400 



NA TURE 



[February 24, 1898 



at rather more than one million kilometres, 2 "67 times the 

 distance of the moon, and this gives the sidereal period 

 II9"207434 days. The mean daily motion is given to the ninth 

 decimal of a degree. We cannot say here what is sometimes 

 said of a long row of decimals : the more figures one gives, 

 the greater the chance for some of them being correct. The 

 anomalistic period, too, is given with sufficient accuracy ; so 

 is the excentricity and the longitude of the node ; everything, 

 in fact, to enable an astronomer to compute the position of our 

 new satellite. It is, of course, quite possible that Dr. Walte- 

 math fully believes in the existence of this object. In that case 

 we should say, he is the only person who does ; for when we 

 ask on what kind of observation does this very accurate orbit 

 rest, we find that the author has employed that large collection 

 either in which persons have believed that they have seen objects 

 of doubted value transiting the sun, whether bright or dark. 

 He seems to have trusted to those wild and reckless assertions 

 that are made from time to time about " ruddy fireballs " or 

 "night suns," or other vague descriptions, and on such loose 

 and inaccurate data he has unfolded his strange and wondrous 

 tale. This hypothetical satellite ought to have been seen tran- 

 siting the sun on February 3, and, if we have correctly appre- 

 hended the author, may even yet be seen on July 30. 



OccuLTATiON OF Ceres. — The extremely rare phenomenon 

 of the occultation of Ceres, on November 13 last, has been 

 observed by M, Schorr, of Hamburg, and M. Harzer, of Kiel. 

 A note in the Bulletin de la Sociili Astrononiiqtie for February 

 states that only the reappearance was possible to be observed, 

 and it was noted that the increase of light during one or two 

 seconds was gradual, and not sudden as in the case of a star. 



A Remarkable Object. — In Circular No. 46 from the 

 Wolsingham Observatory, dated February 16, the Rev. T. E. 

 Espin states that "a remarkable object hitherto unrecorded was 

 discovered on January 16, and seen on three other nights. It 

 is elliptical, one degree long, major axis 336°, and rather 

 resembles some obscuring medium than a nebula, and is, I 

 believe, unique." This object is situated on the northern 

 border of Perseus adjoining the constellation of Auriga, its 

 position being : 



R.A. 4h. 26m. OS., Decl. ■>r 50° 44' (1855). 



Variables in Star Clusters. — Prof. Pickering, in Cir- 

 cular No. 24 from the Harvard College Observatory, states that 

 "since the announcement made in Circular Nos. 2 and 18, of 

 variables discovered in clusters, a further examination of the 

 clusters w Centauri, Messier 3, Messier 5, andN.G.C. 7078 has 

 been made by Prof. Bailey. As a result, the numbers of 

 known variables in these clusters have been increased by 62, 

 19, 22 and 24, respectively, making the total numbers 122, 

 132, 85 and 51, or 390 in all four clusters. Adding to these 

 the 47 already announced in other clusters, makes the total 

 number 437." 



In the Bulletin de la Societi Astronomique, M. A. Chevre- 

 mont announces the discovery of a variable star upon the 

 eastern margin of the globular cluster in Aquarius (M. 2). 

 Whilst the stars of the cluster are of about the 15th magnitude, 

 this new variable rises to mag. 12, at maximum, and is 

 probably distinct from the cluster itself. It has a period of 

 about thirty days, gradually decreasing from maximum to its 

 minimum of mag. 14, in about fifteen days; the actual form of 

 the light-curve is, however, only vaguely known, other observ- 

 ations being required to replace the hiatus of its ascent. 



A Large Reflecting Telescope. — We learn from Popular 

 Science News that another great telescope is approaching com- 

 pletion. In 1895 ^^ Rsv- John Peate commenced at Green- 

 vill, Pennsylvania, the construction of a mammoth glass specu- 

 lum for a reflecting telescope designed for the American Uni- 

 versity, Washington. After two years of arduous toil, Dr. Peate 

 has given the great mirror its final touches — that is, in grinding 

 and polishing — and it is now ready for silvering and for the 

 further and important stage of mounting. This large disc of 

 glass is more than 61 inches in diameter. 



