Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 



75 



Rays ot Saturn. 



15$ 



y in the 

 red. 



8 between the 



red and the 



yellow. 



In the 

 green. 



Near 6. 



In the 



blue near 



F. 



23rd May, evening. 

 21st May, „ 



r. 



4-34 



5-94 



r. 

 6-29 



7-86 



r. 

 10-55 



r. 

 1319 



r. 

 1801 





1-60 



1-57 











From these Tables, compared together (the morning of the 24th 

 must be compared with the evening of the 23rd for Saturn, and the 

 morning of the 22nd with the evening of the 2 1st), we find for 

 the sun 



D-C=2 r -65, 



and for Saturn 



3— y=l r -93. 



Supposing D to be identical with d, which cannot be far from 

 the truth, we get a difference of O r "72, which exceeds all possible 

 errors of observation. The mean of several measures between y and 

 C 6 is r, 51. We are thus authorized to establish that this ray y of 

 Saturn does not coincide with any of the telluro-atmospheric bands 

 which we know. 



If we compare the differences between the results obtained for 

 the sun and for Saturn relatively to other rays, we find a systematic 

 difference of about r, 22, which, singularly enough, also obtains in 

 the case of Jupiter. I do not know to what this is to be attributed, 

 as the difference much] exceeds probable errors. I had conjectured 

 that it might be due to the manner of observing during the night ; 

 but this interpretation I greatly doubt. Hence new observations 

 are needed to discover the reason, which doubtless is not in the in- 

 strument, as I at first suspected. But even allowing this uncertainty 

 to subsist, we find that the numbers for the differences and the data 

 of direct observation are too evident to be attributed to some error 

 of diversity established by the ray y. 



Among the numerous coloured stars which I have examined, there 

 is one which is remarkable : it is the red star placed after Struve's 

 star No. 928 in right ascension = 6 h, 27, and in declination +38*32. 

 Its colour is of a reddish violet. In the spectrometer it exhibits 

 three luminous bands — one red, one yellow, and a sharply-defined 

 green, and which are separated by dark divisions. The rest of the 

 spectrum is scarcely visible, and is suspected rather than seen. This 

 spectrum, so to speak, is an ordinary one cut in the middle. The 

 analogy of its colour with that of the electric light in some of Geiss- 

 ler's tubes led me to examine in the spectroscope one of these tubes 

 which gave a similar colour. I found that its spectrum also showed 



