6l2 



NA TURE 



[April 30, 1896 



blackberries, 44 of currants and gooseberries, 63 of cherries, 191 

 of peaches, 72 of plums, 37 of pears, loi of apples, besides 

 quinces, apricots, nectarines, mulberries, and others, were 

 separately grown. Cultural notes were periodically written, 

 whilst quality, vigour, and productiveness were numerically 

 estimated according to a fixed scale. In every case, the weight 

 of an average specimen of the fruit is tabulated, the information 

 thus conveyed being regarded as preferable to a record of the 

 size, and at the same time more easily and accurately acquired. 

 The difficulties of nomenclature and synonymy are somewhat 

 lessened by a strict following of the rules of pomology, as for- 

 mulated by the American Pomological Society and the National 

 Division of Pomology, and every effort is made to avoid am- 

 biguity. Notes on insects and other pests— Such, for example, 

 as the currant eelworm, Nemattis ventricosus — are added where- 

 ever necessary, and the useful effects of sulphate of copper 

 sprayed as an insectide are referred to. The Bulletin should 

 be of great practical value to the cultivators of Michigan, a 

 State the climate of which especially fits it for profitable fruit- 

 growing. 



Mr. David Flanp:ry, of Memphis, Tenn. , U.S.A., writes 

 that on January 14 last, " while looking for certain stars in the 

 east at 5*45 a.m., suddenly a great light shone behind and to the 

 left of me, and after studying a moment to determine whether 

 it was a flash from the trolley, or some other common occurrence, 

 I turned around to the west, and looking up beheld a body of 

 grey nebulous matter, such apparently as the Milky Way is made 

 up of, slowly disappearing from view. It lasted a full minute, 

 and without moving in any direction faded away. I heard no 

 noise as of an explosion, but the light and the apparent smoke 

 which had the form J plainly indicated that an immense meteor 

 had fallen or had been consumed. The locahty of the 

 phenomenon was on the borders of the Great Bear, Ursa Major, 

 and the Little Lion, Leo Minor, and around the two bright 

 stars Lambda and Mu, which mark the hind feet of the Bear." 



The phenomenal Eichener Lake in the Grand Duchy of 

 Baden, which has the peculiarity of appearing and disappearing 

 at uncertain periods, has recently again made its appearance 

 after a lapse of time. 



It will be fifty years next October since the first application 

 of ether in surgical operations took place ; and in honour of this 

 scientific jubilee, Prof. C. Binz, of Bonn, has recently published 

 in Richard Fleischer's Deutsche Revue a valuable historical 

 sketch of the successive stages through which that beneficial 

 discovery has gone in various countries. 



Messrs. William Wesley and Son have just issued a 

 valuable catalogue (No. 125) of works on zoology. Scientific 

 men and institutions on the look-out for standard zoological 

 books and papers will find the catalogue well worth consulta- 

 tion. 



The Report of the Berlin branch of the German Meteorological 

 Society for the current year contains, as usual, an interesting 

 investigation into the climate of that city, by Prof. G. Hellmann, 

 the Vice-President. The subject this year is the publication and 

 discussion of the daily mean temperatures, and extreme values 

 for the last forty-eight years. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include an Egyptian Jerboa {Dipus cegyptius) from 

 Algeria, presented by Mr. F. J. Pringner ; a Polecat (Mustela 

 pitorius) from Worcestershire, presented by Mr. F. D. Lea 

 Smith ; an Alexandra Parrakeet {Polytelis alexandrce) from 

 Australia, presented by Mr. W. Pritchard Morgan, M.P. ; a 

 Natal Python {Python seba;, var. natalensis), five Hoary Snakes 

 KCoronella cana), a Rhomb-marked Snake {Psammophylax 

 NO. 1383, VOL. 53 



rho/jibeatus), a Cape Bucephalus {Btnepltaltis capensis), five 

 Puff Adders ( Vtpera arietans) from South Africa, presented by 

 Mr. J. E. Matcham ; a Brown Mouse Lemur {Chirogalrus- 

 inilii) from Madagascar, three Red Kangaroos {Macropusruf;: 

 <J {J ? ), four Black Wallaroos {Macroptis robustus, 4 <J ), 

 Alexandra Parrakeet {Polytelis alexandra) from Australia, > 

 Hamadryad {Ophlophagus elaps) from India, deposited; two 

 Common ^\\t\Ax2ik.^%{Tadornavulpanser), European, purchased. 

