Atigust 23, 1888] 



NATURE 



195 



radiant at 52° + 57°. On August 14, between ioh. and 

 13I1., 25 meteors were noted, but there were only two 

 Perseids amongst them. 



On August 8, Mr. Booth, at Leeds, watched the eastern 

 sky for 4* hours, and saw 45 meteors, including 25 

 Perseids. The radiant was at about 42 + 57i°, ar >d it will 

 be observed that the proportion of Perseids to the total 

 number of meteors observed was the same as noted at 

 Bristol on that date. On August 13, Mr. Booth recorded 

 13 Perseids from a radiant at 51$° + 56°, thus confirming 

 the displacement observed at Bristol. 



On August 10, Mr. G. T. Davis, of Theale, near 

 Reading, reports the sky was clear and many meteors 

 were visible between 9.30 and 11 p.m., the majority being 

 Perseids. The same observer recorded a number of 

 paths on August 5 and 8, and a comparison of his results 

 with similar observations at Bristol show that 7 meteors 

 were doubly observed at the two stations. Their heights, 

 &C.j were computed by the writer as follows : — 



The close agreement in the heights of these meteors 

 (except in the case of No. 6 in the list, which was 

 much nearer the earth's surface than usual) will be 

 noticed. They were, with the exception of No. 6, which 

 belonged to a radiant in Aquarius, all members of the 

 August meteor system, though in several cases, notably 

 that of No. 4, the path, as observed at Reading, was not 

 exactly conformable to the radiant point of this shower. 



The recent display has furnished us with a splendid 

 fire-ball. It appeared on August 13 at nh. 33m., and was 

 seen by Mr. Booth at Leeds, by Mr. Monck at Dublin, by 

 the writer at Bristol, and by several observers at Birming- 

 ham and other places. When near its disappearance the 

 fire-ball acquired such brilliancy that it lit up the firmament 

 like a vivid flash of lightning, and in the latter portion of 

 its path there remained a comet-like streak which at Leeds 

 and Birmingham continued visible for three minutes. 

 The descriptions of this exceptionally fine meteor are in 

 good agreement. It traversed a course above Yorkshire 

 at normal heights ; its brilliant streak had a mean eleva- 

 tion of 53 miles and length of 18 miles. No detonation 

 appears to have been heard. W. F. Denning. 



NOTES. 



It is proposed by the Organizing Committee of Section B 

 that in the course of the approaching meeting of the British 

 Association there shall be a discussion in ,that Section upon the 

 subject of " Valency." Prof. Armstrong will open the debate, 

 and it is hoped that several other eminent chemists will take 

 part. In the immediate neighbourhood of Bath there are no 

 industries specially interesting to chemists, but arrangements 

 are in progress by which it is hoped that members will be 

 admitted to some of the works in and about Bristol, which is 

 only ten miles away. 



The autumnal meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute was 

 opened in the University, Edinburgh, on Tuesday. A hearty 

 reception was given to the members in the Senate Hall by the 

 Lord Provost (Sir Thomas Clark), Sir William Muir (Principal 

 of the University), Prof. Armstrong (the honorary secretary of 



the Reception Committee), and other dignitaries and officials of 

 the University. The members having adjourned to the Examina- 

 tion Hall of the University to begin the business of the meeting, 

 the President, Mr. Daniel Adamson, announced that Sir James 

 Kitson had been nominated by the Council as the President for 

 the next two years, and he hoped that that would meet with the 

 approval of the members. The Institute had intended, he said, 

 to go to America for their next autumnal gathering, but the visit 

 had been postponed until 1890, as that was considered a more suit- 

 able time, especially as a kind invitation had been given them to 

 visit Paris next year, when the Exhibition was on. They would 

 thus have an opportunity of entertaining their American friends. 

 Sir Lowthian Bell took the chair while a paper on a lever- 

 testing machine, prepared by the President, was discussed. It 

 described in detail a horizontal compound lever-testing machine. 

 Mr. Wickslead (Leeds), Mr. G. C. Hemming (Yale and Towne 

 Manufacturing Company, U.S.), Mr. Brown (of Brown Brothers, 

 Leith), M. Gautier (Paris), Mr. Nursey (London), and Sir 

 Lowthian Bell took part in the discussion. A paper on man- 

 ganese steel, by Mr. R. C. Hadfield (Sheffield), proved specially 

 interesting, as it formed a guide to the exhibits of this metal 

 at the Glasgow Exhibition. 



The third International Congress of Inland Navigation was 

 opened at Frankfort-on-the-Main on Monday. It began with 

 a speech from the President, Herr won Botticher, Minister of 

 State, who greeted those present in the name of the German 

 Emperor. The Congress is divided into three sections. The 

 first studies the improvement of river navigability, the best kind 

 of boat for river navigation, and the best means of propulsion 

 for boats. The second section occupies itself with the economic 

 advantages of ship canals penetrating into the interior from river 

 mouths, their navigability, and keeping in good order. The 

 third deals with the reform of the statistics of interior navigation, 

 and with the relations between agriculture and navigation. 



On Monday a paper by Dr. Gamaleia, of Odessa, on 

 the cure of cholera by inoculation, was read to the Paris 

 Academy of Sciences by M. Pasteur. The following informa- 

 tion on the subject is given by the Paris Correspondent of the 

 Times. It appears that in 1886 Dr. Gamaleia came to Paris 

 as delegate of the Odessa doctors, and studied the* Pasteur 

 method, with which he made hirmelf thoroughly acquainted. 

 On his return to Russia various institutions were founded under 

 his care for the cure of hydrophobia, which have proved very 

 valuable. Five years ago M. Pasteur endeavoured to discover 

 a means of curing cholera by inoculation. At his request a 

 mission was sent by the French Government to Alexandria 

 while cholera prevailed there, to study the subject. Dr. 

 Lhuiller, one of the mission, died of cholera, and M. Pasteur 

 did not press the continuance of the investigations. The sub- 

 ject, however, was taken up by Dr. Gamaleia, who has dis- 

 covered a method similar to that of M. Pasteur, by which it is 

 believed cholera can be cured by the inoculation of the 

 cholera virus. As yet experiments have only been made on 

 animals, but no doubt is entertained that it will be possible to 

 apply in a short time the same process to man. After reading 

 the paper, M. Pasteur stated that Dr. Gamaleia had expressed 

 his readiness to repeat the experiments at Paris in presence of a 

 committee of the Academy of Sciences, and to try on himself the 

 inoffensive and sufficient dose for human vaccination. He is 

 ready to undertake a journey into countries where cholera pre- 

 vails to prove the efficacy of his method. M. Pasteur added 

 that he need scarcely say that he accepted with the greatest 

 satisfaction the offer made by Dr. Gamaleia to conduct the 

 experiments in his laboratory. The letter was referred to the 

 committee, which has a prize of 100,000 francs in its hands for 

 a cure for cholera, and it was arranged that the experiments 

 should be postponed till November. 



