i6o 



NATURE 



[September 30, 1920 



Engineering for September 24. The cruiser was built 

 by Messrs. William Beardmore and Co., Ltd., from 

 designs prepared in 19 15. The leading consideration 

 was suitability for ocean work in any part of the 

 world, so that a large radius of action was necessary. 

 Her overall length is 605 ft., beam 65 ft., and draught 

 17 ft. 3 in., with a displacement of 9700 tons. The 

 speed of 30 knots at load draught required a shaft- 

 h.p. of 60,000; she carries 1600 tons of oil-fuel and 

 800 tons of coal. Durinjj construction it was decided 

 to increase the power to 70,000 shaft-h.p. .Actual 

 trials have been carried out at powers ranging from 

 3000 to 71,350 shaft-h.p., and at full power a speed 

 of 31 knots was attained. A remarkable feature of 

 the machinery performance (geared turbines) was the 

 fact that at 35,000 shaft-h.p. a speed of 28 knots was 

 measured. The machinery ran remarkably well and 

 the noise of the gearing was not obtrusive. 



We have received from the firm of Mr. Charles Baker, 

 of High Holborn, a classified list of his second-hand 

 scientific instruments. The catalogue is divided into 

 twelve sections, ten of which are devoted to physical 

 and other appliances and instruments, e.g. the first 

 contains particulars of apparatus and materials for 

 microscopic work; the third, instruments used by 

 astronomers ; and the tenth is devoted to photo- 

 graphic apparatus. Section xi. contains a list of 

 second-hand scientific works, including a number of 

 bound volumes of periodicals which are for sale ; 

 while section xii. is a list of instruments which the 

 firm is desirous of purchasing. 



Sir J. -A. Ewing and Sir Joseph Larmor are editing, 

 for publication by the Cambridge University Press in 

 the spring of next year, the scientific papers of the 

 late Prof. Bertram Hopkinson, of whom the volume 

 will contain a memoir. The Cambridge University 

 Press promise for the end of the present year " The 

 Origin of Man and of His Superstitions," by Carvethx 

 Read. Portions of the work have appeared in the 

 British Journal of Psychology, but they have been 

 extended and largely rewritten for this first appearance 

 in book form. 



The University ok London Press, Ltd., announce 

 a book by Dr. E. E. Slosson entitled "Creative 

 Chemistry," the aim of which is to show how indigo 

 and other coal-tar colours are made, and to arouse the 

 interest of its readers in the practical application of 

 modern science and so induce them to give further 

 attention to the subject. Another book to be issued 

 by the same publishers is " The Psychology of 

 the Six Great Periods of Human Life," by Benchara 

 Branford. It will be published in The New Humanist 

 Series. 



Mr. F. Edw.\rds, 83 High Street, Marylebone, 

 has just circulated a finely illustrated Catalogue 

 (No. 405) of Rare and Beautiful Books which is worthy 

 of perusal. Among the six hundred odd works ofl'ered 

 for sale we notice a first edition of Gerarde's 

 "Herball," two black-letter editions of Hakluyt's 

 " Principal Navigations, etc.," and a number of 

 .scarce gardening books. 



NO. 2657, VOL. 106] 



Our Astronomical Column. 



Ephemekis of P.\ll.\s.— Now that thv NauticaJ 

 Almanac no longer gives the places of the four bright 

 asteroids, an ephemeris of Pallas may be of use. It 

 is from Marseilles Circular No. 389, and is for Green- 

 wich midnight. Perturbations were not allowed for, 

 but the places are corrected approximately by observa- 

 tions during .August. Opposition takes place on 

 October 25, when the magnitude is 78, but the 

 beginning of October is more favourable for observa- 

 tion owing to the rapid motion southward. 



R..\. S. DmI. R.A. S. Decl. 



h. m. «. o . h. m. ». ., , 



Sept. 29 2 16 24 13 51 Oct. 19 2 3 18 1933 



Oct. 9 2 10 42 1649 29 155 18 2145 



Tempel's Periodic Comet. — The Japanese .istro- 

 nomical Herald for June confirms the conjecture that 

 the R..\. of the above comet when detected by Mr. 

 Kudara on May 25 was 22h. 55m. 7s., not 2oh. as 

 telefjraphed. This is implied in its statement that 

 the time of perihelion passage deduced from the 

 observation was 1920 June 10. It is seldom that an 

 error in a single digit of a message has such serious 

 consequences, which were the loss of two months' 

 observation of the comet in Europe and .America. 

 Many observers searched for it, but the error of 30** 

 in the place prevented them from finding it. 



Eclipse Observations at Monte Video. — The 

 National Meteorological Institute of Uruguay has 

 published an attractive volume, illustrated with 

 numerous photographs, dealing with the observations 

 made during the eclipses of December 3, 1918, and 

 May 29, 19 19, which were respectively annular and 

 partial there. The co-ordinates of the Central 

 Observatory are 3h. 44m. 51s. W. Greenwich, 

 34° 54' 33" S. The observed contacts, and com- 

 parison with those calculated from " Conn, des 

 Temps " data, are as follows : 



Earlier 

 than cal- 

 G.M.T. Phase culated Notes 



time 

 d. h. m. s. s. 



Dec. 3 I 27 307 First contact II'58 

 3 12 2434 Second ,, 1678 



3 15 2995 Third ,, 40-33 Uncertain, very cloudy 

 May28 22 57 8-21 First ,, 1000 

 29 o 38 30'05 Second ,, 8'05 



On December 3 clouds prevented observation of 

 Daily's Beads, stars, shadow-bands, etc. The thermo- 

 meter fell from 204° C. before first contact to a 

 minimum of 179° C. twenty minutes after mid- 

 eclipse. The other meteorological and magnetic data 

 are carefully recorded, but show no obvious variation 

 due to the eclipses. But on each occasion there was 

 a verv distinct improvement in the clearness with 

 which wireless signals from distant stations were 

 received during eclipse — a phenomenon which has 

 been abundantly verified elsewhere. 



On December 3 an interesting record of the varia- 

 tion in the general illumination was obtained by 

 exposing slips of sensitised paper to the sky for 

 \\ minutes at uniform intervals. The result shows 

 a fairly smooth curve, the irregularities being due to 

 clouds. In view of the fact that there will be an 

 annular eclipse of the sun in Scotland next April, 

 many useful hints for observation of the accompany- 

 ing phenomena may be derived from this volume. 



