ard for examinations in certain branches of study. His case was discussed later on in a meeting by President Hayes and his Cabinet, and by order of the President a trial by court martial, on the charges of duplicity made against him, was accorded to take place in January, 1881. General Schofield has been relieved of his command at West Point, and General Howard placed in charge of the post. ASIA. The sixth issue of Behm and Wagner's publication, "Die Bevölkerung der Erde" (Gotha, 1880), estimates the territory of Asia at 17,210,044 square miles, or 44,572,000 square kilometres, and the present population at 834,707,000. Not included in this number are the Polar Regions, to which the editors of this periodical now assign an independent position among the large divisions of the land-surface of the earth. We give their estimates of the area and population of these regions in the article POLAR REGIONS. As long as the final results of the Kulja treaty between Russia and China are not known, there is some uncertainty about the present boundaries of these two empires. The area and population of the large divisions of Asiatic Russia are set down as follows: khara, with the adjacent districts of Karategin, Shignan, Roshan, etc., which the EnglishRussian treaty about the northern frontier of Afghanistan recognized as subject to Bokhara, has an area of 239,000 square kilometres, and a population of 2,130,000. The total area of Arabia is given at 3,156,600 square kilometres, and the population 5,000,000; of this, 2,507,390 square kilometres, with a population of 3,700,000, are still independent of Turkey. On the basis of new estimates for one or two districts of Persia, the area of this country is now set down as 1,647,070 square kilometres, with a population of 7,000,000. The district of Khotoor, ceded to Persia by Turkey, in virtue of the Berlin Treaty of 1878, has an area of 1,125 square kilometres, and a population of 8,000. As the Afghan-English Treaty of Gundamuk, of May 28, 1879, which placed the districts of Kuram, Pisheen, and Sibi under the protection and the administration of the British Government, was annulled by the subsequent hostilities, and a new agreement had not been made up to February, 1880, Behm and Wagner continue to set down the area of Afghanistan as 721,664 kilometres, and the population as 4,000,000. At the same time they give the detailed lists of the various tribes and stocks published by A. H. Keane in "Nature" (January 22, 1880), as the result of careful and independent research, and yielding as the estimate of population the much higher figure of 6,145,000, which may be still further increased by a more accurate knowledge of the country. (See AFGHANISTAN.) Kafiristan has an area of For the Turkish possessions in Asia the fol- 51,687 square kilometres, and a population of lowing figures are given: COUNTRIES. Immediate possessions... Total.. Sq. kilometres. Population. 9,601 550 150,000 37,000 1,899,206 16,320,000 1,000,000, and Beloochistan 276,515 square kilometres, and 350,000 inhabitants. China with all its dependencies has an area of 11,813,750 square kilometres, and a popula1,839,055 16,183,000 tion of 434,626,500. The latter figure is, however, very uncertain; some authorities maintaining that it is much too high, and others much too low. Hong-Kong had (1876) an area of 83 square kilometres, and a population of 139,144 inhabitants; Macao (1879), 11-75 square kilometres and 77,230 inhabitants. Japan, according to official statistics of 1878, had an area of 379,711 kilometres, and a population of 34,338,504. The area of the still independent region between Khiva, Bokhara, Afghanistan, Persia, and the Russian Transcaspian district, is given as 206,500 square kilometres, with a population, according to Vambéry, of 450,000. The only stock that have up to the present moment retained their entire independence_are the Tekkes, of whom 200,000 are Akhal Tekkes, frequenting the oases at the foot of the Kuren-Dagh; the remainder, about 100,000, have their seat to the east, at present in Merv. Of Khiva the area is given as 57,800 square kilometres, and the population 700,000. The total number of people of the Turkoman stock in Central Asia is given as 1,100,000. Bo *For a fuller reference to this periodical, which has now become the great fountain from which all statistical works are supplied, see article EARTH in the present volume of the "Annual Cyclopædia." + One square kilometre = 0.886 English square mile. The total area of the immediate British possessions in India, including British Burmah, is given as 2,329,201 square kilometres (=899,341 square miles), and of tributary states as 1,444,922 square kilometres (=577,903 square miles); population of the former, 191,095,445, of the latter, 49,203,053; total British possessions, 240,298,500. The French possessions in India have an area of 5083 square kilometres, and a population (1877) of 280,381; the Portuguese, an area of 3,855 square kilometres, and a population in 1877 of 444,957. Ceylon has an area of 24,702 square miles, and a population in 1877 of 2,755,557. The following table shows the areas and populations of the various subdivisions of the Indo-Chinese Peninsula, according to the latest attainable data of any value: SUBDIVISIONS. Area in sq. Population. 