620 



NA TURE 



[October 28, 1897 



generally regarded as due to a reduction of the jaw, and there- 

 fore, to a certain extent, is a result of civilised or cultural habits. 



The affinities of the Hovas of Madagascar have often been 

 discussed. A recent paper by Mr. Duckworth {/ottrn. Anth. 

 Inst., 1897, p. 285) gives occasion to Zaborowski (Bull. Soc. 

 Anthrop., viii. p. 84) to review this problem; he points 

 out various difficulties in deriving the Hovas from a pure 

 Malay stock, and draws attention to numerous resemblances 

 with the Nias. The latter are by no means pure Battaks, and 

 Modigliani believes in an Indian influence. Zaborowski en- 

 deavours to show that this is largely Dravidian (rather than 

 Aryan), and hints that this is also indirectly felt among the 

 Hovas. 



During next month the following science lectures will be 

 delivered at the Royal Victoria Hall, Waterloo Bridge Road, 

 0.1 Tuesday evenings: — November 2, "Across Spitsbergen," 

 Dr. J. W. Gregory ; November 9, " Impressions of Canada," 

 Prof Beare ; November 16, "Indian Meal and English Yeast," 

 Mr. J. A. Baines ; November 23, " The Gas Helium, and how 

 It was discovered," Prof. Ramsay, F.R.S. ; November 30, 

 "Speech," Dr. B. L. Abrahams. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Green Monkey [Cercopithectis callitrichus) 

 from West Africa, presented by Miss A. E. Ard ; a Vulpine 

 Phalanger ( 7;Vc/wj-«;-«j- vulpecula) hom Australia, presented by 

 Miss Shone ; two Weka Rails [Ocydronius australis) from New 

 Zealand, presented by Mr. Forbes White ; a Cardinal Gros- 

 beak {Cardinalis virginiantis) from North America, presented 

 by Mr. Aitchinson ; a Vervet Monkey {Cercopithecus lalaiidii) 

 from South Africa, a Crowned Lemur {Lemur coronatus), a 

 Grey Lemur {Hapalemur griseus) from Madagascar, a Dia- 

 demed Amazon (Ckrysotis diademata) from South America, 

 deposited ; two Trumpeter Swans {Cygnus buccinator) from 

 North America, a Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatns), European, 

 purchased; a Wapiti Deer [Cervus canadensis), born in the 

 Gardens. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



Stars in the Large Magellanic Ci.oun. — The Henry 

 Draper Memorial has been the means by which it has been 

 ascertained that the spectra of those stars belonging to Pickering's 

 fifth type, and consisting mainly of bright lines, have hitherto 

 been found only near the central line of the Milky Way. Out 

 of the sixty-seven stars which come under this category, their 

 mean deviation from this line amounts to the remarkably small 

 angle of 2° 39', while only one object deviates more than 9°. 

 Prof. Pickering now points out that the two Magellanic clouds 

 closely resemble the Milky Way in appearance, although both 

 are detached from it and distant from the central line above 

 mentioned by about 30^ and 45°. A recent examination, by Mrs. 

 Fleming, of the spectra of the stars in the large cloud [Harvard 

 College Circular, No. 19), obtained by jneans of the Bruce photo- 

 graphic telescope, has shown that six stars have been discovered 

 whose spectra are of the fifth type ; further, that in seven stars of 

 Pickering's first type, bright hydrogen lines are present, while 

 the spectra of six known nebuke are gaseous and not continuous. 

 The Circular gives a list of the positions of these objects, but 

 their declinations are too far south to be worth repeating here. 

 It is interesting to note that Dr. Stewart in Peru independently 

 observed the presence of bright lines in twelve of these objects, 

 and communicated his results to Prof. Pickering while the 

 Circular was in preparation. 



The Photography of Delicate Celestial Phenomena. 

 — Will one ever be able to satisfactorily record the details on 

 planetary discs by the aid of photography ? Dr. T. J. J. See 

 says an emphatic No, while Prof. F. L. O. Wadsworth says 

 very probably Yes. The former, writing in the Astr. Nachr. 

