THE YOUNG SCIENTIST. 
161 
Dec. 5— 8li. 20m., evening. 
- Dec. 15-7h. 51m., " 
> Dec. 25— 7b. 22m., " 
1 He will be about 1° south of the Moon Dec. 26, 
I being in the constellation Capricornis, the Goat. 
' The following are the visible eclipses, etc., of his 
Satellites for December: 
Satellite I. 
Occultation, dis, Dec. 2 — 7h. 6m. evening. 
Transit, end, Dec. 3— 6h. 27m , evening. 
Transit, end, (shad.), Dec. 3— 7h. 30m., evening. 
Transit begins, Dec. 10— 6h. 8m., evening. 
Transit begins, (shad.), Dec. 10— 7h. 6m., even. 
Eclipse ends, Dec. 11— 6h. Mm., evening. 
Satellite II. 
Transit ends, Dec. 9— 7h. 8m., evening. 
Transit begins, Dec. 16— 6h. 58m., evening. 
Eclipse ends, Dec. 18-6h. 8m., evening. 
Satellite IV. 
Occultation, disappears, Dec. 27— 6h. 13m., even. 
At the time of the occultation of Satellite 17, 
■fche Satellites will occupy the positions shown in 
JFig. 1. The dot representing the Satellite is 
placed on that side of the number of the Satellite 
towards which the Satellite is apparently moving. 
Saturn is the most favorably situated of the 
planets, passing the meridian as follows: 
Dec. 5— 6h. 51m., evening. 
Dec. 15— 6h. 13m., " 
Dec. 25— 5h. 35m., " 
He passes the meridian at 6 o'clock in the even- 
ing, Dec. 18, being then 90° east of the Sun. He 
will be about 7° south of the Moon Dec. 3 and 30. 
His largest Satellite, Titan, may, with a very small 
telescope, be seen east of Saturn until Dec. 2, and 
after Dec. 18, being farthest from the planet Dec. 
26. He will be west of the planet Dec. 2-18, being 
farthest west Dec. 10. 
Uranus presents no features of interest to the 
telescopist, as he merely presents a faint liluish 
disc, when the most powerful telescopes are 
brought into requisition. When brightest (which 
will be in February, 1879) he may be seen with the 
naked eye, provided his situation is known. With 
an opera g ass he may be seen about 6° east and 2° 
south of the brilliant star Regulus, in the handle of 
the Sickle in Leo. (We say "Leo," but the head 
of the Lion, which is represented by the Sickle, is 
in the constellation Cancer, the Crab). Urauus 
rises as follows: 
Dec. 10- lOh. 28m., evening. 
Dec. 25— 9h. 28m., " 
Neptune, when brightest, may be seen with a 
telescope of 2-inch aperture, using as high a power 
as such an instrument will bear. He is moving 
westward among the stars in the western part of 
the constellation Aries, the Kam, passing the 
meridian as follows: 
Dec. 5 — 9h. 24m., evening. 
Dec. 1.5-8h.41m., " 
Dec. 25-8h. Im., " 
Fig. 2 shows the position of Neptune with 
respect to the surrounding stars. He may be 
known from the ueighbonng star by having a paler 
and steadier light. His position will not vary per- 
ceptibly from this for several weeks, as his appar- 
ent motion is very slight. 
Meteors or Shooting Stars.— There seems to 
be one one well-marked shooting star epoch in De- 
cember—Dec. 6-13. We believe its period of maxi- 
mum display is not known. The constellation 
Oemini is their radiant point. The centre of 
(xeminiiises Dec. 15, 6 p.m., and passes the me- 
ridian at 1 a. m. Hence if any meteors are seen in 
early evening they will shoot upwards from the 
eastern horizon. 
THE 
YOUNG SCIENTIST. 
PUBLISHED MONTHLY. 
Past and Future. 
TO-DAY we stand on a dividing line 
which marks a notable division be- 
tween the past and the future; between ac- 
complished fact and prospective hopes. 
The number now issued completes the first 
volume of the Young Scientist, and fills 
our contract with by far the greater num- 
ber of our subscribers. On looking over 
the pages of the twelve numbers which we 
have issued, we feel that it would be diffi- 
cult to procure elsewhere for the small sum 
of fifty cents, an equal amount of matter 
of the same quality. We have spared no 
expense for either articles or illustrations; 
the question with us has never been, 
"What will the article cost?" but "How 
good is it?" and although the journal is 
still very far from our ideal of what it 
ought to be, yet we feel that we have no 
reason for discouragement. 
Next year, however, we hope to effect 
notable improvements in every department. 
We have in our pigeon holes several arti- 
cles of great value and interest, and we have 
the promise of more. These articles will 
be illustrated by the work of the best 
draughtsmen and engravers in the country, 
and, as we have already announced, each 
number will consist of sixteen pages in- 
stead of twelve as heretofore. We feel con- 
fident, therefore, that those who join us on 
the voyage of 1879, will have no reason to 
regret it. 
That the Young Scientist was needed, 
is abundantly proved by the deep interest 
which has been manifested in its success. 
Its circulation has already reached that of 
many much older j ournals, and the strong 
hold which it has taken upon the kindly 
regards of its readers, is shown by the fact 
that we have upon our books several sub- 
scriptions for two or three years. We fully 
appreciate this confidence and liberality, 
