PITATUS.—This remarkable object, 58 miles in diameter, with Hesiodus, its companion on the E., situated at the extreme S. end of the Mare Nubium, afford good examples of a class of formations which exhibit undoubted signs of partial destruction, from some unknown cause, on that side of them which faces the Mare. On every side but the N., Pitatus is a walled plain of an especially massive type, the border on the S.E. furnishing one of the finest examples of terraces to be found on the visible surface. On the S.W., two parallel rows of large crateriform depressions, perhaps the most remarkable of their kind, extend for 60 miles or more to the W. flank of Gauricus. On the N.W., the rampart includes many curious irregular depressions and craters, and gradually diminishes in height, till, for a space of about 12 miles on the N., there can hardly be said to be any border at all, its site being marked by some inconsiderable mounds and shallow hollows. There is a small bright central mountain on the floor, and, S. of it, two larger but lower elevations. A distinct straight cleft traverses the N.W. side of the interior very near the wall, to which it forms an apparent chord, and a second cleft occupies a similar position with respect to the bright N.E. border. A narrow pass forms a communication with the interior of Hesiodus.
HESIODUS.—This walled-plain, little more than half the diameter of the last, has an irregular outline, and for the most part linear walls, which on the S. are massive and lofty (4000 feet), but on the N. very low, and broken by gaps. There is a fine deep crater on the S. border, and a small but distinct crater on the floor, nearly central, the only object thereon which I have seen, though Schmidt draws a smaller one on the W. of it.
A mountain abutting on the N.E. side of Hesiodus is the W. origin of one of the longest clefts on the moon. Running in an E.S.E. direction, it traverses the Mare to a crater near the W. face of the Cichus mountain arm, reappears on the E. side of this object, and is finally lost amid the hills on the N. of Capuanus. The W. section of this cleft is coarser and much more distinct than that lying E. of the mountain arm.
GAURICUS.—A large walled-plain S. of Pitatus, about 40 miles in diameter. The border is very irregular, and, according to Neison, consists on the E. of a precipitous cliff more than 9000 feet high. It is surrounded by a number of large rings on the S., and has several considerable small depressions on its N. border. There is apparently no prominent detail on the floor. Schmidt shows some ridges and craterlets.
WURZELBAUER.—Another irregular walled-plain, about 50 miles in diameter, on the S.E. of Pitatus, with a very complex border, in connection with which, on the S.W., is a group of fine depressions, and on the S.E. a large crater. There is much detail on the very uneven floor.
MILLER.—One of a group of three moderately large ring-plains, of which
Nasireddin is a member, near the central meridian in S. latitude 39 deg.
Its massive border rises nearly 11,000 feet above the floor, on which
stands a central peak. Miller is about 36 miles in diameter.
NASIREDDIN.—A somewhat smaller ring-plain on the S. of the last, and of a very similar type. It contains a central peak and several minor elevations. Between its N.W. border and the S.W. flank of Miller is a smaller ring-plain of about half the size of Nasireddin, and on the S.E. a large enclosure named HUGGINS.
ORONTIUS.—Huggins has encroached on the W. side of this irregular ring- plain and overlaps it. It is of considerable size. The floor includes much detail and a prominent crater.
SASSERIDES.—A formation of irregular shape, with very lofty walls, situated amid the confusion of ring-plains, craters, crater-pits, &c., in the region N. of Tycho, some of which are fully as deserving of a distinct name.
HEINSIUS.—A very curious formation on the N.E. of Tycho: a fine telescopic object under oblique illumination. It has an irregular but continuous border, except on the S., where two large ring-plains have encroached upon it, and a third, N. of a line joining their centres, occupies no inconsiderable portion of the floor. Heinsius is nearly 50 miles across, and the border on the W., is nearly 9000 feet above the interior, which includes, at least, three small craters. The walls of the intrusive ring-plains have craters on their summits; the more westerly has two on the W., and its companion, one on the S.W. The ring-plain on the floor has a crater on its E. wall. Schmidt shows a small crater between the ring-plains on the S. border.