I'SE 2' 



19 1 81 



NATURE 



333 



• achers," by K. M. Cui-wen, with afi introduction 



Dr. G. W. Reid, County Mt^dical Officer of Health 

 id School Medical Officw for Staffordshire. Messrs. 

 'iigmans and Co. will issue shortly "Canning and 



• ittling Fruit and \egetables," by Mrs. <ioodrich, 

 ith a preface by Prof. F. \V'. Keeble. The \Aorlv 

 als with simi>le metlwds of preserving, such as 

 Uling in jam-jars, drying and salting, and with all 

 i-!()-iiai<' mttli(w|< of |M-<'«T\ing fruit withtnit sugar. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



The New Star in Aqiila. — The new star in Aquila 

 has continued to decrease in brightness at about the 

 same rate as Nova Persei of 1901. On June 21 and 22 

 it was observed to be about 3rd magnitude, and its 

 reddish colour had become quite pronounced. Prof. 

 Fowler found that the hydrogen lines were' still very 

 brilliant on these dates, and that the most remarkable 

 change since June W was the appearance of a broad 

 bright band in the blue, about A 464. The enhanced 

 lines of iron in the green were visible, and also the 

 group of bright and dark lines about the position of D. 

 There was also a dark line near A 615, which had not 

 been noted in the earlier observations, and the con- 

 tinuous spectrum had diminished in brightness. The 

 principal features of the spectrum were readily observed 

 with a Zollner star spectroscope on a 3-in. telescope. 



Observations of the spectrum of the nova com- 

 municated by Mr. Harold Thomson are in general 

 agreement with those of Prof. Fowler, but attention 

 is also directed to a relative brightening of the line 

 A 532 as compared witb that at A 517. 



In the Titties for June 19 Father Cortie gave a 

 brief account of a remarkable photograph taken with 

 the prismatic camera at Stonyhurst on June 15. The 

 exposure was from io.3<; to' 11.35 G.M.T., and the 

 photograph appears as if the spectrum had suddenlv 

 changed at about 11.5, and as suddenly returned to 

 its original state about five minutes before the end of 

 the exposure. The modified portion of the spectrum 

 shows a second set of bright hydrogen lines, strongly 

 displaced towards the red sides of the normal lines, 

 which are also present, and an enormous receding 

 velocity would be required to explain the displacements. 

 Prof. Fowler has had an opportunitv of examining the 

 photograph, and informs us that there are certain 

 features which suggest that an explanation mav be 

 found in an instrumental displacement, .\part from 

 this, however, the photograph is a valuable record of 

 the spectrum on the date in question. The bright 

 hydrogen lines consist bf three or more components, 

 and there are numerous ill-defined fainter lines, besides 

 several apparent dark lines. The chief features appear 

 ro bo generally similar to those of Nova Persei at a 

 lesponding phase. 



I )iscovERY OF A CoAlET. — The first cometary dis- 

 co\ery of the year was made by Mr. Reid at the Cape 

 of Good Hope. Jt appears as a faint round nebulosity, 

 and is moving south 48' dailv. Its position, June 12-25 

 G.M.T., was R.A. qh. 16m'. 36s., S. dec!. 8° 10'. It 

 is invisible in northern latitudes, setting shortly after 

 sunset. 



Blixetins of the Hector Obsernatory, N.Z.— 

 > From recent bulletins of the Hector Observatory, Wel- 

 lington, N.Z., it would appear that the Government 

 astronomer, Mr. C. E. Adams, is endeavouring to 

 ni.iko the institution as useful as possible to the general 

 public. Bulletin No. 10 gives tables of the rising, 

 meridian passage, and setting of the moon during the 

 present year at places on the standard meridian 

 ('T2h. east of Greenwich) in south latitudes 35°, 40°, 



XO. 2539, VOL. lOl] 



and 45°, and it is shown by examples how the times 

 for other places may be obtained by interpolation. 

 The latest arrangements adopted for £he time service 

 are explained in Bulletin No. 11. The standard mean- 

 lime clock has been fitted with contacts, by which 

 signals are given at the beginning of every hour of 

 G.M.T., and rep»eated after the lapse of 1/2, 4, and 

 5 minutes in each case. A similar system is adopted 

 in connection with the wireless signal sent out at 

 22h, G.M.T. Another bulletin, issued in Februarv, 

 gives particulars of the occultation of a 6th magnitucle 

 star by Venus On March 3, according to calculations 

 made by Pte. Arthur Burnet, secretary of the Leeds 

 Astronomical Society. 



THE BRITISH SCIENCE GUILD. 

 ''pHE twelfth annual meeting of the British Science 

 ^ Guild was held at the Mansion House on 

 June 19, the Lord Mayor presiding. The adoption of 

 the annual report was moved by Prof. R. A. Gregory, 

 and seconded by Sir Edward Brabrook. After alluding 

 to the loss sustained by tbe guild in the death of ^ir 

 Alexander Pedler, for many years hon. secretary, Prof. 

 Gregory gave a summary of the work of the various 

 committees on education, the metric svstem, and the 

 dyes industry. The last-named emphasised the strong 

 financial support given to the German dye industry, 

 , ^^f^regating more than 50,000,000?., whereas the total 

 capital of the colour-producing firms in tbe United 

 iKingdom is only about four millions. In this country 

 the chief need is to survey the great variety of pro- 

 ducts under manufacture, allocating the work in such 

 a way as to avoid duplication of plant and effort. 

 Reference is jjiade in the report to the British Scientific 

 Products Exhibition to be held at King's College, 

 I London, for four weeks during August-September. It 

 I is hoped that the exhibition will be helpful in illus- 

 trating the need for scientific research in relation to 

 various arts and industries, and the results already 

 achieved in this country in this direction since the 

 war. 



After the adoption of the report, an address was 



given by Lord S^'denham, the president of the 



guild, on "Education, Sdence, and Leadership." 



Our projects of national reconstruction, it was 



.remarked, tend to accentuate industrial and com- 



I mercial efficiency. But there are other .problems 



i the solution of which will require an enlightened 



'' democracy and instructed leadership. Our education, 



besides aiming at material efficiency, must inspire 



ideals. Lord Sydenham showed, from data relating 



, to universities in this country, in Germany, and in 



! America, that facilities for higher education are still 



not what they should be. At present only one child 



in a thousand from the elementary schools reaches a 



universitv. National education should provide equal 



chances for natural talent wherever found. 



A paper by Sir Algernon Firth was read, in the 

 absence of the author, by Sir Ronald Ross. The 

 author sought to dispel the impression that manufac- 

 turers were not sufficiently alive to the need for re- 

 search work in their industries, and quoted from the 

 reports of a Board of Trade Sub-Committee to show 

 the efforts being made to bring this matter before the 

 notice of the authorities. Industries were not infre- 

 quently hampered owing to lack of knowledge in 

 Government departments. For example, the growth 

 of the dve industry was checked at the start b\' thp 

 refusal of duty-free alcohol. Besides developing facili- 

 ties for research, it was necessary to provide induce- 

 ments for vouth to make use of them. In this respect 

 we might learn from the enlightened attitude towards 

 college education preva'k^nt in the Ignited States. 



