to account for their strong blue color on that hypothesis. Yet the same difficulty would be experienced in the case of Mars, whose poles appear light blue, or light green, to many observers; and the existence of ice on those poles may be considered as proved. The uniformity of the red belts would seem to indicate that the whole of the surface over which they extend must possess the same character. Mr. Browning concludes that, if the color is due to the soil, the seas must be confined to the poles of the planet.

The Color of the Moon and Stars.-Different observers had made different reports upon the amount of color visible in the moon during the same lunar eclipse. These discrepancies suggested to Mr. John Browning an inquiry into the causes of them. In his own observations of a lunar eclipse in which coppery or blue tints had been generally seen, he had failed to detect either of those colors. The explanation he found to be this: that he had used a telescope of larger diameter than the telescopes employed by most observers. The observers who had instruments of only three or four inches aperture spoke of the color as being less than usual, but very noticeable; those who had telescopes of seven or eight inches aperture saw very little color; and observers with telescopes of 101 inches aperture, or a 12-inch. silvered glass speculum, could not detect any color at all. Mr. Browning thus concludes a paper upon the subject, presented by him to the Royal Astronomical Society:

It is true that I failed equally in detecting color with a four-inch object-glass, but I account for this by supposing that the sensitiveness of my eye to faintcolored light had been injured by the glare of the moon in the large aperture. Experimenting in connection with this subject, I have noticed that the chocolate color of the so-called belts of Jupiter is much more perceptible with 6 inches aperture than with 12 inches. Again, a small star in the cluster in Perseus appears of an indigo-blue with 8 inches, Prussianblue with 10 inches, and royal-blue with 124 inches of aperture. It follows from this that colors estimated by comparison with the ingenious chromatic scale of Admiral Smyth, in which each color is represented of four different degrees of intensity, will not possess any relative value unless taken in connection with the aperture employed when the color was estimated. Were due allowance made for this disturbing influence of variation of aperture, I think many discrepancies between the colors attributed to double stars by dif

ferent observers might probably be reconciled.

On the Fall of Rain as affected by the Moon. -Mr. Pliny Earl Chase has contributed to the proceedings of the American Philosophical Society a paper on this subject. His attention was specially called to it by an article by Mr. George Dines in the Proceedings of the Meteorological Society No. 36, which presented a summary of observations of rain which fell during each day of the moon's age, through a period, with few interruptions, of over forty years. Upon those data the author based the "decided opinion that the fall of rain is in no way influenced by the changes of the moon or the moon's age." Mr. Chase, however, upon a careful examination of

the same tables, deduces the conclusion-that, notwithstanding the complete veiling of all the disturbances which may be due to the moon's variable distance and declination, there was a marked tendency to increase at quadrature and to decrease at syzygy, both in the amount of rain and in the number of rainy days. This tendency, which becomes evident even in the majority of the five years' groupings, is uniformly shown in all the groups of ten years, twenty years, and forty years, as well as in the number of rainy days and in the number of heavy rains during the entire period.

Mr. Chase gives the following forty years' aggregates (1825 to 1864 inclusive) at Surrey, the place of observations referred to by Mr. Dines, and at the Pennsylvania Hospital, Philadelphia:

Week of new moon...

Surrey. Philadelphia

98.2

97.6

66

first quarter..

full moon..

last quarter...

Mr. J. H. N. Hennessey, First Assistant on the great Trigonometrical Survey of India, in a paper to the Royal Society, alludes to a record of the rainfall at Mussoorie extending over thirteen years, and remarks:

The results tabulated have been obtained by

employing an average daily fall as the means for comparing the fall at "the changes" with that at intermediate intervals. The annual average result may be stated thus:

At "the changes" of the moon the mean daily, fall of rain is...

Between "the changes" of the moon the mean daily fall is.....

Inch.

0.466

0.525

which is in opposition to the popular belief on the subject.

