August 19, 1920] 



NATURE 



789 



Our Astronomical Column. 



Tempel's Comet. — M. Fayet has given a very- 

 probable explanation of the discordance of the Kudara 

 observation of this comet on May 25. He finds that 

 its true R.A. on that day was exactly 2h. greater 

 than the Kudara one, the declination being correct. 

 Hence the alteration of a single figure in the announce- 

 ment, which may have been set down wrong by inad- 

 vertence in preparing the message for telegraphic trans- 

 mission, will make everything accordant, and further 

 explain the fact that whereas Mr. Kudara stated that 

 the comet was visible in a small telescof>e, many 

 European observers searched in vain round the posi- 

 tion indicated. The calculated daily motion on May 25 

 is +3m. 34s., N. 8', which agrees fairly well with the 

 observed value +3m. 4s., N. 8'; the latter was prob- 

 ably deduced from observations extending over an 

 hour or two. The following- positions have, been 

 announced : 



G.M.T. App. R.A. App. S. decl. Observer Place 



d. h. m. h. m. s. „ , „ 



May 25 71002255 70 4 53 o Kuda-a Kyoto 



July 20 14 5-6 I 5249-48 I 17 07 Michkovitch Marseilles 

 21 13554 I 55 1444 I 1858-5 



21 13 12-9 155 8-6o I 1843 Mundler Konigstuhl 



221435-8 I57 37'5 121 2 Polit Barcelona 



241340-7 2 210-63126 5-2 Mundler Konigstuhl 



The first R.A. is conjecturally increased by 2h. 



The following is a continuation of the ephemeris 

 for Greenwich midnight : 



Aug. 



Sept. 



M. Michkovitch noted that the coma appeared 

 round, the diameter exceeding i'. There was a well- 

 defined nucleus of magnitude 98. Dr. Palisa noted 

 that this was eccentrically placed in the coma. 



Stonyhurst Observations in 1919. — The annual 

 volume of the results obtained at Stonyhurst Observa- 

 tory last year contains an interesting summary by 

 the director, the Rev. A. L. Cortie, of the solar 

 observations. The mean spot areas for 1917-18-19 

 are 12- 1, 7-9, and 8-4 respectively, while the mean 

 daily magnetic declination ranges in the same years 

 are ii-8', 124', and 12-7'. The year 1919 probably 

 represents the hump on the downward curve, which is 

 frequently shown both in sun-spots and variable stars. 

 Father Cortie associates the delayed maximum of 

 magnetic — as compared with sun-spot — activity with 

 the declining mean latitude of sun-spots, which in- 

 creases their magnetic eflRciency, since it makes them 

 cross the sun more centrally. 



The most remarkable spot group of 19 19 was a 

 triple group which was on the disc from August 13 

 to 25 (central about August 19). A very violent mag- 

 netic storm occurred on August 11-12; if this was 

 connected with the spot group the discharge must 

 have been directed tangentially, not radially, from the 

 sun. The spot group persisted through four rotations, 

 being- last seen on December 7. 



The report also gives the result of a comparison 

 between the drawings of faculae and the photograph.-? 

 of calcium flocculi. A close correspondence in posi- 

 tion is found, so that every prominent flocculus has 

 an accompanying facula. 



A research is also in progress with the view of 

 NO. 2651, VOL. 105] 



tracing the flow of faculae in regions of long-continued 

 spot activity. It is anticipated that this flow will 

 prove to be connected with the cyclonic movements 

 that produce the magnetic field in sun-spots. 



The Structure of the Universe. — Science for 

 July 23 contains a lecture on this subject by Prof. 

 VV. D. MacMillan, of the University of Chicago. 

 Prof. MacMillan dwells on the numerous analogies 

 between the microcosm of atoms and electrons and 

 the stellar universe. For example, he shows the 

 close analogy between the two electrons of the 

 hydrogen atom and the sun-Neptune system, the 

 relation between their diameters and mutual distance 

 being about the same. He gives the number of atoms 

 in the solar system as 6x10", and the volume of the 

 sun's domain in the stellar universe as 20 cubic 

 parsecs, "or 6x 10" c.c. So that, on the average, there 

 is I atom to 10 c.c, which would put the atoms 

 about as far apart relatively to their diameter as the 

 stars. 



It will be remembered that Prof. Eddington and 

 others have recently made the suggestion that the 

 annihilation of atoms through collision and the con- 

 sequent release of their stores of energy may be going 

 on in the hottest stars, and thus add enormously to 

 the duration of their output of light and heat. Prof. 

 MacMillan endorses these speculations, and adds the 

 suggestion that the radiant heat of the stars in its 

 passage through space rnay perform the converse 

 transformation and build up matter once more from 

 the products of such atomic collisions, restoring to 

 them the property of mass which they had lost. He 

 claims as a result of these agencies to have con- 

 structed a universe that is infinite, eternal, and un- 

 changeable. But he can scarcely claim that this con- 

 clusion is based exclusively on known facts. Many 

 of his postulates are doubtful, and rest on analogy 

 onlv. 



Textile Industries and Technical Education 

 in Canada and the United States. 



PROF. ALFRED F. BARKER, of the Textile 

 Industries Department of the University of 

 Leeds, has written an interesting report * of nearly 

 130 pages of text, accompanied by numerous photo- 

 graphic illustrations, of a visit paid in the summer of 

 19 19 to Canada and the United States. In the course 

 of the report he discusses, among other matters, the 

 vast resources in water-power of Canada, which, used 

 directly or in the development of electrical energy, 

 render to manufacturing industry an immense ser- 

 vice, and also education and educational institutions, 

 housing, work and wages, and industrial enterprise as 

 they came under his observation in both Canada and 

 the States ; and he offers interesting comparisons with 

 the conditions which prevail in the L^nited Kingdom. 

 Prof. Barker is, however, chicflv concerned with the 

 extent, variety, and progress of textile manufacture 

 connected with the production of cotton, wool, and 

 silk goods. He was everywhere given the fullest 

 facilities for his inquiries and investigations, with the 

 result that his observations cannot fail to be of the 

 highest interest and value to producers and merchants 

 engaged in these industries. 



Almost all the cotton mills in the Dominion are 

 in the province of Quebec, attributable. Prof. Barker 

 observes, possiblv to climatic conditions, to the mani- 

 pulative skill and cheap labour of the French Cana- 

 dian, or to some combination of all these causes with 



I ■' A Summrr To'ir (Tqi9> throueh the Textile Districts of Canada and 

 the United States." By Prof. A. F. Barker. Pp. xi-fi97. (Leeds: 

 Printed by Jowett and Sowry, Ltd , n.d.) 



