METEOROLOGY.-The Meteorological Department of the Board of Trade is making good progress under the direction of Mr. R. H. Scott. Seven observatories, established and maintained in different parts of the United Kingdom at the public expense, are all in good working order, and transmit their self-recorded results monthly to the central establishment. By March next, the President of the Royal Society states, the numerical results from every one of those observatories will be published. The Meteorological Department is superintended gratuitously by a Committee of the Royal Society. The Drum Signal is now hoisted at more than one hundred British Stations, and communication of weather disturbance is telegraphed from these islands to all the coasts of the Continent, from whence similar information is received.

NEW EDITION OF SMYTH'S CYCLE.-In answer to a correspondent, we can only say we have no information as to when the new edition of this celebrated work will be ready; we can only advise patience!

ASTRONOMICAL REGISTER-Subscriptions received by the Editor.
To December 1869. To April 1870.
Knobel, E. B.

Aldam, W.

Darby, Rev. W. A.
Hickson, W. E.
Lancaster, J. L.

Lancaster, W. L.

Tupman, Capt.

To May 1870.
Ormesher, H.

To June 1870.

Fleming, Rev. D.
Gooch, Miss

Holden, Rev. W. T.
Monk, Dr.
Radford, Dr.

Rump, H. R.
Ryley, F. B.

February 23, 1870. Subscriptions received after this date in our next.

Books, &c. RECEIVED. Discussion of the Meteorological and Magnetical Observations made at the Flagstaff Observatory, Melbourne, during the years 1858-1863, by George Neumayer, Ph.D.—Also an interesting Paper "on Comets and Meteors," by Professor Daniel Kirkwood, of the Indiana University, read before the American Philosophical Society, Nov. 19, 1869.-Also Papers on the Reform of Astronomy" "The Moon's Axial Rotation;" "The Earth does not orbitate round the Sun;""Revolution and Rotation;" "Conics ;" and "Planetary Orbits:" by H. Perigal.

NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS.

Communications for insertion must in all cases be authenticated by name and address, not necessarily for insertion, but for the information of the Editor.

We have in preparation a series of careful Observations of Jupiter, made at Mr. Crossley's observatory, Halifax, by Mr. Joseph Gledhill, with an equatorial refractor by Cooke, of 9 in. aperture.

The Astronomical Register is intended to appear at the commencement of each month; the Subscription (including Postage) is fixed at Three Shillings per Quarter, payable in advance, by postage stamps or otherwise.

The pages of the Astronomical Register are open to all suitable communications. Letters, Articles for insertion, &c., must be sent to the Editor, Mr. S. GORTON, Parnham House, Pembury Road, Clapton, N.E., not later than the 15th of the month.

Session 1869-70.

Fifth Meeting, March 11, 1870.

W. Lassell, Esq., F.R.S., President, in the chair.
Secretary-Mr. E. J. Stone, F.R.S.

The Minutes of the last ordinary meeting were read and confirmed.

Sixty-two presents were announced (including the second Radcliffe Catalogue of 2,386 Stars), and the thanks of the Society voted to the respective donors.

Charles Meldrum, Esq., and
Charles Watson, Esq.,

were balloted for and duly elected Fellows of the Society. The following papers were read :

Ephemeris of the Satellites of Uranus: by Mr. Marth.

This paper contained the position angles, and distances of the 4 Satellites Ariel, Umbriel, Oberon, and Titania, from February 18 to April 8. It was ordered to be at once printed and circulated.

Dark Objects crossing the Sun's Disc: by Lieut. Herschel.

