August i6, 19 17] 



NATURE 



493 



The possibility of distilling oil from them has been 

 discussed with a number of essential oil distillers, and 

 as a result it appears probable that a market may be i 

 found for the stems for that purpose. | 



Dr. p. p. Podjapolsky has for some year? been in- ! 

 vestigating the occurrence of chlorophyll in various 

 animals ("On Chlorophyll in Animals and on the Fate ; 

 of Chlorophyll in the 'Animal Organism," Moscow, j 

 1916). He finds that a green pigment, giving aft j 

 absorption band between the lines B and C of the 

 spectrum, can be extracted from the wings and elytra ' 

 of a number of Orthoptera, and from the 6kin of 

 some frogs {Rana esculenta, Hyla arborea). As the 

 band described coincides exactly with that shown by 

 an extract of e green leaf, such as that of Robinia, I 

 he concludes that chlorophyll itself is present in these : 

 animals. He suggests that chlorophyll in animals 

 may be produced de novo by the animal, or it may 

 be derived from ingested plant material escaping 

 digestion wholly or in part, or it may be the result 

 of symbiosis. He states also that the chlorophyll band 

 between B and C may be observed in spring in the 

 bile of grass-fed herbivorous animals, such as cows 

 and sheep. Dr. Podjapolsky has been able to recog- 

 nise not only chlorophyll but also bile pigment in 

 a pyridine extract of the contents of the stomach of 

 the mammoth discovered in a glacier at Beriosov, 

 and now preserved at Petrograd. From the position 

 of the animal it would seem to have slipped back- 

 wards on the ice, and its violent efforts to recover 

 itself probably caused a regurgitation of bile into the 

 stomach. It is surprising that the author makes no 

 attempt to explain his use of the term chlorophyll, 

 and gives no reference to the work of Willstatter, 

 who has, of course, dearly shown that crude chloro- 

 phyll contains four distinct pigments, two green and 

 two yellow. 



The well-known "Index of Spectra" compiled by 

 Dr. Marshall Watts (London : W. Wesley and Son) 

 has been further extended by the recent publicatioxi of 

 Appendix X. The principal tables refer to the arc 

 and spark spectra of gadolinium, gallium, germanium, 

 gold, holmium, indium, and copper, and to the spectra 

 of hydrogen arid helium. Most of these have been 

 brought well up to date, but the extension of the band 

 spectrum of helium by Fowler, and the important ob- 

 servations of the "proto-helium" lines by Paschen, 

 appear to have been overlooked. In the case of 

 elements having \er\- complex spectra, the tables have 

 been shortened by the exclusion of the fainter lines, 

 and it will still be necessary to refer to original sources 

 when full information is required. Formulae are given 

 for certain spectral series, and in this connection it 

 may be noted that Dr. Watts continues to use the term 

 "oscillation-frequency" when " wa\;e-number " is 

 meant. References to recent literature are ver\' 

 numerous, and the new appendix will be a valuable 

 aid to those who are engaged in spectroscopic investi- 

 gations. 



I Messrs. Masson et Cie (Paris) have in preparation 

 ! for appearance in their series " Collection Horizon, 



Precis de Medecine et de Chirurgie de Guerre": — 



" Plaies de la Plevre et du Poumon," Prof. R. Gre- 

 . goire; "Troubles mentaux de guerre," Prof. J. 



Lupine; "*Blessuies de la Moelle et de la Queue de 

 , cheval," Drs. G. Roussy and J. Lhermitte; " Electro- 

 , diagnostic de guerre : Clinique. Conseil de reforme. 

 ; Technique et interpretation," Prof. A. Zimmern; and 



new editions of " Hysterie-Pithiatisme et Troubles 

 ' nerveux d'ordre reflexe en Neurologic de guerre," J. 

 iBabinski and J. Froment; "Formes cliniques des 

 i Lesions des Nerfs," Mme. Athanassio-Benistv ; " Les 

 iBlessures de I'abdomen," J. Abadie. 



NO. 2494, VOL. 99] 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 

 The August Meteors of 1917. — Mr. W- F. Den- 

 ning writes that at Bristol the weather conditions were 

 ven.- favourable for observation on Saturday, August 

 II. The number of meteors visible to one observer 

 in 4h. 40m. watching, gh. lom. and i4h. lom. Green- 

 wich Mean Time, was 219, of which 195 were Per- 

 seids. Mr. Denning was assisted in recording the 

 shower by a friend, Mr. P. O. Wright, who, alter- 

 nately with the former, counted the meteors as they 

 appeared. A few rather brilliant objects were seen, 

 four being estimated to equal Venus and nine to equal 

 Jupiter, while there were many first magnitudes. The 

 radiant was situated in the usual position at 45° + 58°, 

 and the point was well defined. The maximum of the 

 shower occurred between i3h. and i4h. G.M.T., when 

 more than one meteor per minute appeared, though 

 the moon, a little past the last quarter, was shining 

 in the heavens. On the whole the shower was de- 

 cidedly brighter than the average, both in point of 

 numbers and in the brilliancy of the meteors. It was 

 probably the best Perseid display witnessed at Bristol 

 since 1898. Of the minor showers of the epoch there 

 was comparatively little evidence, but there was a 

 prominent shower of Cygnids from about 292^ + 50"^. 

 The meteors were bright, and at the ends of their 

 flights burst with flashes of bluish-white light. This 

 shower was also well observed contemporary with the 

 Perseids in August, 1893. 



New Elements of M.'vrs. — An investigation of the 

 discordance between the positions of Slars deduced 

 from observations and those computed from New- 

 comb's tables has .been made by Dr. F. E. Ross, and 

 published by the Nautical Almanac Office, L'.S. Naval 

 Observaton.' (Astron. Papers, vol. ix., part ii.). The 

 following new elements of the orbit of the planet are 

 given :— 



Fundamental epoch, 1900 Jan. o, Greenwich Mean 

 Noon. T, time from this epoch in Julian centuries. 



Mean Longitude : — 



1 = 293° 44' 5i-46' + (53 rev. + 222ii7-33')T+iii84'T=. 

 Longitude of Perihelion : — 



"=334° 13' 5-53' + 6626-73»T-i-o-4675'T*-o-oo43»T». 

 Eccentricity : — 



e= 19247168' + iS^Sgs'T-o-oisS'T-. 

 = 00933 1290 + 0000092064T — ooooooc)o77T* . 



Longitude of Node : — 



6=48° 47' 11-19" + 2775.57''T-ooo5'T='-o 0192 'T'. 



Inclination to Ecliptic : — 



i=i° 51' i-2o' — 2-43o'T + oo454''T=. 

 Logarithm of Mean Distance :-^ 



log a = o- 182897034. 



Theory and observation, which were discordant to 

 the amount of six seconds of arc in R.A. in 1905 and 

 1907, are brought into more satisfactory agreement by 

 these elements. Tables for correcting the heliocentric 

 positions are given. 



Ele-MEnts of Sun's Rotation. — A new determina- 



; tion of the direction of the sun's axis has been made 



by Th. Epstein (Astronomische Nachrichten, 4892). 



It is based upon obseivations of fifty-eight spots in 



various latitudes, made in the years 1903 to 19 10. The 



value obtained for the longitude of the ascending node 



1 of the equator is 73° 592', and for the inclination of 



I the axis to tne' ecliptic 82° 437'. These are in very 



close agreement with Carrington's values, and there is 



evidently no sufficient reason to modify the existing 



tables for physical obser\'ations of the sun. 



