490 



NATURE 



[September 15, 1898 



submarine cables, through which the electricity, generated on 

 shore, is transmitted to the buoys. In France the lighting of 

 buoys by means of gas has been largely adopted of late years, 

 the lighthouse authorities of that country having taken up the 

 matter with their usual vigour, and placed such buoys in many 

 parts of their coasts. In Germany, Denmark, Russia, Holland, 

 and Italy numerous gas-lighted buoys have replaced unlighted 

 ones, and, in fact, the system is coming into use in all parts of 

 the world. It may truly be said that the development of this 

 system of illuminated buoys is the most important improvement 

 in our coast-marking arrangements that has taken place in the 

 last five and twenty years. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Chacma Baboon ( Cynocephalus porcarius, 9 ) 

 from South Africa, two Egyptian Geese {Chenalopex cegypti- 

 acus) from Africa, presented by Mr. J. E. Matcham ; eleven 

 Long-eared Bats {Pkcottis auritus), European, presented by 

 Mr. F. Cane : a Stanley Chevrotain ( Tragulus stanleyanus, i ) 

 from Java, presented by Miss Norah F. L. Briggs ; two Hawk- 

 billed Turtles {Chelone imbricata) from the West Indies, pre- 

 sented by Mr. H. Skinner ; a Leopard {Felis pardus) from 

 Japan, a Kinkajou {Cercoleptes caudivolvulus, i), two Spotted 

 Cavies {Calogenys pacd), a Ring-tailed Coati [Nasua rufa), a 

 Plumbeous Snake {Oxyrhopus clcelia) from South America, a 

 Punctated Agouti {Dasyprocta punctata), six Spiny-tailed 

 Iguanas {Ctenosaura acanthura) from Central America, a 

 Festive Amazon {Chrysotis festiva) from Guiana, a Nose-horned 

 Viper {Bitis nasicornis) from West Africa, deposited ; a 

 Kinkajou {Cercoleptes caudivolvulus) from South America, 

 f>urchased. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



Comet Tempel 1866 ? — A telegram from Kiel, dated 



: September 14, tells us that Herr Pechuele discovered a comet 



on September 13, I5h. 47'5m., at Copenhagen, having R.A. 



. 6h. lom. 8s. and Dec. + 8° 55' 40". This, as the telegram 



informs us, is probably Tempel's comet of 1866. 



The Variation of Latitude at Tokyo.— In the Publica- 

 tions of the Earthquake Investigation Committee (Nos. I. and 

 21.), Mr. H. Kimura gives a preliminary report of his investiga- 

 tion of the variation of latitude at the place of observation, 

 iiamely Tokyo. The first series of pbservations extended from 

 July 21, 1895, to June 26, 1896, and the second from September 

 13, 1896, to September 25, 1897. The instrument employed 

 •was a Wanschaffs zenith telescope of 81 mm. aperture and 

 100 cm. focal length, and Talcott's method of observation was 

 ■used. The climatic conditions at the station were not always 

 . quite favourable, but generally the weather was dry and clear in 

 winter, and misty and cloudy in summer. Mr. Kimura, besides 

 :giving the means and monthly means of observations, describes 

 graphically the variation as observed by him. In 1895 ^^ 

 maximum occurred towards the end of November, and amounted 

 to about i6"'835, the following minimum being reached about 

 the end of June 1896. As a break occurred in the observations 

 at this period, the exact time of occurrence cannot be accurately 

 stated, but its amount was i6"*5i approximately. The time of 

 ithe next maximum cannot be gathered from the curve, as the 

 liiatter is very flat at maximum ; its value is about l6"*86s. The 

 (following minimum is sharply marked, and occurred about 

 .August 12, 1897, amounting to i6"*39. 



When the whole subject of the variation of latitude comes to 

 tbe studied, these observations should be found very useful. 



Motion of Stars in the Line of Sight.— M. Deslandres 

 contributes to the Bulletin of the Astronomical Society of France 

 • (September) a short article on the photography of the motion of 

 stars in the line of sight by means of the spectroscope, and 

 :accompanies it by some excellent phototypes from four of his 

 valuable negatives. Each stellar spectrum is compared with the 

 spectrum of some terrestrial substance. Thus Capella, a solar 

 star, is compared chiefly with iron, calcium, manganese, &c., 

 its radial velocity being deduced as -H43*8 kilometres per 

 second. The velocities of the components of j3 Aurigse were 

 found to be -84'5 and -^ 97 kilometres per second; while 



NO. 1507, VOL. 58] 



Sirius and 7 Pegasi were observed to have velocities of -f i8'33 

 and -278 kilometres per second respectively. 