In a letter received by his brother, Professor A. Herschel, the Author detailed a remarkable appearance which he witnessed at Bangalore, in India, on the 17th and 18th October last. On the morning of the 17th Lieut. Herschel, proposing to observe the sun with the 5-foot telescope and spectroscope, first projected the sun's image on a white card, to see what spots were visible. He then noticed a number of dark shadows crossing the sun's disc, and a number of bright objects outside the sun. His first impression was that the appearance resulted from birds flying past, but upon the sun's image being drawn on a slate and the direction of the spots marked upon it, they were found to be passing at the rate of 30 or 40 in a very short time. The clock was then set going, and the screen with the sun's disc moved in accordance, when a great number of paths were drawn across it, all fairly coincident in direction. The shadows were seen in the finder also, and looking through the tube as ill-defined sparks crossing the sun's border. Next morning the bodies were seen again crossing the disc in two streams. With the solar focus they were badly defined, but, altering the focus to that of distant clouds, they were improved. As they approached the sun they became brighter, and less vivid as they receded from it. Their motion was irregular, but still pretty constant in direction and velocity. One only was seen to retrograde, and that was doubtful, though the paths were occasionally contorted, like floating particles subject to many currents. About 15 to 20 per minute passed the sun's disc. Their shape was uncertain. At first they appeared like the half-moon with the diameter forward, but afterwards as a double crescent with a bar across and rings accompanying. The spectrum was solar, filling the slit with vivid flashes from top to bottom. As the sun got lower and could be viewed without a diagonal reflector, one of the objects was observed to pause, stand steady for a second, and then whisk off; and it then became clear that they were locusts, flies, or other insects at a great distance. Next morning the stream continued, so that it is a wonder of natural history, if not of astronomy. When the mail left the papers contained an account of a great flight of locusts at a distant part of the country, and a famine in consequence. Similar occurrences have been observed before, and during the last American eclipse observations, some appearances of the same character had been noticed.

Mr. Stone thought the paper useful in an astronomical point of view. There had been numerous accounts of such bodies being seen, but the observers did not take the precaution to shift the focus, which would have shown their true nature.

Capt. Noble referred to the case of some bodies puzzling the Rev. W. Read, by passing his telescope, which mystery was

solved by Mr. Dawes focussing on them, and showing they were thistle or dandelion seeds.

Occultation of m Tauri: by Captain Noble.

This took place on February 10, 1870, but the observation was not very reliable.

Observations of Venus near her Inferior Conjunction: by Capt.

Noble.

The day of absolute conjunction, February 23rd, was densely clouded; but on the day before (22nd), when the planet was within 24 hours 14 minutes of conjunction, the author observed Venus as an extremely fine line of light not quite round a circle Not the unilluminated chord being less than a diameter. having a Dawes eye-piece, he made à hole in a card diaphragm with a red-hot needle, and then saw the dark body of the planet distinctly against the light of the sky, but the circle was not quite complete.

Observations of the Zodiacal Light: by Capt. Noble.

On March 3, 1870, the zodiacal light was brighter than the author had ever seen it before, surpassing the brightest part of the Milky Way in Cassiopeia and Cygnus, which was visible near it. The cone of light included the stars a, ẞ, and y Arietis, but not the Pleiades, which were separated from it by a clearlymarked piece of sky. Notwithstanding books lay down that the light follows the course of the ecliptic, or very nearly so, on the present occasion it departed widely from that direction to an extent which was estimated at 20° at least.

On Further Changes in the Coloured Belt of Jupiter: by Mr. Browning.

The author exhibited a large drawing of Jupiter, with the colouring to which he had drawn attention. It had lately undergone much change, the coloured part being only the northern half of the equatorial belt, so that it was more correct to say there were two belts-the southern a pure white, the other yellow but more dim than before. This white belt was the only part quite free from colour. His last drawing was on January 30, 1870, at 9h. 36m., but the planet was then very low. The dark belts were imperfectly formed and not well defined. The colouring again covered the whole of the equatorial belt, and there were other changes. The colour over all the equatorial belt was tawny yellow. South of this was a very dark band, and a narrower one on the north. Above each of these was a narrow bright white belt. The outbreak of colour, therefore, appears to be on the increase. The planet should be carefully observed by all astronómers having a westerly look-out, and with the Astronomer-Royal's new eye-piece to counteract the low elevation.