June 14, 



19 1 7] 



NATURE 



3'D 



passing through a range ii. which the pressure falls 

 rather slowly with change of composition, and finally 

 falling rapidly to the dissociation pressure of FejO^, 

 which is very low. This in turn dissociates into 

 oxvgen and a mixture of oxides the character of 

 which has not yet been determined. The properties 

 of FeO are still practically unknown. 



In the March-April number of the Bulletin de la 

 Societe d' Encouragement pour I'Industrie yationale 

 Prof. Ch. Fery gives some particulars of the work 

 of the optical laboratory of the Ecole de Physique et 

 de Chimie Industrielles at Paris. The present labora- 

 tory has been available for students for four years. 

 Before and since its erection many important re- 

 searches have been carried out, and, more particu- 

 larly, the experiments undertaken so successfully of 

 recent years by Prof. Fery on optical pyrometry. Prof. 

 F^ry is probably the most competent authority on 

 this subject, and his methods may be said to be of 

 almost universal application in works practice. 

 Among other recent investigations may be mentioned 

 the following : — Research on the calorific emission of 

 the sun ; note on the solar constant and apparent tem- 

 perature of the sun ; researches on radiation ; an ab- 

 sorption spectrophotometer ; an electric chronometer ; a 

 new thermo-electric calorimeter ; the principle of a new- 

 method of measuring the velocity of light ; and the chemi- 

 cal theory of lead-plate accumulators. The laboratory 

 was the birthplace of the Grassot fluxmeter and the 

 now world-famed Meker burner. This list shows that 

 the laboratory has been keenly alive to industrial and 

 scientific research, as well as to instruction. Special 

 dark-rooms are provided in the laboratory for photo- 

 metric and other optical experiments, wh'le a balcony 

 allows of experiments being conducted in the open 

 air. Further rooms are provided for work on the 

 optical bench, for the metallography of steel and 

 alloys, and for chemical experiments. Special rooms 

 are provided in the basement, built on masonry foun- 

 dations, for work where absence of vibration is re- 

 quired. All rooms are carefully heated, lighted, and 

 ventilated. The new electrochemical and physical 

 laboratories and that devoted to the investigation of 

 dyes, the mineralogical collections, the central library, 

 and the lecture-rooms, are all built on modern prin- 

 ciples, and directed, like the optics laboratory, with 

 due regard to modern teaching and research require- 

 ments. 



Messrs. A. and C. Black, Ltd., announce for 

 immediate publication "An Introduction to the Physio- 

 logy and Psychology of Sex," by Dr. S. Herbert. 

 The work will direct attention to the important facts 

 respecting sex, mating, and reproduction, from the 

 physiological and psychological points of view. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



_ Comet 1917& (Schaumasse). — The following * con- 

 tinuation of the ephemeris for Greenwich midnight 

 given in Nature of May 31 has been received from 

 Coj>enhagen : — 



i9»7 R.A. Decl. Loir r Log A Mag. 



h. m. s. , 



June 15 9 25 28 4- 18 24-8 



17 28 2 17 12-3 9-9829 00550 IO-6 



21 32 8 15 12-5 00033 0-1071 10-9 



25 35 20 13 36-7 0-023S 0-1528 1 1-3 



29 37 59 12 17-5 0-0442 0-1925 1 1-6 



July 3 40 17 II 103 6-0642 0-2276 1 1-8 



7 42 21 10 1 1-9 0-0837 02587 12- 1 



The Spectrum of Comet 1917a (Mellish).— Prof. 

 Frost reports that the spectrum of Mellish 's comet, as 

 observed at the Yerkes Observatorv on March 21, 



showed a cfose resemblance to that of Morehouse's 

 comet (Journ. R.A.S. Canada, vol. xi., p. 196). The 

 cyanogen band 3883 and the 'blue carbon band, with 

 its red edge at 4741, were strong, and there were 

 other bands at 3914, 4017, and 5075. It may be re- 

 marked that the band 3914 was probably the negative 

 band of nitrogen at that wave-length, while 4017 and 

 5075 would appear to be two of the bands of the 

 low-pressure spectrum of carbon monoxide, these being 

 especially characteristic of the tails of comets. 



Effective Temper.^tures of Stars.— The values of 

 stellar temperatures derived by Rpsenberg from 

 comparisons of the intensity at different wave-lengths 

 in photographic spectra have been discussed by Dr. 

 Wilsing (Astronomische Nachrichten. No. 4881). A 

 new reduction of Rosenberg's observations has brought 

 the results for stars of early type into much closer 

 accordance with the Potsdam values, as will appear 

 from the examples included in the following table : — 



T>'pc Rosenberg Rosenberg Scheiner 



* corrected and W ilsing 



aAndromedae ... 1.^2 33,600 13,500 8,800 



a Pegasi 1.^2 27,500 12,200 13,600 



y Geminorum ... I.a 2 16,000 10,000 11,800 



o Aquilas I.a 2, 10,500 7,700 7,700 



Tj Bootis l\.a 5,500 4,700 5,200 



y Cygni i n.a 5,100 4,400 6,000 



« Bootis \\.a-l\\.a 5,300 4,500 4,200 



a Bootis \\.a-ll\.a 3,100 2,800 3,600 



/SAndromedae ... ll.a-lll.a 2,650 2,400 3,000 



a Orionis ll\.a 2,200 2,000 3,000 



Scheiner and Wilsing's values were based upon 

 visual observations with a spectrophotometer. 



I 



NO. 2485, VOL. 99] 



THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE ROYAL 

 SOCIETY. 



N the annual report of the council of the Royal 

 Society, adopted at a special general meeting' in 

 November last, certain changes in one of the statutes 

 relating to the election of fellows were submitted. 

 These changes were put forward after detailed de- 

 liberation by the council, and were based upon a report 

 prepared by a committee appointed to consider the 

 subject. Statute XII. of the society provides for the 

 special election of persons who "either have rendered 

 conspicuous service to the cause of science, or are 

 such that their election would be of signal benefit to 

 the society, provided that not more than two persons 

 shall be so recommended in any one calendar year, 

 and if two persons be elected in any one year there 

 shall be no election in the following year." 



By the new statute proposed by the council and 

 adopted at the special meeting on November 2, 1916, 

 the council could recommend to the society for elec- 

 tion "(A) Privy Councillors whose election would assist 

 the society; (B) men distinguished in the scientific or 

 educational service of the State, or by their services 

 to science and its applications, provided that (i) the 

 number of fellows in Class A shall not exceed twenty- 

 five at any time, including the fellows elected as Priv\' 

 Councillors under the statutes in force before 1903 ; (2) 

 the number of fellows in Class B shall not exceed 

 twenty-five at any time, not more than five being 

 elected in any one year." As in the original ,statute, 

 any person so recommended for election had to receive 

 the votes of two-thirds of the members of council 

 present, and the number of votes in his favour had to 

 be not fewer than eleven. 



In February last a memorial signed by a large 

 number of fellows of the society was presented to the 

 council asking that steps should be taken to consult 



