NoVKMCEk 24, 1910] 



NATURE 



119 



lunar features were readily distinguishable through the 

 deep copper-coloured shade. During totality the relative 

 brightness of the limb was also noticeable, a thin ring 

 appearing to encircle the darkened disc. The beauty of 

 the phenomenon was considerably increased by the appari- 

 tion of previously unseen stars, notably the Pleiades, 

 when the extreme brightness of the moon was reduced. 

 It is gratifying to notice that the new 8-inch equatorial 

 of the Birmingham University Observatory was employed 

 by Mr. F"ournier in taking some fifteen photographs of 

 the eclipsed moon during the various phases of the eclipse ; 

 exposures of from one to thirty seconds were given. 



Cerulli's Comet, 1910^. — Numerous observations of 

 the comet discovered by Dr. CeruUi on November 9 appear 

 in the supplement to No. 4454 of the AsXrononusche 

 S'achrichten. As seen by Prof. Hartwig at Bamberg on 

 November 1 1 the comet was of the tenth magnitude, 

 round, 2' diameter, and had a faint condensation. 



From observations made on November 9, 10, and 11, 

 Dr. Ebell has calculated a set of elements and an 

 ephemeris, and from the former it appears that perihelion 

 passage took place on September 15 ; at present the comet 

 is about 95 million miles from the earth, and is receding 

 at the rate of 720,000 miles daily. .Apparently it is travel- 

 ling nearly due south through the southern limits of 

 Taurus, as shown by the following extract from the 

 ephemeris : — 



Ephemeris 12/1. ^[.T. Berlin. 



a (true) S (truej I a (inie) S (true) 



1910 h. m o / ■ 19:0 h. ni. , J 



Nov. 23 ... 3 373 ... +5 37-4 I Dtc. I ... 3 369 ... +4 245 

 „ 27 ... 3 370 .. +4 580 ! „ 5 ... 3 369 ... +3 573 



Seleniu-m Photometry of Stars. — .\ paper of more than 

 usual interest, in which the author discusses at length 

 his measures of -Algol, made with his selenium photo- 

 meter, is contributed by Dr. Joel Stebbins to No. 3, 

 vol. xx.xii., of the Astrophysical Journal. The photometer 

 was attached to a 12-inch refractor, and was kept at a 

 uniform temperature of 0° C. or lower ; the galvanometer 

 current was kept working continuously, and &tween each 

 ten seconds' exposure to a star the cell was rested for 

 about a minute in order to recover ; a and 5 Persei were 

 used as comparisons. 



Under these necessary conditions very careful observa- 

 tions were made, and Dr. Stebbins considers that the 

 results show the method to be capable of greater accuracv 

 than is attained in visual observations. Among manv 

 interesting results accruing from the work, the following 

 call for special mention. The companion gives more light 

 than the sun, and is much brighter on the side turned 

 towards .Algol. .A secondary minimum, some thirty-five 

 hours after the principal minimum, was detected, the 

 variation being only o-o6 magnitude. The discussion 



ndicates thiit the radius of the companion is 1-14 that of 

 Algol, while the limiting densities are 0-12 and 0-18 of 

 the sun's density respectively. The total period comes out 

 as 68-8i6h., and the duration of the eclipse as 9-8h. The 

 f^reater luminosity of the one side of the companion, which 

 appears to rotate and revolve in the same time, mav be 

 accounted for by supposing that it is intensely heated by 

 radiations from the priman,- ; this is in general agree- 

 ment with Dr. Nordmann's suggestion that the tempera- 

 ture of .Algol, as measured by his method, is great enough 

 to raise the surface of the satellite to incandescence. 

 Taking the parallax of the system as 4-007'' and the 

 -^un's magnitude as -26-6. the total light of .Algol is 26: 

 :he total light of the faint hemisphere of companion is 

 1-7, and of the bright side 30 ; this would give stellar 

 magnitudes of 22, 52, and 4-6 respectivelv. But if 

 Kapteyn's adopted value for the parallax, 4-0029'', and 

 his magnitude of the sun, -26-1, be emploved. these 

 brightnesses become, respectively, 240, 16, and 28 times 

 ^hat of the sun. 



-Many other points, such as the densitv. magnitude, and 



>rm of the system of Algol, are also' discussed in Dr. 

 ^tebbins's paper. 



