28o 



NA TURE 



[January 23, 1896 



in favour of the view that the non-sexual was the original 

 universal mode of multiplication. He supports this view largely 

 by the phenomena of parthenogenesis, and by the fact that it 

 is possible, by preventing the conjugation of the two gametes in 

 Spirogyra, to cause each of them to develop into a " spore " 

 fully capable of germination. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens 'during 

 the past week include a Mozambique Monkey (Cercopit/iecus 

 pygerythrus,6) from East Africa, presented by Miss Louisa 

 Hutt : a Pig-tailed Monkey {Macacus nemestriniis, S ) from 

 Java, presented by Mr. W. Englehardt ; a Puff Adder ( Vipera 

 arietaus) from South Africa, presented by Mr. J. E. Matcham ; 

 two Golden-crowned Conures (Contirits aureus) from South- 

 east Brazil, deposited; two Black-headed Caiques {Caica 

 melanocephala) from Guiana, a Green-cheeked Amazon {Chry- 

 sotis viridigenalis), from Columbia, purchased. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



A New Australian Observatory.— The site for the new 

 observatory, which the Government of West Australia are about 

 to erect, has been selected at Perth. The cost of the buildings 

 and instruments is estimated at about £yxx>. The latter will 

 have such improvements on ordinary construction as have been 

 suggested by experience with the instruments used at the 

 Adelaide Observatory. The equipment will include an equatorial 

 having an object-glass of 8 inches aperture. This instrument 

 will be furnished with a spectroscope, and with photographic ap- 

 pliances. There will also be a transit circle 6 inches in diameter. 

 The post of Astronomer has been filled by the appointment 

 of Mr. W. Ernest Cooke, the Assistant Astronomer of South 

 Australia. Mr. Cooke is an Australian by birth, and has been 

 trained under Sir Charles Todd in observatory work. 



The Sun's Path in Space. — The question as to a possible 

 orbital movement of the solar system is revived by Mr. G. C. 

 Bompas in the current number of the Observatory. Determina- 

 tions of the position of the apex of the sun's way have been 

 variously based on groupings of selected stars according to 

 number, magnitude, or proper motion, the latter being 

 now acknowledged the best test of distance. When arranged 

 according to the distances of the stars on which they are based, 

 the results seem to indicate that the position deduced from the 

 nearer stars moves south-west along the plane of the Milky 

 Way, as compared with the apex derived from stars supposed 

 to be more distant. If the sun's path were rectilinear and the 

 stars at rest, the "radiant point" would be the same for near 

 and distant stars, but if curvilinear it would be shifted in 

 accordance with the varying direction of the tangent, and the 

 displacement would be in proportion to the apparent velocity. 

 From existing data, Mr. Bompas considers it probable that the 

 sun moves in a retrograde orbit from east to west in a plane 

 inclined a few degrees to the Milky Way, and the conclusion is 

 independent of any further consideration as to the presence or 

 absence of a systematic movement of the stars round a common 

 centre. "The relation of the solar system to the galaxy would 

 thus resemble that of Uranus and his moons to the ecliptic, the 

 solar system being inclined about 70° to the plane of the galaxy 

 and the planets revolving round the sun in a reverse direction to 

 the orbit attributed to the sun." 



Equatorial Velocity of Jupiter. — A spectroscopic de- 

 termination of the equatorial velocity of rotation of Jupiter has 

 been made by Dr. Belopolsky, the resulting value being 1 1 '4 

 kilometres per second {Ast. Nach. 3326). Taking the rotation 

 period to be gh. Som., the calculated velocity varies from 

 12 "I to 12-8 kilometres per second, according to the angular 

 diameter which is accepted. Although the difference between 

 the observed and computed velocity is possibly within the limits 

 of error in measurement, it is not considered improbable that the 

 apparent discrepancy may have its origin in the increase of the 

 angular diameter of the planet due to refraction in its atmosphere, 

 and the consequent apparent increase of the calculated linear 

 velocity. A similar result has been observed in the case of 

 Saturn, the measured velocity being smaller than that which the 

 known rotation period and angular diameter require. 