M. Deslandres remarks that the observatories of Paris, 

 Potsdam, and Pulkova are the only ones that are organised in a 

 proper manner for this kind of work ; but the time will come 

 when these stellar motions will be determined with the regularity 

 of meridian observations at the present time. 



The August Meteors. —The fall of meteors in August was 

 greater than was anticipated, and was fortunately observed at a 

 number of stations. In the Bulletin de la Sociiti Astronomique 

 de France for September will be found several accounts of the 

 observations made in France, notably those made at the 

 Juvisy Observatory by M. Antoniadi, and at Listrac by M. 

 Henri Pineau. In both of these accounts the observations 

 have been plotted on star charts, and show well the abundance 

 of the Perseids ; but, unfortunately, no mention is made of the 

 deduced radiant point, so that we are unable to see whether any 

 variation has occurred from the previously observed positions. 



Drawings of the Milky Way. — We are asked to an- 

 nounce that a limited number of copies of Dr. O. Boeddicker's 

 pictures of the Milky Way, lithographed by Mr. W. H. 

 Wesley, can now be obtained on payment of five shillings a set 

 to defray postage and other expenses. The drawings show the 

 Milky Way from the North Pole to 10° of South Declination, as 

 seen by the unaided eye. They were made by Dr. Boeddicker, 

 at the Earl of Rosse's Observatory, Birr Castle, in the years 

 1884-89, and are full of delicate detail. Applications for 

 copies should be sent to Mr. R. J. Sheppard, Stationer, Parsons- 

 town, Ireland. 



T^ 



THE AURORA OF SEPTEMBER 9. 



HE evening of Friday, September 9, was characterised by an 

 exceedingly brilliant auroral display, which appears to have 

 attracted considerable attention. Immediately after dark, about 

 7 p.m., the main arc was distinctly seen above the northern 

 horizon, and as the sky gradually became less luminous, numerous 

 streamers of varying brightness made their appearance. At 

 Kensington, where the ground lights were somewhat glaring, 

 the main arc appeared simple, and not made up of several 

 parallel arches, as is often the case with bright aurorge. Its extent 

 would be about 60° in azimuth, the upper limit of the arch being 

 about 20°. This was continuously very bright throughout the 

 evening, and the maximum brightness was very conspicuously 

 ^^ magnetic,^' and not ^^geographical" north. The intensity, 

 number, and extent of the streamers varied considerably, and in 

 no case did any particular streamer persist more than about ten 

 minutes. At one time, about 8 p.m., two large streamers were 

 noticed which extended much beyond the zenith, having a 

 length of about 130°, and frequently the whole northern arc 

 was bounded by radiating glows extending about 40° or 50°. 

 No corona was seen during the display, but several times a set of 

 large streamers, in breaking up, formed masses of luminous 

 auroral clouds which were scattered on the whole celestial 

 hemisphere. 



The only colour observed was pale violet, with, perhaps, a 

 tinge of green, but no trace of ruddiness was at any time visible. 



The dark patches frequently seen in previous aurorge bounding 

 the northern horizon under the main arc were very distinct, and 

 although resembling ordinary clouds in form, were evidently 

 connected with the disturbance. 



Observations with the spectroscope showed the greenish- 

 yellow line with ease, and the spectrum was bright enough to 

 exhibit several bands extending through the green blue and 

 violet, a dark interval at the extreme violet end reminding one 

 forcibly of the carbon band spectrum at this region. Several 

 attempts were made to photograph the spectrum, exposures of 

 thirty minutes, i^ hours and 2^ hours respectively being given, 

 but no spectrum was visible on development. 



Several letters have reached us with reference to recent auroral 

 displays. Mr. D. Pidgeon, writing from Leatherhead, Surrey, 

 says :— " There was a bright aurora here on the 7th, 9th and loth. 

 The display on the 9th was magnificent, streamer after streamer 

 shooting across the sky from 9 o'clock to 10.30. At a later 

 hour the luminosity became localised in a long low arch, which 

 stretched for many degrees east and west of north. Only stars 

 of the first magnitude could be seen at 10 o'clock in a quite 

 clear sky, the light of which was such as to make reading easy." 

 Mr. W. F. Spear observed the display at Cricklewood, London, 

 on September 9, at 8. 15, and he remarks with reference to it :— 



