October 6, 192 1] 



NATURL 



'93 



A WORK that should be of scientific and economic 

 importance is included in the list of announcements of 

 the Oxford Universitv Press, viz. : — "Ocean "Research 

 and the Great Fisheries," by G. C. L. Howell. 

 Among the subjects dealt with are the great fisheries, 

 the organisation of ocean research, the plaice question, 

 the turbot and turbot culture, the soles, the haddock 

 problem, Norwegian haddock investigation, the cod, 

 the coalfish or saithe, the halibut, the hake fisheries, 

 business men on hake problems, Dr. le Danois on the 

 hake, the skates and rays, the ling, the whiting, and 

 lemon soles. Another book appealing to readers 

 of Nature is "The Life and Scientific Correspond- 

 ence of James Stirling," by C. Tweedie. 



Messrs. L. Oertling, Ltd., Turnmill Street, 

 London, E.C.i, inform us that Sir Ernest Shackleton 

 has taken an Oertling balance with him on the Quest. 

 An Oertling balance was also taken by Admiral Sir 

 George Nares on his expedition in 1873, and the 

 same balance was used by the late Capt. Scott in his 

 expedition in 1901, and during the war it was used 

 in the Science Museum at South Kensington. It 

 speaks well for the trustworthiness of an instrument 

 which can be of service fifty years after the date of 

 its manufacture. 



Messrs. George Bell and Sons, Ltd., announce 

 for eary publication a revised and enlarged edition 



of Madison Grant's "The Passing of the Great Race; 

 or, the Racial Basis of European History," the first 

 edition of which work was reviewed in Nature of 

 August 23, 1917 (p. 502). The new edition will con- 

 tain a supplement of more than 100 pages, giving 

 references to and quotations from authorities upon 

 the subject treated of by the author. 



The firm of .Mr. George Ellison, of Perry Parr. 

 Birmingham, has prepared a number of lantern-slides 

 illustrating various types of electric control gear such 

 as oil rotor starters, switchboards, circuit-breakers, 

 etc. ; there are also some views of works. These 

 slides will be loaned to engineering and technical 

 societies and technical colleges upon application being 

 made to the firm at the above address. 



We have received from Messrs. Reynolds and 

 Branson, Ltd. (13 Briggate, Leeds) their catalogue 

 of first-aid requisites. It includes a series of specially 

 designed cases containing sterilised dressings and 

 other requisites to meet the requirements of Home 

 Oflice Orders as app'ied to factories and works. 



The latest catalogue (No. 419) of Mr. F. Edwards, 

 83 High Street, Marylebone, W.i, contains particulars 

 of some 500 works dealing with Central and South 

 America. It will doubtless be of service to those 

 taking an interest in the history and exploration of 

 the regions referred to. 



Our Astronomical Column. 



Antares and its C0.MPAX10X. — Mr. F. G. Pease has 

 measured the diameter of this star bv the inter- 

 ferometer method at Mount Wilson. He obtains the 

 r*-«ult 0040", nearly the same as that for Beteigeuse. 

 •e parallax is uncertain, but it is believed to be 

 .^uut 0009", which makes the linear diameter 

 400,000,000 miles. W. S. .\dams and A. H. Jov have 

 succeeded in photographing the spectrum of the com- 

 panion, at the Cassegrain focus of the loo-inch. . It 

 is of early helium type B 3, the H and K lines of 

 !cium being fairly sharp, the other lines wide and 

 i/y. -Adams and Joy give - 27 as the absolute 

 iiiagnitude of the primary, which gives +3-2 for the 

 > impanion. This is unusually faint for a B-tvpe star. 

 I he companion is 3-2" distant, and the common 

 jjruper motion indicates physical connection. There is 

 no distinct evidence of orbital motion in seventv vears. 



The Bright Object Near the Sun.- Dr. W. Bell 

 Dawson writes from Ottawa stating that he saw a 

 bright object low in the west in unusually clear air 

 just after sunset on September 4, which he assumes 

 to be the same as that observed at Mount Hamilton 

 on .August 7. The identitv seems unlikelv ; Dr. Daw- 

 son's object mav have been Mercur\ (R..-\. iih. 36m. : 

 ^'" ^^^o t, 3^'^' °^ Jupiter (R.A. iih. 45m.: N. 

 2° 48'; the Sun was in R.-A. loh. 53m. : N. 



Decl. 



Decl. 7° 6'). However, it is well to put the observa- 

 tion on record, the mvsterv of the Mount Hamilton 

 object being still unsolved. 



Studies of Nebul.^ and Clusters.— M. Camille 

 Flammarion has in recent months contributed a series 

 of illustrated articles on this subject to L'Astronomie. 

 The September issue deals with the interesting 

 nebula N.G.C. 4594 in Virgo, the discoverv of which 

 IS usually attributed to Sir W. Herschel in' 1784. M. 

 XO. 2710, VOL. I08I 



Flammarion has, however, discovered a manuscript 

 note in Messier's handwriting, showing that his 

 assistant Mechain found it on May 11, 1781. It is 

 suggested that it should be called Slessier 104. 



It belongs to the class known as spindle nebulae; 

 they are of regular outline, long and narrow ; the 

 width is greatest in the centre, and tapers nearly to a 

 jx)int at each end. Two drawings and two photo- 

 graphs of the nebula are reproduced, the former by 

 Sir J. Herschel and Lassell, the latter by Dr. Isaac 

 Roberts and Mr. F. G. Pease. All four are in good 

 accord, but the photographs show considerably 

 greater width in the centre. Many of the spindle 

 nebulae, including this .one, have a dark central strip, 

 with nearly parallel edges, dividing them longitudinally 

 into two parts. It seeins scarcely possible dynamically 

 that this should be a real division, and it is generally 

 assumed that there is an equatorial zone of dark 

 occulting matter encompassing the nebula. 



It is believed that the spindles are spirals seen 

 edgewise, in which case they are iniportant as afford- 

 ing a knowledge of the cross-section of the latter ; 

 the thickness in the central regions is one-third or 

 one-fourth of the equatorial diameter ; this is much 

 the same proportion as that assigned by star-gauges 

 to our own stellar system. This is one of the argu- 

 ments used in support of the view that the spirals are 

 external galaxies. It has further been suggested that 

 the galaxv mav have an outer belt of absorbing 

 matter, like that seen in the spindle nebulae, which 

 would explain the absence of spiral nebulae in the 

 galactic neighbourhood. 



S'T J. Herschel erroneouslv gave the position angle 

 of the nebula M. 104 as 102°. The photographs give 

 80° ; there has been no real change, since Smvth in 

 18^7 and Lassell in 1862 both noted it as parallel to 

 the equator. 



