418 
SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY. 
ASTRONOMY. 
ASTRONOMY in the Arabian Niyhts. — In the “ Astronomical Register ” 
(August, 1875), Mr. G. J. Walker says: — “While comparing lately 
the Boulak edition of the 1 Arabian Nights ’ with Lane’s excellent transla- 
tion, I noticed for the first time the following passage occurring in the 756th 
night : 1 Faris the Wezeer of the king of Egypt answered, “ We worship the 
sun, and prostrate ourselves to it.” Asaf therefore replied, “ 0 Wezeer 
Faris, verily, the sun is a star, of the number of the stars created by God 
[Inna al-shams kaukab minjumlat al-kanakib al-makhlukat li’llahi] (Whose 
perfection be extolled, and whose name be exalted !), and far be it from 
being a lord ! for the sun appeareth at times, and is absent at times, and our 
Lord is always present, never absent, and he is able to effect everything.” ’ 
(Lane, iii. pp. 311, 312.) If it may be reasonably assumed that these famous 
tales have been circulated in their present form since the commencement of 
the sixteenth century (see Lane, iii. p. 739), the above analogy between 
sun and stars is rather interesting. Those who in Cairo and elsewhere 
listened to or read this passage had, so far, more just views of the universe 
presented to them than probably most of even the educated contemporary 
inhabitants of Europe for a long time entertained. It will be remembered 
that the unfortunate Giordano Bruno, in his work published in 1591, main- 
tained that each star is a sun about which planets revolve ; but the sequel of 
this tale is more pleasant to think of than the fate of Bruno, for we find that 
the Wezeer Faris finally 1 embraced al-Islam, he and they who were with 
him.’” 
On Mr. De la Rue's Telescope in the New Observatory at Oxford. — Mr. De 
la Rue said in a recent paper read before the Royal Astronomical Society of 
London : “ It may be of interest to the Fellows of our Society to know that 
the instruments which I presented some time back to the University of 
Oxford are now placed in position in the New Observatory erected by that 
body in the Park. These instruments comprise my 13-inch reflecting equa- 
torial, used by me, first at Canonbury, and lastly at Cranford ; a zoneing 
altazimuth with a 13-inch speculum; a polishing machine, with every 
appliance necessary for polishing both parabolic and plane mirrors; and 
also Foucault’s apparatus for testing mirrors. In all these are four inter- 
changeable 13-inch mirrors, two of metal polished by myself, one of glass 
by Steinheil, and one of glass by With. Observations are now being made 