The Secclar .Acceleration- of the Moon's Mean- 

 Motion.— In No. 4454 of the Astronomische Nachrichten 

 Ur. Robert Bryant advances the tentative suggestion that 

 the secular acceleration of the moon's mean motion mav 

 NO. 2143, VOL. 85] 



be due to the accretion of " dust " from interplanetary 

 space by the moon and the earth. He finds that a deposit 

 of 2 mm. of " dust " per century on the lunar surface 

 would, if the density of the " dust " were equal to the 

 mean density of the moon, account for about 6* per 

 century in the moon's longitude ; a deposit on the earth 

 would also be reflected in the longitude of the satellite. 



It is also suggested that uniform distribution of the 

 " dust " is improbable, hence irregularities would accrue. 

 If the earth does collect sufficient '* dust " in this way, its 

 rotation period would be affected irregularly, and 

 astronomy of precision would obviously be confronted by 

 a serious difficulty. 



Photographic Magnitudes of Seventy-one Pleiades 

 Stars. — From the extra-focal images impressed upon thir- 

 teen plates taken early in March last, Herr .Adolf Hnatek 

 has determined the photographic magnitudes of seventy-one 

 stars in the Pleiades group, and now- publishes the results 

 in No. 4449 of the Astronomische S'achrichten. The 

 photographs were taken with the 14-inch photographic re- 

 fractor of the Vienna Observatory, 10 mm. inside the 

 focus, and the author publishes an interesting discussion 

 of the results and the method whereby they were derived ; 

 an especially interesting point discussed is the effect on 

 the apparent magnitude caused by the distance from the 

 centre of the plate. 



Elements and Numbers of Recently Discovered 

 Minor Planets. — ^Prof. Neugebauer publishes, in No. 

 4454 of the Astronomische Nachrichten the elements and 

 permanent numbers of eighteen minor planets discovered 

 during 1900; the last number allotted is 691, so that the 

 total number of discoveries must, by now, be well above 



A NEW THEORY OF THE D ESC EXT 

 OF MAN.' 



T^HE first of the memoirs referred to below relates to 

 -*■ the discovery of a new Palaeolithic skeleton, and 

 contains a careful report by Hauser on the excavation, 

 along w-ith a critical description of the skeleton and a 

 comparison of the same with other known types, more 

 especially with the Neanderthal man, from the pen of 

 Prof. Kiaatsch. 



The conclusion arrived at is that the Neanderthal man 

 and the .Aurignac man represent two entirely different 

 types of mankind. 



.According to Hauser 's report, the skeleton of the 

 .Aurignac man was found early in 1909, at the Palaeolithic 

 site of Combe-Capelle, not far from Montferrand (Peri- 

 gord), at a depth of 1-54 m. in a typical Aurignacian 

 stratum, as was clearly proved by the artefacts found 

 with the skeleton. The skeleton lay under a rock shelter, 

 and was almost complete, the only imf)erfections being 

 due to the displacement of certain parts by overturned 

 masses of rock. .As to the position of the body, the knees 

 were strongly bent and drawn towards the head ; the feet 

 were also drawn together in a way which suggested a 

 squatting position. .After the whole skeleton had been 

 removed, it was evident that the ground had been artifici- 

 ally prepared for the burial of the dead. There were 

 found in the grave, typical .Aurignacian artefacts of beau- 

 tiful form, and perforated specimens of Nassa reticulata, 

 a small marine snail, these articles being evidently intended 

 for grave finery. The mode of burial showed the high 

 state of culture of the .Aurignac man. 



.A glance at diagrams of the Neanderthal and Aurignac 

 skulls is sufficient to show the smaller breadth and more 

 considerable height of the latter as compared with the 

 former. Kiaatsch directs attention to the stronger arch- 

 ing of the forehead of the Aurignac man, the greater 

 bregma angle and calottic height, both according to 

 Schwalbe's system as w-ell as his own ; the calottic height 

 measurement of the Neanderthal skull is 40-4, w-hile that 



_ ^_H. Klaatsrh und O. Hauser, " Homo aurienacnsu! Hanseri, ein ralaco- 

 lithi'Cher >;ke1ettfund aus dem unteren .Aurignacian der Station Clombe- 

 capelle bei Montferrand (Pcrigo'd)." Praehistorische Zcitschri/t, 1910, 

 Heft ^4, pp. 273-3-33, TafeJ xxv-xxxv und drei B^ilasen. (Berlin, 1910.) 

 H. Klaatich, '' Die Aurignac-Ras.se und ihre Stellung im Stammbaum 

 der Menschheit. " Zeitschrift fur F.thnologie, Jahrgang, loio, Heft 3-4, 

 PP- 5' 3-5771 Mit Tafel ii-iv und 46 Figuren im Text. (Berlin, 1910.) 



