May 5, 1892] 



NATURE 



'7 



facuhse were observed on 56 days, viz. 19 in Janaaiy, 1 9 in 

 February, and 18 in March. The results are shown below : — 



Relative frequency 



Relative magnitude 



1892. 



of days 



of spots, without 



spots. 



January ... X9"63 ... o'oo 



February ... 23-31 ... O'oo 



March ... I3"i2 ... o'oo 



of spots. of foculae. 



7979 ■•• 56-58 

 153-61 ... 6028 

 61-67 • • 8639 



The following are the results for prominences :— 



Mean 

 height. 



1892. 



Days of Mean 

 observation, number. 



January 



February 



March... 



6-39 

 7-00 

 8-14 



39-6 

 36-0 

 36-4 



Mean 

 extension. 



. r6 

 . 1-6 



. 2-3 



The frequency and magnitude of spots during these months 

 are much greater than during the preceding quarter, but promi- 

 nences do not show a marked increase. No augmentation of 

 this class of phenomena appears to have accompanied the great 

 spot of February, if the mean numbers for the month be taken. 



Eclipse of the Moon, May ii.— A partial eclipse of the 

 moon will occur on May ii, and, if weather permits, it should 

 be widely observed. The magnitude of the eclipse is 0953, the 

 moon's diameter being represented by I. But although it is 

 not total, important naked-eye observations can be made on the 

 darkness of the shadowed moon for comparison with previous 

 eclipses, and possessors of telescopes will doubtless take advan- 

 tage of the occasion to obtain some new facts. The following 

 times are from the " Nautical Almanac " : — 



G M.T. 

 h. m. 



First contact with the penumbra. May 11 7 55 '9 



,, ,, ,, shadow ,, 9 102 



Middle of the eclipse ,, 1053-4 



Last contact with the shadow ,, 12 36-6 



,, ,, ,, penumbra ,, 13 50-9 



The first contact with the shadow occurs at 82° from the most 

 northern point of the moon's limb, counting towards the east ; 

 the last contact at 41° from the same point, counting towards 

 the west. 



Spectrum of Swift's Comet (a 1892).— Mr. W. W. 

 Campbell observed the spectrum of Swift's comet on April 6, 

 by means of a spectroscope having one prism of 60° attached 

 to the 36-inch of the Lick Observatory {Astronomical Journal, 

 No. 262^. The spectrum could be distinguished from about C 

 to G. Three bright bands had the wave-lengths of their less 

 refrangible edges determined as 5630, 5170-4, and 4723, by 

 comparison with spark-spectra of iron and magnesium. The 

 intensities of the bands were estimated to be in the ratio 1:6:2. 



Comet Swift, i^gz. — Astronomische Nachrichlen, '^o. 

 3087, contains the following ephemeris of Swift's comet : — 



For 12//. Berlin Mean Time. 



1892. R..\. Decl. log r. log A. B. 



h. m. s. „ / 



May 5 22 45 25 -J- 23 41-7 



,, 6 22 48 19 24 21*5 



,, 7 22 51 12 25 0-5 o-o6o8 0-1115 0-70 



„ 8 22 54 3 25 38-7 



„ 9 22 56 53 26 i6-2 



„ 10 22 59 41 26 529 



,, II 23 2 28 27 28-9 0-0723 0-1236 0-62 ! 



The brightness on March 10 is taken as unity. I 



On the 5th the comet will be found to form very nearly an I 



equilateral triangle with the stars A. and fx in Pegasus, while on I 



the nth it will be near j3 in the same constellation. | 



Comet Swift, 1892.— The spectrum of this comet has 

 been observed by Prof. Konkoly, who contributes his observa- I 

 tions to the Astronomische Nachrichten, No. 3087. The 

 spectrum on April i appeared very bright, and shpwed five 

 bright lines whose intensities were as follows: — \. = 04; 

 IL = 0-3; in. = i-o; IV. = 0-2; V. = 01, the con- 

 tinuous spectrum extending from \ = 580 to A. = 440. 