The Melbourne Telescope.-This great instrument, manufactured by Mr. Grubb, of Dublin, has been examined and favorably reported on by a committee of the Royal Society, composed of Earl Rosse, Dr. Robinson, and Mr. Warren De la Rue. The telescope is of the reflecting order. The reflector is of metal-a fact which calls down the criticisms of those astronomers who believe the new silvered glass mirrors of Foucault to be much preferable. The former, it is claimed, reflect less light, are much heav ier, and, when their polish is lost, do not admit of reparation, except at a great expense, as the repolishing is nothing short of refiguring, which is a costly and delicate operation. Resilvering a glass mirror costs little, and does not demand unusual skill. The point of suspension of the Melbourne telescope is near the mirror, on account of its immense weight; and in front of this point the telescope stretches forward to about 30 ft. of open lattice-work, made of bands of elastic steel. It is thought that heavy winds must produce considerable motion in so long an instrument. scope is on Cassegrain's plan, with the eye-piece, as in the Gregorians, at the bottom, and very convenient for use. The adjusting appara

The tele

tus is brought close to the observer. The committee found that by this instrument the light even of large stars was collected into small, hard, and perfectly circular disks free from rays. The fifth and sixth stars in the trapezium of Orion were not only plainly seen but were very bright. The light-collecting power was very satisfactory. The planetary nebula in 46 M. was revealed as a ring bright even as the dazzling ground of the surrounding stars, which were as brilliant as the Pleiades appear in ordinary instruments.

AUSTRALIA. The five English colonies on the continent of Australia, as well as the neighboring colonies of Tasmania and New Zealand, continue to advance rapidly in population, commerce, and wealth. The province of Victoria had, in 1836, 177 souls; in 1841, 11,738; in 1851, 77,345; in 1861, 540,322; and in 1867, 659,887. New South Wales, settled in 1788 as a penal colony, numbered in 1803 but 7.097. In 1821 it had 29,783; in 1840, 129,463; in 1850, 265,503. In 1866 it had 431,414, notwithstanding that the new provinces of Victoria and Queensland had been withdrawn from its territory a few years before. The latter, from a population of 30,059 in 1861, increased to 96,172 in 1866. South Australia, from 17,366 persons in 1844, possessed 63,700 in 1850, and 172,880 in 1867. Tasmania, from 14,192 in 1825, rose to 98,455 in 1867. The population of the European settlements in New Zealand in 1864 amounted to over 172,000, an increase of seventy-four per cent. from 1861, while in 1851 the number of Europeans was only 25,807. In 1867, it amounted to 220,192. The English race predominates everywhere, followed by the Irish, Scotch, German, and Chinese. The inequality of the sexes was formerly a great cause of complaint. In 1838 there were but fourteen females to every hundred males, but in 1866 there were seventy-five to each hundred. The rapid increase of the tropical province of Queensland, the hottest of all the settlements, proves that the British race can labor hard and thrive well under a burning sun, without resorting to the compulsory labor of dark-skinned races. Every thing indicates that Australia is becoming a great empire.

The Australian trade, during the five months of 1868, presented upon the whole an increased activity. Thus the value of the British goods and produce taken by the Australian colonies to May 31, 1868, was £4,251,144, as compared with £3,407,723 in the corresponding five months of 1867, and £5,502,014 in the corresponding five months of 1866. The increased demand was shared in by all the colonies of Australia properly so called, but the value of English exports to Tasmania, in the first five months of 1868, was only £25,867, as compared with £41,414 in the corresponding period of 1867, and to New Zealand £544,503, against £610,846 in the corresponding perion of 1867. The whole of Australia is equal in extent to

Europe, and, together with Tasmania (15,000,000 acres) and New Zealand 77,000,000 acres, extending from 11° to 47° south latitude, affords almost every variety of climate, and can produce every necessary, and even luxury, that civilization requires.

Our latest statistical advices from all the above colonies, except New South Wales, are to the end of 1867, or two years later than those published in the ANNUAL CYCLOPÆDIA for 1867. The following are some extracts from the official reports:

The population of New South Wales in 1866 was 431,414; the deaths registered were 7,361, or 17.5 per 1,000 of population was the deathrate of the year. The births were 16,950. The marriages were 3,462. The aspect of the year's registration was unfavorable. Instead of the births receiving an addition of 600 during the year, the returns exhibited an actual deficit of more than half that number. The marriage rate was depressed; and the deaths were 765 in excess of the number registered in 1865. It is worthy of remark that the immigration into the colony in 1866 from the United Kingdom showed a larger falling off than in any previous year, the total being 1,852, of whom 1,204 were assisted.

