March 25, 1920] 



NAI URE 



f05 



tively. Suppose that the light after passing through 

 this column of chlorine enters a vessel containing a 

 mixture of hydrogen and chlorine, which combine 

 under the influence of the light absorbed by the 

 chlorine, it would appear to follow that the initial 

 rates of reaction for the molecules ClssClj^, CI37CI36, 

 and C'i,,Cl,- should be in the ratio i : 10' : 10^^. The 

 hydrochloric acid thus formed should therefore consist 

 almost entirely of HCl,, if the reaction is allowed to 

 proceed for a suitable time. 



If this experiment should prove successful, it would 

 evidently be possible to prepare a "filter" from the 

 chlorine thus obtained which would favour the forma- 

 tion of HCl,,. It is fullv recognised that there are a 

 number of factors which may affect the success of the 

 experiment, which is now being tried ; it is hoped that 

 results will be obtained before long, but the method 

 seems worthy of mention as involving principles which 

 have anparentlv not been con.'~idered hitherto in this 

 connection. Thomas R. Mertox. 



Harold Hartley. 



Balliol College, Oxford. 



Calendar Reform. 



Vous avez cent fois raison de souhaiter un accord 

 pratique entre les partisans de la reforme du 

 calendrier, et je vous demanderai, pour ma part, la 

 permission de r^pondre quelques mots & votre 

 judicieuse invitation. 



On peut lire dans mon Annuaire astronomique pour 

 1920 que la reforme radicale que j'ai propos^e en 

 1879, ^" 1^84 et en i8gi 6tant trop difficile k r^aliser, 

 et I'humanit^ etant incapable d'accepter des solutions 

 rationnelles en quoi que ce soit, nous pourrions nous 

 borner ^ la simplification suivante : 



1° Douze mois partages en 4 trimestres ^gaux de 30, 

 30 et 31 jours, le premier mois de chaque trimestre 

 commen^ant un lundi et le dernier jour du troisieme 

 mois ^tant un dimanche. 



2° Le i^"" Janvier etfnt voisin du solstice peut etre 

 conserve. Ce serait, tous les ans, un lundi. 



3° La fSte de Piques pourrait §tre fix^ au dimanche 

 7 avril. 



4° Les quatre trimestres ^gaux de gi jours chacun 

 formant 364 jours, il y aurait un jour de fete = o pour 

 les ann(^es ordinaires et deux pour les ann^es bis- 

 sextiles. 



On aurait ainsi un calendrier perp^tuel et universel. 



C.AMILLE FlAMMARION. 



Paris, le 8 mars, 1920. 



Calendar reformers will welcome M. Flammarion's 

 alteration of his scheme to one which minimises the 

 changes from the existing calendar, while it secures 

 the removal of its anomalies and inconveniences. It 

 would seem advisable to choose some day for the 

 extra-week day that is already a public holiday. 

 Christmas Day, New Year's Day, and Whit-Sunday 

 have been suggested. 



From the astronomical point of view the most im- 

 portant amendment is the placing of the leap-day at 

 the end of the year, so that the interval from the 

 beginning- of the year to any calendar date is constant. 

 A. C. D. Crommelin. 



On Langmuir's Theory of Atoms. 



Mr. S. C. Bradford's criticism in Nature of 

 March 11 of Dr. Langmuir's theory is scarcely justi- 

 fiable, considering that the latter clearly states in his 

 paper (Journ. American Chem. Soc., vol. xli., p. 868, 

 1919) that the equilibrium positions of the electrons 

 are determined in part by magnetic, and in part by 



NO. 2630, VOL. 105] 



electrostatic, forces, the former necessarily implying 

 electron rotations. 



The electrons are probably rotating (some right- 

 handedly, others left-handedly) in very small orbits 

 about certain fixed points, e.g. the corners of each 

 cube, the centres of such orbits being the positions of 

 Dr. Langmuir's " stationary " electrons. Such rotations 

 are exactly what is required for the explanation of 

 directed valencies and the paramagnetic or diamagnetic 

 properties of the elements. From magnetic con- 

 siderations, Mr. Bradford's suggestion as to the nature 

 of the rotation is inconceivable, since the one he pre- 

 scribes would make fluorine and a number of other 

 elements paramagnetic, contrary to experimental data. 

 Moreover, the frequencies of such rotations, which he 

 suggests might be identified with Bohr's spectral fre- 

 quencies, would be affected by temperature changes. 



Electrons rotating right- and left-handedlv about 

 definite points, in small circles the radii of which are 

 small compared with the accepted radius of the 

 hydrogen atom, appear to be necessary ; but there is 

 little possibility of reconciling such small orbital 

 motions with the coplanar ones of Bohr, the radii of 

 which are, under normal conditions, essentially of the 

 conventional atomic size, and under certain conditions 

 far larger. A. E. Oxley. 



University College, London, March 12. 



Fireball of February 4. 



On Wednesday, February 4, at 6 p.m., a very 

 bright meteor appeared in the sky at Naini Tal 

 (India). It travelled from west to east at an altitude 

 of about 60°, and was visible for fully five seconds. 

 The yellow fireball left a bluish-white trail, wKich 

 remained hanging in the air for a considerable time, 

 and then gradually dispersed. About half-way 

 through its course a big puff of vapour came out 

 of the meteor, which probably indicated the burst- 

 ing. Half a minute later a thundering noise was 

 heard, which continued to rumble for a quarter of a 

 minute. It had been snowing an hour before, but 

 the skv was perfectly clear at that time. 



M. L. Dey. 



Central Chemical Laboratory, Naini Tal, 

 India, February 5. 



It is curious that on the same date a large fireball 

 was observed in England at 6.14 p.m., but in this 

 case the object moved from east to west, i.e. in a 

 contrary direction to the one seen by Mr. Dey. It is, 

 however, by no means rare that two or more fire- 

 balls appear on the same night, though they are 

 seldom members of the same meteoric system. 



W. F. Denning. 



Buzzards and Bitterns. 



In the Times of March 12 it is stated that "the 

 Lakeland buzzards are extending their breeding range 

 . . . and that a nest was detected in the Buttermere 

 Valley." 



It would thus seem that the buzzard was finding 

 its way by instinct to a region^ where, in old times, 

 it had obtained an easy prey in the bittern, which 

 gave its name to the mere. The early name of the 

 bittern was "butter," and a Buttermere is mentioned 

 in a charter ascribed to a.d. 863 as occurring jn Wilt- 

 shire. There are a number of place-names in the 

 countrv^ involving the designation of the bird, although 

 its "bump" is no longer heard, as by Tennyson's 

 Northern Farmer. Edmund McClure. 



80 Eccleston Square, S.W.i, March 13. 



