312 
POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW. 
The observations available in the case of £ Cancri extend over the last 
ninety years. The resulting elements are : — 
Periastron passage 
. 1072-44 
Period of revolution . 
58-23 years 
Longitude of the node 
. 15° 37'-4 
Longitude of the periastron 
. 171° 46'-8 
Inclination 
. 36° 14'-4 
Eccentricity t = 0-30230, <p = 
. 17° 35' -8 
Mean motion in minutes . 
. [2-56930] 
Mean distance . 
. 0"-908. 
Winnecke’s New Comet. — This comet was first seen in Perseus, on April 
8, at about half-past eight in the evening. From Dr. Winnecke’s observa- 
tions, combined with two made by Mr. Hind at Twickenham Observatory, 
the latter astronomer has deduced the following elements of the orbit : — 
Epoch 1871, June 9-28137 g. m. t. 
Longitude of perihelion 
Longitude of the ascending node . 
146° 19' 8" 1 Referred to apparent 
280° 53' 32" J equinox April 10. 
Inclination 86° 50' 54" 
Log q 0-7854883. 
Motion direct. 
Mr. Hind remarks that the comet appears to be quite distinct from any 
previously computed. Dr. Huggins has examined the comet spectroscopi- 
cally, with results not differing from those he obtained from the study of 
othpr comets— the spectrum of the new comet presenting three bright 
bands. 
A comprehensive Star- Chart. — Mr. Proctor is engaged in the construction 
of an isographic chart of the northern heavens, in which are to be included 
all the stars (324,000 in number) of Argelander’s noble series of charts. 
Mr. Proctor’s object in charting these stars on a single sheet is to endeavour 
to ascertain what laws of distribution exist among the stars of the first nine 
or ten orders of magnitude. Struve has already examined a portion of the 
same list of stars with a somewhat similar object ; but as he dealt only with 
numerical relations, and these relating only to averages, it seems not unlikely 
that the presentation of all the 324,000 stars in a single view, all the details 
of their arrangement being preserved, may lead to results of extreme inte- 
rest. 
Observations of Mars by Mr. Joynson. — Mr. Joynson continues to send in 
to the Astronomical Society, after each opposition of Mars, an elaborate 
series of lithographs of the planet, as seen with his equatorial of about four 
inches in aperture. The drawings must cause Mr. Joynson immense labour, 
and doubtless his hope is to advance astronomical knowledge ; but one would 
like to have “ a reason of the hope that is in him.” Mr. Dawes, with a 
splendid 8-inch equatorial and unequalled power of vision, has given us more 
than enough drawings to form a complete chart of Mars, showing more, pro- 
bably, than most observers could expect to see, under the most favourable 
circumstances, with a 10-inch refractor. What useful purpose can be sub- 
served by labouring at a survey with about a fourth part of the power he 
