PALLAS.—­A fine ring-plain, about 32 miles in diameter, forming with Murchison an especially beautiful telescopic object under suitable illumination.  Its brilliant border, broken by gaps on the W., where it abuts on Murchison, has a bright crater on the N.E., from which, following the curvature of the wall, and just below its crest, runs a valley in an easterly direction.  There is a large bright central mountain on the floor, with a smaller elevation to the S. of it, and a ridge extending from the N. wall to near the centre.  On the W., a section of the border is continued in a N. direction far beyond the limits of the formation; and on the S. it is connected with a small incomplete ring; on the E. of which, near the foot of the wall, is a somewhat smaller and much duskier enclosure.

BODE.—­A brilliant ring-plain, 9 miles in diameter, situated on the N. side of Pallas.  Its walls rise about 5000 feet above the interior, which is considerably depressed, and includes, according to Schmidt and Webb, a mountain or ridge.  There are two parallel valleys on the W., which are well worth examination.

SOMMERING.—­An incomplete ring-plain, 17 miles in diameter, situated on the lunar equator.  It has rather low broken walls and a dark interior.

SCHROTER.—­A somewhat larger formation, with a border wanting on the S. Schmidt draws a considerable crater on the S.W. side of the floor.  It was in the region north of this object, which abounds in little hills and low ridges, that in the year 1822 Gruithuisen discovered a very remarkable formation consisting of a number of parallel rows of hills branching out (like the veins of a leaf from the midrib) from a central valley at an angle of 45 deg., represented by a depression between two long ridges running from north to south.  The regularly arranged hollows between the hills and the longitudinal valley suggested to his fertile imagination that he had at last found a veritable city in the moon—­possibly the metropolis of Kepler’s Subvolvani, who were supposed to dwell on that hemisphere of our satellite which faces the earth.  At any rate, he was firmly convinced that it was the work of intelligent beings, and not due to natural causes.  This curious arrangement of ridges and furrows, which, according to Webb, measures about 23 miles both in length and breadth, is, owing to the shallowness of the component hills and valleys, a very difficult object to see in its entirety, as it must be viewed when close to the terminator, and even then the sun’s azimuth and good definition do not always combine to afford a satisfactory glimpse of its ramifications.  M. Gaudibert has given a drawing of it in the English Mechanic, vol. xviii. p. 638.