The subjects chosen are: (1.) 

 Double Stars, and the theory of Binarv Systems. (2.) Variable 

 Stars. (3.) Red Stars. (4.) Nebulas and Clusters. (5.) Stellar 

 proper motions. (»i.) Parallax and Distance of Stars. (7.) Star 

 Spectra. These are thoroughly and carefully indexed, Double 

 Stars alone having over 700 refer 

 full. There are about 



V. Miscellaneous Scientific Intelligence. 



1. Notes on Assaying and Assay- Schemes ; by Pierre de 

 Peyster Ricketts, E.M., Ph.D., etc. 172 pp. 8vo. New York. 

 1876.— Dr. Ricketts, Instructor in Charge of the Assay Laboratory 

 of the School of Mines, Columbia College, has embodied m this 

 work the system of assayin" practiced in the school which has 

 been develop . I> ( handler and his assistants. Every 

 such treatise is sure to add something to the common stock in its 

 department. The notes are systematic, and the assay-schemes are 

 clearly presented and specific. B - s - 



2. Alcohol!,- Stron/thor'AHstntl!,',, W!„,-s.— From the report 

 of a commission appointed bv the Governor to inquire into the 

 alcoholic stivn.'tli of South' Au-tralian wines, and 

 authority of the House of Assembly (July. 1-71) at , 

 appears that the amount of glucose in the mature -rapes ot that 

 province ranges from •>.-> to 30 per cent, and produces in the wine 

 an alcoholic strength of from 28 to 40 per cent of proof spirit. 



