December 13, 1900] 



NA TURE 



163 



of distinction, accompany an article by Mr. T. Dreiser. The 

 marble quarries at Monte Sagro, in the vicinity of Carrara, are 

 described and illustrated by Mr. E. St. John Hart. Two series 

 of photographs of a cat and dog jumping over an obstacle are 

 contributed by Mr. A. C. Banfield. Dr. See's views upon the 

 mode of formation of stellar systems are expounded in another 

 article. Mr. George Griffith describes the line where the day 

 changes, near the i8oth degree of longitude, making it the text 

 of an article upon the places where the twentieth century will 

 commence ; and Mr. Walter Wellman describes some of his 

 Arctic experiences. Six pretty photographs of birds are repro- 

 duced in the English Illustrated Magazine. 



The use of gas thermometers at high temperatures is the 

 subject of an interesting paper by Messrs. Ilolborn and Day 

 {Wied. Ann. 68, 817). Experiments with porcelain vessels, 

 glazed and unglazed, have shown that this material is unsuitable 

 for the construction of the containing vessel, especially when 

 the gas used is hydrogen. Platinum iridium vessels (10 or 20 

 per cent. Ir) containing nitrogen appear to be very trustworthy ; 

 after the thermometer has been heated to 1 100° C. for a con- 

 siderable time, the indications of the instrument at low tempera- 

 tures remain unaltered. The thermo-elements usually employed 

 for the measurement of high temperatures have been carefully 

 compared with this gas thermometer, and the electromotive 

 force represented as a quadratic function of the temperature. 

 With these thermo-elements the melting-points of a series of 

 metals have been determined, so that the calibration and con- 

 trol of other elements is made independent of the standard 

 nitrogen thermometer. The au thors claim that the error in the 

 determination of high temperatures (up to 1150° C.) does not 

 exceed 1° C. The influence of air on the melting-points of 

 copper and silver is interesting, as is evident from the following 

 numbers— copper (pure) io84"i° C, (in air) 1064 '9° C. ; silver 

 (pure) 961-5° C, (in air) 955° C. 



We learn from the Marine Biological Laboratory at Plymouth 

 that a male specimen of Sguilla desmarestii, 2g inches long, was 

 brought in last week by a shrimper who had been trawling 

 inside Plymouth Breakwater. The rarity of this Stomatopod in 

 Devonshire waters is shown by the fact that this is only the 

 second specimen that has been taken at Plymouth since the 

 laboratory opened in 1888, the other, a small one ^-inch long, 

 having been taken in the tow-net about three years ago. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include two Puff' Adders {Bitis arietans), a Yellow 

 Cobra {Naia Jlava), two Delalande's Lizards {Nucras dela- 

 landii), thirty-two Spotted Slow Skinks {Acontias meleagris), 

 three Rough-keeled Snakes {Dasypeltis scabra) three Smooth- 

 bellied Snakes (Zr^/«a&i7wa lutrix), three Crossed Snakes(/!yaw- 

 inophis crucifer), five Rhomb-marked Snakes ( Trinierorhintis 

 rhoftibeatus), two Coppery Snakes {Prosy mna sundevalli), a 

 Lineated Snake (Boodon lineatus) from South Africa, presented 

 by Mr. J. E. Matcham ; six Yellow-legged Frogs {Rappia 

 horstockii) from South Africa, presented by Mr. W. L. Sclater ; 

 a Black Rat {Mus ratius), British, presented by Mr. E. 

 Wormold ; two Bactrian Camels {Camelus bactrianus, <J 9 ) 

 from Siberia, a Moose {Alces machlis, <J ) from North America, 

 two Ashy-black Macaques {Macacus ocreatus) from the East 

 Indies, a Golden-headed Marmoset {Midas chrysomelas) from 

 South-east Brazil, a Red-footed Lemur {Lemur rufipes), from 

 Madagascar, a Rufous-necked Wallaby {Macropus rujicollis) 

 from New South Wales, four Westerman's Eclectus {Eclectus 

 westermani) from Moluccas, a Plain-coloured Amazon ( Chrysalis 

 inornatd) from South America, a Mongolian Pheasant {Phasi- 

 anus mongolicus, i ) from Mongolia, a Blackbird. ( Turdus 

 merula, pied. var. ), European, deposited. 