The value of the imports was £9,403,192; of the exports, £9,913,839; being a slight advance on those of the previous year, and averaging £23 12s. 5d. per head of population. The value of articles of colonial produce was £6,057,585. The imports averaged £22 8s. 1d. per head of population; £3,352,768 was the value of the imports from the United Kingdom. The value of the wine imported amounted to £128,202; the exports under this head were £3,847. The wine produced in the colony in 1866 was 168,123 gallons. There was a decrease in the quantity of gold brought to the mint by escort. In 1862 the quantity was 575,538 oz.; in 1866 it was only 241,489 oz., showing a decrease of 334,049 oz., of the value of £1,284,259. The quantity of coal raised in the year was 774,238 tons, of the value of £324,049, or 188,713 tons in excess of the quantity raised in 1865. The quantity shipped in 1866 was 540,905 tons. The quantity of copper exported was 278 tons, of the value of £20,790. The number of vessels that entered the ports of the colony in 1866 was 2,099; their tonnage was 730,354, being about double that of 1857. The number of outward clearances was 2,259, with an aggregate of 784,381 tons. The financial statistics show that coin and bullion in the banks and Mint amounted to £1,356,776. The paper currency in circulation in 1866 averaged £674,507. Since the opening of the Mint in New South Wales, there have been 5,584,669 oz. of gold, of the value of £21,864,668, received for coinage, and £20,328,000 of coin has been issued, exclusive of £1,528,574 of bullion. In 1866, 739,362 oz. of gold were sent to the Mint for coinage, representing a value of £2,935,923. The depositors

in savings-banks numbered 17,576; the amount deposited was £707,815. The public debt at the end of 1866 was £6,418,030. The agricultural statistics record 24,629 occupiers of land in 1866, with 7,448,200 acres. The cultivation of the land was increasing, 452,850 acres being under tillage in 1866, against 381,400 acres in 1865. In no year was there so large a wheat crop as in 1866, the produce being 2,226,027 bushels. Cotton was no longer cultivated in New South Wales, but the cultivation of sugar had increased. The live-stock returns show a large increase in the number of sheep, but a decrease in horses, cattle, and pigs. The quantity of wool sent out of the colony in 1866 was 86,980,685 lbs., which was the largest quantity ever shipped.

The most populous of the Australian colonies is Victoria, which had, at the close of the year 1867, 659,887 inhabitants (against 643,912 in 1866). The arrivals in the colony in 1867 amounted to 27,242, of whom 19,904 were from the neighboring colonies, and 6,522 from the United Kingdom. The numbers of Chinese who left the colony were 1,709, while the arrivals were only 317. The estimated population on the various gold-fields of the colony, at the end of the year, is returned at 271,115, of whom 63,053 were miners. Of these, 47,377 were Europeans, and 15,676 Chinese. 33,407 Europeans, and 15,629 Chinese, were at work as alluvial miners, and 13,970 Europeans, and only 47 Chinese, as quartz miners. There are 62 corporate towns and boroughs in Victoria, with a gross population of 326,216; 71,833 dwellings; 70,969 rate-payers; £20,394,918 value of ratable property. The aboriginal population is estimated at 1,908 persons. The number of electors on the rolls of the Legislative Council is 11,602. The number who voted at the triennial election in 1866, in the districts that were contested, was 2,329, or 63.1 of those who were entitled to vote. There are 115,842 electors on the rolls for the Assembly. In the districts contested at the general election of 1868, there were 63,275 who voted, being a percentage of 61.59 of the whole.

The approximate tables of the RegistrarGeneral's agricultural statistics for the year, ended the 31st of March, 1868, show that the present number of holdings in the colony, exceeding one acre in extent, is 25,214. The extent of purchased freehold land in occupation is 5,472,205 acres; and of rented land, 1,148,726 acres; crown lands rented for other than pastoral purposes, 1,326,524 acres; total area in occupation, 7,947,455 acres; extent reserved, 6,970,106 acres; under tillage, 634,270 acres.

