THE HEAVENS IN APRIL 



329 



fortunately no part of this eclipse will 

 be visible to observers within the bor- 

 ders of the United States. It can only 

 be seen by those who are within the 

 shaded area indicated in Figure 2 ; to 

 observers along" the line AR, the eclipse 

 will end as the sun is rising; to those 

 along the line AS, the beginning" will 

 occur at sunrise, while those to the 

 east of this line and within the area 

 SAC will see the round moon gradually 

 pass over the upper part of the sun's 

 disc and partially hide our sun from 

 view. The entire eclipse will last three 

 hours and eighteen minutes. 



THE NATURE OF THE NEBULAS. 



One of the most interesting" investi- 

 gations into the nature of the universe 

 about us. and at the same time one of 

 the most difficult, is that which has to 

 do with the real nature of the main- 

 thousands of nebulas in the sky. The 

 light from the greenish nebulas shows 

 lis clearly that these are true masses of 

 glowing gas, but with the thousands 

 of white nebulas the case is far other- 

 wise. "When the spectrum of one of 

 these objects is examined, it is seen to 

 be perfectly continuous, without either 

 bright or dark lines crossing" it, a fact 

 which, so far as our knowledge goes, 

 indicates either that these great clouds 

 are solid or liquid masses or else that 

 they are composed of gases under a 

 great pressure. Either assumption 

 seems equally impossible, and hence 

 some astronomers are returning to the 

 •old belief that these nebulas are true 

 universes of stars at inconceivably 

 great distances from our own. 



It may be remembered that an ex- 

 ceedingly faint and remarkable nebu- 

 lous cloud extended throughout the 

 little group of stars known as the Plei- 

 ades, and very recent and most difficult 

 observations upon the spectrum of this 

 -cloud indicate that its spectrum is also 

 a continuous one and identical with 

 that of the stars of the Pleiades them- 

 selves. From this it is inferred that 

 the nebula is made up of dark and 

 opaque particles and that we see it 

 faintly shining" merely because it is il- 

 luminated by the stars with which it is 

 -associated. And it is suggested that a 

 great part of the material in the white 

 nebulas may also only shine by the 

 light poured out from the bright cen- 

 tral condensation. 



What view of the structure of the 

 white nebulas is the true one we do 

 not yet know. It is hoped that with the 

 remarkably sensitive instruments that 



Figure 3. The nebulosity in the Pleiades. Recent 

 observations indicate that this is opaque matter shin- 

 ing by reflected light. 



have in recent years become available 

 for their stud}-, we may soon be led to 

 a fuller knowledge of these remarkable 

 and interesting objects. 



Eric DoolittlE. 



The Agassiz Association. 



Report of the Glen Ridge (New Jersey) 



Chapter. 



BY ^IKS. FRANK M. TAEBOT, PRESIDENT. 



The Glen Ridge Chapter of The 

 Agassiz Association is building or 

 having built bird feeders and bird hous- 

 es for our parks and yards. YVe have 

 studied the evergreens best grown in 

 New Jersey; are to study the hum- 

 ming" bird and tropical birds at our 

 next meeting, and discuss what our 

 Governor is doing to protect and in- 

 crease our native birds. 



We had one meeting" on the mush- 

 room, with a talk on the subject by an 

 able and successful mushroom grower. 

 "We are to study the toad, the ostrich, 

 the bee. One meeting will consider our 

 native ferns and orchids. 



Men of sixty or seventy who proclaim 

 that they feel just as young as ever they 

 did are mostly liars. I think. — Bradford 

 Torrcy in "Field-Days in California." 