 Erratum. — In Prof. J. J. Thomson's article on Rontgen 

 rays, p. 582, col. 2, line 5, for 4 x io~* centimetres, read 4 x io~'' 

 centimetres. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



The Spectrum of Mira. — During the recent maximum of 

 Mira Ceti, Prof. Wilsing was fortunate enough to obtain eleven 

 photographs of the spectrum {Sitz. Akad. Wiss., Berlin, March 

 26, 1896). The photographs are evidently v.ery similar to those 

 obtained by Prof. Pickering some years ago, hydrogen being 

 represented by broad bright lines. The absence of the hydrogen 

 line He, which falls very near a broad line of calcium, is again 

 very striking, and the simplest explanation of this fact is to sup- 

 pose that the hydrogen light at that wave-length is absorbed by 

 calcium vapour. This necessitates the supposition that there is 

 a cooler layer of calcium outside the incandescent hydrogen, but 

 the high atomic weight of calcium cautions us to regard this 

 hypothesis as merely provisional. There is no certain evidence 

 at present as to whether the hydrogen lines appear in the spec- 

 trum except about the time of maximum, and the Potsdam 

 instruments are not of sufficient aperture to permit such an 

 investigation to be made. \ 



It is stated that there are no bright lines other than those of | 

 hydrogen, although there are parts of the spectrum (especially '■■ 

 about wave-lengths 3894, 3906, and 4350) which give the im- 

 pression of bright lines. The latter appearances are regarded 

 simply as regions in which the continuous spectrum is thrown 

 into relief by the absence of dark lines ; similar effects, but not 

 so marked, are said to be seen in the solar spectrum. 



With the exception of the bright lines of hydrogen, the spec- 

 trum of Mira shows a nearly perfect agreement with that of the \ 

 sun in the region more refrangible than Hy, while on the less '.' 

 refrangible side of this line the spectrum is characterised by dark 

 flutings fading towards the red. 



There is probably a slight displacement of the bright lines 

 towards the less refrangible sides of their true positions, but the 

 photographs are on too small a scale to permit any exact deter- 

 mination of the velocity in the line of sight. There is no sug- 

 gestion of a doubling of the hydrogen lines such as is seen in the •; 

 case of 8 Lyra;, but the occurrence of a strong dark line along- 

 side HC reminds one of the appearance of this line in fl Lyra\ 



The paper concludes with a table of wave-lengths, extending 

 from A 3772 to A 4755. 



Comet Swift, 1896. — The comet observed by Swift on April 

 13 is a new one, and from its position on April 16, 19, and 20, 

 Dr. R. Schorr has derived the following elements and ephemeris 

 for Berlin midnight : — 



T = 1896 April 17.51 Berlin mean time. 



log,/ 



^ = ^if 55' r 1896-0 

 = 55' 15'J 



97515 



R.A. 



Decl. 



Bright- 

 h. m. ^ , ness. . 



April 30 ... 3 1-8 ... -f5i 55 ... 072 

 May 2 ... 2513 ... -f55 22 ... 0*63 



The unit of brightness is that on April 16. The comet will be 

 very near to 7 Persei on May 2. 



This comet is now well placed for observation, and being 

 circumpolar can be seen practically all night. Observations 

 made at South Kensington by Mr. Shackleton, on the 28th 

 inst. , show that it is so bright that it can be seen with an opera- 

 glass. The comet has a well-marked nucleus and a slight tail. 

 Spectrum observations and measures made with a small 3-prism 

 spectroscope, collimator 6-inch, showed three bright bands, but 

 practically no continuous spectrum. Comparison was made with 

 a spirit flame, and the carbon bands were seen to be identical 

 with the bright bands of the comet, the one at A 516 being 

 especially bright. 



