526 



NATURE 



[September 29, 1898 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a .Chimpanzee {Anthropopithecus troglo- 

 dytes, (J) from West Africa, presented by Mr. Claude E. Bird ; 

 a Rhesus Monkey {Macacus rhesus, ? ) from India, presented 

 by Mr. C. Ganz : a Brown Capuchin {Cebus fatuellus) ixom 

 Guiana, presented by Miss May Hill ; two White-throated 

 -Capuchins {Cebus hyppleuciis) from South America, presented by 

 Mrs. C. E. Cregan ; three Black-eared Marmosets {Hapale 

 penicillata) from South-east Brazil, presented by Mrs. Dal 

 Young; a Common Chameleon {Chaniceleon vulgaris) from 

 North Africa, presented by Mr. W. E. Raynes-Cole ; a Red- 

 vented Bulbul {Pyaionotus hcemorrhous) from India, deposited. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



Astronomical Occurrences in October :— 



October 2. loh. 27m. to iih. 35m. Occultation of 47 Arietis 



(mag. 5*9) by the moon. 

 .4. Tempers comet (1867 II.) due at perihelion. 

 5. 9h. 46m. Minimum of Algol (/8 Persei). 

 5. i6h. 6m. to I7h. 27m. Occultation of 132 Tauri 



(mag. 5'i) by the moon. 

 ■7. Saturn. Outer minor axis of the outer ring 



= 1 6" -09. 



7. I7h. om. Mars in conjunction with the moon ( <J 



i°25'N.). 



8. 6h. 35m. Minimum of Algol ()3 Persei). 



13. iih. om. Jupiter in conjunction with the sun. 



15. Venus. Portion of illuminated . disc = 0*52 1. 



Diameter 34" 'o. 

 35. Mars. Portion of illuminated disc = o 880. 

 Diameter 8"'0. 



16. 4h. om. Mercury 2' S. of Jupiter. 



18-20. Meteoric shower from Orion (radiant 91° -I- 15°). 

 20. Perrine-Chofardet's new comet due at perihelion. 



22. 3h. 44m. to 4h. 57m. Occultation of tt Capricorni 



(mag. 5 "2) by the moon. 

 2.2. 5h. 5m. to 5h. 51m. Occultation of p Capricorni 

 (mag. 5 'o) by the moon. 



23. 5h. 13m. to 6h. 13m. Occultation of 18 Aquarii 



(mag. 5 '4) by the moon. 



24. Uranus 54' S. of & Scorpii. 



27. 5h. om. Venus at greatest brilliancy. 

 29. I3h. 2im. to I4h. lom. Occultation of jj. Arietis 

 (mag. 5 '8) by the moon. 



The Planet between the Earth and Mars.— Herr 

 G. Witt, of the Urania Observatory, Berlin, is to be con- 

 gratulated on the fortunsvte discovery he has made while search- 

 ing photographically for minor planets. On August 14 last he 

 found on the plate he had exposed, in addition to the trail of 

 the minor planet he was hoping to catch, a second trail which 

 indicated the presence of another of these small bodies moving 

 round the sun with a more than usual velocity. Herr Witt 

 was not content, however, to let the matter rest thus, so he 

 undertook a series of eye observations and measurements which 

 •are necessary for the determination of the elements of the body 

 in question. Herr Berberich undertook the task of in- 

 vestigating its motion from these observations, and the result, 

 as far as is known, is surprisingly interesting. Instead of the 

 object being a new or a previously observed member of that 

 system of bodies which travels round the sun between Mars 

 and Jupiter, it proves to be quite an exception, its orbit lying 

 ■within that of Mars ; in other words, it travels in a path which 

 is nearer to the earth than that of Mars. It completes its re- 

 volution in a period of about 600 days ; that is, roughly, 80 days 

 less than Mars takes : both the eccentricity and inclination of 

 the orbit are considerable. This small body thus becomes our 

 nearest neighbour after the moon, and, although small, will 

 shine when closest to us as a star of the sixth magnitude. No 

 •doubt the discovery of this new planet will incite afresh ob- 

 servers of these small bodies ; and who will say that this new 

 object is the only member of its kind that performs its 

 revolution round the sun in an orbit between the earth and 

 Mars ? 



