350 
THE YOUNG SCIENTIST. 
close to the Milk-Maid's Dipper, She crosses 
the earth's path on tlie 8th, after which time 
she will be south of the Ecliptic. A telescope 
will show her with flattened sides or a gibbous 
phase. 
Mars reaches his western quadrature Nov. 1st, 
and becomes an evening star upon that date, 
and will attract much attention from his situa- 
tion, being almost within the Sickle in Leo. 
Begulus, at the end of the handle of the Sickle 
being a few degrees east of him. He rises as 
follows : 
November 10th— 10 35 evening. 
20th -10 12 
30th— 9 47 
Jupiter is bowling along slowly after Mars, 
the distance between them gradually increas- 
ing. Jupiter rises as follows : 
November 10th— 9 55 evening. 
20th— 9 17 
30th— 8 37 
The Moon passes 5° south of him on the 19th, 
and on tlie 21st he is stationary near the cluster 
Prsesepe in Cancer. The following are the prin- 
cipal events transpiring witli his satellites 
in the earlier part of the nights of November : 
Nov. 6th— 11 26 eve., Occultaticn.— Keap.(I.) 
8th— 11 8 eve.. Eclipse. " (III.) 
15tli— 11 47 eve.; " Dis. (III. 
21st— 10 3 eve., Transit. Ing. (I.) 
21st— 11 13 eve., " (shad.) Eg. (I.) 
22d— 0 23 mor., " Eg. (I.) 
22d-ll 25 eve., " Ing. (II.) 
26th— 10 8 eve., " " (III.) 
29th— 11 22 eve., Occultation, Keap.(I.) 
Saturn will be brightest Nov. 28tli, being at 
that time in opposition to the Sun, rising at 
sunset, and passing the meridian at midnight. 
He will be in conjunction with Aldebaran on the 
2d, being 3J° north of the star, and on the 15th 
in conjunction with the Moon, being only 1° 
north of that luminary. He passes the merid- 
ian as follows : 
November 10th— 1 11 morning. 
20th— 0 28 
" 30th— 11 41 evening. 
Neptune also reaches his opposition this 
month on the 12th, passing the meridian on the 
30th at 10.30 P.M. 
NOVEMBER METEOES. 
The two great meteoric epochs of November 
are Nov. llth-15lh, and Nov. 24th-Dec. 7th, the 
former called the Leonids and radiating from 
the Sickle in Leo. The maximum of this group 
is reached on the 13th. The last great display 
of these was in 1866. The Andromedes II. is the 
other great meteoric group encountered by the 
earth in November, radiating from near Al- 
maach, the 2d mag. star in the left foot of An- 
dromeda ; the maximum is reached on the 27th, 
and the last great display was in 1872. Other 
minor groups prevail as follows : The Leoni- 
moroids, from the compact cluster of stars in 
Leo Minor— Nov. 25th-28th ; also on same date 
a swift group describing short arcs from near 
the star in the end of the handle of the Great 
Dipper in Ursa Ma jor. The Geminids are met 
with Nov. 27th, radiating from near Castor; a 
very rich group, continuing during most of 
December, reaching its maximum Dec. 10th- 
11th. 
EPHEMEEIDES OF THE PKINCIPAL STAES AND 
CLUSTEES, NOV. 21ST, 
1883. 
H. 
8 
in 
m 
11 
Alpha Andromeda (Alpheratz) 
meridian 
Omicron Ceti (Mira) variable, 
meridian 
Beta Persei (Algol) variable, in 
meridian . 
Eta Tauri (" Seven Stars " or Plei- 
ades) in meridian 
Alpha Tauri (Aldebaran) in merid. 
Alpha AurigEe (Capella) in merid. 
Beta Orionis (Kigel) in merid. 
Alpha Orionis (Bete]guese)in merid. 
Alpha Canis Majoris (Sirius or Dog 
Star) rises 9 
J.Zp/ta Canis Minoris (Procyon) rises 9 
Alpha Leonis (Regulus) rises 11 
Alpha Virginis (Spica) rises 4 
Alpha Bootis (Arcturus) rises 3 
Alpha Scorpionis (Antares) invisible. 
Alpha Lyrae (Vega) sets 11 
Alpha Aquillae (Altair) sets 10 
Alpha Cygni (Deneb) " 2 
Alpha Pisces Australis (Fomalhaut) 
M. 
4 eve. 
10 15 
42 " 
34 mor. 
13 " , 
14 " 
54 " 
41 eve. 
16 " 
19 " 
0 mor. 
3 " 
28 eve. 
16 " 
37 mor. 
sets 
De Land, Florida. 
10 52 eve. 
Origin of Postage Stamps. 
It is generally believed that postage stamps 
are of quite modern origin. This is an error, 
for we find from the current number of the 
Bulletin de ITmprimerie et de la Librarie that 
the first collector of postage stamps lived in 
the reign of Louis XIV. During the seven- 
teenth century, when the King changed the 
place of residence for the court, persons in 
his suite procured tickets which they stuck on 
letters intended for Paris, in order that they 
might be received and forwarded by his ma- 
jesty's carriers. M. Fenillet de Conches, a col- 
lector, possesses a letter directed to Pari.s. foi 
Mile, de Scudery by Pelisson Fontamer, on 
which is found a kind of postage stamp. In 
1654 a regulation was issued to the effect that 
