Kii(iu;;siA.\ x.\ii\i". i'.)isoxs. 3M 



me, 1)1- rather would not tell me, much about the action of these 

 antidotes, neither could they imi)art much information as to how 

 thev discovered them. I think many of their discoveries in the 

 realm of tt)xicolo<^y have been })urely accidental, and 1 presume 

 that the same aj^plies to antidotes also. A hi,<^hy (|ualihed medi- 

 cal i>ractitioner is re(|uired to take np this branch of inquiry, and 

 do it thoroughly; one with jilenty of time and means at his dis- 

 posal. Much of value would be learnt, not only to the profession 

 ■but to the ])ublic t^^enerally. 



Variability of Uranus. — A series of i)hotometric 

 observations umlertaken by Mr. L. Campbell with reference to 

 the light of the planet Uranus is recorded in Harvard Collcyc 

 Observatory Circular. No. 200 (1917). The measurements 

 showed that the light of the i)lanet varies by about . 15 magnitude 

 in a period of .451 of a da\ . This period agrees witli the period 

 found for the rotation of Uranus by the late Prof. Lowell and Dr. 

 Slipher by means of the si)ectroscope, so that the two periods 

 were arrived at entirely indej:)endently. The conclusion is, there- 

 fore, that the variation in light is due to unequal brightness of 

 different jwrtions of the planet, and further photometric measure- 

 ments will ])e able to show whether the variations in brightness 

 are permanent. 



A Red Aurora. — The Journal of the Ixoyal Astrouo- 

 mical Society of Canada^ has a description of a brilliant red 

 aurora seen in British Columbia on the morning of the 4th 

 Januar}-. It was first noticed at 4.43 a.m., and at 6 a.m. the sky 

 was .still covered by the aurora, but over half of it was a brilliant 

 red. The corona towards the east and south-east was red for 

 about a third of the way down to the horizon, but towards the 

 south, south-west, west, and north-west it was red all the way 

 down, giving the snow and everything else the appearance of 

 being red. That ])art of the atu'ora which was not red was 

 tinged with colour, the waves of red, white, and mixed colours 

 sweeping across the sky. and circling round in a most wonderful 

 manner, and with a most beautiful eff'ect. In the United King- 

 dom the aurora was seen on the evening of lanuary 4, at widely 

 distant stations.! The Rev. W. F. A. Ellison. F.R.A.S.. who 

 observed it near Waterford, described it as a particularly magnifi- 

 cent display. From Edinburgh it was also observed as a fine 

 exhibition, extending along a considerable range of the northern 

 horizon, and at Bristol it was conspicuous in spite of the unusual 

 brilliancy of the almost full moon. At Radcliffe (3bservatorv, 

 Oxford, a very fine display was noted at 10.15 P-m-, simulta- 

 neously with the a})pearance of a brilliant fireball, which ran 

 rapidly downwards from the direction of the moon, and burst, 

 with a blue colour, about 12 degrees below Jupiter, and emitted 

 a light distinctly more intense than that of the moon. 



"11 (1017) 1.3) 124. -i-.V «/»/«', 98 (1017) :507. 



