82 
POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW. 
in the morning. Much correspondence has taken place with reference to 
this eclipse, more especially with regard to the colour presented by the 
moon when under the earth’s shadow — some stating it to be of a bluish, 
others of a coppery tint ; while Mr. Browning, using silvered glass specula 
of large size, considers that the moon presented no colotir during the pheno- 
men. A notice of this eclipse was given in our last volume, p. 445. 
Occultations of Planets and First Magnitude Stars. — Two occultations of 
Aldeharan, one of Venus and one of Mercury., took place during 1867. Of 
the three first of these we have not seen any account, but of the latter, that 
of Mercury, an observation by Capt. W. Noble is recorded in the Monthly 
Notices of the Boyal Astronomical Society. This occultation took place on 
3Iay 1, about half-past one in the afternoon. The planet was wretchedly 
defined, the sky hazy, and the sunlight bright. Mei'cury seemed to fade 
away gradually ; the moon’s limb was utterly invisible. 
Comets. — Three comets have been discovered in the year 1867, of which 
the following are the particulars : — Comet L, 1867, discovered at Marseilles, 
.Tanuary 27, by M. Stephan ; Comet II., 1867, discovered by M. Tempel on 
April 3 ; and Comet III., 1867, discovered by Herr Baker, at Nauen, on 
September 27, and four hours later by Dr. 'VYinnecke. These are all tele- 
scopic comets. 
Minor Planets. — Three minor planets have also been discovered in the 
year 1867. To the first of these the name of Undina has been given ; it is 
(No. 92) in the series of minor planets, but perhaps may claim a greater 
amount of notice, from being the hundredth planet of our Solar system. 
Undina has a magnitude of about 11-3, and is the sixth discovered by Dr. 
Peters, counting from Feronia, which he was the first to observe. His 
present discovery was detected just before daybreak on July 8, at the 
Hamilton College Observatory, Clinton, U.S. Planet (93) was first observed 
by Professor Watson, Director of the Ann- Arbor Observatory, on the 24th 
of August last, and it was the same indefatigable observer who discovered 
the last as yet perceived (No. 94), on September 6. These two planets are 
each about the 11th magnitude; no elements have as yet been published. 
The Planet Mars arrived at opposition on January 10, 1867, the usual 
ephemeris of stars to be observed with him, for the purpose of determining 
the parallax, being given in the Nautical Almanac. — Observations and draw- 
ings of the physical appearance of Mars were made by Mr. Joynson, of 
Liverpool, who considers that “ the dark band, or mark, round the planet is 
permanent, extending all round with but one narrow break. The colour of this 
band is generally dark green.” Mr. Browning, of London, also made careful 
drawings of Mars at this opposition, and Mr. Huggins applied the spectro- 
scope to the planet with valuable results — points which we noticed in our 
last volume, p. 311. 
Periodic Meteor Showers. — The unusually magnificent display of meteors 
in November 1866, following as it did so closely the predictions of astrono- 
mers, caused more than the ordinary amount of attention to be given to the 
subiect last year, and the August and November showers were anxiously 
looked for. In August, however, the display was very small ; the night of 
the 10th, owing to the moonlight, being unfavourable for observing any but 
the larger ones. At Oxford, eighty-five were recorded from half-past ten up to 
three in the morning ; other observers give numbers, more or less. Mr. Bir- 