Parallaxes of Stars. — From observations made at the 

 Cape Observatory, Dr. Gill concludes that the parallax of 

 a Centauri certainly lies between the limits o"74 and o"75. This 

 is equivalent to a distance of 275,000 times the radius of the 

 earth's orbit. In the same journal {Bulletin de la Sociite 

 Astrono?nique), we are informed that Dr. Gill comes to the 



NO. 1478, VOL. 57] 



conclusion that the parallax of Rigel is not greater than o"oi, 

 hence the distance of this star is certainly more than 20 

 million times the distance of the sun ; it has, therefore, a " light 

 journey " of 320 years. 



The same author, in the Monthly Notices for January, gives, 

 from his most recent researches, the parallax of a Gruis as 

 o"'Oi5 + o"'oo7. 



From measures of the mean parallaxes of the stars /8, 7, 5, « 

 and f in Ursa Major, M. Hoffler has obtained the small value 

 of o"'oi65 + o""Oii. This number indicates that the system 

 formed by these stars is separated from the earth by such a 

 distance that it would take 200 years for the light to reach us. 

 The distance of /3 and C is at least 4 million times greater 

 than that which separates the earth from the sun. From the 

 calculations made by this astronomer, e Ursse Majoris would be 

 a star forty times brighter than Sirius, which, at the present 

 distances of the stars, is considered the most brilliant in the sky. 



FURTHER EXPLORATIONS IN AMERICAN 

 MOUNDSy 



'T'HE greater part of this volume is occupied by Mr. Moore's 

 *■ account of his systematic exploration of the mounds on the 

 Georgia coast, the Marquis de Nadaillac's short paper being, 

 added to draw attention to the parallelism between burial customs 

 on both sides of the Atlantic. Mr. Moore's contribution is a 

 worthy continuation of his previous work, and the classified re- 

 sults of his numerous excavations, accompanied by excellent 

 diagrams and illustrative plates, form a welcome addition to the 

 material already existing for purposes of comparative study. 

 Americans have every reason to be satisfied with the manner in 

 which the archaeological investigation of their country is being 

 carried out : such researches as these of Mr. Moore in Georgia^ 

 and those of Mr. Cushing among the Keys of Florida, reflect the 

 greatest credit upon all who have contributed to bring them to 

 a successful issue. 



The general results of these explorations tend to confirm in a 

 striking degree the conclusion that men in similar states of 

 primitive culture hold similar views upon all the fundamental 

 questions of life and death. Such resemblances are not merely 

 confined to generalities ; they may be observed in the most 

 minute matters of detail. Thus not only does the puzzling co- 

 existence of inhumation and incineration recur as frequently in 

 American as in European barrows, but many peculiarities of in- 

 terment, noticed by Canon Green well and others, are repeated in 

 a very remarkable manner in these Georgian mounds. Amongst 

 these peculiarities may be instanced the preference shown for 

 the southern and eastern sides of mounds ; the laying of un- 

 burned skeletons upon one side and in a contracted position ; 

 the presence of charcoal, and pigments like powdered haematite ; 

 the deposit of potsherds belonging to different broken vessels, 

 and the protection of bodies by coverings of wood. But in 

 spite of these numerous coincidences we are as far off as 

 ever from discovering the psychological laws which regulated 

 the disposal of the dead by primitive man. Mr. Moore found 

 bodies in all kinds of positions. They were " flexed " upon 

 one side, or extended at full length, sometimes in anatomical 

 order, sometimes showing signs of having been transferred to 

 the place of burial after the flesh had been removed by ex- 

 posure to the air ; bones of one or more skeletons were 

 "bunched" in heaps ; confused masses of bones belonging to 

 many different persons occurred together, some being calcined, 

 others not; there were "pockets" of cinerated remains; urn 

 burials, both cremated and uncremated ; and unburned bodies 

 placed upon the sites of fires. In a word, the apparent con- 

 fusion reaches an extreme degree, and almost the only regu- 

 larities of association which Mr. Moore ventures to point out 

 are the more frequent presence of implements and ornaments in 

 the neighbourhood of confused masses of bones, their com- 

 parative scarcity with flexed burials, and their complete 

 absence in the neighbourhood of extended skeletons, though 

 these last were generally at the base of the mound, and were often 

 placed in large artificial excavations. As to the general ques- 

 tion of the simultaneous occurrence of inhumation and crema- 

 tion, we must still, perhaps, fall back on the former hypothesis 



'^Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 2nd series, 

 vol. xi. Part i, Philadelphia, 1897. (i) " Certain Aboriginal Mounds of the 

 Georgia Coast," by Clarence B. Moore. (2) " Inhumation and Incineration 

 in Europe," by the Marquis de Nadaillac. 



