June 21, 1900] 



NATURE 



183 



electrical phenomena and effects, will find its pages perfectly 

 intelligible. 



The first part of Dr. Carl Chun's narrative of the cruise of 

 the Valdivia and the scientific work accomplished, which has 

 been published by the firm of Gustav Fischer, Jena, shows that 

 the complete work, " Aus den Tiefen des Weltmeeres," will be 

 a most interesting account of a successful expedition. The 

 descriptive matter is untechnical in style, and liberally illus- 

 trated with excellent half-tone blocks and plates reproduced 

 from photographs. The complete work will contain six chromo- 

 lithographs, eight heliogravures, thirty-two full-page plates, 

 and about 1 80 illustrations in the text. There will be twelve 

 parts in all, two of which will be published every month, and 

 the whole by November next. The work will be a Challenger 

 narrative on a small scale, full of interest to all students of 

 natural history and of physical geography in the most compre- 

 hensive sense of the term. We propose to review it in detail 

 when all the parts have been received. 



Prof. E. B. Wilson's work on "The Cell in Development 

 and Inheritance" (The Macmillan Cjmpany) contains a 

 masterly treatment of the facts of cell-structure and division, 

 and is favourably known to many biologists. It originally 

 appeared in 1896, and has already been reviewed in Nature 

 (vol. Iv. p. 530). Since then the aspect of many important 

 questions with which it deals has been greatly changed, more 

 particularly in case of those focused in the centrosome, and 

 involving the phenomena of cell-division and fertilisation. This 

 has necessitated a complete revision of the work, and there is 

 scarcely a page of the second edition, which has just been 

 published, that has not undergone alteration. More than a 

 hundred pages of new matter have also been added. The most 

 important results of modern cell-research, especially on the 

 zoological side, are brought together in the volume, which will 

 continue to be used as a convenient and clear synopsis of a vast 

 amount of knowledge to which additions are constantly being 

 made. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Grivet 'MonVsy {Cercopitkeciis griseo-viridis) 

 from North-east Africa, presented by Mr. H. G. F. Stallard ; a 

 Campbell's Monkey [Cercopithectis campbelli) from West 

 Africa, presented by Miss E. B. Hall ; two Palm Squirrels 

 iSciurus palinarum) from India, presented by Mr. W. B. 

 Bingham ; two Common Squirrels {Sciunis vulgaris), British, 

 presented respectively by Dr. J. L. Williams and Mr. G. S. 

 Johnson ; an Egyptian Jerboa [Dipus aegyptius) from North 

 Africa, presented by Lady Preston ; an Angola Seed-eater 

 {Serittus angolensh) from Angola, presented by Miss Long ; a 

 Vellow-billed Sheathbill {Chionis alba), captured at sea, pre- 

 sented by Captain Bite ; ten African Walking ¥\s\\ {Perioph- 

 thaltnus koelreuteri) from West Africa, presented by Dr. H. O. 

 Forbes ; a Hocheur Monkey {Cercopithecus niciitans), a Mous- 

 tache Monkey {Cercopithecus cephus), a Malbrouck Monkey 

 [Cercopithecus cynosurus), an Angolan Vulture (Gypohierax 

 angolensis) from West Africa, a Chacma Baboon {Cynocephalus 

 iorcarius, S) from South Africa, a Negro Tamarin [Midas 

 ursulus) from Guiana, two Wandering Tree Ducks [Dendrocygita 

 arcuata) from the East Indies, four Anderson's Tree Frogs 

 [Hyla andersoni), four Changeable Tree Frogs [Hyla versi- 

 color) from North America, deposited ; an Orinoco Goose 

 [Chenalopex jubatus), a Blue-fronted Amazon [Chrysotis 

 aestiva, var.) from South America, a Little Guan [Ortalida 

 utotmot) from Guiana, a De Filippi's Meadow Starling 

 [Sturnella defilippi) from Argentina, purchased ; two Collared 

 Fruit Bats ( Cynonycteris collaris) from South Africa, received in 

 exchange ; three White Ibises [Eudocimus albus), six Glossy 

 Ibises [Plegadis falcineLus), bred in the Gardens. 

