2S6 



NA TURE 



[January 13, 1898 



action of side gusts of wind is considerably diminished. We 

 observe that the wing surfaces are fixed above the opeiator's 

 head, an arrangement quite the reverse of that adopted by Mr. 

 Pilcher, Nevertheless both Mr. Chanute and Mr. Herring 

 have made numerous glides with perfect safety, and the latter 

 has achieved considerable success in "quartering," i.e. ad- 

 vancing at an angle with the wind along the side of a hill up 

 which a current of wind is blowing By this means Mr. 

 Herring has succeeded in making a glide of 927 feet, the time 

 occupied being about forty-eight seconds. 



The Bulletin of the Italian Geographical Society publishes a 

 note announcing the successful starting from Tabriz of a small 

 scientific expedition to Lake Urmia, under the direction of Prof. 

 Paladini of Milan. It is intended to make a survey of the lake 

 and the region immediately surrounding it. 



Applying the principles laid down by Penck, in his " Mor- 

 phologic," to the excellent and abundant data published by 

 Forel, Dr. Wilhelm Halbfass has worked out in detail the 

 morphometry of the Lake of Geneva : the results are to be 

 found in the Zeitschrift der Gesellschajt fiir Erdkunde zu Berlin 

 (vol. xxxii. No. 4). 



The greater part of Nos. 9 and 10 of the present volume of 

 the Mittheilungen of the Vienna Geographical Society is devoted 

 to a learned paper, by Herr Fritz Pichler, on the Noreia of 

 Polybius and of Castorius. Herr Pichler concludes that the 

 town called Noreia by Castorius, near Neumarkt in Upper 

 Styria, is an unimportant station, of which there is no trace 

 previous to 365 a.d. The real Noreia of Polybius is the same 

 as Virunum, near Klagenfurt, Noreia being the older name, 

 traceable from B.C. 113 for centuries backwards. 



Messrs. Swan Sonnenschein and Co. announce ihat they 

 will shortly publish a work, entitled " The Wonderful Century : 

 its Successes and its Failures," by Dr. Alfred R. Wallace, 

 F. R. S. The object of the volume is to give a short descriptive 

 sketch of all the more important mechanical inventions and 

 scientific discoveries which are distinctive of the nineteenth 

 century, and especially to enable those, who have lived only in 

 the latter half of it, to realise its full significance in the history 

 of human progress. The author maintains that our century is 

 altogether unique ; that it differs from the eighteenth or seven- 

 teenth centuries, not merely as those differed from the centuries 

 which immediately preceded them, but that it has initiated a 

 new era, and that it may be more properly compared with the 

 whole preceding historical period. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Rhesus Monkey {Macacus rhesus) from 

 India, presented by Miss Vine ; an Egyptian Jerboa {Dipus 

 cvgyptius) from North Africa, presented by Mr. H. W. Wibrow ; 

 an Indian Python [^Python mohirus) from India, presented by 

 Mr. F. J. Allpress ; three Common Squirrels {Sciurus vulgaris), 

 British ; two Blue-faced Honey-eaters {Entomyza cyanotis) from 

 Australia, a Razorbill {Alca torda), two Common Widgeon 

 {Mareca penelope), twelve Common Teal ( Querquedula crecca), 

 European, purchased. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



Companions to Vega. — One of the proofs given as to the 

 light-gathering power of the new Yerkes telescope is that Prof. 

 Barnard has observed a new companion to Vega, which even 

 the Lick telescope had failed to make visible. Measures made 

 with a temporary micrometer gave its position angle 312° and 

 distance 53" with respect to Vega. It is said to be much fainter 

 than the small star discovered by Winnecke at Pulkova in 1864, 

 whose magnitude is I4'5. In the Astr. Journ. (No. 414) Prof. 



NO. 1472, VOL. 57] 



Barnard points out that the latter companion, with position 

 angle 288° '9 and distance 53", is the same as that discovered by 

 Mr. George Anderson, of the United States Naval Observatory, 

 in 1881, but with a slightly modified position. 



