154 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. V., No. 107. 



him to return to Kilimanjaro, he paid off the last of 

 his faithful followers, many of whom had accom- 

 panied Thomson on his great journey, and took his 

 passage on the British India steamer to Suez in quite 

 a sulky frame of mind, as sorry to leave his beautiful 

 mountain as many people are to quit England. 

 Travelling overland from Suez, he arrived in London 

 not much more than six weeks after he had caught 

 his last glimpse of the snows of Kilimanjaro. 



PROPOSED EXPLORATIONS IN 

 ALASKA. 



Several expeditions to Alaska are projected dur- 

 ing the coming season. Gen. Miles, commanding the 

 military district of winch the territory forms a part, 

 desires to acquire a knowledge of the unexplored 

 region between the head of Cook's Inlet and the 

 Tananah watershed. The course of the Tananah is 

 likewise unmapped, except from hearsay, though 

 often traversed by traders in the last fifteen years; 

 so that the opportunity exists here for a fruitful ex- 

 pedition. It is hoped that arrangements may be 

 practicable by which Lieut.. Ray, well known for his 

 successful direction of the Point-Barrow party, may 

 be able to command such an exploration. The plan 

 contemplates work either from the Yukon as a base, 

 with a steam-launch and a small party, ascending in 

 June and July, and returning before navigation closes, 

 or an expedition by way of Cook's Inlet, making the 

 portage to the Tananah, and then descending; but a 

 final decision is not yet reached. The party under 

 Lieut. Abercrombie did not succeed in obtaining 

 native assistance, as expected, and were unable to 

 pass beyond the glacier alleged to obstruct the 

 Copper or Atna River about sixty miles from the 

 sea. 



Meanwhile, a party has actually started, under 

 Gen. Miles' s orders, Jan. 30, for the Copper River, 

 consisting of Sergeant Robinson and F. W. Ficket, 

 signal-observer U.S.A., and commanded by Lieut. 

 Allen. They intend to go to the mouth of the Atna 

 or Copper River by steamer, and ascend as far as 

 possible on the ice, pushing on by water as soon as 

 the ice breaks up and the freshets are over. They 

 hope to cross the divide from the upper Atna, and 

 descend by one of the Yukon tributaries to the 

 mouth of the latter river, and rejoin civilization 

 at St. Michael's. They may be fortunate enough to 

 make the journey in one season, but are prepared to 

 stay two years. They will add a number of Indians 

 to the party at Sitka, and carry various peace-offer- 

 ings for the Atna Indians. 



Lieut. Stoney of the navy is reported to have a. 

 new expedition nearly organized to continue his in- 

 vestigations of the Kowak River. The plan adopted, 

 so far as yet decided upon, is to take a steam-launch, 

 ascend the river as far as possible, and pursue the 

 explorations to its source, and winter in the region if 

 necessary. It is stated that the party is to be com- 

 posed of sixteen men, which is dangerously large, 

 considering the limited food-resources of the region, 



and might be advantageously diminished by one-half 

 for explorations in the interior. If the party were to 

 pass over the divide, and investigate the course of the 

 Colville, returning via Point Barrow next summer, it 

 would accomplish a praiseworthy and much-needed 

 investigation. 



THE DOINGS OF ASTRONOMERS. 



Director Hough has continued the work of the 

 Dearborn observatory during 1884 in the same lines as 

 in previous years. Mr. S. W. Burnham has had the 

 use of the great telescope, a refractor of eighteen inches 

 aperture, for observations on double stars; and, in 

 addition to assistance rendered to Professor Hough, 

 he has measured several difficult and interesting 

 binary systems. The observatory has been open on 

 Thursday evenings to members of the Chicago as- 

 tronomical society, and to astronomical classes from 

 the city high schools ; and instruction in theoretical 

 and practical astronomy has been given to the senior 

 class of the Chicago university. The observatory 

 delivers the signals for standard time to the city of 

 Chicago daily. 



Professor Hough has employed the great telescope 

 throughout the year, in scientific research, with good 

 results. Thirty-two new double stars were discovered, 

 most of which are difficult objects, and can be ob- 

 served only when the atmospheric conditions of vision 

 are good. The planet Jupiter has mainly taken his 

 attention, and specially the spots and markings on 

 the disk. The remarkable red spot, first observed in 

 1878, has maintained its size, shape, and outline, 

 with very slight change, ever since that time. Of 

 late, however, it has experienced a marked change 

 in visibility; which doubtless accounts, in good part, 

 for the statements by other observers with smaller 

 telescopes, that the spot had lost its outline. While 

 from 1879 to 1883 this spot had a retrograde drift in 

 longitude on the surface of the planet, during the 

 past opposition this appears to have nearly ceased. 

 For the rotation period of the planet on its axis, 

 Professor Hough derives 9 h. 55 m. 38.5 s., determined 

 from the mean of six hundred and sixty rotations, 

 and varying only slightly from that for the previous 

 year. The great equatorial belt on the disk of Jupi- 

 ter is found to be subject to gradual drift in latitude 

 from year to year. Its width has also greatly in- 

 creased, principally toward the south. A large num- 

 ber of white spots were also observed, of variable 

 visibility, and not absolutely relatively fixed in posi- 

 tion. The rate of motion of the envelope in which 

 they are situate, Professor Hough finds to be two 

 hundred and sixty miles per hour, making thus a 

 complete revolution around the planet in about forty- 

 four days and a half. Colored prints of several of the 

 drawings of the planet accompany the report, and are 

 very faithful representations of the salient features 

 of the disk. Delineation with the pencil, however, 

 has been only secondary to the micrometric measure- 

 ments, of which there are between one and two 

 thousand, fixing with entire precision the positions 

 of the belts, spots, and more important markings. 