As Victoria is the largest, Western Australia is the smallest of the Australian colonies. It has the distinction of thus being the only Australian colony free from debt; having cleared itself of its debt in 1866. The public expenditure, in 1866, nearly £85,000, was well kept within the revenue, notwithstanding a

considerable outlay on roads and bridges. The Colonial Blue-book, laid before Parliament, shows that Western Australia is in a condition to meet the cessation of transportation, with a reasonable hope that the sources of wealth opening up in various ways may, with care, prevent the stagnation which was apprehended. There is a steady annual increase in the amount of land under cultivation, and also in the tonnage entered and cleared at the ports. A supply of free labor will now be of vast importance to this colony. Nearly two-thirds of its 22,000 people are males, and the demand for female servants keeps increasing, because, as the Governor reports, those who come are "quickly absorbed by marriage." He is able to state that the settlement on the northwest coast is progressing steadily. Considerable attention is attracted to it from all parts of Australia; the country appears to be admirably adapted for stock of all kinds; and now that the necessary staff of officers are on the spot, and a town has been established, the Governor considers that there is every reason to believe that its progress will be rapid and satisfactory.

South Australia is a colony which has been liable to periodical depression, but equally open to times of great prosperity. The population, on December 31, 1867, was 89,991 males, 82,889 females; total, 172,880. Number of persons enjoying the electoral franchise, 41,657, of whom 14,330 were voters for the Legislative Council, and 27,327 for the House of Assembly. Up to 31st December, 1867, 3,568,742 acres of land had been purchased from the crown, while 2,177,941 acres were held by freeholders. The quantity of land enclosed was 4,812,276 acres, while the land under cultivation amounted to 810,734 acres; and the land enclosed, but not cultivated, to 3,991,542 acres. The general revenue of South Australia for the year 1867, amounted to £716,294 13s. 6d., against £949,774 2s. 4d., in 1866, and £1,089,128 14s. 4d. in 1865. Total imports of South Australia, £2,506,394 5s., exports, £3,164,622, of which £2,776,045 was the produce of the colony, giving a net excess of exports over imports, of £658,227 15s.

The population of Queensland, in 1866, was 96,172. Public revenue, £593,000; expenditure, £594,000; public debt, £2,150,000. The imports were valued at £2,470,000, and the exports at £1,370,000.

The official report on Tasmania, for 1867, presents few encouraging features. In almost every direction, the same law of decadence is found to have been in operation as in the preceding years. The Government statist says, however, that, since he began to write his review (which is dated July 20, 1868), there was more ground for encouragement, as regards the future of Tasmania, than had appeared for several years. The estimated population of Tasmania at the end of 1867 was 98,455. The return of the aborigines in the establishment at Oyster Cove shows that one man and two women were the sole remains of the original

possessors of this island. The immigration and emigration returns show an actual loss to the population of 466 souls. The deaths in 1867 numbered 1,413, being in the proportion of 14.4 per 1,000 of population. The births registered during the year were 2,971, or 166 more than in 1866. The value of the imports in 1867 was £856,348, that of the exports was £790,494, the former exceeding the latter by £65,854. Compared with the results of the preceding year, there was a decrease of £25,759 on the imports, and of £44,112 on the exports; indeed, the exports had not been so limited since 1851. The number of vessels which entered inward was 598, and shows a decrease of 7 per cent.; the tonnage was 97,390, and shows a decrease of 94 per cent. as compared with the results of 1866. The number of vessels cleared outward was 631, of 102,754 tons in the aggregate. The revenue in 1867 was £272,953, being an increase, on that of 1866, of £27,531. The expenditure last year was £255,552, or £13,191 more than in 1866.

