November 8, 1900] 



KA TURE 



39 



Evans. The chapter on spectrum analysis might with advan- 

 tage have been revised by some one familiar with recent work. 

 The statement that *' 450 of the Fraunhofer lines have been 

 observed to coincide with the lines of the iron spectrum," is, like 

 several others, far behind the times, for more than 2000 coinci- 

 dences have been photographed. Anew edition (the tenth) of 

 Skertchly's "Geology" has been prepared by Dr. James 

 Monckman. A new section on petrology has been added to 

 make the book suitable for the present requirements of the 

 examiners of the Board of Education (South Kensington). A 

 few alterations have been made, but the revision is not entirely 

 satisfactory. For instance, a page is devoted to observations 

 made by Mr. W. J. Henwood in 1871 on the temperatures of 

 mines, although an excellent summary of such observations, 

 containing far more instructive irJormation, was given by Mr. 

 Bennett Brough before the Society of Arts four or five years 

 ago, and might have been used. A table of determinations of 

 the earth's density is given, but it does not contain any of the 

 observations made during the last ten years. Lord Kelvin 

 remains Sir William Thomson ; and only his early conclusions, 

 and Helmholtz's, are given concerning the age of the earth. 

 The figures, as well as many of the facts, are old-fashioned, 

 and Dr. Monckman would have done better to have rewritten 

 the book from the point of view of the geologist of to-day 

 instead of attempting to adapt past ideas to present positions. 

 Mr; Frank Riittey's litllebookon " Mineralogy "has deservedly 

 had a successful career, and the twelfth edition, which Mr. 

 Murby has just published, is a veritable 7nultuin in parvo as 

 regards information of service to elementary students of 

 mineralogy. Among the changes are the addition of a brief 

 outline of the recently adopted treatment of crystal symmetry, a 

 few figures of crystals, and the revision of the chemi cal 

 formulae. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include two Patas Monkeys ( Cercopitheciis patas, S 9 ) 

 from West Africa, presented by Mr. E. Jones ; a Syrian Bear 

 ( Ursus syriacus) from Western Asia, presented by Mr. Robert de 

 Rustafjaell ; a Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrimis) from Canada, 

 presented by Mr. T. H. Small ; an Osprey {Fattdian haliaetu<;), 

 captured in the Red Sea, presented by Captain T. Yendell ; a Bush 

 'Dog{Icticyon venatictis, 9 ) from Colombia, a Tayra {Galictis bar- 

 bard) from South America, a Vervet Monkey {Cercopithecus 

 lalandii) from South Africa, three Wattled Honey-eaters 

 {Antkochoej-a carunculata) from Australia, deposited ; a Bos- 

 man's Potto {Perodicticus potto) from West Africa, a Bouquet's 

 Amazon {Chrysalis boiiqueti) from Dominica, two Ruddy Shel- 

 drakes {Tadorna casarca, S 9), two Knots {Tringa canuius), 

 European, purchased. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



The Planet Eros. — A good opportunity will be offered for 

 detecting this little object on the early evenings of November 

 10 and II before moonrise. The planet will pass near the 5th 

 magnitude star, 4 Persei, the positions of the objects being as 

 follows : — 



R.A. Decl. 



h. m. s. o / 



4 Persei i 55 38 ... -f54 o 



Eros, November 10 ... i 56 53 ... -f 54 21 

 November II ... i 54 51 ... -^54 19 



The position for 4 Persei is for 1900. The places of Eros are 

 for Berlin mean midnight, corresponding to G. M.T. , ilh. 7m. 

 On November 10 Eros will be about ^° N. E. of the star, 

 and on November 11 about ^ N.N.W. of the star. The 

 magnitude of the planet will be 9^. If the small stars in 

 the region indicated are carefully watched, Eros may soon be 

 identified by his motion. 



Ei'HEMERis OF Comet i900iJ.— The following is an abridg- 

 ment from a complete ephemeris communicated by Herr A. 

