October 13, 1898] 



NA TURE 



583 



from Australia :— Contributions to the Flora of New Guinea ; 

 Contributions to the Flora of Queensland (Fungi) ; and Edible 

 Fruits indigenous to Queensland ; all by F. M. Bailey. 



An elaborate illustrated catalogue of chemical and physical 

 apparatus has been issued by Messrs. Reynolds and Branson, 

 Ltd., Leeds. No less than three thousand separate pieces of 

 apparatus are numbered in the catalogue, and very many of 

 them are illustrated. The large number of physical appliances 

 and instruments included in the catalogue is an indication of the 

 important part which instruction in physics now takes in science 

 schools. Teachers of practical science, more especially those 

 working in connection with the Department of Science and Art, 

 will find the catalogue serviceable when considering the 

 purchase of apparatus. 



M. C. SCHUVTEN publishes in the BuUelin of the Belgian 

 Academy a continuation of his researches on the double salicylates 

 of certain metals and antipyrin. He now finds that the salicy- 

 lates of magnesium, of manganese and of lead, as well as certain 

 others previously investigated, give rise to compounds with 

 antipyrin, while he has found it impossible to realise, under the 

 same conditions, the formation of double salicylates of aluminium, 

 of chromium, and of uranium and antipyrin. The case of 

 bismuth is reserved for future consideration. M. Schuyten 

 calls attention to the instability of these compounds in which 

 water easily promotes dissociation. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Sooty Mangabey ( Cercocebus fuliginosus, ? ) 

 from West Africa, presented by Mrs. Henry Lloyd ; a Mozam- 

 bique Monkey {Cercopithecus pygerylhnis) from East Africa, 

 presented by Mrs. Snowden ; an Indian Wild Dog {Cyon auk- 

 hunettsis, <J ) from India, presented by Surgeon-Lieut.-Colonel 

 J. Duke ; an Egyptian Jerboa (Dipus agyptius) from North 

 Africa, presented by Mr. David Devant ; a Suricate {Stiricata 

 ietradactyla) from South Africa, presented by Mrs. Molteno ; 

 a Golden Eagle (Aqtiiia chrysatus), British, presented by the 

 Rev, F. Foxhambert ; a Black-headed Caique ( Caica vulan- 

 ocephala) from Demerara, presented by Master Bertie Standing ; 

 a Common Squirrel {Scuirus vulgaris) from Austria, presented 

 by Mr. A, M. Wigram ; a Puma (Felts concolor) from America, 

 a Reticulated Python {Python reticulatus) from the East Indies, 

 deposited. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 

 Variable Stars in Clusters. — American astronomers 

 have, during the last few years, made great advance in increas- 

 ing our knowledge relating to variable stars. Nor have they 

 limited themselves to photographic surveys of variable stars 

 of the ordinary type, but have been examining clusters of stars 

 to detect variability. Prof. Bailey, who has been very successful 

 in this direction, has just undertaken a systematic search which 

 has led him to some most interesting results (Harvard College 

 Observatory Circular, No, 33). This Circular informs us that 

 the whole number of stars examined in the photographs was 

 19,050, of which 500 were found to be variable, thus represent- 

 ing a variability of about 3 per cent. This at first does not 

 seem a very high percentage, but, as Prof. Pickering points 

 out, •' it does not follow, however, that clusters in general 

 contain more variable stars than occur elsewhere, for, if we 

 except the four clusters w Centauri, Messier 3, Messier 5, and 

 Messier 15, which contain 393 variables, an average of 7 per 

 cent., the remaining 19 clusters have 116 variables among 

 i3»35o stars, or less than i per cent." Even clusters 

 which are equally rich in stars show great differences in 

 this respect : thus the great cluster in Hercules (Messier 

 13) has only two variables out of looo stars, while in 

 Messier 3, of 900 stars, 132 are variable. Not only have 

 variables in these clusters been detected, but their periods 



NO. 151 I, VOL. 58] 



