September 15, 1898] 



NATURE 



491 



"Except in extent and duration, the phenomenon differed in 

 a way from what I have frequently seen on clear cold even- 

 ings when wintering in the north of Norway, beyond the Arctic 

 circle." Mr. F. C. Constable observed the display at Fam- 

 bridge Station, Essex, at 8.45 p.m. on Friday, September 9. 

 He writes; — "I saw two colourless streamers of light running 

 from a point to the west of north up nearly to the zenith — one 

 covered the north star, the other to the west. They disappeared 

 in about a minute. This morning the Fambridge station-master 

 told me that late in the evening of Friday, about the same 

 time, many streamers were seen, and the telegraph would not 

 work, the bells ringing of themselves." 



In connection with the recent display it is interesting to 

 note that the unusually large spot which came over the eastern 

 limb of the sun on Saturday, September 3, was on the central 

 meridian of the sun's disc on Friday the 9th, at about the time 

 the aurora was at its maximum. And still further, the automatic 

 recording instrument for magnetic declination in the Physics 

 Department at South Kensington showed a large disturbance the 

 same evening. From the photographic record it appears that 

 the disturbance began about 7.30 p.m., and in 15 minutes 

 reached a value of 30' of arc; by 8 p.m. the declination was 

 normal again, but immediately afterwards the needle travelled 

 on in the opposite direction to the first displacement, and 

 reached a second maximum eastwards about 8. 15. By 8.30 the 

 needle had again assumed its normal position, and no further 

 disturbance, other than the usual diurnal one, has yet been 

 recorded. Thus the declination magnet was deflected over 1° in 

 the hour from 7.30-8.30 p.m. This leaves little doubt as to the 

 definite connection between the position of the spot on the solar 

 disc, the magnetic variation, and the aurora. Confirmation of 

 this observation will be found in the announcement made by Dr. 

 Chree, in our correspondence columns, that a conspicuous 

 magnetic storm was recorded at the Kew Observatory while 

 the aurora was in progress. 



In addition to the displays referred to in the foregoing, a very 

 bright aurora was recorded by several observers on the previous 

 Friday evening, September 2, on which night the spot would be 

 coming round the eastern limb, and a search back over the 

 magnetic records for that evening shows that a disturbance was 

 photographed then also. With these two coincidences it will be 

 interesting to see if a third aurora and another magnetic disturb- 

 ance accompany the passage of this large spot over the western 

 iimb, which will be some time during to-day, September 15. 



Accounts have been received from several parts of the kingdom 

 of difficulties experienced in the transmission of telegraphic and 

 telephonic messages on Friday last, and this is a well-known 

 sign of considerable magnetic disturbance. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



At the New Mexico Agricultural College and Experiment 

 Station, Prof. C. H. T. Townsend has been appointed bio-geo- 

 grapher and systematic entomologist, E. O. Wooten professor of 

 botany, and T. D. A. Cockerell professor of entomology, in 

 addition to being station entomologist. 



The following appointments are announced : — T. Proctor 

 Hall to be professor of physics in Kansas City University ; 

 Robert B. Owens, late of the University of Nebraska, to be 

 professor of electrical engineering in McGill University, 

 Montreal ; Dr. Mark V. Slingerland, of Cornell University, to 

 be State entomologist for New York, in the place of the late Dr. 

 J. A. Lintner. 



Detailed particulars with regard to the mode of entering 

 the medical profession, the degrees and diplomas granted by the 

 various universities and corporations, and the institutions where 

 medical students are trained, are given in the educational 

 number of the British Medical Journal (August 27), and the 

 students' number of the Lancet (September 3). These numbers 

 should be seen by all students who are about to commence their 

 medical studies, and by parents who contemplate entering their 

 sons in the medical profession. Information as to schools of 

 pharmacy, medicine, dentistry, and veterinary-surgery will be 

 found in the Chemist and Druggist of September 3, and details 

 as to the staff, curriculum, and fees, in universities, colleges, 

 and other institutions, are given in the Chemical News of 

 September 2. 



NO. 1507, VOL. 58] 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS. 