2,747,148 200,000 4,000,000 726,850 5,750,000 British Burmah. 229,851 Manipur (British). 19,675 Tribes east and south of Assam (inde pendent). 65,500 Independent Burmah. 457,000 Siam Cabool, and had retired with the Prince Moosa Khan to Gluznee, and was endeavoring to excite the tribes to a new rising. Ayoob Khan was at Herat with a considerable force, which he was preparing to lead against the British. He assumed the offensive during the summer, and inflicted a serious defeat upon General Burrows at Kushk-i-Nakhub, on the 27th of July. He then laid siege to Candahar, but was routed on the 1st of September by General Roberts, who had marched from Cabool 440,500 21,000,000 to the relief of the garrison, and was com1,006,000 pelled to retire to Herat, while his troops Abdurrahman, the nephew were scattered. of Shere Ali, was installed Ameer of Cabool on the 22d of July. The British forces were withdrawn from Cabool during September; the garrison at Candahar was strengthened, with the intention of holding the city for the present; and the Kuram Valley was evacuated and left in the possession of the Turis under a British guarantee that their independence of the Ameer of Cabool should be maintained. (See AFGHANISTAN.) Total The progress of events in Afghanistan, and matters connected with them, constituted the most important objects of attention in India. The estimates for the expenditures on account of the war, which were published at the beginning of the year, gave promise that the cost would be light, and encouraged the belief that the viceroyalty would be able to sustain it without calling upon the British Government for help. This expectation was afterward dis14,000 5,941.000 appointed by the production of other items of expense, and new estimates which showed that the cost of the war would be one hundred and fifty per cent. more than that which had first been given, and very far beyond the ability of India to sustain. Upon the occurrence of a change in the British Government, Lord Lytton was recalled from the office of Viceroy, and the Marquis of Ripon was appointed in his place. Apprehensions were entertained for a time that the new Government might abruptly enter upon a policy of administration, particularly with reference to Afghanistan, so different from that which had been pursued by the previous Government, as, by a too sudden change, to bring disaster upon interests and enterprises which had been adapted to the old policy. The measures of the new Government were taken, however, with such carefulness and deliberation as to assure the country that these fears had no solid foundation. A land-slide which occurred at the summer resort Naini Tal, on the 18th of September, caused the death of several officers of the Government of Bengal, and of other persons of high standing in Indian society. (See INDIA.) 834,707,000 8,829,000 2,868,000 9,402,000 The number of Mohammedans in Asia is about 115,144,000. (See MOHAMMEDANISM.) According to recent works on Japan, the Shinto religion, although it is recognized as the state religion of Japan, has no more than from 100,000 to 200.000 professed adherents, the rest being Buddhists or nothing. (See JAPAN.) In Afghanistan, the British held, at the beginning of the year, Candahar, Cabool, which they had reconquered from the Afghan insurrectionists, and the districts bordering on India with their passes. Mohammed Jan had been driven from the positions he had taken before *Including dependencies. Including native states under British protectorate, and Cyprus. The population set down as Protestant is based upon an estimate made by Protestant missionaries of the native population under the control and direct influence of the Protestant churches. Including Cambodia. A Russian expedition was dispatched against the Tekke Turkomans to chastise them for the depredations and incursions of which they had been guilty. It was said before the expedition started that it would not occupy Merv, for the Russian Government was desirous to avoid such an occupation, lest it should provoke a counter-occupation of Herat by the British. It was intended to be conducted on a reduced scale during two years, and the operations of the first year were to be confined to establishing outposts, lines of communication, etc. The expedition started at the beginning of the summer, under the command of General Skobeleff, pushed on beyond Geok Tepe, against which a detachment from it made a reconnaissance, to a point between that place and Merv, where it made preparations to spend the winter. Another Russian expedition, un der Colonel Prjevalsky, of a scientific and topographical character, had penetrated into Thibet, when its further progress was stopped by the order of