In the year 1858 there will be four eclipses-two of the sun, and two of the moon. 1st. A partial eclipse of the moon, February 27, only partly visible in the United States. The moon will rise partly eclipsed, which will take place generally after the time of the greatest phase. Its magnitude will be 0.333 of moon diameter on the southern limb. 2d. An annular eclipse of the sun, March 15. The sun will be centrally eclipsed on the meridian in lon. 30 45' west of Greenwich, lat. 45° 44′ north. In some parts of the United States the sun will be partially eclipsed. 3d. A partial eclipse of the moon, August 24. The magnitude of the eclipse will be 0.470 of moon diameter on the northern limb. At some places the first contact will not be visible; but to most places in the United States the whole eclipse will be visible. 4th. A total eclipse of the sun, September 7. In lon. 40° 51' west of Greenwich, lat. 30 59 south. This eclipse will be total on the meridian. The sun will be centrally eclipsed in the southern hemisphere only. * A ninth asteroid named Metis, and also a tenth not yet named, have been discovered since the beginning of 1848, between Mars and Jupiter; but as the sizes, distances, etc., are yet unknown, they have not been added to the table. A TABLE exhibiting the Dominical||A TABLE showing what Day of the Letter for every year in the 19th Week any Day of the Month is, forcentury. 183 ة ever. January, Oct., ABCDEFG GABCDEF BCDEFGA May, A.D. 0 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 180 EDC BAGFE DCBA 181 G FEDC BAGFE D C 182 BAG FEDCB A G FED CBAGFE DOBA G F 184 ED C BAGFE DCBAG 185 FEDCB AGFED CB 186 AG F E DCB A G FEDC 187 BAGFE DCBAG FE 188 DC B A GEF D C BAGF Seek the Do-15 16 17 18 19 20 21 189 EDCB A G FEDC B Aminical letter for 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 190 G F E DCB A G FEDC the given year a-29 30 31 DIRECTIONS. 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 DIRECTIONS.-The Dominical letter gainst the given month in this table, for any year will be found against the and the figures below in that column, first three figures of the date, and un-show the days of the month answering der the fourth or unit figure. There to each of the Sundays-from the are two Dominical letters for every nearest of which to the given day, Bissextile year; the first serving for count backward or forward in the January and February, and the other week, as in the following example : for the remainder of the year. What day of the week was May 28th, 1808? The Dominical letter for that year, after February (it being bissextile), was B, which against May stands over the 29th day. Now as the 29th was Sunday, the 28th, you know, must have been Saturday. LEGAL RATES OF INTEREST. The legal rate is 8 per cent. in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Florida. It is 7 per cent. in New York, South Carolina, Michigan, Wis consin, and Iowa. In all the other states it is 6 per cent. MEASURES OF TIME AND MOTION. EXTRACT FROM BRITISH ALMANAC.-1851. A mean solar day is the mean apparent time of one revolution of the earth on its axis; it is divided into 24 hours, an hour into 60 minutes, and a minute into 60 seconds, &c.: hence the mean daily apparent motion of the sun is 15 degrees per hour, or 1 degree in 4 minutes of time. A sidereal day is the real and invariable period of the diurnal rotation, and contains 23 hours, 56 minutes, 4 1-10 seconds of mean solar time. A tropical year is the period of one revolution of the earth in its orbit, and contains 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 49.19 seconds of mean solar time. The seconds' pendulum makes 86,400 vibrations in a mean solar day at the same place on the earth's surface. =1 Hour. Measure of Time. 60 Seconds...... =1 Minute. 60 Minutes.. 24 Hours.... 7 Days... 28 Days.... =1 Day.* =1 Week. 1 Lunar Month. 22, 29, 30, or 31.....1 Calendar Month. 12 Calendar Months. 1 Year. 365 Days............ 366 Days........=1 Leap year. 1 Common Year. * A lunar day is 23 hours, 48 minutes. The sideral is 3′ 56" less than the solar day. In 400 years 97 are leap years, and 303 common. A Catalogue of Useful Things. A quire of paper, 24 sheets. A ream of paper contains 20 quires. A bale of paper, 10 reams. A roll of parchment or vellum, 5 dozen or 60 skins. A dicker of hides, 10 skins. A last of hides, 20 dickers. A chaldron of coals, 36 bushels. Standard gallon contains 10 lb, avoirdupois of distilled water. A weigh of cheese, 236 lb. The hundred weight is 112 lb. A stone of fish, 14 lb., and of wool, 14 lb. The same for horseman's weight, hay, iron, shot, &c. A stone of glass, 5 lb., and a seam of ditto., 24 stone. A cade of red herrings, 500, and sprats 1000. A load of timber unhewn, 40 feet. A pocket of hops, average weight about 14 to 2 cwt. A bag of hops nearly 34 cwt. Flour, boll of 10 pecks or stones, 140 lb. 1 hogshead of claret, 58 galls. 8 pints, dry or liquid measure, a gallon. 