Harvard College Report.— In the fifty-second "Annual 

 Report of the Astronomical Observatory of Harvard College," 

 Prof. Pickering gives an interesting account of the work done. 

 As regards buildings his report is similar to that from many 

 other observatories, in that they are old and far behind ob- 

 servatories not only of the first rank, but even of the second 

 class. On the other hand, however, very few can say with 

 him " that their strongest feature is the large endowment for 

 current expenses, which enables the large staff of forty assistants 

 to be employed." The excellent work done at Arequipa is 

 described in another part of Nature (p. 249), so we will con- 

 tent ourselves with a brief summary of the work done in other 

 sections of the observatory. 



As before, Mr. O. C. Wendell has been engaged in the ob- 

 servations of variable stars, and the number of measures made 

 is almost astounding, e.g. 103 1 comparisons of Ceti, 3296 of 

 U Cephei, &c. Another series of interesting photometric com- 

 parisons are those made by Mr. E. R. Cram, on /3 Lyrss, the 

 total number of measures being 2304 



With the "Meridian Photometer" the total number of photo- 

 metric settings has surpassed all previous records, numbering 

 100,052, and observations of all the stars of magnitude 7 '5 

 and brighter, and north of - 40^", are now nearly completed. 

 Besides star work, measures were made of Uranus, Neptune, 

 and nearly 500 each of Ceres, Juno, and Vesta. 



The work in connection with the Draper Memorial has also 

 been remarkable, and the hydrogen lines have been shown to 

 be bright in the spectra of many known variables, U Cassiopeite, 

 R Piscium, R Canis Minoris, and many others ; also new vari- 

 able stars have been detected by means of bright hydrogen 

 lines in their spectra. The Report shows that excellent results 

 have been attained ; and such, we know, is the case from notes 

 of discoveries made at the observatory, announcements of which 

 have appeared from time to time in these columns. 



Arthur Kammermann. — We regret to record the death of 

 Arthur Kammermann, astronomer at the Geneva Observatory 

 {Astr. Nach., No. 3469). 



Born at Bienne in 1861, he received his higher education at 

 the Zurich Polytechnic, leaving there in 1881 with the diploma 

 of " Fachlehrer." At Zurich he was initiated into astronomical 

 work by M. R. Wolf, who strongly recommended him to 

 Plantamour, at Geneva Observatory, where he became attached 

 as assistant. 



After the retirement of Dr. W. Meyer in 1883, he had the 

 Plantamour equatorial under his charge, and undertook astro- 

 nomical photography with it ; with this instrument he worked 

 until his death, and many of his observations have been 

 published in the Astr. Nach. He was largely occupied with 

 meteorological matters ; and in the chronometric work of the 

 observatory he rendered great services which benefited the 

 watchmaking industry, so important to Geneva. 



Minor Planets in 1897. — The total number of minor 

 planets discovered in 1897 was only eight, which is consider- 

 ably below the average of recent years ; so that perhaps in time 

 we shall be able to obtain a complete list of them. The latest 

 discoveries were those of Charlois at Nice : DL on November 

 23, DM, DN, DO on December 18. 



We have received from Mr. Arthur Mee a copy of his 

 " Amateur Observer's Card Almanac." The calendar brings 

 together in a handy form the principal phenomena for each day 

 in the year, and it will be found useful to hang upon the walls 

 of the observatory for reference. 



Prof. G. M. Searle, professor of mathematics and astronomy 

 in the Catholic University of America, has been appointed by 

 the Pope to succeed the late Father Denza as director of the 

 Vatican Observatory. 



Science states that money has been granted by the Trustees of 

 Amherst College for the purchase of a new telescope to replace 

 the old instrument in use at present, and the bequest of 18,000 

 dollars for the purchase of a site for a new observatory will be 

 expended as soon as the various plans for a new position have 

 been carefully considered. 



