472 



NATURE 



[August 15, 191 



the United States, and is believed to be the largest of 

 its kind in the world. 



We have received a copy of a paper by Mr. K. J. J. 

 Mackenzie and Dr. F. H. A. Marshall, of Cambridge, 

 on "The Inheritance of Mutton Points in Sheep." 

 The paper is published in the Transactions of 

 the Highland and Agricultural Society, 1917, and 

 consists of an account of Mendelian cross- 

 breeding experiments upon merino and Shrop- 

 shire sheep, carried on over a number of years at 

 Cambridge, and involving three generations of 

 animals. The points dealt with (" over the shoulder," 

 "behind the shoulder," "loin," and "top of leg") 

 show a marked degree of segregation among the cross- 

 bred sheep. 



The special feature of the July issue of the 

 "Readers' Guide," just issued by the Norw^ich Public 

 Library Committee (post free 2d.), is a section devoted 

 to the work of Mr. A. H. Patterson, whose valuable 

 collection was recently presented to the Norwich Public 

 Library. A short account of this well-known 

 naturalist's life and .writings, by Mr. Geo. A. 

 Stephen, the city librarian, is followed by an anno- 

 tated bibliography (extending to five pages) of his 

 writings, arranged under the following headings :— 

 Manuscripts, Books and Pamphlets, and Principal 

 Articles. The bibliography, which shows that Mr. 

 Patterson is a prolific writer, should be of much 

 interest and 'use to naturalists. 



OUR ASTRONOMI-CAL COLUMN. 

 Borrelly's Comet. — This periodic comet, which 

 was observed in 1905 and 191 1, has been detected on 

 its return by M. Fayet, director of the Nice Observa- 

 tory, the position on August 76205 G.M.T. being 

 R.A. 3h. 39m. 5;2s., S. decl. 16° 14'. M. Fayet, who 

 obtained a very extensive series of observations in 

 1911-12, had previously computed the first order per- 

 turbations by Jupiter and Saturn, and obtained the 

 following elements for 1918 (Marseilles Observatory 

 Circular, No. 29) : — 



T=igi8 Nov. 16-3484 G.M.T. 

 -=352° 

 «= 76° 

 i = 30° 



<}> = 37° 57' 578" 

 logrt = o-559345i 

 log ^ = o- 1448 107 

 The observation indicates that the true value of T 

 is near November 16-62. 



The following ephemeris (for Greenwich midnight) 

 is computed with the uncorrected value of T : — 



10 j.>uv. lu JifOij. KJ.irx 

 2° 23' 29-44") 



3° 55' ?2-86"[i9i8-o 



D° 29' 27-28"J 



Sept. 



Oct. 



Values of logr, log A : September 3, 0-20980, 

 008128; October i, 0-17291, 996205 respectively. 



The August Meteors. — ^These phenomena appear 

 to have returned this year under a more brilliant and 

 abundant aspect than usual. Mr. Denning writes from 

 Bristol that he made observations on July 30, August 2, 

 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10, and that the number of meteors 

 visible increased with the time. On August 9 forty- 



NO. 2546, VOL. lOl] 



nine meteors were seen in 2^ hours' watching, and 

 on August 10 forty-eight were observed in i| hours. 

 On the former date twenty-five Perseids were included 

 in the total, and on the latter thirt3'-one. The position 

 of the radiant point exhibited the usual displacement 

 from night to night to the north-east. The character 

 of the radiation this year seems to have been more 

 dispersed or diffused than is sometimes the case, and, 

 far from being "a point," the radiant formed an area 

 extending over a diameter of six or seven degrees. 



Several fine Perseids were observed, and their posi- 

 tions, as seen from Bristol, were as under : — 



Path 

 Date G.M.T. Mag. . • ' ^ 



From To 



h. m. ;, ,, ,, , 



August 5 13 54 o 269 +84i 230 +65 



8 12 47 7/ 320+82 256 +7oi 



9 10 33 3X ? 332 -13 326 -23 



10 56 9 i7i + 48 5i + 4o 



11 6 7/ 293 + 3 284-12 

 10 10 4 5x ? 33 +84 245 +83 



II 42 11 20+20 18 +I2| 



On August 10 a 2nd mag- meteor was seen at 9.54, 

 which had a verv long flight of 75° from 62° + 77° to- 

 257°+28°. 



The night of August 1 1 was much overcast at 

 Bristol, and all that could be seen was an occasional 

 brilliant meteor in openings of the clouds. 



On August 12 the sky was splendidly clear, and an 

 attentive watch, amounting to 2| hours in the interval 

 between 9h. 45m. and I3h. 45m. G.M.T., revealed 

 120 meteors, of which ninety-six were Perseids. The 

 shower was quite brilliant and abundant, though 

 the maximum had probably occurred on the previous 

 night. A magnificent Perseid was seen at i2h. 41m. 

 G.M.T. shooting from 28^+46° to i8i° + 35°, and 

 leaving a bright streak. These August meteors have 

 furnished an unusually fine display this year. 



THE FUTURE OF THE IRON AND 

 STEEL TRADES. 



ON July 31, 1916, Mr. Walter Runciman, the then 

 President of the Board of Trade, appointed a 

 Committee to consider the position of the iron and 

 steel trades after the war, especially in relation to 

 international competition, and to report what 

 measures, if any, are necessary or desirable in order 

 to safeguard that position. The Committee consisted 

 of representatives of employers, employed, and those 

 engaged in technical practice. At its first meeting it 

 decided to address to the manufacturers' and work- 

 men's associations in the trades and to the trade 

 Press a circular letter indicating the nature of the 

 inquiry upon which it was engaged, and inviting 

 assistance and co-operation. In reply a number of 

 detailed statements were received, which in the great 

 majority of cases were supplemented by oral evidence. 



The Committee states that it has endeavoured to 

 approach the question of the future of the position of 

 the iron and steel industries with a mind free from 

 preconceived political views and economic theories, 

 and that its purpose has been, not to test abstract 

 doctrines, but to establish an ordered plan of action. 

 Political existence, it says, must be founded on com- 

 mercial and industrial strength, and the problem to 

 which it has attempted to find a solution is : — " To 

 give to the nation industrial resources which in time 

 of peace shall preserve the prosperity of Great Britain, 

 and in time of war shall give her full command of 

 resources adequate to the defence and safekeeping of 

 the Empire." 



The scope of the inquiry was so wide that it was- 

 decided to treat various subjects separately, and a 



