March 21, 1901] 



NA TURE 



497 



Native habitations have already been referred to as 

 the source from which Anopheles obtains its parasites ; 

 native huts, ill-ventilated and overcrowded, are the hot- 

 bed in which the Htemamoebidie luxuriate. 



In tropical countries Europeans pitch their temporary 

 camps, and often live permanently, within a few yards of 

 such native hovels ; given, then, a full supply of Anopheles 

 and a swarm of native children, 80 per cent, of whom are 

 infected with Haemanioebidae, it is not surprising, with 

 our present knowledge, that an epidemic of malaria soon 

 starts among the white men. 



The pitching of camps near native villages, or living 

 in close proximity to native huts, is flying in the face o( 

 all recent scientific research, and suicidal in its results. 

 This cannot be too often nor too emphatically reiterated. 



R. FlELDING-OULD. . 



THE NEW STAR IN PERSEUS. 

 The Harvard Observations. 



PROF. PICKERING, the Director of the Harvard 

 College Observatory, in a Circular No. 56, has 

 detailed the observations of the new star made there 

 soon after its discovery by Dr. Ander- 

 son. This Circular we print in 

 extenso : — 



The cable message announcing the dis- 

 covery of a new star in the constellation 

 Perseus, by the Rev. T. D. Anderson, 

 was received at the Observatory early in 

 the evening of February 22, 1901. Owing 

 to clouds, the new star was only occa- 

 sionally visible, and twice it was necessary 

 to cover the instruments on account of 

 falling snow. During the intervals, how- 

 ever, various observations were made, 

 which have a value owing to their early 

 date. Numerous comparisons by Miss 

 Cannon, with a Aurigaa, magnitude 02 1, 

 a Orionis, magnitude 092, and o Tauri, 

 magnitude i"o6, showed that the magni- 

 tude of the star was about 0*9. Photo- 

 metric comparisons, by Prof. Wendell 

 with the 15-inch telescope, of the Nova 

 with the star -f 43°'732, magnitude 7*25, 

 at I4h. om. and at I7h. 25m., Greenwich 

 Mean Time, gave the magnitudes 0*35 and 

 o*39 respectively. 



Meanwhile, an examination was being 

 made, by Mrs. Fleming, of the photographs 

 of the region obtained here earlier in the 

 month, with the various instruments. 

 Although photographs are taken with the 

 transit photometer throughout every clear 



night, yet owing to twilight they cannot be taken as early in 

 the evening as this star culminates. Fortunately, for some weeks 

 the work of the transit photometer, which only photographs ob- 

 jects near the meridian, has been supplemented by photographs 

 with Cooke and Ross-Zeiss Anastigmat lenses. With these in- 

 struments an attempt is made to cover the entire sky, both east 

 and west of the meridian, at short intervals. The completeness 

 with which this has been done is shown by the fact that we have 

 photographs of the region of the Nova with the Cooke lens on 

 February 8, 18 and 19, and with the Ross-Zeiss lens on February 

 2, 6, 18 and 19. The photograph taken with the Cooke lens 

 on February 19 had an exposure of 66m., beginning at iih. i8m. 

 Greenwich Mean Time. While this photograph showed not 

 only the faintest stars contained in the Durchmusterung, but also 

 stars as faint as the eleventh magnitude, no trace of the Nova 

 was seen. This result was confirmed by the other plates men- 

 tioned above. A general examination of the large number of 

 earlier plates of this region did not seem to be necessary. Plates 

 taken with the 8-inch Bache telescope as early as November 6, 

 November 8 and December 12, 1887, fail to show the Nova, 

 although the spectra of stars as faint as the eighth magnitude are 

 clearly visible on all, and those of the ninth magnitude on the 

 plate taken on November 6. A photograph taken with the 



NO. 1638, VOL. 63] 



24-inch Bruce teles'^ope on October 18, 1894, with an exposure 

 of 15m., shows no trace of this object, although stars as faint as 

 the magnitude 12 "5 are well seen. 



On this same evening, February 22, eighteen photographs 

 were taken with various instruments, under the direction -of 

 Mr. Edward S. King. They showed that, photographically, 

 the Nova was 0*3 fainter than a Aurigse. The general appear- 

 ance of the photographic spectrum resembled that of the Orion 

 type and was very unlike that of other new stars, in which the 

 bright lines are the most conspicuous feature. This star had a 

 strong continuous spectrum traversed by thirty-three dark lines. 

 The approximate wave-lengths, as derived by Hartmann's 

 formula from the measures of He, H7 and H;8, are given below. 

 Each is followed by its relative intensity, and by the difference 

 found by subtracting it from the wave-length of the correspond- 

 ing line, if any, in the spectrum of ;3 Orionis. As the lines 

 having greater wave-length than 5000 have thus been deter- 

 mined by extrapolation, they may be subject to large systematic 

 errors. 



3894, 10, HC, - 5 ; 3970, 20, He, o ; 4026, 3, o ; 4077, 2, - i ; 

 4102, 30, H8, o ; 4126, 5, 4- 2 ; 4151, i, - 4 ; 4266, 2, -F I ; 

 4341, 40, H7, o; 4366, I, -f I ; 4388, 2,0; 4415, I ; 4435, i, 

 -f 3; 4470, 2, -f- 2 ; 4481, 20, o; 4510, 2,-2; 4530, 2; 

 4552, 2 ; 4572, I ; 4616, I ; 4643, I ; 4665, 3 ; 4714, 3, - I ; 

 4862, 40, H^, o ; 4885, 2 ; 4922, 2, o ; 5325, i ; 5399, i ; 



Fig. 



Hut with mosquito cage round door, which is itself mosquito proof (as suggested by 

 Celli). Reproduced from a photograph lent by the Sanitary Institute. 



5431, I ; 5677, 2 ; 5695, 7 ; 5719, 5 ; and 5761, i. On careful 

 examination ihe lines 3970, 4102, 4341, 4481 and 4862 were 

 seen to be bright on the edge of greater wave-length. The line 

 4665 was bright on the edge of shorter wave-length, or there 

 was a bright line whose approximate wave-length was 4660. 

 The line 4026 was not measured, but identified from its 

 position. 



On February 23 the clouds were so dense that few observa- 

 tions could be made. The star appeared to be brighter and 

 bluer than a Aurigse and to have the approximate magnitude o o. 

 The spectrum was photographed faintly and showed no marked 

 change except that the line K, which was absent on the previous 

 evening, was present and nearly as intense as He. 



On February 24 it became clear soon after noon, and at 

 I o'clock the Nova was seen with the 6-inch Equatorial, and 

 also with the 2-inch finder, in strong sunlight. In the evening 

 the magnitude, according to visual comparisons, was 0*54, from 

 measures with the 15-inch Equatorial, 059, and with the 

 meridian photometer, in strong daylight, 0*28. Photograph- 

 ically it was 04 or o "5 fainter than a Aurigre. The spectrum 

 showed a remarkable change. It was traversed by numerous 

 bright and dark bands, and closely resembled that of Nova 

 Aurigse. The principal lines were dark with accompanying bright 



