204 
POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW. 
contact in 1882. An interesting series of drawings of Mars and Jupiter, by 
Mr. Knobel, is inserted in tbe June number. Some beautiful drawings of 
J upiter, exhibited at one of the evening meetings by the Earl of Rosse, have 
since been chromo-lithographed at his expense, and the use of the stone has 
been kindly offered by him to the Society. The Council therefore hope to 
insert a copy of this valuable plate in the March number of the il Monthly 
Notices."’ This number has not yet reached us, so we are unable to say 
whether the idea has been carried out. 
Deaths of Astronomers during the Year. — The Astronomical Society gives 
the following list of Fellows and Associates whom it has lost during the past 
year. Fellows : — Rev. Temple Chevallier, B.D. ; F. H. Elliott, Esq. ; Rev. 
George Fisher, F.R.S. ; D. A. Freeman, Esq.; R. W. S. Lutwidge, Esq.; 
William Mann, Esq. ; J. R. M’Clean, Esq., M.P., F.R.S. ; Rev. Jacob Morton ; 
Frank Robertson, Esq., late Royal Madras Engineers ; Sir David Salomons, 
Bart., M.P. ; J. Stanistreet, Esq. Associates : — Dr. Giovan B. Donati, 
Comm. M. F. Maury. 
Professor Schmidt's Map of the Moon. — The President of the Royal 
Astronomical Society said, in his address, published in the “ Proceedings ” 
for February, 1874, that this remarkable representation of the lunar 
surface, which has occupied the attention of Professor Schmidt during 
thirty-four years, is now completed. Those who have seen this magni- 
ficent work speak of it in the highest terms, not only of its general 
appearance, but also of the wonderful manner in which the details of the 
lunar features are delineated. The map is two metres in diameter, and the 
drawing is made with the most extraordinary care and precision, the 
minuteness of the work being almost beyond conception. A specimen of 
the map has been exhibited at one of the meetings of the Society, when it 
was much admired for the extreme delicacy with which all the details of 
the lunar surface are given, and a hope was generally expressed that the 
map in its entirety would eventually be published. Unfortunately, the 
funds of the Athens Observatory are too limited to permit the publication 
of this great work at the expense of that establishment, and Professor 
Schmidt fears that there is no chance of publishing it either in Greece, 
France, or Germany, owing to the expense, which must necessarily be 
great. It is hoped, however, that some means will be provided for’ 
engraving this beautiful production, and thus make it available to 
astronomers. Meanwhile, Professor Schmidt has been requested to forward 
an estimate of the probable expense of transferring the map upon stone for 
lithographic engraving. If the estimate be not excessive, probably some 
means may be found to preserve to science the valuable results of Pro- 
fessor Schmidt’s thirty-four years’ labour. 
Comets of the last Twelve Months. — Seven comets have appeared during 
the last twelve months ; three, and probably four, of them being periodical 
comets which have returned to perihelion, and were therefore expected. 
The Diameter of Venus. — A careful series of measures of Venus has been 
made by Mr. Plummer, at the Durham Observatory, using the double- 
image micrometer. Observations were made on twenty-six days near the 
inferior conjunction of the planet in 1873, and the resulting value of the 
diameter at mean distance is 17 // *321, with a probable error of + 0 /A 046, 
