;54 



NATURE 



[June 28, 19 17 



turbations, the foHowing hyperbolic elements were de- 

 rived : — 



Osculation 1915 February 100. 



7=1915 July i7-i8869±o-ooi59 Berlin M.T. 

 to =247" 46' 5"6"±3*4i" 

 0,= 72° 16' 24-i"±3 66" 



/ = 54° 27' 22l"±5Il" 



^ =i"oo5338±o"ooooo6 

 e =i"ooo235±o"oooo6i 



The residual errors are probably to be attributed 

 to the division of the nucleus into .two parts, which 

 was observed about two months before perihelion 

 passage, and before it can be considered certain that 

 the true orbit was hyperbolic it will be necessary to 

 discuss separately the < observations before and after 

 the change in the nucleus. 



The Solar Physics Observatory. — The activities of 

 the Solar Physics Observatory, Cambridge, appear to 

 have been seriously curtailed through the absence of 

 members of the staff on war service. From the fourth 

 annual report, recently issued by the director, we 

 gather that apart from some unfruitful attempts to 

 photograph the spectrum of Venus with high dis- 

 persion, no observations other than those made with 

 the spectroheliograph were undertaken. The sun's 

 disc was photographed in calcium light on 117 days, 

 and prominences at the limb on 104 days. These pro- 

 vide records for sixteen out of the thirtv-seven days 

 for which there were gaps in the Kodaikanal series, 

 and the combined results account for 345 days during 

 the year 1916. Laboratory experiments on the spectra 

 of carbon and its compounds were continued, and fur- 

 ther investigations of atmospheric electricity were car- 

 ried on by Mr. C. T. R. Wilson. 



The Spectra of Nebulae. — Some interesting results 

 which have recently been obtained at the Lick Observa- 

 tory with a new quartz spectrograph are described by 

 Dr. W. H. Wright in Lick Observatory Bulletin 

 No. 291. The optical parts are two 60° quqrtz prisms 

 of the Cornu type, with lenses of about 11 in. focal 

 length and 2 in. effective aperture. The instrument 

 can be used either with or without slit, the collimator 

 in the latter case being replaced bv a concave lens of 

 equivalent focal length, and the whole instrument so 

 adjusted with respect to the mirror of the Crossley 

 reflector that parallel light falls on the prisms. It has 

 laeen very successfuUv employed as a slitless spectro- 

 graph in a study of the distribution in planetary 

 nebulae of the various radiations which make up their 

 spectra, an image of the nebula being produced by 

 'each line of the spectrum. The monochromatic 

 images thus obtained have, been found to exhibit a 

 great variety of forms for the same object. If there 

 be a nucleus, it is usually represented by a streak of 

 continuous spectrum threading the centres, giving the 

 appearance of beads on a string. A number of strong 

 nebular lines which have previously escaped notice 

 have been detected in these photographs, among them 

 "being 3313, 3342, and 3444 A. Another interesting 

 fact brought to light is that most of the planetary 

 nebulae show a faint continuous spectrum which be- 

 gins abruptly at about 3652 A, near the termination of 

 the hydrogen series, and extends with great uniformity 

 far into the ultra-violet. A similar appearance has 

 been noted in the spectra of solar prominences, and 

 a corresponding absorption effect has been observed In 

 the spectra of such stars as Vega and Sirlus. There 

 Is reason to suppose that the continuous spectrum^ In 

 question is associated with the Balmer hydrogen series, 

 and that Its production is in some way Involved in the 

 mechanics of line series radiation. Further laboratory 

 investigations in this connection are suggested. 



NO. 2487, VOL. 99] 



ANNUAL CONGRESS OF THE SOUTH- 

 EASTERN UNION OF SCIENTIFIC 

 SOCIETIES, 

 'T'HE union held its annual congress at the Linnean 



•■■ Society's rooms in Burlington House on June 

 6-9, which was well attended by delegates from all 

 parts of the union's area. This was the first occasion 

 of its meeting in central London, and was an undoubted 

 success, The address by the president, Dr. W. Mar- 

 tin, dealt with "Science and the Industries," and 

 traced the lines on which, by halting steps, the Govern- 

 ment had in the past encouraged the study of science. 

 It called on the nation to insist that its leaders shall 

 give due recognition to the truth that the country's 

 future is bound up with giving the fullest encourage- 

 ment to workers in all branches of science, and urged 

 the union to take its place as an organisation of value 

 and power in the strenuous times before the country 

 when the war is over. 



Amid the upheavals to which industries have been 

 subjected during the beating of ploughshares and 

 pruning-hooks into Implements of war, it may be that 

 the country has already proceeded apace towards 

 greater triumphs. Old machinery has been scrapped, 

 antiquated custom flung away, and resources have 

 been adapted to the stern demands of a pepple under 

 arms. With new measures, new men have arisen. 

 Unity, organisation, co-ordination, and precision are 

 the weapons with whicli without misgiving the future 

 may ^ be 'faced. May we not fitly anticipate 

 the time when from the ashes of an otiose past 

 and an age of neglect a rejuvenated nation will have 

 arisen among whom lethargy and indifference shall 

 be as aliens? At such a time we shall regard the 

 period before the shock of war was upon us as the 

 ultimate remnant of the Dark Ages, and shall fall to 

 understand that mental attitude which considered 

 science a luxury and its application to the industries 

 in need of advocacy. 



Dr. A. Smith Woodward, in addition to lecturing 

 on the n^ammallan remains which have from time to 

 time been found In superficial deposits of London, 

 showed members the human remains which were dug 

 up at Piltdown by the late Mr. Dawson and himself, 

 including the recently found fragments which have 

 proved the existence of at least one other human 

 being of the Piltdown race. This was followed by an 

 address by Mr. E. A. Martin, giving a general sum- 

 mary of what Is known of the early types of man and 

 their implements. Prof. MacBride raised a burning 

 question in his paper, "Are Acquired Characters In- 

 herited?" and dealt to some extent with the experi- 

 ments of Kammerer on newts and salamanders, claim- 

 ing that as a result the question asked in the title of 

 his paper could be answered In the affirmative. In 

 the discussion it was pointed out by Dr. Boulenger 

 that some doubt had been thrown upon Kammerer's 

 work. 



A paper was read by Dr. J. S. Haldane on "Ab- 

 normal Atmospheres and the Means of Combating 

 Them," followed by a visit to Messrs. Siebe, Gorman 

 a*nd Co. 's works at Westminster, under his guidance. 

 Here William Walker, the diver who a few years ago 

 so successfully laid foundations under peat and water 

 for tne then threatened Winchester Cathedral, gave 

 an exhibition of the diver's work under water, In the 1 

 great tank on the premises, where many a modern 

 diver has been initiated into the art. A number of the 

 guests, in Dr. Haldane's company, were then im- 

 mured In a chamber while the pressure was raised 

 to nearly two atmosoheres, while another party! 

 entered a second chamber in which the pressure wasj 

 reduced' to nearly half an atmosphere. 