The colony of New Zealand had, in December, 1867, according to the official census, 218,637 inhabitants, exclusive of the military and their families, and the aboriginal natives; an absolute increase, as compared with 1864, amounting to 46,479, or 26.99 per cent. Of this population (1867), the Northern Island (comprising the provinces of Auckland, Taranaki, Wellington, and Hawke's Bay) had 45,189 males, and 34,724 females, making a total of 79,913, or 36.55 per cent. on the population of the colony; and the Middle Island (comprising the province of Nelson, Marlborough, Canterbury, Otago, and Southland) 86,697 males, and 51,843 females, making a total of 138,540, or 63.37 per cent. on the whole population. The addition of 184 (or .08 per cent.) for the Chatham Islands will bring out the general total as above. The population of the chief town in every province is as follows: Auckland, 11,153. New Plymouth, 2,180. Wellington, 7,460. Napier, 1,827. Nelson, 5,652. Picton, 465. Christchurch, 6,647. Lyttleton, 2,510. Dunedin, 12,776. Invercargill, 2,006. The military and their families numbered, officers and men, 918; male children, 175; women and female children, 362; making a total of 1,455. This number, added to the population shown by the census, gives a total of 220,192; viz., 133,102 males, and 86,990 females. Although the numbers of the aboriginal native population are not ascertained by the census of the colony, the Registrar-General is enabled, by returns supplied from the native secretary's office, to introduce an approximate estimate of them. As respects the provinces of Canterbury, Otago, and Southland, an enumeration, described as a "census," was taken in the early part of the year, which shows for those provinces a total of 1,433. For the North Island, with the province of Nelson, and the prisoners at the Chatham Islands, the numbers stated are 37,107. These numbers, however, are only

given as approximate, and in one or two instances are represented as probably under-estimated. Taking the figures as they appear however, they show an (estimated) native population of 38,540 in the colony. This number added to the population shown by the census, and the military and their families, would make the aggregate number of the inhabitants of New Zealand 258,632. The total quantity of land fenced-which, in 1858, was 235,561 acres; in 1861, 409,763 acres; and in 1864, 1,072,383 acres had increased in 1867 to 3,454,535 acres; and the total quantity under crop-which, in 1858, was 141,007 acres; in 1861, 226,219 acres; and in 1864, 382,655 acres-had increased in 1867 to 676,867 acres. The aggregate numbers of live-stock of all kinds (excepting poultry)— which in 1858 were 1,728,093; in 1861, 3,038,557; and in 1864, 5,310,062-had increased in 1867 to 8,924,489.

New Zealand was again the scene of a bloody outbreak of the natives, who massacred a considerable number of the white settlers, and offered a desperate resistance to the Government troops sent against them. According to the advices received up to the close of January, 1869, the outbreak was not yet fully quelled.

In the first months of the year, Prince Alfred, the second son of Queen Victoria, visited several of the colonies. His visit was celebrated by great official festivities, but was cut short by an attempt upon his life, made by a Fenian. As he received a serious wound, it was deemed best that he should at once return to England.

AUSTRIA. Emperor, Francis Joseph I., born August 18, 1830; succeeded his uncle, Ferdinand I. (as King of Hungary and Bohemia, called Ferdinand V.), on December 2, 1848. Heir-apparent, Archduke Rudolph, born August 21, 1858. Since 1867, the empire, in point of administration, is divided into two parts, the chief frontier of which is the river Leitha, whence the one (the western) half is called the cis-Leithan, and the other (eastern) the trans-Leithan portion of the empire. The former is also commonly designated by the name of Austria proper, and the latter by the name of Hungary. The whole Austrian monarchy is now officially called the Austro-Hungarian empire, or Austro-Hungarian monarchy. In the following article we treat of the affairs belonging to the Austrian monarchy as a whole, and those belonging to Austria proper, or the cis-Leithan provinces, reserving the affairs of the trans-Leithan provinces for the article HUNGARY.

The area of the Austrian empire, according to the latest official statements, amounts to 240381 square miles, and the population, in 1867, to 35,553,000 inhabitants. An official census was taken in 1868, but its results have not yet been published. The previous census was of 1857, which showed the population of the provinces now constituting Austria (Lombardy and Venetia have since been lost) to amount to 32,530,000. By adding the yearly excess