666 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



other officers will be selected with equal 

 wisdom., 



The establishment of a National Bu- 

 reau of Standards was the most impor- 

 tant scientific measure passed by Con- 

 gress, but scientific work in many di- 

 rections was enlarged by increased ap- 

 propriations, especially in the U. S. 

 Geological Survey and in the U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture. In the lat- 

 ter a reorganization was effected, a 

 number of divisions being united to 

 form four bureaus — Plant Industry, For- 

 estry, Chemistry and Soils. The chiefs 

 of these bureaus receive salaries of 

 $3,000, an increase of $500, and the sal- 

 aries of some of the scientific experts 

 are increased. Congress did not, how- 

 ever, find time to attend to the affairs 

 of the U. S. Naval Observatory. An 

 amendment was introduced in the naval 

 appropriation bill by Senator Chandler 

 which creates a board of visitors and 

 requires the superintendent to be a line 

 officer of the navy. So far from being 

 a reform, this is distinctly a backward 

 step. The board of visitors which has 

 been created has no power, and with 

 this board, the naval officer, who is su- 

 perintendent, and the astronomical di- 

 rector, the Observatory has no real 

 head. This amendment was rejected by 

 the House of Representatives, but, after 

 strenuous resistance by the House con- 

 ferees, was finally passed, with a proviso 

 that the present state of affairs should 

 continue only 'until further legislation 

 by Congress.' It is to be hoped that 

 this legislation will not be long delayed 

 and that the bill introduced by Senator 

 Morgan will be passed at the next ses- 

 sion of Congress. In the meanwhile the 

 unfortunate state of affairs at the Ob- 

 servatory is emphasized by the fact that 

 the superintendent has placed the as- 

 tronomical director under arrest for 

 trial by court martial, owing, it is al- 

 leged, to his having used influence 

 against the superintendent. 



A new star has appeared in the 

 constellation Perseus. It is the most 

 striking object of its class which has been 



seen for three centuries. Its position is, 

 R. A. 3h. 24m. 24s., Dec. North, 43° 33 r 

 42", which is near that of the famous 

 bright variable star, Persei (Algol). 

 This Nova was discovered and an- 

 nounced by Anderson, of Edinburgh, 

 and when found by him on the night of 

 February 21 was of about the third 

 magnitude. By the following night it 

 had risen to the first magnitude and was 

 one of the brightest stars in the evening 

 sky. Such an object, in an especially well- 

 observed region of the sky, could not 

 easily escape notice, and it was independ- 

 ently discovered by probably a dozen 

 observers in different countries. At the 

 Harvard Observatory a careful record is 

 kept of the sky from week to week by 

 means of photographs, which are taken 

 at frequent intervals. Some of these 

 photographs are made with lenses of 

 such short focal length and wide field 

 that the w T hole sky would be covered 

 by about fifty plates. The announce- 

 ment of the Nora was received there 

 February 22. The latest photographs 

 of the region of Perseus had been made 

 on the night of February 19. One of 

 these showed stars as faint as the 

 eleventh magnitude, but the Nova did 

 not appear upon it. On February 19, 

 therefore, it was fainter, at least, than 

 the eleventh magnitude. On February 

 21 its magnitude was 2.7, but by Feb- 

 ruary 25 it had fallen to 1.1. At the 

 present time (March 9) it is of about 

 the fourth magnitude and may be ex- 

 pected to disappear from view by the 

 naked eye within a few days. The as- 

 tronomical world is to-day so well 

 equipped for research in the line of spec- 

 trum analysis and the present object is 

 so suitable for such investigation that 

 we may expect a more satisfactory study 

 of this new star than has ever before 

 been obtained of any similar object. There 

 will doubtless be abundant materials for 

 learning the smallest changes during a 

 portion of the life history of this star; 

 but, for the period of the increase of 

 light, from the instant it became visible 

 till it reached its maximum, the obser- 

 vations may prove to be few. On this 

 account it is fortunate that at the Har- 



