282 



NATURE 



\yan. 17, I 



now refer," says Prof. Langley, " merely to the fact that we 

 measure all things by another scale in 1888 from what we did 

 in 1836 ; or that, owing to the immense increase of public 

 wealth, the capital of the original bequest, which then was 

 greater than any but a few private fortunes, has become 

 relatively so inconsiderable to-day. More than this is meant. 

 It is meant that the actual purchasing power of each dollar is, 

 for our purposes, notably less ; that it is being forced upon us 

 that we cannot print as many books, or pay as many employes, 

 or make as many researches, as when the scheme of expenditure 

 was first fixed, and that, consequently, a scheme which was 

 wise then, because not only desirable but feasible, is not 

 necessarily so now." Prof. Langley expresses a hope that an 

 increased income may be provided by the Government and by 

 private benefactors. 



We have received the "Bibliography of Astronomy for the 

 Year 1887," compiled by William C. Winlock, and published 

 by the Smithsonian Institution. As a reference list it will be 

 found to be very useful. Most of the various contributions to 

 astronomy published during the year 1887 in the many scientific 

 journals and Transactions of Societies, as well as many more 

 elaborate publications, have been inserted. A few of the titles, 

 as the author says, have been taken from reviews or book-cata- 

 logues, and, by means of an alphabetical arrangement of the 

 different subjects of astronomy, references to them can be very 

 easily obtained. 



Two weeks ago we printed a brief account of a method 

 employed by Prof. Pickering for enumerating nebulce photo- 

 graphed in a given part of the heavens, and co.mparing them 

 with those given in pre-existing catalogues, and by this means 

 increasing the number of known nebulae. The following is 

 a rather more detailed account of the subject. The region 

 selected for these experiments extends from 5h. lom. to 5h. 50m. 

 in right ascension, and from — 10° to 5° in declination. The 

 instrument employed was a Bache telescope, having a photo- 

 graphic doublet, with an aperture of 8 inches and a focal length 

 of 44 inches ; and, by means of this, negatives 10° square were 

 obtained, the defiijilion included in a central circular area of 7° in 

 diameter being very good. The work of examining the plates 

 very carefully was intrusted to Mrs. Fleming. Each plate was 

 laid on an inclined plane similar to a retouching desk used in 

 photography, and, by means of a strong magnifying glass, 

 thoroughly studied. Whenever a marking on the negatives 

 appeared to resemble a nebula, the co-ordinates of it were accu- 

 rately noted, but great care was taken to make sure that the 

 marking was not due to a piece of dust or a defect in the film. 

 The approximate right ascensions and declinations of these 

 objects were next determined from the configuration of the 

 adjacent stars on the charts of the Diirchmusteriing. Then, 

 by comparing the measurements obtained on the plates, and 

 those on the charts, several of the markings coincided, thereby 

 showing that they had been both photographed and catalogued, 

 while in some cases those which had been catalogued had not 

 been photographed, and in other cases some not catalogued were 

 photographed. From the twenty-seven negatives taken fourteen 

 of the objects on them were contained both in the photographs 

 and in the catalogue. Four in the catalogue were not photo- 

 graphed, while twelve, which were not catalogued, were detected 

 on the negatives, and so were probably new. In some instances 

 the back of the plate was covered with a film of shellac and 

 lampblack so as to absorb the light from the rear surface of the 

 plate. The region covered in the above experiments was about 

 four thousandths of the entire sky, so that by photographing 

 the whole heavens a great number of new clusters and nebulre 

 would be brought to light. From these experiments a very 

 interesting result is disclosed, especially as regards the four 



nebulae which were in the catalogue and were not photographed, 

 which suggests that these nebulae gave different spectra in the 

 ultra-violet from those that were photographed and not catalogued 



We have received Part 4, vol. ii., of the Journal of the 

 College of Science, Imperial University, Japan. It contains 

 papers on the determination of the thermal conductivity of 

 marble, by Kenjiro Yamagawa ; on the combined effects of 

 torsion and longitudinal stress on the magnetization of nickel, 

 and on the magnetization and retentiveness of niclel wire under 

 combined tor.-ional and longitudinal stress, by H. Nagaoka ; 

 and on the specific volume of camphor of borneol, by Mitsuru 



A DESCRIPTIVE Catalogue of the Sponges in the Australian 

 Museum, Sydney, by Dr. R. von Lendenfeld, has been printed 

 by order of the trustees of that institution. Dr. Lendenfeld 

 was intrusted with the compilation of this work in 1885. 

 Early in the following year he changed his re sidence from 

 Sydney to London, so that some delay was rendered inevitable. 

 He considers, however, that the loss of time was amply made 

 up by the advantage he enjoyed of being able to study the col- 

 lections in the British Museum, and to compare the types of 

 other authors with the Australian Sponges. 



The Executive Committee for the reception of the British 

 Association on their visit to Bath met on Thursday last, when it 

 was announced that, after paying all expenses, there remained 

 a surplus of /'950. It was decided, with one dissentient, to 

 recommend to the subscribers that the balance be retained 

 intact to form the nucleus of a fund for building an art gallery in 

 Bath. 



A few weeks ago (says the Cheltenham Examiner), Mr. 

 Francis Day, of Kenilworth House, Pittville, presented a fine 

 collection of Indian birds to a Museum at Cambridge. Mr. Day 

 has now given the remainder of his zoological collection to the 

 British Museum. The gift consists of about 1500 specimens of 

 Indian fishes, 500 of which are stuffed, and the remainder pre- 

 served in spirit. There are also a large quantity of English 

 fishes, both stuffed and in spirit ; about 1000 specimens of 

 Crustaceans, collected from all parts of India and Burmah, and 

 some British Crustacea, including some from the collection of 

 Prof. Malm, Among the Indian fishes are specimens from the 

 celebrated collection of Dr. Jordan, and the British fishes 

 include especially interesting hybrid SalmonidcE, from Sir James 

 Maitland's fish-farm at Howietoun in Scotland, in which Mr. 

 Day takes great interest. There is, in addition, a miscellaneous 

 collection of zoological specimens from the East, including a large 

 crocodile. 



The following arrangements have been made at the Royal 

 Institution of Great Britain : — On Tuesday next, January 22, 

 Prof. G. J. Romanes will begin the second part of his course 

 of lectures entitled " Before and after Darwin," the subjects 

 being " The Evidences of Organic Evolution and the Theory of 

 Natural Selection." On Thursday next, January 24, Prof. J. W. 

 Judd, F. R. S., will begin a course of four lectures on "The 

 Metamorphoses of Mineral.-." At the first Friday evening meet- 

 ing of the season, January 25, at 9 p.m.. Prof. G. H. Darwin, 

 F.R.S., will give a discourse on "Meteorites and the History 

 of the Stellar Systems." 



The evening lectures at the Royal Victoria Hall for the next 

 few weeks are arranged as follows : — January 22, Mr. J. D. 

 MacClure, "Shooting Stars" ; January 29, Mr. F. W. Rudler, 

 "Coal"; Februarys, Prof. Reinold, "Torpedoes"; February 

 12, Commander Cameron, " Africa and the Horrors of Slavery." 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Vulpine Phalanger(/%a/a«^«Ar vulpina i ) 



I 



