PERIGEE AND APOGEE.-Since the orbit of the Moon is nearly an ellipse, having the Earth in one of the foci, it follows that the Moon's distance from the Earth varies within certain limits. When at the least distance from the Earth, the Moon is said to be in perigee, and when at the greatest, that body is said to be in apogee. It is the perigee and apogee of the Moon which regulate the heights of the spring and neap tides. Thus, when the Moon is in perigee at the time of conjunction or opposition in R. A. with the Sun, the spring tides will then, so far as the Moon is concerned, be a maximum ; so, in like manner, when the Moon is in apogee at the time of her conjunction, the spring tides will be a minimum. Meteorological Register during the month of June in each of the Years 1846-1851 inclusive. Rain. Year. Bar, Shade Wet Inches. 1846 30.079 50 90 Degrees. Degrees. Inches. 1847 month of December' in Great Britain. The average fall of rain JUNE in Victoria, as regards the seasons, corresponds to the in June is 2 41 inches; but in June, 1849, only 0.88 inches fell; while in 1851, it was not less than 5:22 inches. From 1846 to 1850 inclusive, there was rain, on the average, eleven days in each year, but during June, 1851, it rained on twenty-one days, being very nearly double the number of wet days recorded for the same month during each of the five preceding years. During the six years referred to, the winds in June were from the north, veering between east and west, for one hundred and two days, or on an average, seventeen days in each of the six years. During this month, frosts begin to prevail in the morning; ice is sometimes met with at daybreak, but melts soon after sunrise. On the night of the 8th June, 1853, ice was found in Melbourne and suburbs from a quarter of an inch to an inch thick; and a tumbler of water left exposed in the open air, at Bacchus Marsh, was found completely frozen. This night is said to have been the coldest known in the Colony. Dense heavy fogs are not uncommon, but, like the frosts, they only prevail during the early portion of the day, as the Sun's rays quickly dissipate them. On the 9th of June, 1851, the wind being N.E., S.W., and E., there was a thick fog on the horizon in the morning, which was dispersed by noon; but what is very unusual, the fog returned at seven in the evening. It continued foggy during the night, and on the following morning, at daybreak, there was a fog round the horizon, which continued all day and night. On the morning of the 11th there was a fog to the southward; on the 12th, there was rain, but no fog; the morning of the 12th was humid, and a thick fog prevailed, which dispersed by eleven in the morning. During the night, 1-21 inches of rain fell, and there was rain nearly every day during the remainder of the month. Colony of Western Australia founded, 1829. [charge, 1837. 1. First Sale of Land in Melbourne, conducted by R. Hoddle, the Surveyor in TRINITY SUNDAY. First female convicts arr. at Sydney, per ship Juliana, 1790. 10. Gold found at the junction of the Turon and Macquarie rivers, N.S. W., 1851. The first Protestant Bishop (Broughton) of N.S.W. installed at Sydney, 1836. Pastoral Society of Australia Felix formed at Melbourne, 1844. CORPUS CHRISTI. Chamber of Commerce established at Sydney, 1826. First Election at Melb., of addit. Members for Victoria Legisla. Council, 1853. Commission of Lieutenant Governor of Victoria arrived from England, 1851. FIRST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. [landed, 1849. ST. BARNABAS. The inhabitants of Sydney protested against Convicts being Tu Sir C. A. Fitzroy took the oath as Governor General of Australia, 1851. W 1. The last letter received from Dr. Leichardt, dated 4th April, 1848. Th Macquarie Harbour, Van Diemen's Land, discovered, 1816. 8. Ice found 1 in. thick in the suburbs of Melbourne, 1853. 15 F 16 S [bourne, 1852. £160 per ton paid for the cartage of stores to Bendigo, 100 miles from Mel SECOND SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. Massacre at Wairau, New Zealand, 1843. Tu 28. Great fall of snow near Sydney, known as "Snowy Monday," 1837. Th Sir Charles Hotham arrived in Hobson's Bay, 1854. S Grand procession from Sandridge with Lieut. Governor Sir C. Hotham, 1854. 18. Earl of Charlemont (435 passengers) wrecked at the Barwon Heads, 1852. THIRD SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. ST. JOHN BAPTIST. Lieut. Governor Sir C. Hotham held his first Levee at Melbourne, 1854. 24. Destructive fire in Bourke-street, Melbourne, six houses burnt down, 1848. 26. Major Mitchell forded the Darling River, 1835. 28 Th Queen Victoria crowned, 1838. 29 F [Australia, 1847. ST. PETER. Four new Bishops consecrated at Westminster Abbey, three for 30 S Last day on which convicts were assigned to private service in N.S.W., 1841. JUNE. Ovid, in his Fasti, makes Juno assert that the name was expressly given in honour of herself. In another part, he gives the derivation à junioribus, "Junius est juvenum; qui fuit ante senum." Those who derive the name from Junius Brutus, who began his Consulship in this month, forget that, according to tradition, it had received the appellation long before." The Anglo-Saxons had several names for the month of June. They called it sear monath, dry month; midsummer monath, midsummer month; and aera-litha monath, the earlier mild month, in contradistinction to July. TWILIGHT is that faint light which precedes the rising and follows the setting