Page:Science vol. 5.djvu/171

 Fkbbuart fiO, ISSS.l

��Professor Hough and Mr. Burcilmin made frequent «ikininatfon of the plsaet Satiim whenever the best ooDditions of observation were prf'Aent. They made a special search for markingB on the rin^, with nega- the results. The belts od the ball were very con- ■pieuoui, but no marking was seen wkieb could be used in determining the period of the planet's rota-

Tfae conditions of weather in the spring of the year, so unfavorable elsewhere, prevailed at Chicago; Uranus, the astronomers were rewarded with success in oteerving these dlfflcuU objects on only a few
 * nd, in tbeir attempts to observe the satellites of

��Prom the Olmercalorg for February we learn that forty-five chronometers are now on trial at the Roy&l observatory, Greenvrich, for purchase by the admiralty; that the small planets (20ti) Hersilia and (310) Isabella, vhicb had not been observed since ISTD, the year of their discovery, have recently been re-observed; that Ilerr Palisa of Vienna, the dis- coverer of small planets, being desirous of raising funds for the Intended expedition to observe the total eclipse of August, 188^, di^sircs to sell for two hundred and fifty dollars the right of naming the latest discovered small planet (244); and that Dr. Gill, ber Majesty's astronomer at the Cape, has obiulued a sum of money from the guvenitnenl grant for scientific purposes, in order to enable him to set on foot a photographic survey of the eouthern heavens. Mr. C. Ilay Woods is proceeding to the Cape for the purpose of taking t]ie requisite photo- graphs, and he also Intends to continue the work of photogmphtng the solar corona which he lately undertook in Switzerland, under the direction of Dr. Uu^ins.

The Kev. S. J. Perry, director of the observatory of Sionyhurst college, communicates to the Obaerva- ti/ry a, summary of his observations of the cbromo- sphere in ISSt, with on nutonintlc spectroscope by Browning, having a dispersion of six prisms of 00°. Be has foimd the greater port of the past year favor- able for this work. The mean height of the chromo- sphere, which varied little In 1882 and 18S3, attaining its masimuni in May of the latter year, fell away rapidly in 1831, A great diminution is also reported in the number of the prominences, and some falling off in tbeiraverage height. The number of observed displacementi of the C line differed but little in the last two yean; but the amount of displacement was slight In 1884, compared with 1883. No distortions have been recorded during the past two years so great as those of April and May, 188-2.

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��to the recent volumes of Mr. Thoiold Rogere. It is eighl^en years since Le piiblishecl the iirst two volames of his history of agriculture and pricea, — a work of incalculable value to the critical inquirer. He has since then made an elaborate study of the wages of English labor during the laat sis centorics, and of their correspond iug purchasing- power. The data, which be has collected witb marvellous industry, have been printed in part, and in part they still remain in the author's notes. His work is therefore unique. No one, he tells us, has entered on this Beld of research except himself, and no one lias attempted to make use of the data be has published for the purposes which the author has in view ; yet, for all bis Statements, he assures the reader that he CQU give ample veriScation. The narrative which he bases upon these inquiries is by no means so statistical as to be dry. The writer is never dull, and is generally entertaining as well as instructive. He brin^ before the pub- lic, information, hitherto hidden, respecting tbe daily life, needs, burdens, comforts, and helps of the inhabitant of England since the middle of the thirteenth centnry.

Ilia volume begins with a sketch of English society at that period when the vast majority of persons were engaged in agriculture ; and, aRer devoting six chapters to tins introduction, the author proceeds to the subsequent history of wages and labor, and to a consideration of the ioflueiice of legislation upon the distribu- tion of wealth. He shows that the evils of pauperism and the degradation of labor were largely due to governmental acts designed to compel the laborer to work at the lowest wages possible- Although this bad legislation has long since been abandoned or modiDed, the effects remain in England to-day. It will thus be seen that the volumes are a contribu- tion to the historical method of political econ- omy. If the author's figures are correct, and his mode of presenting them trustworthy, it is obvious that he has enabled the statesman and the economist to studj- the actual results of economic legislation during a period quite long enough to be very instructive. His conclusions have an important bearing upon the spread of communism as welt as upon the existence of poverty.

We can perhapa exhibit the tendency of the entire work most readily by giving an analysis of the closing chapter, in which the remedies for present evils aie succinctly pointed out.

During the last sixty years parliament has done much toward abrogating severe laws which interfered wilb the freedom of labor.

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