THE YOUNG 
THE 
Young Scientist. 
A Practic.il Journal for ikinateiirs. 
!(Witli whioli is ineorporated "The Technolo- 
gist," "The iNDUriXRiAL Monthly," 
Ulld '■ HOMJ xlllTS.") 
FUBLISHED MONTHLY AT FEU YEAIL 
EDITOES. 
john phin. fred, t. hodgson. 
ADVERTIS3MSNTS.— The YoUNG SCIENTIST lias 
fouiul irs way iato the very best homes, aud its 
subsurib.^rs are as a t^eiiei-al rule, of the huying 
<?hiss. It therefore off ers special iiidueemenrs to 
those who liave aiiythiiiir j^ood to offi^r. 
liativs: 30 ';eiits i)er line, a<^ate measure. Lib- 
eral discounts oil lar^e and continued a,dvertise- 
ments. *®=" No HumliU-cs, Patent Medicines, or 
■"Blind " advertisements inserted at any ju'ice. 
Published by 
THE INDUSTRIAL PUBLICATION CO., 
49 Maiden Lane. New York. 
Will those of our subscribers who re- 
ceive two copies of the Young Scientist, 
kindly hand the duplicate to some friend 
interested in such matters, and thus per- 
haps aid us in securing a new subscriber ? 
Beineniber that every additional name 
■enables us to improve the Journal, so 
that all have an interest in add.ng to the 
number of our subscribers. 
Of course, it is always in order to sub- 
scribe for the Young Scientist, but when 
possiljle we would prefer that subscrip- 
tions commeuce with the first number of 
one or other of the volumes. This course 
will be more satisfactory to the reader, 
and will also make things pleasanter for 
the publisher, as it will lessen the labors 
of bookkeeping and smooth matters all 
round. And as a furtlier inducement to 
this, we would say that we always try to 
make coutmued articles end with the vol- 
ume, though sometimes, of course, it is 
impossible to do this. 
The expeditions organized by the Brit- 
ish for the purpose of observing the tran- 
sit of Venus have been generally suc- 
v',essful at al] stations, with the excei)tion 
<3f Brisbane. The Madagascar party have 
SCIENTIST. 57 
been very fortunate in their observations. 
The interval between the contacts at in- 
gress, as observed at Madagascar and 
Bermuda, is about thirteen minutes. The 
ingress observations at the West Indies, 
combined with those of the Cape of Good 
Hope, will supply tlie means of making 
one good determination of the sun's dis- 
tance ; while the egress observations of 
the West, combined with those made in 
New Zealand, will furnish another. 
Nothing will give us greater pleasure 
than to have our young readers write us 
freely on any matter connected with ama- 
teur science or mechanics, with a view to 
obtaining inforniation on the subjects 
they may be working at. We cannot 
promise that in every case we shall be 
able to give the answer desired, but we 
can safely promise that in a large ma- 
jority of cases Ave shall be able to mater- 
ially aid the inquirers in their labors, and 
thus lead them on to the accomplishment 
of their objects. Much good may be done 
by asking for information through these 
columns, as many readers other than the 
inquirers may want to get the same infor- 
mation, but are, from many causes, de- 
terred from writing, A postal-card, in 
most cases, will be quite ample for the 
purpose, but where it is not, letter postage 
does not prove very expensive, and is 
equally acceptable to us. 
Those who, prior to the issue of this 
number, have sent fifty cents in the hope 
of receiving the Young Scientist for the 
whole of 1883, will not be disappointed. 
We shall send it to them even at a loss. 
But we have no hesitation in asking them 
to show the Journal to some friend, and 
thus secure another subscriber for us at 
$1.00. After the issue of the February 
number those who send fifty cents will re- 
ceive the Young Scientist for six months 
only. We make them this liberal ofi^er^ 
however: Where we are satis lied that the 
fifty cents was sent in good faith, under 
the idea that the subscription to the 
Journal was that amount, we will send 
the Young Scientist for the whole year, 
if tht^ sender will secure another sub- 
