82 



NATURE 



[November i6, 191 i 



the nucleus aro \ 555, 514, and 472. The fourth band 

 is made up of the lines a. 440, 434, and 432, and the 

 wave-length of the fifth is a 423. The sixtli band he 

 finds to bo composed of the lines A 410, 407, 405, 404, 

 and 402, while 388 he gives as the wave-length of the 

 seventh band. By using a prismatic camera, the 

 spectrum of the comet's tail has also been secured, 

 but because of its faintness only monochromatic 

 images of the tail in the three visible bands were 



Fig. I. — Brooks's Comet as photographed on September 28 at the 

 Madrid Observatory with an exposure of i^ hours. 



recorded. The whole length of the spectrum indicates 

 the presence of a faint continuous spectrum. This 

 spectrum was secured on the night of September 26 

 with an exposure of two hours (gh. to iih. G.M.T.). 

 I5esides a paper print of this spectrum, a drawing with 

 a scale of wave-lengths also accompanies the com- 

 munication. This drawing is reproduced here 

 (Fig. 2), but the violet has been placed on the left- 

 hand side to conform with the general adopted pro- 

 cedure. 



rhe chief carbon bands being strongly developed, it is, 

 very probable that the Madrid spectrum r<|Hi ,.iits 

 bands and lines of the same substances. No (! 

 the near future spectrum observations, both 

 graphic and visual, made at other institutions, 

 he soon forthcoming, so it will be interesting to 

 if the same explanation of the origin of the band- 

 corroborated. W. J. S. Lockyhi 



CONFERENCE ON THE THEOU , <n 

 RADIATION. 



AVERY successful meeting was held in Brus- 

 from October 29 to November 4, to discuss • 

 present [xjsition of the theories of radiation and 

 molecular theory in general. The following* were j 

 sent at the meeting : — Profs. H. A. Lorenlz, Kan 

 lingh Onnes, W. Nernst, M. Planck, Rubens, S' 

 nierfeld, W. Wien, Warburg, Brillouin, Mme. Cu: 

 Langevin, Perrin, Poincar^, Einstein, Hasenoi 

 Martin Knusden, J. H. Jeans, and Rutherford, wl 

 Dr. Goldschmidt, of Brussels, Dr. de Broglie, 

 Paris, and Dr. Lindemann, of Berlin, acted as sei 

 taries. 



The inception of this "conseil scientifique " was 1 

 to Mr. Ernest Solvay, of Brussels, who very generoi 

 offered to defray the expenses of the conference . 

 the cost of publication of the papers and discussi' 

 contributed at the meeting. The members were i... 

 guests of Mr. Solvay at the Hotel Metropole, and with 

 the exception of one meeting at the Physiological In- 

 stitute, founded by Mr. Solvay, the meetings t( 

 place in one of the reception-rooms of the hotel. '1 

 arrangements of the meeting were under the charge 

 of Dr. Goldschmidt, who was indefatigable in looking 

 after the comfort pf the visitors. Prof. H. A. Lorentz 

 was president of the "conseil scientifique," and the suc- 

 cess of the meeting was due in large measure to his 

 able management. 



The following papers were read before the con- 

 gress : — Sur I'application au rayonnement du 

 th^or^me de I'^quipartition de 1 'Anergic, by Prof. H. 

 Lorentz; a short communication in the form o: 

 letter from Lord Rayleigh ; the kinetic theory- 

 specific heats, by Prof. J. H. Jeans; die Gesetze 

 Wiirmestrahlung und die Hj^iothese der elenT"-" 

 Wirkungsquanten, by Prof. Max Planck; die 

 ung des Wirkungsquantums fur unperiodischc ... 

 kularprozesse in der Physik, by Prof. Sommerfi 

 zum gegenwartigen Stande des Problems der sp 

 fischen Warme, by Prof. Einstein; Anwendung ; 



40 



45 



50 



55 



X 



n 



a ■ I 



40 45 50 • 



Fig. 2. — Spectrum of Brooks's Comet drawn from a photograph taken at the Madrid Observatory. 



55. 



The writer has made a comparison of this spectrum 

 with that which was taken of comet 1907^ (Daniel) 

 by Prof. Campbell. While the latter spectrum is on 

 a very much larger scale and rich in detail, it is seen 

 nevertheless that both are very closely identical when 

 allowance is made for the smaller scale. As Daniel's 

 comet was stated by Campbell to show no radiations 

 other than those due to carbon or carbon compounds, 



NO. 2194, VOL. 88] 



Quantentheorie auf eine Reihe physikalisch-chem* 

 ische Probleme, by Prof. Nernst; les preuves de la 

 R^alit^ Moleculaire, by Prof. Perrin ; die kinetische 

 Theorie der ideale Gase und die Versuchsresultate, bv 

 Prof. Knusden. 



A vigorous discussion took place on each of tht- 

 papers, an abstract of which will ultimately be pub- 

 lished. Special interest was taken in the papers deal- 



