GREEK AND RUSSIAN CALENDAR.

A.D. 1897, New Style; 1896-7 Old Style A.M. 7405-6 according to the Septuagint.

EXAMPLE.-Cn what day of the week does March 18th, 1899, fall? March 1st being Wednesday,

15th is also Wednesday, and 18th is Saturday.

Proverb-Fools build houses for wise men to live in.

ASTRONOMICAL AND METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION.

ASTRONOMICAL AND CIVIL TIME.

A solar or astronomical day commences at mean noon, and the hours are counted continuously from 1 to 24. The actual length of a solar year is 365d. 5h. 48m. 48s.

In civil reckoning the day commences at midnight, and is divided into two equal portions of 12 hours each-those before noon being termed ante meridiem (a.m.), those after noon post meridiem (p.m.). The length of an ordinary civil year is 365 days, but in bissextile or leap years there are 366 days, February having 29 days instead of 28.

Before the time of Julius Cæsar the Roman Calendar was in great confusion. He attempted to remedy this, and to bring the civil year into better accord with the year astronomic by introducing an extra day into every fourth

ASTRONOMICAL

MERCURY retrogrades in Capricornus and Sagittarius, Jan. 13th to Feb. 3rd; in Taurus, May 10th to June 2nd; in Virgo, Sept. 9th to 30th; and in Sagittarius, Dec. 28th to the end of the year. Is at greatest elongation E. 19' 8', Jan. 6th, 7 p.m.; W. 26° 23', Feb. 16th, 5 a.m.; E. 20° 33', April 28th, 3 p.m.; W. 22° 48', June 16th, 6 a.m.; E. 27° 12', Aug. 26th, 5 p.m.; W. 17° 57', Oct. 7th, 10 p.m.; E. 19° 59', Dec. 20th, midnight. The third and sixth elongations are the most favourable. The Planet is in the best position for observation in the evening after sunset towards the end of April, and in the morning before sunrise in the early part of October.

VENUS retrogrades in Aries, April 7th to May 18th. It is at greatest elongation E. 46° 38', Feb. 15th, 10 p.m., and W. 45° 38', July 7th, midnight. It is at its greatest brilliancy, Mar. 23rd, 6 a.m., and June 3rd, midnight.

MARS retrogrades in Taurus. Jan. 1st to 16th. It is an evening star nearly the entire year, until conjunction with the Sun, Nov. 21st, I p.m. Though considerably past opposition and receding from the earth, it is well placed for observation owing to its great northern declination all through the early part of the year. It is in quadrature with the Sun, Mar. 18th, 10 p.m., and in conjunction with Jupiter, July 25th, 3 p.m.; with Uranus, Nov. 21st, 9 a.m., and with Saturn, Nov. 27th, 7 p.m.

JUPITER retrogrades in Leo, Jan. 1st to April 26th. It is well placed for observation the first half of the year, being in opposition to the Sun, Feb. 23rd, 2 p.m. It is a morning star from Jan. 1st to opposition, and an evening star from that time till conjunction with the Sun, Sept. 13th, 6 a.m.; after which it is again a morning star till the end of the year. It is in

METEOR

5

civil year, thus making the length of a mean Julian year 365 days. But this left an error of 000778 day in excess, and in 1582-1200 years after the adoption of the Julian CalendarAloysius Lilius, an astronomer of Naples, having found that the error represented rather more than 3 days in every 400 years, or 10 days in all, Pope Gregory XIII. directed that 10 days should be dropped from the calendar of the year, October 5th being called October 15th, and the additional day omitted in centenary years, except those which are multiples of 400. The calendar thus amended was termed the Gregorian Calendar, and has been in use in some countries ever since, but was not adopted in Great Britain till 1752, no less than 170 years

after its invention.

