Though properly an evening star, shines from “dewy eve till early dawn,” rising on the 1st at 4:27 p. m., and setting next morning at 6:47; and on the 31st rising at 2:21 in the afternoon, and setting the following morning at 4:42. His motion will be 9′ 9″ retrograde, and on the 12th at 7:53 p. m., he will be 55 minutes north of the moon. The rings of Saturn are an object of great interest to every observer and the present is a favorable time to see them in great splendor, though the view in December 1884 and 1885 will be still finer. URANUS Begins the month by rising at 1:02 a. m., (thus putting himself among the morning stars), and at the close of the month at 11:11 p. m. His motion, which is direct, but only 1′ 42″ in thirty days, seems slow enough, but when we reflect that he actually travels an average absolute distance of over thirty million miles a day, we can but wonder at his terrific speed. He is located about two degrees southeast of _Beta Virginis_, and “can be seen with the naked eye, if one knows where to look.” NEPTUNE, The most distant of the planets, rises on the 1st at 3:30 p. m., and sets on the 2d at 5:26 a. m., and on the 31st rises at 1:31 in the afternoon and sets the following morning at 3:25. His motion is retrograde, and amounts to 2′ 34″ for the month. This planet is of no special interest to the ordinary reader, as “to recognize its disk with ease,” requires a magnifying power of three hundred or upward. C. S. L. C. NOTES ON REQUIRED READINGS FOR DECEMBER. EASY LESSONS IN VEGETABLE BIOLOGY. It will be observed that many of the words and expressions used by Dr. Wythe in his “Lessons” are pronounced and explained in the “Glossary and Index.” Where such explanations and pronunciations occur, of course no notes have been prepared. P. 12.—“Albumen,” al-buˈmen. The word is derived from _albus_, the Latin word for white. Albumen forms a part of all animal fluids and solids. The white of an egg is almost pure albumen. In the vegetable world it is the food laid up for the nourishment of the embryo around which it lies. P. 13.—“Slide.” A small slip of glass about three inches long by one wide. It is intended to place objects on which are to be examined under the microscope. The “cover” here referred to, is a square of very thin glass, which is placed over the object to hold it in place. “Capillary attraction,” căpˈil-la-ry. When a capillary (hair-like) tube is dipped into a liquid, there is an attraction between the solid and the particles or molecules of the liquid which causes the latter to rise in the tube if it wets it, or to sink if it does not. “Heated stage.” The simplest means for heating the stage or slide upon which an object is placed, is by a small alcoholic lamp placed at the corner of the stage.