The following measures are the means of five direct scale 

 readings of the above-mentioned lines : — 



I. = 558-82 MM 

 II. = 544-94 



in. = 516-30 



IV. = 47254 

 V. = 468-78 



Similar observations were also repeated the next night 

 only by means of a larger telescope and spectroscope. The 

 contmuous spectrum was found to extend from A. = 559 ^m to 

 A = 449 MM- The intensities were I. = o-';: II - 0-5- 

 in. - i-o; IV. -0-2; V. =0-1. ^' 



The mean values of the five measures obtained for each line 

 were :— 



I. = 558-40 MM 

 II. = 54382 



in. = 516-26 



IV. = 472-70 



V. = 468-10 



Nova KMV.iQj&.—Astronotniiche Nachrichten, No. 3083, 

 cont.Tiins some measurements and remarks by Prof. Konkoly 

 relative to the spectrum of this Nova. Five lines were, accord- 

 ing to him, very satisfactorily measured on March 20, and 

 the means of six measures for each were as follows : — 



L = 531-80 MM 



n. = 516-S0 



IIL = 501-95 



IV. = 492-30 



V. = 48615 



Using a loinch objective prism on the 21st, he found that II. 



was the brightest Ime, III. being somewhat feebler ; I. was 



very weak, while IV. was not bright, but broad ; V., again, 



seemed quite visible. With regard to the dark lines, he was 



only able to suspect them in the region of C and F (especially 



the latter), owing to their feebleness. The hydrogen lines 



on the 2 1 St appeared feebler than those in 7 Cassiopeiae. 



A New Variable.— A circular (No. 32) that we have received 

 from the Wolsingham Observatory contains the following : — 

 The star D.M. + 55° 1870— 



l6h. 39m. 49s. ; -1-55'' 12'; 9-2 

 was found 7-3 ; 7-7, April 26; 29. Variable. Spectrum like 

 Mira. T. E. Espin. 



THE TEMPERA TURE OF THE BRAIN. 



'X'HE Croonian Lecture was delivered this year by Prof. 

 Angelo Mosso, Professor of Physiology in the University 

 of Turin. His subject was the temperature of the brain, 

 especially in relation to psychical activity. Prof. Mosso's 

 earlier investigations on the human brain only related to the 

 blood circulation.! He then found that the blood pressure rises 

 during psychical work, and that during such more blood is 

 sent from the peripheral parts of the body. Prof. Mosso 

 also found that the blood circulation in the brain showed fluc- 

 tuations which are not dependent on psychical activity. These 

 and other variations in the brain circulation led him to suspect 

 that Dr. Schiflf's theory about brain temperature as introduced 

 into physiology required revision. In a published work on 

 fatigue,'- Prof. Mosso gave his views on the influence of 

 psychical work on the organism, especially on the muscular 

 force. We do not yet know what form of phenomena subserves 

 the first condition of thought. Fatigue caused by psychical 

 activity acts as a poison, which aff-ects all organs, but especially 

 the muscular system. This is clearly demonstrated by Prof. 

 Mosso's investigations on men who have been subjected to great 

 mental strain. The blood of dogs, fatigued by long racing, 

 acts as a poison, and when injected into other dogs they exhibit 

 all the symptoms of fatigue. The characteri>iic phenomena of 

 fatigue depend more on nerve-cell protlucts than on a deficiency 

 of suitable material. 



During investigation into the physical conditions during 

 psychical activity. Prof. Mosso's attention was directed to 

 the subject of the temperature of the brain. To avoid errors 

 arising from blood changes he endeavoured to keep the blood 

 temperature and that of the organs in agreement with that of 

 the brain. For such a purpose he found that the thermo-electric 

 pile which Dr. Schiff" employed would not suffice, and he had 



1 « •• Kreislauf des Blutes in men>w:hlichen gehime," Leipzig, 1881. 

 I ^"Die Ermudung," Leipzig, 1892. 



NO. II 75, VOL. 46] 



