farther separated from the main body of the cap, the smaller patch being many degrees distant to the north of either the geographical pole or the pole of cold, with water and even dry land to the south of it. It will be remembered, for the points of the compass, that this is the southern hemisphere of which we are speaking, and that, for climatic purposes, north and south here stand interchanged. On August 13 the detached patch is recorded for the last time, or, in other words, about this time it melted away. The larger one remained, contracting in size, however, as time went on. So it continued through August, September, and well into October.
On October 12, at 10h. 40m., I made the following entry about it: "Polar cap has been very faint for some time; barely visible." At 13h. 26m., or, in other words, at about half past one that night, Mr. Douglass measured its position and estimated its size, as was his wont every few days. He found it to be six degrees distant from the planet's pole, in longitude 54° The patch was very small, covering about one hundred and fifty miles square. On looking at the planet on October 13, at 8h. 15m., to his surprise he found the cap gone. Not a trace of it could be seen; nor could either he or I detect it during the rest of that night although such was the longitude of the central
