β the 12th; at which time Mars will be 35' south of Georgium Sidus. The Moon will likewise be in conjunction with a in Virgo, at 30 m. after midnight of the 1st; with a in Scorpio, at 40 m. after 4 in the morning of the 5th; with Jupiter, at 50 m. after 8 in the morning of the 12th; with ẞ in Taurus, at 35 m. after 2 in the morning of the 19th; with Pollux, at 36 m. after 9 in the morning of the 21st; with a in Leo, at 38 m. after 7 in the morning of the 24th; and with a in Virgo, again at 43 m. past 8 in the evening of the 28th. The Moon will also be in Perigee on the 13th, and in Apogee on the 27th of this month. SPECULUM PHENOMENORUM. In White's Ephemeris, pages 38 and 39 are occupied by a set of tables denominated, Speculum Phænomenorum, exhibiting the relative positions and other circumstances of the heavenly bodies at various times in the course of each month. Many of the same appearances and circumstances are also inserted in the first page of every month of the Nautical Almanac; and to explain these to our youthful readers, it will be necessary to commence by giving the meaning of the characters by which they are so briefly expressed. This character expresses the ascending node either of the Moon or any other planet. 8 The reverse of the former, and signifying the descending node of any of the planets. 6 Implies conjunction, or planets situated in the same longitude. Quadrature, or the relative situations of the planets, when their difference of longitude is 3 signs. 8 Signifies opposition, or planets situated in opposite signs, or differing from each other in longitude by 6 signs. The letters of the Greek alphabet are also used to denote the stars; & implying those of the first magnitude, ẞ those of the second, &c. The times at which the phenomena take place are also expressed in Astronomical Time, the day commencing when the Sun passes the meridian, and continues till he arrive at the same meridian again the following day; and the 24 hours of which it is composed are reckoned from 1 to that number; and hence, when the hours which express the occurrence of any phenomena exceed 12, it takes place in the first half of the succeeding civil day. The conjunction of any two of the heavenly bodies is denoted by placing the characters by which they are expressed before each other, either with or without the sign of conjunction before them, and the time at which the conjunction takes place is immediately prefixed. In the Nautical Almanac it is set before the characters; but in White's Ephemeris the day is in the column before and the hour and minute immediately after them. An occultation of a planet or a star by the Moon is also expressed in the same manner, but with the addition of Im. or Em., to signify Immersion or Emersion. Thus, 12 d. 9h. 28 m. 3, or 12 d. 6) 9 h. 28 m., signified that the Moon will be in conjunction with Mars at 28 m. after 9 in the evening of the 12th of the month. 17 d. 14 h. 38 m. Dam, or 17 d. 6 Dam 14 h. 38 m., also implies that the Moon will be in conjunction with the star marked a in Scorpio, at 38 m. after 2 in the morning of the 18th; for the 14 h. being reckoned from noon of the 17th, pass midnight, and consequently enter the 18th day according to the civil reckoning. 10 d. 9 h. 25m. Im. & ¤, implies that the Moon will eclipse the star in the sign Gemini, and that the Immersion will take place at 25 m. after 9 in the evening of the 10th of the month. 11 d. 6 o ↳ 191 h. shows that Saturn will be in conjunction with the Sun at half past 7 in the morning of the 12th of the month; and 6 d. 4 183 h. signifies that Jupiter will be in quadrature, or that the relative positions of the Sun and that planet will be 3 signs from each other at 45 m. after 6 in the morning of the 7th. 13 d. ☀ elong. max. implies that Mercury will attain his greatest elongation on the 13th of the month. 26th and 30 d. g & show that Venus will be in her ascending node on the 26th, and Mercury in his descending node on the 30th. 21 d. O in 19 h. 59 m. shows that the Sun enters Cancer at 59 m. after 7 in the morning of the 22d of the month; and as that sign corresponds to a part of June and a part of July, it is the 22d of the former month when the circumstance happens.-All the other particulars of the Speculum Phenomenorum will be easily understood by an attention to these. The other Tables in this Ephemeris contain the Sun's right ascension, the right ascensions and declinations, with the semidiurnal arcs and magnitudes of 40 of the most remarkable fixed stars, to which their names and Bayer's literal characters are annexed; with a Table, containing the longitudes, latitudes and magnitudes of some of the most remarkable stars which can be eclipsed by the Moon, or to which she can make a near appulse. But each of these is so simple, that the explanations at the bottom of the pages are sufficient to make them understood by those who are even the most unaccustomed to the use of such Tables. The Naturalist's Diary For DECEMBER 1820. What time the once unnoticed tide And all the smaller birds appear Of WINTER-marks them, and repines. RAIN and wind are now extremely prevalent; and, as the frost seldom sets in till the latter end of the month, December may be reckoned the most unpleasant of the whole year. At other times, however, November is better entitled to this appellation, and ice and snow contribute to give to Christmas that union of frost and good cheer which form the usual character of this season. Now CHRISTMAS revels in a world of snow, ROGERS. From the fall of the leaf, and withering of the herb, an unvarying death-like torpor oppresses almost the whole vegetable creation, and a considerable part of the animal, during this entire portion of the year. The whole race of insects, which filled every part of the summer landscape with life and motion, are now either buried in profound sleep, or actually no longer exist, except in the unformed rudiments of a future progeny. Many of the birds and quadrupeds1 are retired to concealments, from which not even the calls of hunger can force them; and the rest, intent only on the preservation of a joyless life, have ceased to exert those powers of pleasing, which, at other seasons, as much contribute to their mutual happiness as to the amusement of their human sovereign. Man, at this season, should be peculiarly impressed with the advantages which he enjoys over the other portions of animated nature; the pleasures of social life, of domestic happiness,-of intellectual enjoyments, are all reserved for him-and, at no time of the year, is he so much in need of these blessings as in the WINTER, when all nature is, as it were, spread out in ruins before him. How few are sensible of these exquisite pleasures! how few are grateful for them! Stern WINTER, though thy rugged reign Thy thickening glooms, and leafless tree, And though the light-winged breeze no more The bat is found in As the frog, lizard, badger, hedge-hog, &c. caverns, barns, &c. suspended by the claws of its hind feet, and closely enveloped in the membranes of the fore feet. Dormice, squirrels, waterrats, and field-mice, provide a large stock of food for the winter seas son. |