December 31, 1914] 



NATURE 



491 



sphere with the following wave-lengths : — Lockyer 

 A 468590, Dyson 14685-86, and Mitchell A 468600. 

 The wave-lengths which the authors have now deduced 

 from fifteen plates of the star are as follows : — 



Frost: 4685897 ±0016 (15 platesj. 



Lowater : 4685-90310-018 (15 plates). 



Mean : 4685-90. 



Other important lines, the stellar wave-lengths of 

 which are here deduced, are AA 41 16-33, 4097-55. and 

 4089-12, closely approximating to the wave-lengths 

 given by Lockyer in e Ononis, namely, 4116-54, 

 409759, and 4089-14. With regard to the radial 

 motion of the star, the motion of the system is given 

 as probably —12 km., almost wholly due to the solar 

 motion. From one plate they give the velocities of 

 the two components, but state that the data are in- 

 sufficient for indicating the period of the star, but 

 •■ there seems to be little to suggest a period of less 

 than several days." 



The Orbits of h Orioxis, R.Z. Cassiopeia and 

 R.X. Herculis. — Nos. 15 and 16 of vol. iii. of the 

 Publications of the Allegheny Obser\'atory describe the 

 researches by Mr. Frank C. Jordan on the orbits of 

 d Orionis and R.Z. Cassiopeiae. In the case of the 

 former, thirty-six spectrograms of the star were secured 

 with the Mellon spectrograph during the period 1908 

 to 1912, and these were used for the determination of 

 the orbit and at the same time to rediscuss Hart- 

 mann's results. A comparison of the elements derived 

 shows that the shape and size of the two orbits are 

 practically identical. The radial velocity of the system 

 has different values in the two derived orbits, but this 

 difference is stated to be apparent rather than real. If, 

 however, it should be proved to exist, the author states 

 that "it would imply a third body, making the system 

 similar to that of Algol." R.Z. Cassiopeiae exhibits 

 a light variation of an Algol-t}'pe star, and Mr. Jordan 

 summarises the various values of the period derived 

 by previous workers. The earliest spectrographic ob- 

 servations of the star were made in 1906 b)- Hartmann, 

 and while he found a velocity range from +33 to 

 — 1 12 kilometres, this agrees well with the range of 

 the definitive curve here given, namely +28 to — iii 

 kilometres. For the present discussion seventj'-one 

 plates were employed, taken during the years 1910 to 

 1913, and tables are given showing the velocities 

 deduced from each plate, the wave-lengths and origins 

 of the line employed, etc. 



Mr. Harold Shapley, in the Astrophysical Journal 

 for November (vol. xl.. No. 4, p. 399) contributes a 

 paper entitled "The Spectroscopic Orbit of R.X. Her- 

 culis Determined from Three Plates with a New- 

 Photometric Orbit and Absolute Dimensions." He 

 shows that the solution for the elements of the spectro- 

 scopic orbit of a faint star is possible when only a 

 few measures of the radial velocity' have been deter- 

 mined, provided that the system is an eclipsing binar\- 

 and that the period, epoch of minimum, eccentricity, 

 and longitude of periastron have been derived from 

 the light curve. In his summarj* he states that the 

 new photometric orbit of R.X. Herculis has been com- 

 puted from unpublished observations obtained at Har- 

 vard and Princeton. The alternate minima are 

 found to differ in depth by nearly a tenth of a mag- 

 nitude. The stars are nearly equal in size, and are 

 sensibly spherical. Their surfaces are separated by 

 three times the radius of the larger star. From 

 measures of lines on three plates it has been possible 

 to derive very satisfactory spectroscopic orbits of both 

 components. The combination of elements from the 

 photometric and spectroscopic orbits gives the actual 

 dimensions of the stars. The parallax of the system 

 is found to be 0-006'. 



NO. 2357, VOL. 94] 



AGRICULTURE AND THE WAR. 



AT the half-yearly meeting of the Agricultural 

 Education Association, just held in London, 

 discussion was held upon "Agricultural Product- 

 Deflected by the War." The chairman of the associa- 

 tion. Prof. Somerville (Oxford University), presided, 

 and there was present a large gathering of members, 

 including Sir Patrick Wright (Board of Agriculture 

 for Scotland), Mr. J. F. Blackshaw (Board of Agri- 

 culture), Prof. Barker (Bristol University), Profs. 

 Seton and Crowther (Leeds University), Prof. Gil- 

 christ (Armstrong College, Newcastle-on-Tyne), Dr. 

 Goodwin (Midland Agricultural College), Drs. Russell 

 and Hutchinson (Rothamsted), Prof. Hendrick (Aber- 

 deen University), Prof. Brjner Jones (Aberstwyth), the 

 hon. secretary-, Mr. P. Hedworth Foulkes (Harper 

 Adams Agricultural College), and others. 



We give a summary of the remarks made by Dr. 

 Russell, director of the Rothamsted Experimental 

 Station, in opening the discussion : — 



The object of to-day's discussion is to see how agri- 

 culturists are likely to be affected by the dislocation 

 caused by the war, and what line we, as expert 

 advisers to the farmer, ought to take. There can be 

 no doubt about the main duty of the farmer in the 

 present crisis. He must by all means in his power 

 increase the saleable output from his farm, particularly 

 of those things which the communitj* needs most — a 

 need which is expressed by an increase in price. In 

 framing this advice it must be remembered that the 

 ordinary- unit of time for the farmer is the length of 

 the rotation, but in these special circumstances the 

 unit might well be altered to the duration of the w^ar. 

 Thus a scheme which would usually be condemned as 

 bad husbandn,- from the ordinary rotation point of 

 view might nevertheless be advantageous in the new 

 conditions. 



Roughly speaking we may classify the agricultural 

 products affected by the war into two groups : those 

 which are permanently affected, and those which are 

 only temporarily affected. Correspondingly there 

 must be two methods of ascertaining their value to 

 the farmer : careful investigations for permanent pur- 

 poses, and more rapid and necessarily less accurate 

 trials for temporary' purposes. 



Palm nuts are fortunate in coming within the pur- 

 view of the West African Committee, under the guid- 

 ance of Sir Ow'en Phillips, and thanks to their enter- 

 prise all of us here have been duly informed of the 

 character of this product, while a number of experi- 

 ments have been put in hand to test its possibilities for 

 British agriculture. For permanent purposes a full 

 investigation is required, and will, of course, be given. 

 Continental experience has shown that the materia! 

 is good ; at the same time we know that it has been 

 put on the market before, and it did not take per- 

 manent hold. Apparentlv no serious fault was found 

 with it, yet it never became part of our regular con- 

 centrated food for stock. There must be a reason for 

 this, and the object of the investigation will be to 

 ascertain w^hat it is. 



Other products of like nature are no doubt avail- 

 able or will become so — and will probably form the 

 subjects for investigation. But there is an emergenc; 

 problem that is quite different in nature and wan 

 altogether different treatment. We have seen durin^ 

 the last five months a marked rise in the price of 

 cereals. This is an expression of the fact that the 

 community wants these particular goods, and the 

 farmer must do his best to supply them. Now manv 

 farmers do not grow their winter oats entirely for 

 sale. Part — often the greater part — of the stock is 

 kept back for their ow-n horses. Much food also is 

 produced for stock. The important emergency 



