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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW. 
at 61a. 27’3m. ; middle of the eclipse will occur at 7h. 15*3m. ; and of total 
phase at8h.3*3m. ; and last contact with the shadow at 9h.lm., the pe- 
numbra not quite passing off until 9h. 56.7m. 
Partial Eclipse of the Sun . — The partial eclipse of the sun on March 15 
will not be visible at Greenwifch. It will not be of any importance. 
Planetary Opposition . — The only planet which comes to opposition during 
the quarter ending March 31 is Uranus, which will be in opposition at about 
6 o’clock on the morning of Feb. 11. 
New Star in Cygnus . — Early in the evening of November 24, Professor 
Schmidt, the director of the observatory at Athens, observed a star of the 
third magnitude in the constellation Cygnus in R A. 21 h. 36 m. 5041 s., 
N.P.D. 47° 43' 21-5 ". At midnight its light (very yellow) surpassed that 
of rj Pegasi, rated by Sir J. Herschel as of magnitude 3'72 (a Centauri being 
1). On December 5, M. Paul Henry, of the Paris Observatory, estimated 
the star as of the fifth magnitude, and its colour greenish, almost blue. M. 
Cornu examined it unsuccessfully on Dec. 2, but on Dec. 5 he succeeded in 
making several measures, though much interrupted by clouds. His results 
are thus presented — 11 The spectrum of the star is composed of a certain 
number of bright lines standing detached on a sort of luminous background, 
almost completely interrupted between the green and blue, so that at first 
sight the spectrum appears to consist of two separate parts. In order to 
study it qualitatively I made use of a spectroscopic eye -piece, specially con- 
structed, which utilizes the greatest portion of the light, and allows us to 
vary its concentration.” Three of the bright lines observed appear to be 
lines of hydrogen, another line seems to be identified with the double line 
D of sodium, though there is nothing to prevent us from regarding it as 
agreeing rather with D 3 , the well-known yellow prominence line. A fifth line 
agrees with the triple line b of magnesium. Of two remaining lines, one 
seems to be coincident with the line (1474 Kirchhoff) observed in the 
spectrum of the solar Corona and the Sierra. M. Cornu closes an interesting 
summary of his observations with some 11 mighty foolish” remarks. 11 Not- 
withstanding the great temptation there exists,” he says, “ to draw from 
facts inductions relative to the physical condition of this new star, its tem- 
perature, and the chemical reactions of which it may be the seat, I shall 
abstain from all comment and all hypothesis on this subject ; I believe the 
facts necessary to arrive at a useful conclusion are wanting, or at least at 
a conclusion capable of verification. Whatever attractions these hypo- 
theses may have, it is necessary not to forget that they are unscientific, 
and that far from serving science they tend greatly to trammel her,” which 
proposition “we for the present content ourselves with modestly but 
peremptorily and irrevocably denying.” M. Cornu’s remarks seem intended 
as a reflection upon Mr. Huggins’s method of treating the questions raised 
by the outbreak in Corona in May 1866. The hypotheses then suggested 
by Mr. Huggins led almost directly to the successful investigation of the 
solar prominences ; and neither the method so successfully used by 
M. Cornu, nor the facts on which he bases his interpretation would have 
been known to men if all students of science had been content to render 
their direct observations as barren and unproductive as M. Cornu does his. 
