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V» ty complete arrangements are being made to render the observation of the transit of Venue uext Decern her an complete and profitable aa poeeible. Our English astronomers are now being drilled at the Kaddiffa Obeerva-lory, Oxford, and eleewbere, eo that tbe work may be harmoniously carried out. Besides the transit, other etlort* will be made independently to determine the tolar parallel. Mr. David Gill ha» arranged for corresponding observation* to be made of the minor planet*. Victoria and Sappho, at several place* in both tbe northern and southern hemisphere*. On August 24 the former will be iu oppoeitlon, and be dittanl ‘811 of the earth'* mean distance from the tun. Ou September 24 Sappho will be withiu bo.An interesting scheme for an elevated railway la being diacuteed in Chicago, and with inch earnestness that a company ha* already been formed to carry it out. The construe* lion is intended to be light, and, instead of locomotives and long trains, only aingle cars will run over it, each impelled by electricity conveyed to a email motor in the car, after the manner of Dr. Siemens’*electric tramway. The coet of construction, aa well as of maiu-lenance, will be light, and the condition* for applying electricity aa a motive power will be much more favourable than those in operation on tbe Berlin electrical railway To avoid obstructing the important atieota of tbe city, the railway will be carried a* lax aa possible through by-streets.Tbe comet named Wells, from it* discoverer, and which has been exercising English and American astronomers all the summer, has not departed without adding to our cometarv knowledge, although that addition conveys the moral that we know very liule of three erratic members of our system, aud that we are hardly in a position to generalise conclusively upon them as a whole. A d*iy-Uyht observation of the above comet was taken at Albany Observatory, I’nited States, on the day following its perihelion passage. This is the first observation of a comet ou tbe meridian at noonday eioce 1744. Per-bape tbe most wonderful thing about comet Welle is that its proper light proceeds principally from incaudeaceni vapour of ■odium. The bright line corresponding to the aodium line D was obeerved by several astronomers independently.Tb# celebrated tier man naturalist and evolutionist. Professor Haeckel, has been out in Ceylon and India, aud hit letters, published in a German newspaper, promise a rich treat. Few men, after six months' absence, are ao highly endowed with (he gift of rapid aud large generalisation, or with the i power of seeing through phenomena to the hidden springe which move them. Ooe of bi* avowed reasons for going out was to pro- | vide additional data in support of this evolution theory. These will no doubt eppear before the scientific world in due oourse. At present hi* letters only give the popular aide of bit travels aud explorations. He speaks of the overflowing botanical wealth of the Ceylonese forests, and of tbe teeming wonder* of tbe Ceylonese seas with the ardour of an entbnaiaat, and concludes1 If the English Government would establish and maintain a botanic station at Peradema, aud a zoological station at Galle, she would add aa important item to lbs services bestowed on science by her Challenger expedition and other similar scientific undertakings; and she would once more put to shauie those states of Coniirisnial Kurope who can find no more useful or beneficial way of spending their money then in tbe manufacture of breechloaders and cannon IDr. James Jamieson, of Melbourne, contributes a very interesting and important letter U Naiurt upon Tbe lntiuenoa of Light• s • v t a s aw * ? it f i T L
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Melbourne Australasian
Melbourne, Victoria, AU
Sat, Sep 23, 1882
Page 47
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USA 29 Dec 2022
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