May 19. 1910] 



NA TURE 



349 



possibilities of meteor showers at the time. For 

 rent values of 1— m he finds that possible collisions 

 occur at May 19-442, 19-115, and 1^-892. The corre- 

 ding radiants of possible small showers are near 

 iscium, p Piscium, and /3 Arietis. 



1 the supplement to No. 4407 of the same journal a 

 ^^ram from Prof. Pickering announces that Dr. Wright, 

 Lick, photographed the spectrum on .April 29, and found 

 sodium D lines bright ; this is announced as a recent 

 velopment. An observation by Prof. P'rost and Dr. 

 Slocum on April 14 showed a distinct continuous spectrum 

 for the nucleus, with no trace of bright lines or bands. 



The Spectr.\ of Ccmets. — Further laboratory results 

 bearing on the nature of cometary spectra are published 

 by Prof. Fowler in a paper appearing in No. 6, vol. Ixx., 

 of the Monthly Notices. 



Among other things, it is now shown more definitely 

 that the tail spectrum is produced by an oxide of carbon, 

 probably the monoxide. With sufficient density this com- 

 pound gives the " Swan " spectrum, the most common 

 feature of cometary spectra, whilst at very low pressures 

 — 001 to 0005 mm. — the " tail spectrum " is developed. 

 The addition of a trace of nitrogen introduces the cyanogen 

 bands into the high-pressure spectrum, and the kathode 

 bands of nitrogen, such as were found in the spectrum of 

 the tail of Morehouse's comet, at the lower pressures. 

 Hydrocarbons are regarded as variable constituents of 

 comets because the characteristic band at X 431 is onlv an 

 occasional feature of their spectra. 



The anomalous spectrum of Brorsen's comet, as 

 observed by the late Sir William Huggins in 1868, is 

 explained by supposing that it resembled the " tail spec- 

 trum," the differences of wave-length not being beyond 

 the probable limits of error. If this is the true explana- 

 tion, it appears that the heads of comets vary considerably 

 in density, that of Brorsen's being about the same density 

 as the tail of Morehouse's. 



A new high-pressure (100 mm.) spectrum of carbon 

 monoxide was discovered during the research, and it is 

 suggested that the presence of this in cometary spectra 

 is indicated by the anomalous positions of the carbon bands 

 observed. Thus the blue carbon band in cometary spectra 

 often occurs at X 468 instead of at A 473, the position of 

 the brightest head ; the superposition of the brightest band 

 of the new spectrum, at \ 4679, would account for this. 



Some interesting deductions as to the nature and the 

 illumination of comets' tails are made on the assumption 

 that the actual conditions are comparable with those 

 obtained in the laboratory experiments. For example, it 

 is shown that to come within permissible limits of mass 

 the tails must be hollow, or must be made up of attenuated 

 sheets or streams. The illumination is probably of elec- 

 trical origin, but whether the negatively charged particles 

 producing it oroceed from the head of the comet or from 

 the sun is still an open question. 



Observations of Southern Nebul;e. — The positions 

 and brief descriptions of five southern nebulae are published 

 bv Mr. Innes in No. 2 of the Transvaal Observatory 

 Circulars. One of these objects, in R.A. i6h. 49m., 

 dec. —40° 36' (1875), is very diffuse, and covers 10' in 

 df-clination and 3m. of R.A. : its position was determined 

 from a plate taken with the Franklin Adams star camera. 

 Cometary, planetary, and ring nebulae are also included. 



Observations of the Aurora. — In No. 3, vol. xxxi., 

 of the Astrophysical Journal Prof. Barnard gives the 

 details of all the observations of aurorae made by him 

 during the period 1902-9. There are many points of 

 interest too numerous to mention here, but it is evident 

 that such carefully recorded data will prove extremelv 

 useful in discussing the probable relation of aurorae with 

 solar outbursts, &c. Prof. Barnard outlines a scheme for 

 systematic observations by obse ^ers some miles apart 

 which would result in determinations of the height, &c., 

 of specific aurorae. A tabulated statement of his results 

 shows September and February to be months of prolific 

 aurorae, but, as he points out, September is the month 

 of clear skies, and the prominence of Februarv depends 

 largely upon the year 1907. Julv and December are 

 especially low. There are indications of a maximum 

 during 1907-8-9. 



NO. 2 116, VOL. 8.^1 



BRITISH SCIENCE GUILD. 

 First Annual Banquet. 