NO. 1369. VOL. li\ 



Perkine's Comet. — The comet discovered by Mr. Perrine 

 on November 16, 1895, was well observed in the northern 

 hemisphere up to December 7, when it was seen at Greenwich, 

 and stated to be very bright with a conspicuous tail. It was 

 thought that it might possibly be subsequently observed in day- 

 light in the southern hemisphere, but no observations have been 

 published so far as we are aware. Towards the end of January 

 it will be sufficiently removed from the sun to be seen as a 

 morning comet, but with greatly diminished brightness. Tlie 

 following ephemeris, for Berlin midnight, is by Dr. E. Lamp :— 

 R.A. Decl. Bright- 



h. m. s. „ , ness. 



Jan. 24 ... 19 37 27 ... -7 34 ... 0-43 



28 ... 39 13 ... 5 51-2 ... 0-35 

 Feb. I ... 40 50 ... 4 41-6 ... 0-29 



5 - 42 17 - 3 337 ••• 0-25 



9 ... 43 34 ... 2 27-0 ... 0-2I 



13 ... 44 40 ... I 2I-0 ... o-i8 



17 .. 45 33 ... -o 15-5 ... o-i6 



21 ... 46 13 ... +0 49-8 ... 0*15 



25 ... 46 38 ... I 55-1 ... 0-13 



29 ... 46 48 ... -t-3 07 ... 0-I2 

 The unit of brightness is that on November 18. 



OYSTERS AND TYPHOID. 

 'T'HE fourth meeting of the tenth session of the Liverpool 

 -*- Biological Society was held on January 10, at Uiiiversity 

 College, Liverpool. During the evening an interesting report on 

 " Green Oysters, and the connection between Oysters and 

 Disease " was presented by Prof Herdman, who explained that 

 a year ago he and Prof. Boyce commenced to investigate the 

 conditions under which oysters lived healthily. Among other 

 matters they directed their particular attention to the possibility 

 of the oyster being infected by sewage in sea-water with the 

 typhoid organism, and of so transmitting the disease to the con- 

 sumer. At the meeting of the British Association at Ipswich, 

 last September, they communicated the results they had obtained 

 up to that point, and then they were appointed (with the addi- 

 tion of Prof. Sherrington and Mr. G. C. Bourne) as a committee 

 to investigate the matter further. At present they were really in 

 the midst of their observations ; and the present communication 

 could only be regarded in the nature of an interim report, as 

 their conclusions would not be drawn up for publication until 

 the meeting of the British Association in September next. In 

 the meantime a most alarming and widespread scare, following 

 upon incidents connected with a ball at Stirling, on October i , had 

 arisen, it being assumed that there was some connection between 

 oysters and an outbreak of typhoid. This had considerably 

 affected the important oyster trade of the country, and had prob- 

 ably thrown a great deal of quite undeserved suspicion upon 

 perfectly wholesome oysters. Under these circumstances they 

 had felt it their duty to take an early opportunity of staling their 

 results and impressions as they stood at present. Their work, 

 so far as it had gone, was of a reassuring character, and 

 demanded from the public at the very least a suspension of judg- 

 ment, whilst it indicated that the adoption of some simple 

 sanitary precautions would, if properly carried into effect, go far 

 to remove suspicion from the oyster. Prof. Herdman then pro- 

 ceeded to describe, with the aid of lantern slides, specimens 

 and microscopic preparations, the different descriptions of oysters 

 which are supplied in North-west Europe, and the methods of 

 treatment they are subjected to prior to being placed on the 

 market. He dealt with the cultivation of the French green 

 oyster, and discussed the cause of the green colour, both in 

 that oyster and in Americans relaid on the Lancashire coast. 

 He pointed out that the most important precaution to take 

 in oyster culture was to choose perfectly healthy grounds 

 for the fattening process, it being necessary, in the first place, to 

 ascertain that the purity from sewage of the water was beyond 

 question. Further it was advisable to submit the oysters for a 

 short time to disgorging basins or tanks, a method which was 

 adopted with success by the French, before sending them to the 

 market. Prof. Boyce then followed with an account of the ex' 

 periments on the infection of oysters with typhoid, and showed, 

 by means of tables, the rate at which the typhoid bacillus dis- 

 appeared in sea-water. There was no evidence of increase in 

 numbers of the bacillus when grown in sea- waters, either when 

 incubated or at ordinary temperatures. 



