4i8 



NATURE 



[January 26, 191 1 



A New Variable or Nova (134.1910 Piscium). — What 

 may prove to be another nova is also reported in No. 44(>5 

 of the Astronomische Nachrichten by Hcrr E. Ernst. The 

 discovery was made, whilst comparing some minor-planet 

 photographs of the region near 42 Piscium, on a plate 

 exposed on September 13, 1907, and the image appears to 

 be that of a tenth-magnitude star, in the position 

 o = oh. 27-3m'., 8= -1-9° 30' (1855-0). 



Eighteen other plates, taken during the period October, 

 1894, to October, 1910, fail to show any image in this 

 position, but one taken on the same evening shows the 

 image to be undoubtedly stellar. 



Mass-ratios of the Components of Kruger 60 and 

 Castor. — In No. 5, vol. xxxii., of the Astrophysical 

 Journal, Dr. H. N. Russell discusses the mass-ratios in 

 the multiple systems Kruger 60 and Castor. 



In the case of the former system. Prof. Barnard has 

 pointed out that the motion of the principal component 

 A is distinctly curved with respect to the distant optical 

 companion C, thus indicating that the faint component 

 B has a mass comparable with that of A ; from Prof. 

 Barnard's measures Dr. Russell has calculated the relative 

 masses. He finds that the mass of B is slightly greater 

 than that of A, although the magnitude of A is 9-7, whilst 

 that of B is ii-o; the ratio of the masses is 1-14 ±0-14. 



In the case of Castor, Dr. Russell finds that in all 

 probability the " dark " companions in each of the two 

 spectroscopic binaries are much less massive than their 

 primaries, the ratio being greater than for any other 

 system yet investigated. The mass of the whole system 

 •s 6-5 + I-0 that of the sun, whilst, if it is the same in 

 each pair, the mass-ratio (primary/secondary) is about 

 6-5 in each case ; the parallax of Castor is concluded to 

 be approximately o-oS" ±0-03". 



Double Stars. — Lick Observatory Bulletin No. 188 con- 

 tains a list of 100 new double stars discovered and 

 measured by Dr. R. G. Aitken with the 36-inch refractor. 

 This is the seventeenth list published by the same observer, 

 and includes Nos. 2201 to 2300 ; the sixteenth list appears 

 in No. 184 of the Bulletins. 



Dr. Aitken makes some interesting remarks concerning 

 the colours of the components in some 5000 close double- 

 star systems he has examined with the large telescope. 

 Generally, he finds th^t cases of striking contrast are 

 comparatively rare, and he suggests that this may be due 

 to the fact that the apparent brightness of even faint stars 

 iti the field of 36-inch telescopes is considerable, con- 

 sequently the subjective phenomena recently discussed by 

 Dr. Louis Bell are not so effective as in smaller instru- 

 ments. Even in the case of A 2250, where the colour of 

 the primary is a striking orange-red, the faint companion 

 can only be described as a dull greyish-white, not blue. 

 In most cases both components appear to be white, 

 although the fainter one is perhaps more bluish than the 

 primary. 



No. 4464 of the Astronomische Nachrichten contains a 

 long list of measures, made by Prof. Burnham with the 

 40-inch refractor at the Yerkes Observatory, of stars 

 selected from the General Catalogue for remeasurement 

 because some uncertainty or suspicion of change existed. 

 Appended to the measures are many interesting notes con- 

 cerning proper motions, existence of planetary and other 

 faint nebulse in the same region, or apparent discrepancies. 



The United States Naval Observatory. — The report 

 of the superintendent of the Washington Observatory for 

 the year ending June 30, 19 10, contains, in addition to 

 the usual articles, several notes of special interest. 



The observatory has decided to do what it can in the 

 observation of fundamental stars in connection with the 

 International Chart, but for the present cannot undertake 

 more than the observation of the historic fundamental 

 stars. A number of instruments no longer in actual use 

 have been collected into one of the domes as a museum. 



Observations of Halley's comet were made from 

 November, 1909, to June, 19 10, but during the time the 

 comet was nearest the earth visitors to the observatory 

 were so numerous that the 26-inch and 12-inch equatorial's 

 had to be given up to their use ; three 5-inch equatorials 

 were also mounted at the Capitol, and two assistants 

 deputed to attend them. 



