October 4, 191 7] 



NATURE 



93 



withstanding the fact that similar diagrams for the 

 li expansion considered in the paper have frequently 

 occurred in text-books. 



The business of the Electrician Printing and Publish- 

 ing Co., Ltd., having been acquired by iMessrs. Benn 

 Bros., Ltd., 8 Bouverie Street, E.C.4, the forthcoming 

 books of the former company, announced in Nature 

 of September 20, will be published by Messrs. Benn. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



September Meteors. — Mr. Denning writes that a 

 fair number of meteors, including several brilliant fire- 

 balls, were observed in September. There was a well- 

 defined shower, not far from the Pole, at 3i4° + 79'' 

 at the middle of 4he month, and at the period from 

 September 19-24 the chief radiant points were at 

 4° + 270, 59° + 35", 271^ + 22", 290° + 520, 343° + 14°, and 

 352° + 2°. A very brilliant meteor was observed on 

 September 21 at loh. 3m., from the radiant in Cygnus. 

 As seen from Bristol it was brighter than Venus, and 

 fell from a height of 67 to 28 miles. On September 23, 

 at 7h. 42m., a fireball illuminated the sky as seen 

 from Clevedon, and it had a long, slow, and nearly 

 horizontal flight from a radiant at 322°— 23° in Capri- 

 cornus. Its path was about 166 miles from over the 

 English Channel to Welshpool, and it descended from 

 64 to 32 miles. Though it had a very extended path, 

 only two observations of it were received, viz. from 

 Clevedon (Somerset) and Fowey (Cornwall), but the 

 sky was cloudy at many places. 



Comet 1916b (Wolf). — The following is a continua- 

 tion of the ephemeris, for Greenwich midnight, given 

 by Messrs. Crawford and Alter in Lick Observatory 

 Bulletin No. 295 :— 



The comet is situated below the Square of Pegasus, 

 and is well placed for observation. It is, however, 

 much fainter than might have been expected from the 

 fact that it was discovered more than a year before 

 perihelion passage. Between August 13 and August 22, 

 according to observations by Qu^nisset, the magnitude 

 of the comet fell from 8 to 9. 



A Colour Scale for Stars. — An attempt to estab- 

 lish a scale of colours adapted to observations of stars 

 and planets has been made by Prof. W. H. Pickering 

 (Popular Astronomy, vol. xxv., p. 419). The numer- 

 ical values assigned to the different colours are : — 5, 

 deep-blue ; 6, sky-blue ; 7, light-blue ; 8 pale-blue ; 9, 

 bluish-white; 10, white; 11, yellow; 12, orange; 13, 

 : reddish-orange ; 14, orange-red; 15, light-red; 16, deep- 

 red. The typical colours are shown in circular patches 

 on a coloured plate, which is to be viewed by one eye 

 under carefullv adjusted illumination, while the planet, 

 or star out of focus, is viewed with the other eye at 



NO. 2501, VOL. IO0I 



the telescope. To secure constant conditions of com- 

 parison, the illuminating source is to be slightly modi- 

 fied as required, so that certain standard stars of type 

 K always register 11. The average results for stars 

 of different types are compared with the colour indices 

 (differences between photographic and visual mag- 

 nitudes) in the following table : — 



.\n extensive investigation of star colours has also 

 been made by H. E. Lau (Astronomische Nachrichten, 

 No. 4900). The scale in this case is white = o, 



yellow = 5, and red- 



The influence of atmospheric 



absorption and the effect of magnitude have been 

 examined, and a catalogue showing the colours 

 of more than 700 of the brighter stars is given. 



AN AUSTRALIAN CHEMICAL INSTITUTE. 

 A N Australian Chemical Institute has been formed 

 ■^*- with its headquarters in Sydney, and branches 

 in every State of the Commonwealth. The pro- 

 vincial committees include the professors and 

 other teachers of chemistry in the universities and 

 most of the professional chemists in the several States. 

 The institute has been framed on much the same lines 

 as the Institute of Chemistry for Great Britain and 

 Ireland. The objects set forth are : — (i) To raise the 

 status and advance the interests of the profession of 

 chemistry ; (2) to promote the usefulness and efficiency 

 of persons practising the same; (3) to afford facilities 

 for the better education and examination of persons 

 desirous of qualifying as technical analysts and chem- 

 ical advisers ; (4) to obtain power to grant legally 

 recognised certificates of competency. Persons eligible 

 for membership must possess certain qualifications, 

 such as the degree of a recognised British university 

 where they have studied chemistry for not fewer than 

 three years, or an approved diploma in some branch 

 of chemistry granted by an approved technical college 

 or school of mines (no mention is made of the length 

 of studv required from such), or be fellows or associates 

 of the Institute of Chemistry of Great Britain and 

 Ireland, or who have satisfied examiners appointed 

 by the council that they have attained a necessary 

 standard of chemical education ; other persons may be 

 admitted by the council without examination for special 

 reasons on the recommendation of the committee of a 

 branch. 



The council does not intend to hold any exam- 

 ination for admission before January, 19 18, but 

 lecturers or teachers of chemistry at an .Australian 

 university, technical college, or school of mines, or 

 approved secondary school, chemists who are in charge 

 of a Government laboratory, or have been in charge 

 of a laboratory attached to a commercial or industrial 

 establishment for three years, chemists or analysts 

 who have been in practice for three years, and certain 

 others will be eligible for membership without exam- 

 ination before that date. Chemists who have been 

 absent from .Australia on war service may be admitted 

 without examination after January i, 19 18, at the 

 discretion of the council. One of the stated duties of 

 the council is to take any steps that may appear to be 

 advisable to improve the rate of remuneration of 

 chemists in private practice or in the employment of 