PHENOMENA, 1897.

quadrature with the Sun, May 22nd, 2 a.m., a Dec. 30th, 5 p.m.

and

SATURN is in the constellation Libra, Jan. 1st to Nov. 5th, retrograding from Mar. 10th to July 28th. It is in Scorpio Nov. 5th to Dec. 18th, and in Ophiuchus the rest of the year. It is a morning star, until opposition to the Sun, May 18th, 5 a.m., then an evening star, till conjunction with it, Nov. 25th, 7 a.m., and afterwards a morning star again till the end of the year. It is in quadrature with the Sun, Feb. 18th, 8 p.m., and Aug. 17th, 3 a.m. It is best placed for observation in the months of April, May, June and July, though low down in the sky, but is too near the Sun for observation during the last three months of the year. It is in conjunction with Uranus, June 18th, 8 p.m., and Aug. 25th, midnight.

URANUS is in the constellation Libra throughout the year, retrograding March 3rd to August 3rd. It can be observed from March to July, though always low down in the sky. It is a morning star till opposition with the Sun, May 17th, 6 p.m., then an evening star, till conjunction with the Sun, Nov. 21st, 8 a.m., and a morning star again afterwards. It is in quadrature with the Sun, Feb. 17th, 8 a.m., and Aug. 17th, 7 p.m.

NEPTUNE is in the constellation Taurus throughout the year, retrograding from Jan. 1st to Feb. 26th, and again from Sept. 25th to Dec. 31st. It is an evening star until conjunction with the Sun, June 10th, 5 p.m.; then a morning star until opposition to the Sun, Dec. 12th, 8 p.m. It may be observed during the first three and the last four months of the year, its north declination being large. It is in quadrature with the Sun, March 7th, 7 p.m., and Sept. 15th, 4 a.m.

SHOWERS.

The principal showers of the year occur on the following dates, viz. :-Jan. 2nd. The Quadrantids, from near the right foot of Hercules; swift moving and with long paths.-April 20th. The Lyrids, from between Hercules and Lyra; swift moving.-May 6th. From near the pitcher of Aquarius; swift, long paths, leaving streaks.July 28th. The Aquarids, from a point 10° S. of the last shower; slow moving, long paths. Aug. 10th. The Perseids, from the N. of Perseus; swift moving, leaving streaks.-Oct. 18th. The Orionids, from the Club of Orion; swift, leaving streaks.-Nov. 13th. The Leonids, from the head of Leo; swift, leaving streaks.-Nov. 16th. The Leo Minorids, from Leo Minor; swift, leaving streaks.-Nov. 20th...The Taurids, from near the Proverb-Cut your coat

The

head of Taurus; bright and slow.-Nov. 25th.
The Andromedes, from near the foot of Andro-
meda; very slow, with trains.-Dec. 6th. The
Taurids II., from between the horns of Taurns;
bright and slow. Dec. 10th.--The Geminids,
from near the head of Castor in the Twins;
swift, short paths.-Most of these showers
should be looked for a few days before and
after the dates of maximum display.
Leonids in particular should be watched for, as
we are now approaching the return of the main
body of the swarm, the great shower being
expected November 14th, 1899. The Andromedes
also are becoming more interesting every year,
the great shower from this stream being due
in 1898.
according to your cloth.

WHEN THE PLANETS ARE STATIONARY. The following are the times when the planets are stationary during the year :

DISCS OF VENUS AND MARS.

Illuminated Portion of the Discs of Venus and Mars, 1997.

O'939 December 15

June 15 The numbers in this table are the versed sines of the illuminated portion of the discs, the apparent diameters of the planets being taken as unity.

LUNAR OCCULTATIONS, 1897.

THESE holidays, with their names, had their origin in mediæval England when the State religion was that of the Church of Rome, and they are still observed in some parts of Great Britain. JANUARY 6. TWELFTH DAY, 12 days after Christmas, sometimes called Old Christmas Day. Many social rites have long been connected with Twelfth Day.

Proverb-Much care brings grey hair.