NO. 1509, VOL. 58] 



Photograph ofthe Chromosphere.— In the Astrophysical 

 Journal for August there is reproduced one of the photographs 

 taken by Prof. Naegamvala during the recent eclipse of the sun 

 in January last. Prof. Naegamvala, it will be remembered, 

 was stationed at Jeur, and although his chief instrument (a six- 

 inch Taylor Cooke triplet and two objective prisms of 45°) 

 arrived from the makers as late as January 11, he was very 

 fortunate in being able to adjust it as well as he did in the 

 small amount of time he had at his disposal. The advantage of 

 the prismatic camera over an ordinary slit spectroscope has during 

 the late eclipse been abundantly proved, for one is easily able 

 to differentiate at a glance between the spectra of the corona, 

 the chromosphere and the prominences. There are, however, 

 several points in photographs taken during an eclipse with such 

 instruments which must be carefully considered, and which, 

 when overlooked, are liable to lead to errors. An over- 

 sight of this kind occurs in the text describing the photograph 

 referred to above. The writer states : " Perhaps the most inter- 

 esting feature of the photograph is the prominence shown in two 

 lines between H and H5, but invisible in H and K and the 

 hydrogen lines." 



A glance at the photograph tells us that the prominence is 

 recorded in both the H and K light, but the peculiar position of 

 the prominence in the spectrum is due to the fact that the 

 two "lines" are the images of the upper portion of a pro- 

 minence on the chromosphere obscured by the dark moon on the 

 side opposite to that represented by the arcs. This same 

 prominence is depicted on most of the negatives that were 

 secured at Viziadrug, and is recorded not only in the H and 

 K lines, but in the hydrogen and other lines. 



Observations of Jupiter during the Opposition 1898. 

 — Sig. J. Comas Sola, observing at the Observatory of Catala 

 with an equatorial of 22 cm. aperture, made some very interesting 

 observations of the surface markings on Jupiter during the 

 period extending from January 18 to June 12 during the present 

 .year (^j-/r. Nachr., 3519). The general aspect of the surface 

 did not offer evidence of very great change, but rather indicated 

 that the planet was in a state of relative calm. More especially 

 was this the case with the northern equatorial belt, which last 

 ^ear was very large, double and perhaps triple, but recently 

 has been observed to be very simple^ showing a uniform structure 

 of a deep ruddy colour. The equatorial zone was found to be 

 of an intense reddish yellow or yellowish orange colour, and 

 was especially rich in details. In addition to the oblique grey 

 markings usually seen, the whole zone appeared flaky, and 

 when the definition was good this was found to be made up of 

 large and small dark round spots. The south equatorial belt 

 did not offer any new markings, but appeared in its normal 

 condition. The red spot, according to Sig. Sola, was always 

 very pale and grey, but in spite of its feebleness he could see 

 the whole of its elliptic contour. The eastern portion always 

 appeared darker than the rest, and sometimes a small dark spot 

 could be seen in this position. From three transits of the 

 eastern portion of this spot in April, May and June, the mean 

 Jovian longitude was found to be 36° -6 for May 23. In the map 

 showing the planisphere of this planet, which accompanies the 

 article, the reader will gather a good general idea of the positions 

 and shape of the markings which were seen by this observer. 



Periodic Comets. — In the Bulletin Astronomique for 

 September there is a most interesting article, by M. Schulhof, 

 concerning periodic comets and the present state of theories 

 connected with them. The article covers no less than forty-one 

 pages of the Bulletin, so we cannot do more than give a very 

 brief outline of its contents. M. Schulhof restricts his remarks 

 simply to the movements of the comets and their accompanying 

 perturbations, but does not touch on their chemical or physical 

 characteristics. After a brief summary of the general ideas 

 concerning the motions of each of these comets, and the part 

 taken by the several investigators who have worked out the 

 orbits, he draws attention to the great similarity between groups 

 of comets, caused, as he mentions, by the presence of our 

 planets exerting their influence as these bodies approach our 

 system. The origin of comets and their relation to meteor 

 swarms are further discussed, also the views of Schiaparelli, 

 Faye, and Tisserand. In concluding, M. Schulhof makes 

 mention of the difficulty connected with a complete reduction 

 of the observations of a comet of short period, with which all 

 computers are familiar, pointing out that the perturbatory actions 

 of all the planets except Neptune have to be taken into account. 