8 gallons, a bushel of corn. 8 bushels of corn, a quarter. A last of corn or rape seed, 10 quarters, or 80 bushels. Ditto of potash, cod fish, white herrings, meal, pitch, and tar, 12 barrels. Ditto of flax and feathers, 17 cwt.; of gunpowder, 24 barrels, or 2400 lb.; of wool, 4568 lb. A tun of wine, 252 gallons; oil of Greenland, ditto. A ton in weight is 20 cwt. of iron, &c., but in lead there is but 19 cwt. and a half, called a fother, which is 2184 lb. A tod of wool is 28 pounds. A pack of ditto, 364 pounds. 4 lb. avoirdupois is equal to 5 lb. Troy nearly. A firkin of butter, 56 lb. A pipe or butt is 120 gallons. A quintal or kintal, 1 cwt. A load of bricks, 500, and plain tiles, 1000. Numbers. 24 Sheets Paper.... 20 Ditto.... 25 Ditto.. ....1 Dozen. ...1 Long Dozen. .....l Gross. ... 20 Quires.... .... ...1 Common hundred. ...1 Great hundred. 21 Ditto.... 2 Reams.. 10 Ditto.... 80 Deals........ ...1 Quarter. 4 Quarters...........1 Hundred. ...1 Quire. ......1 do. outsides. ..1 Printer's do. ........1 Ream. ....1 Printer's do. ....1 Bundle. ........1 Bale. 5 Dz. Skins of Parchment.1 Roll. 90 Words in Chancery, 80 ditto in Exchequer,1 Folio. PAR OF EXCHANGE. The exact par of exchange is 1094. As much as it rises above that rate shows the profit in transmitting gold to England from the United States. as much as it falls below that rate, shows the profit in importing gold from England into the United States. But then, in both cases, allowance must be made for the charges in various ways of the transaction. These are much smaller in the transmission of bullion from England than the import from England to America, for this obvious reason-the actual exchange quoted is always for bills drawn at New York on London at sixty days' sight. If therefore, bills are bought in New York to be sent to London for the pur chase of gold, a charge of 63 days' interest attaches to these bills on them immediate investment. While, on the other hand, if gold be sent in place of bills, the gold on its arrival is cash at once, while the bills would have 63 days to run. But besides the interest there is the cost of freight, insurance, and shipping charges, which apply to gold and not to bills; but these are about the same either way. It is, however, considered profitable to send gold here when the exchange is at 110, being about 1 per cent. above par, while it is not profitable to import gold from here until the exchange falls to 1064, or about 3 per cent. below par. At the present rate of exchange, the profit will be about 1 per cent. in importing gold, but this includes any risk which attaches to the bills. The calculation of interest and charges in sending gold from this country to invest in bills in New York, or of purchasing bills in New York to transmit to this country for investment in gold is, as follows: Of course the calculation will vary at different times, according to the rate of interest at the moment. ENGLISH COINS. Gold Coin. The standard gold coin of Great Britain is made of a metal consisting of 22 parts of pure gold and 2 parts of copper. The pound sterling is represented by a gold coin called a sovereign, and from a pound troy of standard gold are coined 46 29-40 sovereigns, so that the weight of each is 5 dwts. 3 171-623 grs., or 123.274 grs.; and the mint price of standard gold is therefore very nearly £3 17s. 101d. per ounce. Silver Coin. The standard silver coin consists of 37 parts of pure silver and 3 parts of copper, and a pound troy of this metal furnishes 66 shillings, so that the weight of a shilling is 3 dwts. 15 3-11 grs., and the mint price of standard silver is 5s. 6d. per ounce. The silver coinage is not a legal tender for more than 40s., the gold coinage above mentioned being the only general standard of value. In the copper coinage, 24 pence are made from an avoirdupois pound of copper, so that a penny should weigh 10% drs. avoirdupois, or 2913 grs. troy. but this is not a legal tender for more than 12d. VALUE OF FOREIGN MONEY IN LONDON. 15 A farthing is the lowest denomination in use, but it is customary to denote farthings by fractions of a penny, as in the table. Money as expressed by means of these denominations is commonly called sterling money, in order to distinguish it from stock, &c., which is merely nominal. Though all commercial transactions are conducted by means of the money enumerated in the preceding table, there are other coins or denominations frequently met with, and some of them more particularly in old documents, of which the following are the most important, and their values in current money are here annexed: French Napoleon d'or (20 francs).. Value in English. S. d. Belgian Leopold d'or (25 francs).. Dutch William d'or (10 guilders; no longer legal coin) Do. Ducats Austrian do. German do. Do. George and Christian d'or, 5 Thaler... Prussian Frederick d'or or Pistole. Do. Pistole.. Mexican, Peru, Chili, and other South American Doubloon... .10 dollars. 15 9 38 16 3 32 6 3 do. Pagodas... Portuguese Gold Coins according to weight. East India Co, Mohurs... .or 15 Rupees. Do. Do. Do. Do. do. (thirds) 5 do. Sicca Mohur 19 Sun... (quarters) 3 do. 3 |