212 



NATURE 



[May 



1919 



following headings: — Agriculture and Husbandry, 

 Anthropology and Ethnology, Botany, Chemistry, 

 Geology, Mineralogy, and Palaeontology, Zoology and 

 Biology, Physiology, Anatomy, and Medicine, with the 

 subsection of Dentistry, Mathematics and Physics, 

 Astronomy, and Engineering. The catalogue is strong 

 in books published in Germany, and therefore not 

 easily procurable at the present time. An interesting 

 item offered for sale is a collection of about eight 

 hundred pamphlets dealing mainly with genetics and 

 variation, formed by the late J. R. Gregory, of the 

 University of Cambridge. Messrs. Heffer have also 

 for disposal a complete set of the Reports of the 

 Scientific Results of the Challenger Expedition, with 

 letters by Sir C. Wyville Thomson, Sir John Murray, 

 and Sir George .S. Nares inserted. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



Coming Conjunctions. — The planets Venus and 

 Jupiter, which are now conspicuous objects in the 

 evening sky, will be in conjunction in right ascension 

 on May 25, Venus being 2° 7' N. in declination. The 

 moon, which will be new an hour after noon on 

 May 29, will be in conjunction with Jupiter in the 

 early morning of June i, and with Venus in the 

 evening of the same day, and the picture presented 

 by the young moon and the two planets in the even- 

 ings of May 31 and June i may be of interest, though 

 {he conjunctions are not close. Venus will make close 

 conjunction with Saturn on July 2, when the distance 

 between the two objects will be only 10'. The appear- 

 ance of these three planets so near together in the 

 evening sky is noteworthy. 



Mars.— A memoir on Mars from the pen of Mr. 

 Harold Thomson, president of the British Astro- 

 nomical Association, appears in Scientia for May. 

 Mr. Thomson narrates concisely the facts known about 

 the planet from observation, and takes the very proper 

 view that it is not specially the function of the astro- 

 nomer to indulge in speculations as to the possibility 

 of inhabitants of other worlds based on such facts, but 

 only to collect them. Nevertheless, he makes the point 

 that the changes in the form of the dark markings 

 and in their positions may represent changes on the 

 surface of the planet which have analogies on our 

 earth in the destruction of large forest areas, the 

 ploughing up of vast tracts of land, or the changes 

 caused by the operations of husbandry, and this may 

 supply arguments to those who assert the existence 

 of intelligent beings on Mars of as great weight as 

 those furnished by the canals. The author gives no 

 definitive opinion of his own on the question, but 

 suggests that further observation may lead to sub- 

 stantial increase in our knowledge of the physical 

 conditions of the planet. 



A 



AVIATION AND WEATHER. 

 TLANTIC flying is steadily increasing in interest 

 with the delay occasioned by the weather and by 

 the increase in the number of competitors with the 

 lapse of time. If any season of the year is favourable 

 to a westerly flight it is the spring, and certainly just 

 at present the prevailing east winds over the Atlantic 

 near the surface of the^sea would, in a measure, en- 

 courage the aspirants for a flight from the British 

 Isles westwards. St. John's, Newfoundland, is evi- 

 dently a badlv chosen spot for a start on an easterly 

 flight, if onlv for the reason that should a start be 

 made the prevailing fogs would not allow of a safe return 

 if for any reason a return is necessary. In a westerly 

 flight from the European side certain localities must 



NO. 2585, VOL. 103] 



be avoided for landing, due to the well-known pre- 

 valence of fog. The shoal-water in the neighbourhood 

 of St. John's is evidently an important factor in the 

 formation of fog, and with easterly winds fogs seem 

 to be much intensified. The United States naval sea- 

 planes have accomplished their first stages as far as 

 Newfoundland satisfactorily, but the next stage to the 

 Azores is a more severe test. Adverse winds would 

 materially hamper their flight, and at present it 

 scarcely seems that contrary winds can be avoided on 

 a part at least of the route to be chosen. American 

 warships are stationed between Newfoundland and 

 the Azores at such distances apart as must afford 

 considerable confidence to those engaged in the flight. 

 The brightness of the moon just now will be an 

 additional advantage if winds and weather promise 10 

 be favourable. 



Flight from England to Australia is now becoming 

 as enticing to pilots of aircraft as the Atlantic flight. 

 The Times of May 12 announces that "the pre- 

 liminary conditions of the Australian Government's 

 offer of a io,oooL prize for the first Australian air- 

 man to fly from Great Britain to the Commonwealth 

 have been arranged at a conference attended bv r<-pre- 

 sentatives of Mr. Andrew Fisher, High Commissioner 

 for Australia in London, the Royal Aero Club, and 

 the Air Ministry." It is stipulated that the prize must 

 be won before the close of 1920. The distance must 

 be completed in 720 hours, and a . disabled machine 

 must not be towed more than 100 miles, and not 

 more than twenty miles at one time. The probable 

 route will include, amongst other places, Paris, Rome, 

 Bagdad, Calcutta, Singapore, Batavia, and Port 

 Darwin. There is plenty of work for meteorologists 

 at present to decide the most favourable passage for 

 aeronauts engaged in commercial aircraft traffic, and 

 this second prize for a long route will require much 

 thought and calculation. A good deal is known with 

 regard to the winds near the earth's surface, but for 

 a large portion of the route little has been ascer- 

 tained as to the direction and velocity of the upper 

 air. 

 i Flyinyf and the weather at sea bv wireless reports 

 from ships is dealt with by the Admiralty in a "Notice 

 to Mariners" (No. 880," 1919)- Arrangements are 

 being made for the regular supply of information 

 three times a day, at i a.m., 7 a.m., and_ i p.m., 

 Greenwich mean time, when vessels are within a cer- 

 "tain distance of stations being established in the north- 

 eastern Atlantic. It is proposed to collect weather 

 information bv wireless from ships at sea all over 

 the world, and it is hoped that the information re- 

 ceived will be of use for the requirements of aircraft 

 find admit of ships being supplied with trust- 

 worthv weather reports and forecasts wherever they 

 may be. Much of the success of the undertaking 

 depends on the rapidity of passing such data by wire- 

 less from the shin to the coast station and on to the 

 Weather Office. Ships not supplving data are asked 

 to exercise care not to interfere with the transmission 

 of the wireless messages to the shore. At present 

 the scheme is undertaken by the British Meteorological 

 Office, and revision of the' scheme will necessarilv be 

 made from time to time. It is proposed that ships 

 rommunicating the weather information should se'-^d 

 out a warning which is designed to notify ships within 

 range that a reoort is about to be made, and that they 

 should therefore avoid interfering. A wireless weather 

 bulletin issued to ships may take the form of an 

 official weather report giving the existing weather 

 conditions, or an official weather forecast giving the 

 probable future weather conditions. The "Notice to 

 Mariners " will necessarily be studied by all vessels 

 interested in the weather advance proposed. 