 Wedemeyer to the Astronomische Nachrichten (Bd. 153, 

 No. 3670). . ..,:... 



Ephemeris for \2h. Berlin Mean Time. 

 1900. R.A. Decl. 



h. m. s. „ I II 



Nov. 8 ... 15 26 169 ... -f66 7 1-6 



10 ... 29 5-06 ... 66 17 187 



12 ... 32 loio 66 29 12-3 



14 ... 35 1692 ... 66 42 41-4 



16 ... 38 25-58 ... 66 57 45-0 



18 ... 41 36-22 ... 67 14 22-2 



20 ... 44 4^-90 ... 67 32 31-9 



22. ... 45^ 370 •• 67 52 12-5 



24 ... . 51 2075 ... 68 13 22-8 



26 54 40"ii 68 36 15 



28 15 58 1-85 69 o 6-5 



30- ... 16 I 26-23 ... +69 25 35-9 



New Variable Stars. — In the Astronomische A^achrichten 

 (Bd. 153, No. 3665), Herr Jos. Hisgen, of the Valkenburg 

 Observatory, announces that he has detected variability in a star 

 in Cygnus having the following provisional position : — 



Decl. = -t- 48 49 -3 P ^ ' 



The star reaches the gth magnitude, and the light changes corn- 

 prises at least /<?//;' magnitudes :' an approximation to the period 

 is given as about 250 days. 



In the Astronomische Nachrichten (Bd. 153, No. 3670), Dr. 

 T. D. Anderson announces the variability of a star in Pegasus, 

 the change of which has hitherto escaped notice. The position 

 is as follows :— ■ 



R.A. = 22h. 4-6m. \,i85,.oN 

 Decl. = + 13° 38' r'^55 OJ- 



The variation in magnitude is not completely stated, but at its 

 maximum brightness the star is about 9-9 magnitude, while at 

 minimum it was invisible in a 3-inch telescope. 



In the same issue of the above journal, Mr. A. Stanley 

 Williams calls attention to a new variable star in Lyra with the 

 following co-ordinates : — 



R.A. = i8h. 32m. 

 Decl. = -}- 43° 49' -6 



5'--|(i85S-o). 



NO. 16 19, VOL. 63] 



The variation of magnitude was determined photographically 

 from plates taken with a portrait lens of 4-4 inches aperture. 

 When at its greatest brightness the star is of about 10-5 magni- 

 tude, diminishing to a minimum of below 12 magnitude. A 

 table of successive observations indicates maxima to have 

 occurred about December 31, 1899, and September 3, 1900. 



Astronomical Work at Dunsink Observatory. — The 

 ninth volume of astronomical observations and researches at 

 Dunsink, the observatory belonging to Trinity College, Dublin, 

 consists chiefly of a catalogue giving the mean places of 321 

 stars, furnished by observations made with the meridian circle 

 during 1898-9, under the direction of Prof. C. J. Joly, the As- 

 tronomer Royal of Ireland. The instrument has been provided 

 with a new reticle having three sets of five vertical wires instead 

 of five sets as formerly. The actual observations and prepara- 

 tion of the catalogue were done by Mr. C. Martin. 



THE LEONID METEORIC SHOWER. 



"\X nTH the return of the Leonid epoch we are naturally led to 

 ' * inquire as to the prospect immediately before u=. The 

 expectation of preceding years having been grievously disap- 

 pointed, observers cannot help feeling very dubious as to the 

 return of the meteors. This is accentuated by the fact that 

 computations made under Dr. Downing's directions show that 

 since their return in 1866 the denser part of the stream has been 

 subject to considerable perturbation. At the middle of 

 November 1899 the meteors probably passed about \\ millions 

 of miles inside the earth's orbit, and therefore escaped a rencontre 

 with the earth. At the ensuing approach the conditions appear 

 even less favourable, for the calculations indicate that the swarm 

 will pass us by at a point about \\ millions of miles nearer to 