THE Right Hon. Lord Strathcona and Mount Royal pre- 

 sided at the first annual banquet of the British Science 

 Guild, which was held at the Royal Institute of Painters 

 in Water Colours, Piccadilly, W., on the evening of Friday, 

 May 6. Amongst those present were the Right Hon. Lord 

 Blyth, Col. Lord Kesteven, Sir Thomas Barlow, K.C.\ .O., 

 F.R.S., and Ladv Barlow, Sir David Gill, K.C.B., F.R.S., 

 Sir Norman Lockver, K.C.B., F.R.S., and Lady Lockyer, 

 Sir Alfred Keogh,' K.C.B., and Lady Keogh, Sir Frederick 

 Pollock, Bart., Sir William Ramsay, K.C.B., F.R.S., Sir 

 Boverton Redwood and Lady Redwood, Sir Philip Watts, 

 Sir Aston Webb, C.B., R.A., and Lady Webb, Sir \\ ilham 

 White, K.C.B., F.R.S., and Lady White, Colonel Sir John 

 Young C.V.O., Sir Henrv Trueman Wood,- Prof. Perry. 

 F.R.S., Dr. W. N. Shaw, F.R.S., Prof. W. D. Halliburton, 

 F R S. and Mrs. Halliburton, Mr. and Mrs. Carmichael 

 Thomas, Mr. Roger W. Wallace, K.C., and Mrs. Wallace. 

 Dr A. D. Waller, F.R.S., and Mrs. Waller, Mr. A. Bruce 

 Joy, Mr. Dugald Clerk, F.R.S., and Dr. F. .Mollwo 

 Perkin (honorary secretary). a tu 



After the Royal toasts, proposed by the chairman, The 

 Peace Organisation of the Empire " was proposed by Sir 

 William Ramsay. He regarded it as a great honour to 

 propose that toast— a toast given there for the first time. 

 .\11 he could do, perhaps, was to put before them some 

 platitudes. He knew how little he knew, and he thought 

 he knew a great deal when he had found that out. H he 

 talked, therefore, in platitudes, he would be no striking 

 exception to the rule. It was, he continued, generally 

 supposed that science was something abstruse and abstract. 

 It was not so. It was common sense, and common sense, 

 as thev all knew, was one of the rarest of commodities. 

 What one learnt as one grew older was how little one 

 knew about anvthing. How complex the simplest things 

 were ! His attention, he continued, had been turned to 

 phvsical problems where the things he dealt with were 

 comparativelv simple. He had been working on the ques- 

 tions of liquids and gases— things more simple than social 

 or economic problems ; and yet those ideas, simple as they 

 were, did not often find simple expression. He instanced 

 the case of " the square of a temperature," which, like 

 many other such phrases, conveyed no definite idea to any- 

 body. If that was so in simple physical science, how much 

 more complex were the problems that faced the social 

 reformer. In this complex world of ours he (Sir William) 

 had the utmost diflRculty in making up his mind which of 

 two political candidates was the one to vote for. He 

 wished that Mr. Haldane, their president, had been there 

 to illuminate that subject. It might even be desirable, 

 continued Sir William, to get an elector like himself to 

 vote against both candidates— to say that neither deserved his 

 confidence ; and if they could only get a sufficient number 

 to vote like that, then no one at all would be returned 

 to Parliament. Men of science, continued Sir William, 

 had a uniform mode of procedure. They had a problem 

 suggested to them which they thought worth investigating. 

 They ascertained what had been done before on the subject, 

 and then proceeded to try an experiment on a very small 

 scale. The next stage was to try the experiment on a 

 larger scale, and if that also promised well they might be 

 encouraged to erect a large plant and increase it to the 

 maximum of its production. Now, he asked, did they do 

 that in politics? He thought not. The analogy was a 

 ck)se one. The problems which confronted the manu- 

 facturer were verv much the same as the problem which 

 confronted the Government. They both wanted to produce 

 an article in demand. They had a permanent staff in both 

 cases, and they wanted to provide an article that would 

 meet with public approval. Men were constantly improving 

 — at least if they were not progressing they were retrogress- 

 ing, as it was impossible to stand still. In chemical 

 manufacture what was chiefly wanted was — brains. A 

 well-known manufacturer declared that brains were 

 indigenous to Cambridge, and that he only wished he could 

 get a number of Cambridge men to work on the lines he 

 would suggest. That w'as exactly the Government's 

 difficulty too. Mr. Haldane recently stated he had made 

 the discovery that not only in Parliament, but in other 



