August i8, 1921] 



NATURE 



793 



Sin-iti Kunitomi and Hikotaro Tako discuss the cor- 

 relation between the fluctuation of solar activity, as 

 shown by sun-spots and faculae, and the terrestrial 

 precipitation of rain, as measured at Tok3'o and other 

 stations in Japan and Japanese territory elsewhere. 

 The Greenwich records were drawn on for the solar 

 data, and the periodogram method was applied to 

 these and to the rainfall statistics. The investigation 

 suffers from the paucity of the latter material, which 

 is limited to a period of three years ; the authors 

 state that onlv when the influence on the rainfall, of 

 other than solar causes, was eliminated by the 

 periodogram treatment was it possible to obtain any 

 significant correlation coefficients at all. Even so, 

 they suggest that the relation between the solar 

 activity and the precipitation is likely to be somewhat 

 indirect. To the reader acquainted with studies of 

 this kind it will probably appear that the amount of 

 material used was inadequate to allow of even the 

 most tentative conclusions being based upon it. The 

 authors recognise the necessity for further discussion, 

 and promise a more elaborate study of the subject later. 

 The August issue of the Philosophical Magazine 

 contains the concluding portion of Dr. N. R. Camp- 



bell's paper on the disappearance of gas when an 

 electric discharge is passed through more or less 

 exhausted tubes, a subject he has investigated for 

 the General Electric Co. His observations cast 

 serious doubt on the results which have been ob- 

 tained by many previous workers, according to whom 

 Faraday's laws, of electrolysis hold in gases. Dr. 

 Campbell finds, on the contrary, that the current 

 arriving at the electrodes is not related in any simple 

 way to the ionisation and recombination — that is, ta 

 the chemical reaction — taking place in the gas. The 

 current, for example, at the cathode is made up of 

 positive ions arriving and electrons leaving, and while 

 the latter process is closely connected with the former, 

 the two processes are not likely to be connected with 

 the rate of progress of the reaction in the gas in the 

 same way. 



After an interval of seven years the Geological 

 Society of London has been able to resume the issue of 

 its annual index to "Geo'ogical Literature Added ta 

 the Geological Society's Library," which is so com- 

 plete a work of reference, both to subjects and to the 

 output of individual authors. The present part (55.) 

 brings the matter down to the close of 191*3. 



Our Astronomical Column. 



The August Meteoric Display. — Mr. VV. F. 

 Denning writes that on August 8 several fine meteors 

 were observed by him at Bristol, and they belonged to 

 the well-known shower of Perseids. On August 11, 

 watching for two and a quarter hours before mid- 

 night, he counted 134 meteors, although the moon 

 in her first quarter was shining brightly nearly all 

 the time. The display was an exceptional one as 

 regards both the number and the brightness of the 

 meteors. Of the total number seen, 122 were Per- 

 seids and 12 belonged to the minor showers of the 

 period. The radiant point of the Perseids was at 

 44*^ -+-57*^, but it was not so sharply defined as it 

 sometimes is. 



About 33 of the meteors seen were equal to, or 

 brighter than, stars of the first magnitude, and they 

 exhibited the swift motions and luminous streaks 

 which are characteristic of the August meteor swarm. 



Clouds came over the sky at 11.50 G.M.T. and 

 prevented obser\'ations in the morning hours, but 

 there probably occurred a very rich exhibition ot 

 meteors at places where the stars were visible. On 

 August 12 the firmament was partly cloudy at Bristol, 

 but there was a considerable number of meteors to 

 be observed, for in clear spaces they were frequently 

 seen, though no continuous observations were made. 

 At 2.30 a.m., G.M.T., four Perseids were seen in 

 less than two minutes, but immediately afterwards 

 clouds interfered. 



Mr. C. P. Adamson, of Wimborne, Dorset, watched 

 the skv during two and a quarter hours on the 

 evening of August 11, and counted 131 meteors. His 

 results, therefore, as regards the num.erical strength 

 of the shower are in close agreement with those ob- 

 tained at Bristol. Mr. .Adamson found the radiant 

 point elongated, from 43^ + 57° to 49° -1-58°. Of the 

 total number of meteors seen he says there were 125 

 Perseids, and at least 50 per cent, were equal to, 

 or brighter than, first-magnitude stars. 



The Bright Object near the Sux. — Three of the 

 five observers of this object, referred to in last week's 

 issue, p. 75q, were Prof. Campbell and his wife, and 

 Prof. H. N., Russell, who is staying at the Lick 

 Observator}'. The object was seen shortly before 



NO. 2703, VOL. 107] 



sunset; the fact that it partook of the diurnal motiort 

 indicated that it was a celestial body. Prof. Camp- 

 bell observed it with binoculars, and noted that it 

 still appeared stellar, which favoured its being a 

 nova. If so, it is probably the most brilliant since 

 that of Tycho Brahe. The approximate position is 

 R.A. 9h. 22m., N. decl. 16°. The galactic latitude 

 is about 40°. The object does not appear to have 

 been seen since August 7. It may be recalled that 

 the great 1882 comet and that of January, 19 10, 

 were seen close to the sun. 



A report from Konigstuhl Observatory, near 

 Heidelberg, states that on the night of August 8-9 a 

 number of luminous bands lay across a clear skv" 

 from W.N.W. to E.S.E. ; they moved slowly towards^ 

 N.N.E., growing paler as the dawn came. It was 

 conjectured that it might be the tail of the light 

 object seen at Lick Observatory' on August 7, pass- 

 ing very near the earth. It will be recalled that a 

 somewhat similar phenomenon was reported when- 

 the earth passed through the tail of the great comet 

 of 1861 on June 30 of that year. 



It seems possible, however, that the present 

 streamers may have been auroral, as the cometar\- 

 nature of the Lick Observatory object is still in 

 doubt. 



Continuation of the Ephemeris of Eros. — This 

 planet was photographed at the Algiers Observatory 

 in July, within 3' of the predicted position. The 

 following ephemeris, for Greenwich midnight, is bv 

 Mr. F. E. Seagrave, corrected approximately bv ob- 

 servation : — 



R A. N. Decl. 



h. m. s. o , 



Aug. 20 23 25 41 12 20 



24 23 20 18 12 52 



28 23 14 13 13 18 



Sept. I 23 7 32 13 38 



5 23 o 23 13 51 



R.A. N. Decl 



h. m. s. ^ J 



Sept. 9 22 52 56 13 57 



13 22 45 22 13 57 



17 22 37 54 13 49 



21 22 30 44 13 35 



25 22 24 3 13 i6- 



Values of log r, log A, August 20, 02249, 98676; 

 September 25, 02026, 98064. The magnitude in mid- 

 September will be 10-5. The planet will thus be 

 easily accessible in ordinan,- telescopes. Accurate ob- 

 servations of position are desired 