Sy moils' s Monthly Meteorological Magazine, August. — British 

 local meteorological publications. This is a useful list, referring 

 mostly to the year 1897, of books and pamphlets containing 

 observations made in the British Islands, and arranged according 

 to counties. Leaving out of consideration official publications 

 such as issued by the Meteorological Office on the part of the 

 Government, or those emanating from private institutions, suah 

 as the Royal and Scottish Meteorological Societies, one is 

 struck by the numerous independent stations at which attention 

 is paid to the subject in question, some of which might advan- 

 tageously connect themselves with the Central Office. In the 

 majority of counties the Mfedical Officers of Health publish 

 valuable observations in their reports ; in addition to these, we 

 can only refer to a very few of the private organisations which 

 publish observations for a number of stations. For Surrey and 

 Kent, the Croydon Natural History Club prints daily rainfall 

 values for about seventy stations. Similarly, in Hertfordshire, 

 the Natural History Society publishes rainfall values for several 

 stations, and there is also a county organisation in Northampton. 

 In Norfolk, the Rev. Canon Du Port has published monthly 

 rainfall values at about forty stations for more than a quarter of 

 a century. The rainfall of Dorset has been discussed with great 

 care by Mr. H. Storks Eaton, and tabulated results for many 

 stations are published in Gloucester, Hereford, Lincolnshire 

 (fifty stations), Nottingham, Lancashire, and many others. — 

 Results of meteorological observations at Camden-square 

 (N.W. London) for July for forty years, 1858-97. The highest 

 maximum temperature for the period was 94° 6 (July 15, 1881), 

 and the mean of all the highest readings was 85° "2 ; this year 

 the maximum for the month was 82° "9. The average rainfall is 

 2*39 inches ; the fall for July this year only amounted to 

 I '09 inches. 



Annalen der Physik und Chemie, No. 7. — Questions con- 

 cerning the motion of translation of the luminiferous ether, by 

 W. Wien. If the ether is immovable, a thin plate possessing 

 different radiating powers for heat rays on its two faces, could 

 put itself into motion by virtue of the difference of pressure on 

 the two faces. It is possible that the ether is carried along by 

 the earth, but not by bodies of small mass. — The behaviour of 

 kathode rays parallel to the electric force, by P. Lenard. When 

 a beam of kathode rays is sent through a perforated condenser 

 in the direction of the lines of electric force, its velocity is 

 retarded, and it is more subject to deflection by a magnetic or 

 electrostatic field. — The dark kathode space, by A. Wehnelt. 

 The resistance of the dark space to electric discharge is con- 

 siderable. When the discharge proceeds through the dark 

 space only, it has a disruptive character, as if the dark space 

 were a dielectric like paraffin oil. This can be shown by 

 introducing the anode into the dark space itself Waves proceed 

 from the discharge tube, and may be placed in evidence by 

 means of a coherer. — Microscopic observations of coherers, by 

 L. Arons. The author's coherers were made by cutting a fine 

 line across a thin strip of tinfoil stuck on glass, laying a little 

 metallic powder across it, adding a drop of Canada balsam, 

 and covering with a cover-glass. The newly prepared coherers 

 had an infinite resistance. The impact of electric waves pro- 

 duced full contact, accompanied by a commotion of theparticles 

 and a play of sparks, as seen under the microscope. — Electro- 

 lytic solution of platinum and gold, by M. Margules. Platinum 

 may be dissolved in acids or caustic alkalis by sending the 

 secondary current from an induction coil through an electrolytic 

 cell with platinum electrodes. Gold is similarly dissolved, but 

 its solutions are very sensitive to light. — Theoretical derivation 

 of the constant of Dulong and Petit's law, by H. Staigmilller. 

 The derivation is based upon the assumption that the temper- 

 ature of a solid is determined by the mean kinetic energy of the 

 atom oscillating about a position of equilibrium. 



Memoirs of the St. Petersburg Society of Naturalists: 

 Zoology and Physiology, vol, xxviii. No. 2, — Researches into 

 the history of development of Cephalopoda ; and biological 

 observations on Lamellibranchiata, the formation of pigment 

 in Mytilus, and the autotomy of the syphons in Solen and 

 Solecurtus, by V, A. Fausseck, A detailed work, 270 pages, 

 with 8 plates and figures in the text, — Vol, xxviii. No. 3, 

 The changes of irritability of a muscle under the influence of a 

 direct current, by Prof, V, A. Kovalevsky (published in Comptes 

 rendus). — Ornithological researches in the Government of 

 Pskov, by K. M. Deryughin. Based upon the author's four 