the Thibetan Government. The expedition was obliged to retrace its steps, and was traveling along the Yellow River, with the intention of returning to Siberia, when the members of the party were arrested by the Chinese. They were afterward set at liberty, and permitted to continue the exploration of the Yellow River, but intended to return to Kiakhta before the end of the season. (See RUSSIA.) The Chinese Government has exerted great strength, and has persistently followed the policy of reasserting its claims to equality of consideration with any other power, and to the recovery of whatever territory has been wrested from it. The arrangement made with Russia in the previous year for the delivery of Kulja was not satisfactory to the Government. The envoy who negotiated the treaty was degraded for his failure to secure better terms, and the demand for a revision of the treaty was pressed upon Russia with such energy that war was regarded as imminent during nearly the whole year. The claims of China to the paramount sovereignty of the Loochoo Islands were vigorously pressed against Japan. The Government has given notice to Portugal of its intention to resume the occupation of the promontory of Macao. (See CHINA.) Japan has made a considerable advance in the exploitation of its mines and the development of its manufacturing interests. The Government continues to make great efforts for promoting the education of the entire people. Important reform movements are going on among the Buddhists of the country. (See JAPAN.) English influence has become ascendant in Persia. Negotiations have been reported to be in progress between the British and Persian Governments, for a treaty, under which Persia should be permitted to acquire and hold Herat, in consideration of its granting to British companies certain privileges of navigation in its waters, and of the construction of roads in its territory. A portion of the country suffered severely from famine; and the Kurds rose in the fall, and, joined by the Turkish Kurds, VOL. XX.-3 A made extensive depredations, pillaging and destroying numerous villages, of which they killed most of the inhabitants. (See PERSIA.) Burmah has been in an unsettled condition, on account of the discontent and hostility which the capricious conduct of King Theebaw has aroused. An embassy dispatched by the King for the purpose of bringing about a resumption of diplomatic relations with the British Government, received no encouragement; but, after having remained for several months at Thayetmayo awaiting a recognition which the British agent refused to give it, was obliged to return without having accomplished its mission. The kingdom was disturbed by an insurrection in behalf of the Nyoungoke Prince; but the insurrection was put down, and the Prince fled into British territory, where he was arrested. The King claimed an indemnity of the British, because the Prince had entered Burmah from British territory, and in October sent troops to the frontier. (See BURMAH.) ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA AND PROGRESS. Solar Parallax from the Velocity of Light. The most trustworthy method of finding the sun's horizontal parallax is now believed, with good reason, to be that based on the experimental determination of the velocity of light. The "American Journal of Science" for January, 1880, contains a paper on this subject by Mr. D. P. Todd, M. A., assistant in the Nautical Almanac Office, Washington, D. C. The latest determination of the velocity of light is that of Mr. A. A. Michelson, of the United States Navy; viz., 186,360 miles per second. Hence the mean horizontal parallax of the sun is found to be 8.808. The corresponding distance of the sun from the earth is 92,800,000 miles. Sun-Spots.-The quiescence of the sun's surface during the spot minimum of 1878-79 was extraordinary and long continued. We have now entered, however, on another period of activity. In 1880, especially toward its close, the spots were quite numerous. In accordance with the theory of a connection between auroral phenomena and the variation in the number of sun-spots, the former have been found to be likewise increasing. It is worthy of notice that the period between the last two spot minima was not only greater than that immediately preceding, but greater also than the average length. Ellipticity of Mars.-The "American Journal of Science" for March, 1880, contains a paper on the "Ellipticity of Mars," by Professor C. A. Young, of Princeton, New Jersey. After remarking that the polar flattening of Mars had never been satisfactorily determined, and specifying the results obtained by different observers, Professor Young continues: Either of these values is apparently irreconcilable if we admit the presence of water upon its surface, as with the planet's known mass and period of rotation the polar "snow-caps" seem to indicate, except upon the almost absurd assumption of a density rapidly in- half a century. 218.. 219... 