 NO. 1599. VOL. 62] 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



French Observations of the Total Eclipse of the 

 Sun. — The Comptes rendus of the Paris Academy of Sciences 

 for June 5 (vol. cxxx. pp. 1495-1529) contains the preliminary 

 reports of several of the French astronomers who made observa- 

 tions of the recent total eclipse. 



M. le Compte de la Baume-Pluvinel, observing at Elche, near 

 the east coast of Spain, successfully carried out a very extensive 

 programme. Nine photographs of the corona were obtained 

 with objectives of i "50 metres focal length ; on these he says the 

 coronal structure is almost identical with that he observed in 

 1889 at Salut. The planet Mercury is shown on all these plates, 

 and will be useful for their accurate orientation. Three plates 

 were obtained with a lens of 2 70 metres focal length, in con- 

 junction with a coelostat. For spectroscopic work three instru- 

 ments were employed. A single prism spectrograph, with the slit 

 in the line of the solar equator, showed the continuous spectrum 

 of the corona extending to 12' from the limb. Thirty-five bright 

 lines were recorded, more intense on one side than the other. 

 A second spectrograph had two objective prisms of spar and 

 quartz ; plates taken with this showed numerous chromospheric 

 arcs, and a strong one due to the corona, this latter having no 

 definite outer boundary. One interesting plate taken some 

 seconds after totality still shows chromospheric arcs, and will 

 furnish measures of the thickness of the chromospheric 

 layers from the actual limt) of the sun. An attempt to observe 

 with a powerful six-prism spectroscope for special examination 

 of the principal coronal radiation was rendered difficult by the 

 feeble intensity of the image. 



M. Ch. Trepied, director of the Algiers Observatory, also 

 communicates a number of successful results. In addition to 

 many accurate visual observations, twenty-eight photographs of 

 the partial phases were made ; six of the corona during totality, 

 using an objective of o'i6 metre aperture and i'03 metre focal 

 length; the coronal extensions are recorded to 3 "5 lunar dia- 

 meters from the limb. Spectroscopic photographs were obtained 

 with a Thollon prism spectrograph, an attempt being made 

 to record the spectrum of the corona at diametrically opposite 

 regions. 



M. G. Meslin and party at Elche obtained eight photographs 

 of the corona with a Henry lens of i6cm. aperture and i metre 

 focus, and wide angle photographs of the region round the 

 eclipsed sun for recording new objects. A photograph of the 

 spectrum of the corona was obtained with a concave Rowland 

 grating of 3 metres radius of curvature, used with a heliostat. 

 The second order was photographed on plates 13 x i8cm., the 

 spectrum extending from F to M ; the images of the chromo- 

 spheric radiations being portions of circles i6mm. in diameter. 



The Total Eclipse Observed at Sea. — In an interesting 

 letter written to the Gibraltar Chronicle of May 30, Colonel 

 E. E. Markwick describes the appearance of the recent total 

 eclipse as he and other fortunate passengers observed it from the 

 Orient Steamship Company's R. M.S. Austral. The Company 

 had considerately arranged that the vessel should be so navi- 

 gated as to be near the central line of totality at the time of the 

 eclipse, and, thanks to the skill of those in charge, this was 

 accomplished with perfect success. 



The position of the ship during totality was about Long. W., 

 9° 27, Lat. N., 41" 3', this being about 50 miles west of 

 Oporto; the duration of the eclipse was about im. 31s. The 

 Orient Company had provided an ample supply of glass plates, 

 which, when smoked, permitted the passengers to view the 

 progress of the partial phases, opera glasses being substituted 

 during totality. During the eclipse the sky near the horizon 

 was a lurid yellow, the clouds visible being reddish ; the sea 

 looked dark and sombre against the bright yellow of the sky. 

 Close to the sun, however, the sky was quite blue ; the dark- 

 ness during totality was just sufficient to interfere with distinct 

 vision. 



The success of this enterprising project will probably induce 

 many would-be observers in the future to adopt this exceedingly 

 convenient and comfortable style of eclipse expedition ; the de- 

 parture from regular routine, though slight in itself, furnishing 

 opportunity for really important scientific operations without 

 disorganising any of the usual arrangements of the observers. 



New Variable Siar in Cbpheus.— Prof. W. Ceraski, of 

 Moscow, announces in the Astronomische Nachrichten (No. 

 3644) that Mdme. Ceraski has found a new variable on examin- 