NO. 2152, VOL. 85] 



Star Colours.— In No. 4, vol. xxxii., of the Astro- 

 physical Journal Mr. Innes has a note on Mr. Bell's paper 

 regarding the physiological factor in the determination of 

 the colours of stars in multiple systems. 



Mr. Innes points out that modern observers do not 

 record the fantastic colours recorded by earlier observers, 

 but suggests that they should record colours on the modest 

 " Chandler " scale. He also cites a celestial example, con- 

 firmatory of Mr. Bell's laboratory results, where the near 

 approach of Mars — then 4 or 5 on Chandler's scale — gave 

 the yellow binary 7 Virginis a decidedly bluish appearance. 

 Mr. Innes also gives examples, however, showing that in 

 some cases the subjective effect apparently does not operate, 

 whilst in others an objective difference almost certainly 

 exists. 



T//E IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRI- 

 CULTURE IN THE WEST INDIES} 



I 



N recent years the productions of tropical countrio 

 have formed an appreciable proportion of the raw 

 material for the manufacturing industries on which th-= 

 prosperity of this country depends. It is admitted tha: I 

 the British are in possession of some of the richest por- 

 tions of the tropics, and therefore their development is 

 matter of great imperial interest. Our responsibilities 

 can hardly be realised ; but if our commercial supremacx 

 depends upon the control of the tropics, we cannot relievr> 

 ourselves of responsibility either in' the interest of out 

 possessions or in our own interests. 



It is proposed here to confine attention more particu 

 larly to the West Indian colonies, consisting of a grou; 

 of islands generally known as the British West Indies, 

 Bahamas, and Bermuda, together with the two consider- 

 able colonies on the mainland, viz. British Honduras and 

 British Guiana. By their situation in the western tropic- 

 and their entire dependence on agriculture, thes^ 

 possessions form a natural group having a commoi 

 interest in the development of the products of the soii. 

 The West Indies, in the larger sense suggested above, , 

 cover an area of 109,836 square miles, or a little less 

 than the British Isles. The population is estimated at '■ 

 2,300,000. The value of the total trade is abou' 

 22,ooo,oooZ. Of their imports of manufactured and other 

 goods, they take 40 per cent, from the United Kingdom. 1 

 An increase in the total trade from 15,647,816/. in 1903 j: 

 to 21,429,301/. in 1909 is encouraging. It is anticipated i 

 that the twentieth century will witness the " regeneration 

 of the West Indies " and a return to some of their formei 

 prosperity. Already this is becoming true. Lord Crewe, 

 the late Secretary of State for the Colonies, was in a 

 position to announce in February last " that no West 

 Indian colony was now in want of grants-in-aid." 

 Further, all the' colonies have comparatively large sum- 

 in reserve to meet any ordinary emergency that ma\ 

 arise. 



Briefly stated, the circumstances that have combined to 

 bring about the new prosperity in the West Indies are a< 

 follows : — (i) the revival of confidence in the sugar indus- 

 try as the result of the abolition of bounties, and improved 

 trade relations with Canada ; (2) the increase in the pro- 

 duction of cacao in Trinidad, Grenada, and Jamaica : 

 (3) the development of the American fruit trade in 

 Jamaica ; (4) the introduction of the Sea Island cotton j 

 into St. Vincent, Barbados, and the Leeward Islands ; I 

 (5) the extension of the cultivation of limes in Dominica 

 and rice in British Guiana. 



The Imperial Department of Agriculture in the West 

 Indies was created on the recommendation of a Royal 

 Commission consisting, of Sir Henry Norman (chairman). 

 Sir Edward Grey, and Sir David Barbour. In 1897, when 

 the commission visited the West Indies, many of the 

 colonies were in a depressed condition and a source of 

 anxiety to the Imperial Government and to those directlv 

 interested in them. The commission was charged, in thf" 

 first place, to inquire into the condition and prospects of 

 the sugar-growing colonies and " suggest such measures 



1 .\b«trart o^ a. pap-r read berr.rc the Royal Colonial Institute on Ianitar\ 

 10. by Sir Daniel Morris, K.C.M.G., late Imperial Cjmmissioner of Agr; 

 culture. 



