578 



NATURE 



{Oct. lo, 1889 



pages, with plates, an account of experiments made by him 

 under the auspices of the Municipal Council of Paris, on the 

 currents of the North Atlantic. The work deals more parti- 

 cularly with the Gulf Stream, and with the details of the experi- 

 ments made on board the Hirondelle with the assistance of the 

 Prince of Monaco, but also takes into consideration the results 

 of investigators from the earliest times. The experiments refute 

 the idea that the French coast is warmed by the Gulf Stream ; 

 M. Pouchet states that they show clearly that, at least in 

 summer, no surface- current reaches France from the south-west, 

 but that, on the contrary, there is a current from the west and 

 north-west. 



The following details about the Tomsk University have been 

 published. The buildings constitute the finest edifice in the 

 town, and are situated in the. middle of a magnificent park. 

 When the staff is complete there will be twenty-five Chairs — 

 thirteen ordinary, eleven extraordinary, and one for orthodox 

 theology. There will also be librarians, teachers of music, and 

 surgeons and assistant-surgeons. There are already seventy-two 

 students, who pay about 12 or 13 roubles a month for lodging, 

 books, and attendance, and it is expected that this number will 

 be largely increased before the end of the year. 



The Pilot Chart of the North Atlantic Ocean for the month 

 of September shows that the most important storm during the 

 month of August was one first reported about San Domingo on 

 the 19th, whence it moved north-westward over the Bahamas 

 and afterwards recurved and followed the course of the Gulf 

 Stream. During the first half of the month the pressure along 

 the Atlantic States was persistently high, and the tracks of all 

 storms from the continent lay well to the northward of this 

 area of high barometer, moving mostly beyond the region of 

 observation. No storm can be traced all the way from the 

 American continent to the British Isles, although several 

 originated in mid-ocean and moved in an east-north- east 

 direction. A severe tornado was reported ofTCienfuegos, Cuba, 

 on August 4. Ice was reported in great quantities about the 

 Straits of Belle Isle, but very little off the Grand Banks. 



Meteorological science will be much enriched by the 

 recent contributions of the Danish observers in Greenland during 

 1882-83 ("Expedition Danoise," vol. ii., part 2, Copenhagen, 

 1889). The principal station was at Godthaab, on the west 

 coast of Greenland, in latitude about 64°, where the observa- 

 tions were made under the direction of M. Adam Paulsen. A 

 large series of observations of temperature was made and the 

 results are given in tables, as well as represented by curves. 

 The temperature was taken every hour during twelve months, 

 and the mean temperatures at each hour for each month are given 

 in the tables. As might be expected, the greatest variation occurs 

 in August — namely, from + 3° '5 C. at 3 a.m. to -f 7°'2 at 2 p.m. 

 The minimum variation is in February, from - 15° "4 to - I5°'7' 

 During the summer months the maximum occurs about I p.m., 

 and in winter about 2 p.m. Similar results are recorded for the 

 stations at Reykjavik, in lat. 64° and Stykkisholm, in lat. 65°. 

 The maximum monthly mean temperature occurs in July, and the 

 minimum in February. Observations were also made of the 

 direction, force, and velocity of the wind, forua and direction of 

 clouds, temperature of the soil, &c., full details of which are 

 given in the report. An appendix contains the results of various 

 meteorological observations in the Kara Sea in 1882-83, and at 

 Nanortalik and D'Angmagsalik. Observations of aurora; at the 

 two latter stations and at Godthaab also form part of the 

 appendix. It is greatly to be regretted that the spectroscope 

 was not employed in the auroral observations. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Mealy Amazon {Chrysotis farinosa) from 

 South America, presented by the Hon. and Rev. F. G. Dutton ; 

 two Cape Crowned Cranes {Balcarica chrysopelargiis) from 



South Africa, presented by the Hon. Mrs. Barker ; severt 

 Common Slowworms {Anguis fragilis), British, presented by 

 Miss Alice Leonora Selly; a Common Chameleon (Chamaleoit 

 vulgaris) from North Africa, presented by Mr. J. Watkins ; a 

 Long-nosed CxocoAWt {Crocodiluscalaphrac(us) from West Africa, 

 presented by Mr. John R. Holmes ; a Royal Python {Pythoie 

 regius) from West Africa, deposited ; four Common Rheas- 

 {Khca americand) from Holland, purchased. 



ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA FOR THE 

 WEEK 1889 OCTOBER 13-19. 



/"pOR the reckoning of time the civil day, commencing at 

 ^ Greenwich mean midnight, counting the hours on to 24, 



is here employed.) 



At Greenwich on October 13 

 Sun rises, 6h. 23m. ; souths, iih. 46m. Ii'5s. ; daily decrease of 



southing, i4'os. ; sets, I7h. lom. : right asc. on meridian, 



I3h. 15 'im. ; decl. 7° 57' S. Sidereal Time at Sunset, 



i8h. 40m. 

 Moon (at Last Quarter October 17, ih.) rises, igh. 7m.*; 



souths, 2h. 57m.; sets, iih. cm. : right asc. on meridian, 



4h. 24 •4m. ; decl. 19° ll' N. 



Right asc. and dedication 

 Planet. Rises. Souths. Sets. on meridian. 



b. m. h. m. h. m. h. m. ^ , 



Mercury.. 7 2 ... 12 4 ... 17 6 ... 13 328 ... 12 4 S. 



Venus 3 25 ... 9 56 ... 16 27 ... II 24*3 ... 5 19 N. 



Mars 2 45 ... 9 29 ... 16 13 ... 10 57-6 ... 8 5 N. 



Jupiter.... 12 47 ... 16 39 ... 20 31 ... 18 9'o ... 23 30 S. 

 Saturn.... i 36 ... 8 44 ... 15 52 ... 10 126 ... 12 27 N. 

 Uranus... 6 32 ... II 54 ... 17 16 ... 13 231 ... 8 8 S. 

 Neptune.. 18 54*... 2 43 .. 10 32 .. 4 10-3 ... 19 21 N. 

 * Indicates that the rising is that of the preceding evening. 



Oct. h. 



16 ... o ... Mercury in inferior conjunction with the Sun. 



16 ... 13 ... Venus at least distance from the Sun. 



Variable Stars. 

 Star. R.A. Decl. 



h. m. o , h. m. 



U Cephei o 52*5 ... 81 17 N. ... Oct. 15, 2 45 »» 



\ Tauri 3 545 ... 12 11 N , 16, 21 36 m 



CGeminorum ... 6 57*5 ... 20 44 N. ... ,, 13,23 oM 



„ 19, 2 o m 



U Coronae 15 137 ... 32 3 N. ... „ 17, 23 5 »» 



/3 Lyrse 18 46-0 ... 33 14 N , 16, 22 30 Af 



U Aquilae 19 23*4... 7 16 S , 19, ig o M 



Tj Aquilae 19468... o 43 N. ... „ 13,22 oM 



T Vulpeculse ... 20 46*8 ... 27 1 N. ... „ 19, 19 o i^ 



5 Cephei 22 25-1 ... 57 51 N. ... ,, 16, 21 o m 



S Aquarii 22 51-2 ... 20 56 S. ... ,, 14, M 



M signifies maximum : in minimum. 



Meteor-Showers. 



Near 7 Andromedse 



„ ICeti 



,, V Arietis 

 ,, K Cephei 



R.A. Decl. 



26 ... 43 N. ... Slow; faint. 



31 ... 9 N. ... Slow ; trained, 



41 ... 20 N. ... Swift. 



307 ... 77 N. ... Slow; faint. 



THE LIFE-WORK OF A CHEMIST^ 



TN asking myself what subject I could bring before you on the 

 -*■ present occasion, I thought I could not do better than point 

 out by one example what a chemist may do for mankind. And 

 in choosing this theme for my discourse I found myself in no 

 want of material, for amongbt the various aspects of scientific 

 activity there is surely none which, whether in its most recondite 

 forms or in those most easily understood, have done more to 

 benefit humanity than those which have their origin in my own 

 special study of chemistry. I desired to show what one chenaist 

 may accomplish, a man devoted heart and soul to the investigation 

 of Nature, a type of the ideal man of science— whose example 



'An Address delivered to the members of the Birmingham and Midland 

 Institute, m the Town Hall, Birmingham, on October 7, 1889, by Sir Henry 

 E. Roscoe, M.P., D.C.L., LL.D., F.R.S., President. 