and light curves are being carefully determined. In the case of 

 the cluster w Centauri, which up to the present has received 

 most attention, 150 photographs have been taken with the 

 13-inch, and already 10,000 measures have been made. Of 

 the 3000 stars used in this cluster for comparison, 125 have 

 been recorded as variable. The periods of 106 have been 

 determined, and 98 of these have periods less than 24 hours, 

 the largest range in variation being about 5 magnitudes ; no star 

 is included which varies less than half a magnitude. Prof, 

 Pickering has divided these 98 variables into four classes, 

 namely, those which have a very rapid rise to maximum, those 

 like 1) Aquilfe with a secondary maximum, those whose times 

 of increase and decrease are about equal, and lastly those which 

 drop very suddenly from maximum to minimum : attention is 

 called also to the marked regularity in the periods. In referring 

 to the kind of clusters in which variables have been detected, he 

 says that up to the present time only such dense globular 

 clusters as Messier 3, Messier 5, and the great cluster in 

 Hercules have been found to contain them. 



Large Meteors in 1897 and 1898. — Mr. W. F. Denning 

 in the Observatory for the present month brings together a 

 number of notes concerning fireballs and bright meteors which 

 have been observed in England during the last year and a half. 

 In many cases sufficient and accurate information was available 

 to enable their real paths to be determined. The radiant-points 

 which have been derived from these observations are in most 

 cases, as he says, very interesting, as they suggest evidence of 

 new showers or corroboration of others previously observed. 



As we have on several occasions in this column pointed out 

 the great necessity of obtaining accurate and complete inform- 

 ation of the path of these roving bodies through our atmosphere, 

 so that observations may be comparable with one another, it is 

 encouraging to read, and Mr. Denning himself is the writer, 

 that " it is clear . . . that this department is receiving more 

 attention than formerly. It is hoped that this interest will con- 

 tinue to increase, and that the fortunate spectators of fireballs 

 will never forget to record those all-important features, viz. the 

 direction and position of the flight amongst the stars and the 

 duration of visibility. " 



Reminiscences of an Astronomer. — Prof. Simon New- 

 comb continues in The Atlantic Monthly for Sejptember his 

 reminiscences, from which we make the following few extracts. 

 In one of his journeys to observe a total eclipse of the sun he 

 went to Gibraltar, and one of the first things he did the morn- 

 ing after his arrival was to choose "a convenient point on one 

 of the stone parapets for ' taking the sun,' in order to test the 

 running of my chronometer. I had some suspicion as to the 

 result, but was willing to be amused. A sentinel speedily in- 

 formed me that no sights were allowed to be taken on the forti- 

 fication. I told him I was taking sights on the sun, not on the 

 fortification. But he was inexorable ; the rule was that no 

 sights of any sort could be taken without a permit." Needless 

 to say Prof. Newcomb soon obtained the required permit, and 

 was allowed to continue his sights without interruption. 



Having some important work to do with regard to the 

 motion of the moon, and the Franco- Prussian war being on at 

 the time. Prof. Newcomb went to Berlin, vid Naples to pass 

 the winter, and to wait till the war was over, until he could 

 visit Paris. Having arranged his luggage so that on landing at 

 Naples the Custom House officer should find anything that was 

 subject to duty at the top of his trunk, the officer con- 

 temptuously threw the top things aside, and devoted himself to 

 a search at the bottom. " The only unusual object he stumbled 

 upon was a spy-glass enclosed in a shield of morocco. Perhaps 

 a gesture or a remark on my side aroused his suspicions. He 

 opened the glass, tried to take it to pieces, inspected it inside 

 and out, and was so disgusted with his failure to find anything 

 contraband in it that he returned everything to the trunk, and 

 let us off," 



Speaking of Prof. Auwers, who " stands at the head of 

 German astronomy," he says, " in him is seen the highest type 

 of the scientific investigator of our time, one perhaps better 

 developed in Germany than in any other country. The work of 

 men of this type is marked by minute and careful research, un- 

 tiring industry m the accumulation of facts, caution in propound- 

 ing new theories or explanations, and, above all, the absence of 

 effort to gain recognition by being the first to make a discovery." 

 Journeying to Pulkova to visit Otto Struve, Prof. Newcomb 

 relates many interesting reminiscences. After mentioning that 



