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captured; and what had been the rates of travelling of pursuer and pursued?

Answer:-Distance required, 71 miles.

Constable's speed at first, 81 miles per hour.
His subsequent speed, 16

Thief's speed throughout, 93

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M. L. R.

ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA.
NOVEMBER, 1855.

By A. GRAHAM, Esq., Markree Observatory, Collooney. As in May the total eclipse of the Moon was followed by a partial eclipse of the Sun, so now the lunar eclipse of October 25th is followed by a partial solar eclipse on November 9th, visible in Tasmania, New-Zealand, and the regions round the south pole. The Moon's disc will not intercept more than half the Sun's diameter, even where the obscuration is greatest. The penumbral cone will first touch the surface of the Earth at 5h. 35m. in the afternoon, at a point about three hundred and fifty miles north of New-Zealand; the last contact will be at 9h., within the Antarctic Circle, near the meridian of Greenwich.

MERCURY will be in inferior conjunction with the Sun a little after noon on the 3d, about half a degree southward of the Sun's disc. He will afterwards recede westward till the 20th, the time of greatest elongation, when the angular distance of these two bodies will be nearly 20 degrees. The apparent motion of the planet will be north-westward till the 12th, after the station south-eastward. On the 4th he will be in the plane of the Earth's orbit; on the 19th, at the greatest distance northward from it. About the 21st he will rise nearly two hours before the Sun, and may thus, with a favourable atmosphere, be easily seen by the naked eye.

VENUS will have attained her greatest brilliancy on the morning of the 6th. She will suffer somewhat by the proximity of the Moon, then only 4 or 5 degrees distant; but the contrast will be exceedingly pleasing, even to a casual observer. In a telescope magnifying only fifty times, the planet will appear as large as does the Moon to the naked eye in fact, both can be readily examined in this way at the same time, and thus the magnitudes directly compared. We recommend those who are furnished with a telescope to make the experiment: it will give a very clear idea of the magnifying power of the instrument. Venus will be in her ascending node on the 12th. MARS may be distinguished about 25 degrees farther westward than Venus. On the morning of the 4th he will be close to the Moon. It would require a magnifying power of four hundred, to

make his disc appear as large as hers. At the end of the month he will be at his greatest distance from the plane of the Earth's orbit.

JUPITER will be close to the Moon on the evening of the 16th, his apparent diameter nearly equal to that of Venus on the 6th; so that a similar comparison may be made with our satellite. He is receding from the Earth, and approaching the Sun.

SATURN is still in the Milky Way, about 4 degrees westward of the third-magnitude star, Geminorum. His apparent motion among the fixed stars is slowly retrograde. The diameter of the globe continues about 2 seconds less than the exterior minor axis of the ring, which is 20 seconds; the major axis is 46 seconds. On the 20th the area of the planet's disc is exactly one-fourth that of Jupiter.

RISING AND SETTING OF THE SUN, FOR THE PARALLELS OF THE

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SUN.

Rises. Sets. h. m. h. m. 6 53 4 34 7 10 4 18 7 27 4 4 7 43 3 55

SUN AND PLANETS AT GREENWICH.

MERCURY. VENUS. MARS. JUPITER. SATURN. URANUS.

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H. T. & J. Roche, Printers, 25, Hoxton-square, London.

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THE

YOUTH'S INSTRUCTER

AND

GUARDIAN.

DECEMBER, 1855.

CONISBOROUGH CASTLE.*

(With an Engraving.)

AMONG the relics of baronial grandeur which remain to connect the present time with centuries on which the venerable hoar of antiquity has settled, the castle of Conisborough must be classed. Approached from any quarter, its position is commanding; and viewed in connection with the Valley of the Don, it presents and fills up a scene of great beauty. The note-book of Leland has the following quaint entry: "From Tikhil to Cunesborow, a four miles by stony way, and enclosed ground. Wher I saw no notable thing but the castel standing on a rokket of stone and diched. The waulles of it hath been strong, and full of toures. Danus flumen alluit villam."

The rolls of the Saxon era show that during that period, the village of Conisborough-the Caer Conan of the British, the Conanburwghe of the Saxons, and the Borough Conan of Robert of Gloucester-was a place of considerable importance; and among its earliest proprietors was Harold, a Saxon Earl, and successor of Edward the Confessor as King of England. Brave, but ambitious, his reign was

The writer gratefully acknowledges his obligations to the "Village Sketches," and other authentic records.

VOL. XIX. Second Series.

2 A

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