242 Scientific Intelligence. 



and now places it, not between the Equisetineoe and Lycopodinea? 

 as formerly, but next to the Filicineoe on account of the marked 

 affinities it offers in the structure of its cones with the fructifica- 

 tion of the Marsileaceaj and the Ophioglossaceas. d. w. 



IV. Astronomy. 



1. The constant of aberration. — In Bulletin No. 28 of the U. S. 

 C. and G. Survey Mr. Preston gives a detailed discussion of the 

 observations made at Waikiki, H. I., by which a correction is 

 sought for the commonly accepted values of the constant of 

 aberration (20 //# 445). Mr. Preston says in closing that the defin- 

 itive result of the constant of aberration from the latitude obser- 

 vations of 1801-1892, made at Waikiki, Hawaiian Islands, on the 

 part of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, is therefore 



Constant of aberration = 20"-433 ± 0"-034. 



This value of the aberration constant, combined with the latest 

 determinations of the velocity of light (V = 186,330 miles) and 

 Clarke's value for the earth's radius (R= 3963*30 miles), gives 

 the sun's distance and equatorial horizontal parallax as follows: 



Distance = 92,709,000 miles. 



Parallax = 8"*82. h. a. n. 



Y. Miscellaneous Scientific Intelligence. 



1. Sea-ioater and sea-bottom deposits of the Eastern Mediter- 

 ranean. — "The Austro-Hungarian ship Pola was again sent out 

 last summer, by the Vienna Academy of Sciences, to the Eastern 

 Mediterranean. Another deep depression has been discovered, 

 this time to the east of the island of Rhodes, in latitude 36° 5' 

 30" N., longitude 28° 36' E., where the lead gave 3865 metres 

 (2110 fathoms) ; and although this depression is apparently 

 shallower than the "Pola-Deep," 4000 metres (2187 fathoms) in 

 latitude 35° 44' 20" N., longitude 21° 44' 50" E., to the west of 

 Crete, it is really deeper in relation to the land surrounding it, 

 being fully 7000 metres (3828 fathoms) below the summit of Ak- 

 Dagh in Anatolia. The new depression is closed to the southeast 

 by a ridge running in a southeasterly direction, which rises to 

 within 1920 metres (1050 fathoms) of the surface. 



As in former years, the chemical character of the sea-water 

 was determined by Dr. K. Natterer, and his investigations ap- 

 pear to him to confirm some previous results, which suggest 

 some remarkable alterations in the accepted theory of the forma- 

 tion of certain geological strata. Dr. Natterer has again been 

 unable to detect the presence of free carbonic acid m any of 

 the samples of sea-water. Since a considerable amount of car- 

 bonic acid must be derived from the oxidation of plant and 

 animal remains at the sea-bottom, its absence in the free state 

 can only be explained by supposing that, besides carbonic acid, 

 ammonia is formed, and that in almost equivalent quantities. 



