Navigators when observing the sun through their sextants cannot but have been struck with the numerous large spots which have existed on the surface of that orb during the last two months, especially during the end of July and the beginning of August. The writer has for many years taken notice of and been on the look-out for large spots which are visible through the inverting telescope (it magnifying " little more than the direct) of his sextant, and very interesting has the record been." The ship's large telescope with a coloured glass over the eyepiece enabled Ihim last month to count tivelve spots at one time on the jsun's disc,—one spot (with 32° as the diameter of the sun) measured 3' in length }and 2 in breadth and had seven others in close proximity.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.