1880, August 30, Coggia.. Mean distances. Periods in days. 3.0524 1,948 2.7680 1,682 2.7010 1,622 1880, September 30. Palisa.. 2.8820 1,342 No. 216 has the greatest eccentricity (0.29) of those discovered during the year, and the last in the catalogue the greatest apparent magnitude. The 219 minor planets now known have been detected by thirty-five discoverers. First in this list is Dr. C. H. F. Peters, Director of the Observatory of Hamilton College, at Clinton, New York, who has discovered forty-one -nearly one fifth of the whole number. The next is Professor Palisa, of Pola, now credited with twenty-seven. This successful observer discovered five of those announced in 1880. The third is the lamented James C. Watson, late Director of the Observatory at Ann Arbor, Michigan, who detected twenty-two. Of the whole number, seventy have been discovered by American astronomers. Jupiter's Period of Rotation.-In the monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society for January, 1880, H. Pratt, Esq., of England, discusses a series of observations of the great red spot of Jupiter. These observations were continued from July 26 to December 6, 1879, including 321 rotations of the planet. Mr. Pratt's resulting period of rotation is 9. 55m. 33.91 This exceeds the period found by the Astronomer Royal in 1835 by 12.91 A series of observations by T. D. Brewin, Esq., covering a period of 437 rotations, gave 9h 55m. 34-1-exceeding the value found by Mr. Pratt by only 0.19. Evidence that the Light of Jupiter is partly intrinsic.-Among the papers read at the meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society, Dr. Henry Draper, of New York. For several on May 14, 1880, was one of great value, by years it has been held, by Mr. Proctor and others, that Jupiter's light is not wholly reflected. The facts now obtained by spectroscopic investigation seem clearly to indicate, as Dr. Draper remarks, that "Jupiter is still hot enough to give out light, though perhaps only in a periodic or eruptive manner. proper to remark, however, that in the discussion which followed the reading of Dr. Draper's paper, some doubt was expressed in regard to his conclusions. The question can not be regarded as definitively settled without further investigation. "" It is Jupiter's Red Spot.-Observations of Jupiter's great red spot in 1879 and 1880 indicate but little change in its appearance between the last two oppositions of the planet. Probable Existence of Ultra - Neptunian Planets. In February, 1880, Professor George Forbes, of the University of Glasgow, read a memoir before the Royal Society of Edinburgh, designed "first, to show reasons for a belief in the existence of two planets, whose orbits are greater than that of Neptune; and, secondly, to indicate the probable positions of these planets.” The whole of this research is founded upon the theory of the introduction of comets as permanent members of the solar system, which is now generally held. According to this theory, comets are bodies of size, composition, and character, which we need not at present discuss, but which move through interstellar space subject to the laws of gravitation. Every time that such a comet becomes sensibly attracted by any star, such as we have reason to suppose our sun to be, it is attracted toward it, and tends to describe about it an orbit sensibly parabolic. Let us call the distance of the Earth from the sun one Earth's radius. The orbits of comets thus attracted into the sun's neighborhood, though on the numerical average parabolic, may have their orbits transformed, by planetary perturbation, either into ellipses or hyperbolas. If the comet approach a planet in such a manner that its velocity is increased, it then will describe an hyperbolic orbit in future, and will never again return to the sun. But if the action of the planet be such as to reduce the velocity of the comet, it will then for the future revolve in an elliptic orbit round the sun, which may have its elements altered by planetary perturbations, and may eventually be actually in this way driven out of the solar system altogether, but which, in default of these accidental occurrences, must become a permanent member of the solar system. It has long been known that the aphelion-distances of comets are grouped in classes at definite distances from the sun. Thus we know that there is a large group of comets whose aphelion-distance is about the same as the distance of Jupiter from the sun. Jupiter's distance is 5 Earth's radii, and there are eleven periodic comets whose aphelion-distance is between 4 and 6 Earth's radii. Neptune's distance is 30 Earth's radii, and there are six comets whose aphelion-distances vary from 32 to 35 Earth's radii. On tabulating the aphelion-distances of all the known elliptic orbits of comets, it was found that in no case was there any grouping of aphelion comet distances which did not agree with the distances of planets, except that beyond the distance of Neptune there were two groupings of comet aphelion-distances, one at 100 