of the Sun. It is caused by the upper portion of the Earth's atmosphere refracting the rays of the Sun, while the Sun is below the horizon, and reflecting them among the particles of air of which the atmosphere is composed. The duration of Twilight is not only different at different places at the same time of the year, but varies at the same place for the same time in different years. It also has an annual variation, which, being constant for each particular place on the same day in every year, is computed, and its amount constitutes what is called the duration of Twilight. It is commonly agreed, that within the temperate zone, Twilight begins and ends when the Sun is 18 degrees below the horizon; but different observations give different results. All observers agree, that as the latitude increases, so does the duration of the Twilight. www Meteorological Register during the month of July in each of the Years 1846-1851 inclusive. Shade Wet Ther. Ther. Rain. JULY in Victoria corresponds to the month of January in Great Britain, being the coldest month in Victoria. The rain which fell in July, during six consecutive years, was, on an average, 2 18 inches, being nearly half an inch less than the monthly average of the entire six years, The least quantity in this month fell in 1848, being only 111 inches, while the greatest fall was in the following year, 1849, when 4:38 inches fell. During 186 days of July, from 1846 to 1851, there were 100 days on which the wind was from the northward, veering from that to the eastern or western points of the compass. Notwithstanding that the Thermometer is lower in July than at any other time of the year, mists and fogs are less prevalent than during the succeeding month, but there are frequently sharp frosts early in the morning, and, when the wind blows from the northward, occasionally heavy showers of hail and sleet. Thus, in 1848 and 1849, when the Thermometer was lower than during the two years which preceded and followed them, we find that on the 22nd July, 1848, when the wind was south-east by east, thin sleet fell early in the day; moreover, in this year the wind was northward eleven days only, but came from the south for sixteen days. So, in like manner, in 1849, on the 10th July, when the wind was south, north-east, and south-east, the Thermometer was as low as 30 degrees, on which occasion there was a heavy damp fog in the early part of the day, but the afternoon was clear and bright. Again, on the 13th of the same month, when the wind was north-east, south, and south-east, there was a very sharp hoar frost at sunrise, Fahrenheit's Thermometer standing at 26 degrees, the minimum height hitherto observed in Melbourne; it was, however, clear all day, with a very light wind. Year. Bar. 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 Inches. Degrees. Degrees. Inches, 1846 30.029 50.04 51.32 1.29 29.739 49.32 50.09 2.63 1.11 4.38 1.98 1.70 30.078 46.69 49.22 30.006 47.78 48.93 30.247 50.35 51.03 29.983 49.34 50.57 2.18 FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. Separation of Victoria proclaimed, and Mel- Tu Ports of South Australia declared free, 1845. * M Tu W Th F M 1. New Registration system first put in opera. in Victoria, by Mr. Archer, 1853. 1. A branch of the Colonial Treasury of N.S.W. estab. at Melbourne, 1839. FIFTH SUNDAY AFT. TRINITY. A Water Police Magistrate app. for P.P., 1841. 1. Two Com. of Crown Lands app. in P.P., with estab. of Border Police, 1840. 3. Found. stones of Melb. Univ. and Pub. Lib. laid by Sir C. Hotham, 1854. Sir G. Gipps issued new Squatting Regulations, 1845, amending those of 1844. Intel. arr. in Melb. that Home Gov. accept resig. of Lt. Gov. La Trobe, 1853. 14. An Auxiliary Bible Society established, 1840. J. L. Foster, Esq., Col. Sec., arr. in the Argo, from England, in 67 days, 1853. SIXTH SUNDAY AFT. EASTER. C. J. La Trobe, Esq., sworn in as first Lt. Gov. of SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 12. Promissory Notes issued ad lib. in Van Diemen's Land, 1821. 24 Tu First Government Escort arrived from Bendigo with 20,937 ozs. of gold, 1852. W ST. JAMES. Cattle first exported from Van Diemen's Land to Mauritius, 1818. 26 Th Small Pox first appeared in Sydney, 1826. S F ཝ 30 M 31 Tu Colonial Land and Emigration Board established in London, 1839. The Chusan (first steamship from England) arrived in Hobson's Bay, 1852. EIGHTH SUNDAY AFT. TRINITY. 27. First Emig. Ship arr. in S. Australia, 1836. JULY is the seventh month of the year. According to ancient reckoning, it was the fifth, and called Quintilis, until Mark Antony denominated it July, in compliment to Caius Cæsar, the Roman Dictator, whose surname was Julius. Our Anglo-Saxon ancestors called it maed-monath, "mead-month," from the meads being then in their bloom. They also termed it hey-monath, or "hay-month," because, says Verstegan, "therein they usually made their hay-harvest." THE SUN'S AMPLITUDE.-The term Amplitude denotes the distance and bearing of any celestial body from the east and west points when on the horizon. From about the 23rd September to 21st March, the Sun's Amplitude for all places having south lalitude, is south; but during the remainder of the year, for the same hemisphere, the Amplitude is north. THE ECLIPTIC.-The term Ecliptic is employed to denote the apparent annual path of the Sun, but is in reality the orbit of the Earth, which always is in that part of the Ecliptic directly opposite that in which the Sun is said to be. |