NO. T624. VOL. 63! 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



Local Conditions for Observ^ation of the Total 

 Solar Eclipse, 1901, May 17-18. — A pamphlet has been 

 received containing information for observing parties and sum- 

 maries of the climatological conditions along the track of the 

 moon's shadow during the total solar eclipse in May 1901. The 

 work is the report of a committee of the society, Koninklijke 

 Natuurkundige Vereeniging in Nederlandsch-Indie, appointed 

 at the request of the Government at Batavia. 



With the exception of Batavia, which is out of the eclipse 

 track, there is no regular meteorological service in the Malay 

 Archipelago. Regular observations of rainfall, however, have 

 been made during the period 1879-1900 at about 220 different 

 places. As this factor alone does not give sufficient evidence as 

 to the suitability of a place for observation of a total solar 

 eclipse at noon, special series of climatic data have been 

 obtained during the months of April, May and June 1900, in 

 several places well situated for the purpose. 



Twenty-two stations have been selected, extending from 

 Padang, on the west coast of Sumatra, to Amboyna and 

 Saparua, at the eastern extremity of the Celebes group. Tables 

 are given showing the cloudiness of the sky, mean rainfall, daily 

 and hourly rainfall. 



As regards general condition of sky during May, the west 

 coast of Sumatra appears to -have the worst reputation, the per- 

 centage clearness being only 28 per cent., as against 50 per cent, 

 for the Macasar Sea between Borneo and Celebes. 



As regards rainfall, the western stations are apparently the 

 better, Padang averaging fifteen rainy days in May, while at 

 Amboyna there are twenty-seven. The actual rainfall is little 

 or no indication of weather condition, as excessive rains do not 

 involve a period of clouded sky ; on the contrary, the atmo- 

 sphere is cleared from dust by heavy rains, so that in the rainy 

 season the sky is much more transparent than during the dry 

 season. Several suggestions with respect to the accommodation 

 at the various localities may be useful to observers. 



The most convenient stations will probably be on the west 

 coast of Sumatra. Padang is the residence of the Governor, 

 is in weekly communication with Europe, has a telegraph office 

 and four hotels. 



Painan is situated south of Padang on the sea shore ; it has 

 no harbour, but is easily reached by land from Trusan Bay, 

 where there is good anchorage. 



Solok, in the interior, at an elevation of 1300 feet above sea- 

 level, has a telegraph office and small hotel, and is connected 

 with Padang by rail. 



Pulo Lalan'g, an islet of the Lingga group, lies close to the 

 central line, and possesses good anchorage for small vessels, 

 which could be hired at Singapore. 



Pontiaitak, on the west coast of Borneo, is in direct communi- 

 cation with Singapore once or twice weekly. It has a small 

 hotel. The soil is said to be very swampy and unsuitable for 

 large instruments. 



Macasar, the capital of Celebes, has a telegraph office and 

 two hotels, and is in direct communication with Singapore once 

 a week. 



Amboyna and Saparua are only in communication once or 

 twice a month unless with special service. 



As soon as a station is selected, arrangements should be made 

 for securing the support of the civil officials, application being 

 made in the first instance to the Governors or Residents. For 

 temporary establishments bamboo and other materials are 

 obtainable on the spot, and are inexpensive. Skilful craftsmen 

 are not available except in the principal places. Portland 

 cement may be purchased at Padang, Batavia, Surabaya and 

 Macasar. No Customs duties are levied on instruments in the 

 Dutch Colonies. 



" Annuaire Astronomique, &c., for 1901." — This well- 

 known little annual volume, which is compiled by M. Camille 

 Flammarion, will be found as useful as ever for the coming 

 year. One finds in it all the more important details and events 

 of celestial phenomena. Thus, we are given the facts about the 

 coming solar and lunar eclipses, the chief tables of the solar 

 system, charts of the sky for each month, showing the paths 

 and positions of the planets. Further, there are several short 

 notices on such subjects as solar spots, atmospheric observa- 

 tions, the eclipse of 1900, meteor observations, terrestrial mag- 

 netism, meteorological tables, &c. As a handy vade mecuvi 

 for those who possess and use small equatorials, this annual 

 should be specially very welcome. 