EXPLANATION OF

The first columns of the left page show the day of themonth, week, and year the figures in the latter column indicating the number of days from the beginning and to the end respectively.

The column headed "Notes" shows the Sundays and Church festivals in red, and civil and astronomical notes in black, The Saints' days printed in italics are not kept by the Church of England. The right ascension of the principal planets at certain dates is also given. The thick rule on left of this column indicates the duration of the various Law Sittings.

The columns headed " Moon show respectivelyst. The moon's age (that is the number or days, without fractions, that have elapsed since the preceding New Moon). This is sometimes useful in estimating roughly the time of High Water in localities where the usual tidetables are not available. 2nd. Duration of Moonlight from 6 to 9, 9 to 12 p.m., and 12 to 3 and 3 to 6 p.m. It will of course not, be lost sight of that at certain periods of the year rising or setting of the Moon must occur in daylight. As the object of the column is solely to show the hours when there is Moonlight, no notice is taken of the fact that there may

also be Daylight. 3rd. Hour of rising. 4th.

Greenwich mean time, when the moon is due south and has attained her greatest altitude (astronomically when the Mcon Transits or passes the meridian). 5th. The hour of Setting.

The columns headed "Sun" show 1st. The Rising and Setting of the Sun on alternate days. As there is only a very slight daily difference, this suffices for all ordinary purposes). 2nd. Equation of Time, or the period which is needed to adjust civil to astronomical time.

THE CALENDAR.

Quadrature."
Opposition.

slow) than the time on a good Sun Dial. Thus, on January 1st, the Clock must be set 4m. 18. faster or before the Dial; on the 1st of October, it must be set 10m. 27s. slower. Correct the Watch when the Dial marks the exact hour, as 9, 10, 11, 1, 2, 3, or 4 o'clock. Noon is not best, nor near Sunrise or Sunset.

Railway and public clocks are set to Greenwich mean time, which, except in the Table of Occultations, is the time used throughout this Almanac.

THE SUN'S DECLINATION. This is useful in determining the latitude of a place from an observed meridian-altitude of the sun; or for finding the apparent time from an observed altitude of the sun where the latitude is known. In these operations the sun's semidiameter stated under astronomical notes is needed, in order to deduce the altitude of the sun's centre from the observed altitude of the lower limb.

where a wave rule line occurs on this page it indicates a period post meridiem, whilst a dotted rule line indicates ante meridiem.

On the right page is given the time of High Water, morning and afternoon, at London Bridge, and at the top of the page a table of the rising and setting of the five principal Planets.

The Monthly Star Charts represent the state of the heavens at midnight on the 6th of each month.

The Weather Forecasts indicated by illustrations at the foot of right page are based on a careful study of the figures of the past fifty years. The dates of all High Spring Tides are accurately predicted, as a useful warning for localities adjacent to the river. Precaution is, however, urgent only when atmospheric disturbances are prevalent, more especially high north winds and a low state of the barometer with continued rain. A very high spring tide is unusually sensitive, and is much affected by these disturbing influences, Proverb-Think of many things, do only one.

To set a Clock or Watch on any Day by means of this Table,-Note the number of Minutes and Seconds which stand against that day, and make your Cl or Watch so much faster or slower (according as the table is marked fast or

If the grasse growes in Janiveer, it growes the worse for't all the yere.

A waved rule on right indicates P.M.; dotted rule, A. M.

MONTHLY VERSE OR OLD

The sluggish stream hath lost its life and grace;
The smoke mounts upwards to the leaden sky;
Till comes the sun to warm the earth's glazed face,
His zealous spade the workman must lay by,
The gray road glistens like some fairy floor;
The stout gorse sparkles as 'twere powdered o'er.

SAYING.

If St. Paul's be fair and clear
It betides a happy year:

If on St. Paul's day it doth rain,
Dear will be the price of grain.

Proverb-Better buy than borrow.