Earth's radií, the other at 800 Earth's radii approximately. Taking Professor H. A. Newton's theory with respect to the introduction of comets into the solar system, it would follow that the disturbing planet must, at the time when the comet was so introduced, have been somewhere near the position of the comet's aphelion. Two hypotheses then present themselves: 1. We may suppose that the planet must have been extremely close to the comet when it introduced it, in which case it would be necessary to prove that the aphelion-positions of a fair proportion of these comets lie in one plane which passes through the sun. this case we could determine the date when the planet was in some definite positions, and so might predict its present position; 2. We may suppose that the planet revolved in some orbit close to the ecliptic, and assume that it attracted the comet into the solar system, when it was most near to the comet's aphelionposition. In The details of Professor Forbes's interesting researches can not here be given.* He assumes that the comets 1840 IV, 1846 VII, 1861 I, and 1861 II, were introduced by a planet whose distance is about one hundred times that of the earth, and whose period is about one thousand years. The estimated position of the planet in 1880 is in longitude 174°, and north polar distance 87°. Some attempt has also been made to determine the position of the more remote planet, but no satisfactory result has yet been attained. If the bodies really exist, their apparent magnitudes are doubtless very small. Comets. On the evening of February 2, 1880, Dr. B. A. Gould, Director of the Observatory at Cordoba, South America, noticed a bright stream of light rising from a point beneath the western horizon. As was supposed when first observed, this luminous beam soon proved to be the tail of a very large comet. From observations at Cordoba, the Cape of Good Hope, and other points in the southern hemisphere, the elements of the orbit were calculated by Dr. Gould, Mr. Hind, and others, with the remarkable result that the comet had actually passed through the sun's atmosphere; the nucleus, in perihelion, having been less than 100,000 miles from the solar surface. It was found, moreover, that the orbit coincided so closely with that of the great comet of 1843 as to render it nearly certain that the bodies were identical. The second comet of the year was discovThey may be found in Christie's June, 1880. Observatory" for ered, on the 6th of April, by Mr. J. M. Schäberle, Assistant Astronomer at the Ann Arbor Observatory. It passed its perihelion on the 1st of July, at a distance from the sun considerably greater than that of Mars in aphelion. The comet of Faye, whose period is seven years and five months, was detected by Mr. Common, of England, on the 2d of August. This is its fifth return to perihelion since its discovery, in 1843. A comet was discovered by Dr. Lewis Swift, at Rochester, New York, on the night of August 11th. The body, however, on account of cloudy weather for several nights following, was not reobserved, and consequently its orbit is wholly unknown. The fifth comet of 1880 was discovered by Dr. Hartwig, of the Strasburg Observatory, on the 29th of September. It was barely visible to the naked eye, and had a tail two degrees long. It was discovered independently on the following night at Ann Arbor, Mich., by Professor Harrington, and on the 3d of October by Mr. Baxendell, of Southport, England. Professor Winnecke, of Strasburg, having discussed the observations of this body and compared them with those of former comets, thinks it probably identical with the comets of 1382, 1444, 1506, and 1569. The period deduced is sixty-two and one third years. It is regarded, however, as not wholly improbable that this may be a multiple of the true period. The orbit approaches very near to that of Mercury, and Dr. Winnecke thinks it possible that the former may owe its elliptic form to Mercury's disturbing influence. The elements are as follows: Another comet was detected by Dr. Swift on the night of October 10th. Its apparent diameter was three or four minutes, but the disk was ill defined and irregular in outline. From the first available observations the elements of its orbit were computed by Mr. Seth C. Chandler, Jr., of Boston, Massachusetts. These elements so closely resemble those of the third comet of 1869 that the identity of the bodies can scarcely be doubted. The probable period is, therefore, either eleven or five and one half years. The same comet was independently discovered by Mr. Lohse at Dunecht Observatory, England, November 7th. Meteors.-The shower of meteors radiating from Quadrans, and hence termed Quadrantids, was observed, in 1880, by Mr. E. F. Sawyer, at Cambridgeport, Massachusetts. Between seven and eight o'clock on the evening of January 2d, Mr. Sawyer recorded six meteors of this wellknown group. The radiant was in right ascension 227°, declination 48° north. The meteors were bright, and their motions rather slow. |