 {No. 3449), bases his answer on the effect of the motion of the 



NO. 1 46 1, VOL. 56] 



air, which shifts at insensible intervals the positions of the images 

 by measurable quantities. By uninterrupted observation the 

 eye becomes capable of detecting very delicate phenomena at 

 the occasional moments of good seeing, and the mind, without 

 any special effort, " readily determines what is permanent and 

 what is transient." The photographic plate has a cumula- 

 tive power, and the partial images are superposed with the result 

 that the developed plate is impressed with an enlarged and 

 blurred image, which gives nothing but the average result for the 

 whole time of exposure. Further, Dr. See points out that small 

 details cannot be photographically recorded because, even if 

 there were no spreading of the light on the plate, no bodily 

 motion of the whole image, and the motion of the telescope 

 were perfect, phenomena smaller than o''5 could not be re- 

 corded. Thus, he says, "it does not seem possible that any- 

 thing requiring even a moderate exposure could be detected in 

 a luminous field (where the contrast is very great) when the 

 diameter of the image is less than i"." 



Prof Wadsworth (Aslrononiical Journal, No. 414) thinks, on 

 the other hand, that photography up to the present time has 

 failed only because the particular ways in which it has been 

 applied have not been perhaps the best to secure the most satis- 

 factory results. "There seems to be no good reason why we 

 should not, under proper conditions, photograph all or even 

 more (on account of greater resolving power and greater light 

 action) than we can ever be sure we really see (up to a certain 

 size of aperture not greater than 12 to 15 inches) on a planetary 

 surface." The unsteadiness of the image during exposure, which 

 is the main difficulty, he proposes to practically eliminate by 

 mounting the photographic and the observing telescope on the 

 same stand, and exposing the plate only for those intervals when ■ 

 the seeing is the best and the image. steady. As Prof. Wads- 

 worth is engaged in experiments in this direction, it would be 

 perhaps more satisfactory to await his results. The problem is, 

 however, of great interest and well worth solving. 



Comet Perrine, October 16.— From Kiel we have re- 

 ceived a Centralslelle Circular (No. i), in which we are informed 

 that Prof. Schaeberle has telegraphed the elements and ephe- 

 meris computed by Messrs. Hussey and Aitken from observations 

 made on October 16, 17 and 18. A later Circular (No. 2) gives 

 us the elements and ephemeris as calculated by Prof. H. Kreutz 

 and Herr MoUer from the observations made on October 16, 18 

 and 20. Below we give the two sets of elements mentioned 

 above, together with the ephemeris printed in the second 

 Circular : — 



Elements. 

 T= 1897 Dec. 923 G.M T. ; T= 1897 Dec. 7799 Berlin M.T. 



a' = 66 28. 

 a -32 5!i897-o 

 /=69 38^ 

 log i- =1-3525 



w = 65 4'2^ 



ft = 31 57 ■9/1897 -o 



?'=69 26-5-^ 



log ^r^ 0-13440 



1897. 



Ephemeris for izh. Berlin M.T. 

 R.A. Decl. log r. log A. 



Oct. 28 ... o 5 20 ... +81 247 .. 0-1716 ... 9-9072 ... i-i 



29 ••• 23 23 35 ... 81 41-0 ... 1700 ... 9093 ... i-i 



30 ... 22 41 27 ... 81 40-1 ... 1683 ... 9II6 ... II 



31 ... 22 I 40 ... 81 22-7 ... 1667 ... 9I4I ... I-I 

 Nov. I ...21 26 4... 8051-6 ... 1652 ... 9170 ... 11 



2 .. 20 55 44 ... 80 9-5 ... 1636 ... 9201 ... I-I 



3 ... 20 30 21 ... 79 19-7 ... 1621 ... 9234 ... I-I 



4 ... 20 9 25 ... 78 24-3 ... 1606 ... 9270 ... I-I 



5 .. 19 52 8 ... 77 25-3 ... 1592 ... 9307 ... 10 



6 ... 19 37 51 ... +76 242 ... 01577 ... 9-9346 ... i-o 



The comet's position is now very favourable for observation, 

 lying to the north of the constellation of Cepheus, passing on 

 October 29 between y Cephei and the Pole Star ; its distance 

 from the former of these being equal to about a quarter of the 

 distance between the two stars. 



Dr. B. Engelhardt's Observatory. — We notice in the 

 current number of the Astronomische Nachrichten (No. 3450) 

 that, through age and ill-health. Dr. Engelhardt is compelled 

 to discontinue his astronomical labours, and has given up his 

 observatory at Dresden. He has presented all the instruments 

 and the library to the Russian Royal University Observatory at 

 Kasan. 



