'■54 



KNOWLEDGE c^- SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



[October, 1905. 



Ecliptic Elements. 



Mean Jovicentric Longitude at Epoch 

 Longitude of Perijove 

 Longitude of Node 

 Inclination to Ecliptic 

 Inclination to Jupiter's Orbit 

 Longitude of Node on Jupiter's Orbit 



333 55 \ 

 llt%\ 1905. 



3'° G.M.T. 

 320 



2386 



Elements referred to Earth's Equator. 



Mean Jovicentric Right Ascension 

 Right .Ascension of Perijove.. 

 Right Ascension of Node 

 Inclination to Equator 



Mean daily motion 



Log. a 



32818 1905. 

 33 1 "28 -Jan. o-o 

 281-13 1 G.M.T. 

 262 I 



= i°-358 

 = 8-9004 

 a = 52''54 



e = 00246 



Period = 265-0 days. 



Distance at maximum elongation — 70'. 

 It is thought that the combined observations of the sixth and 

 seventh satellites will furnish material for a new determination of 

 the mass of Jupiter, which should be comparable in accuracy with 

 the best results hitherto obtained. 



Ephemeris for Observations of Jcpiter's Seventh Satellite 

 Greenwich Mean Noon. Position Angle. Distance. 



.^^^^^^ 



CHEMICAL. 



By C. AiNswoRTH Mitchell, B.A. (O.xon.), F.I.C. 

 Commercial Phosphorus Sulphide. 



Thk teriible effects, uotably the decay of the jaw bone, pro- 

 duced by the ordinary white phosphorus upon the work- 

 people in the match factories have led to many attempts 

 being made to find a satisfactory substitute. The red modifi- 

 cation of phosphorus is non-poisonous, and does not produce 

 the physiological effects of white phosphorus, but has the 

 drawback of not being ignited by friction, while the scarlet 

 modification discovered by Dr. Schenck has not yet come into 

 general 'i:,' . .ilthough it appears to be non-poisonous and yet 

 cheriii In the national match factories in I-Vance 



a sill; :)horus has been used for several years for 



the tip that will strike anywhere; and it is stated 



that the di.-.ea3e is now unknown there. It is most essential, 

 however, that the sulphide should be quite free from white 

 phosphorus, and M. Leo Vignon has therefore made experi- 

 ments as to the best means of detecting it. He finds that the 

 commercial product usually consists almost entirely of 

 phosphorus sulphide, I'lS., and contains about i per cent, of 

 free pho.^iphorus which is of the red modification, and there- 

 fore harnil'-c:. Th" only test that gives satisfactory results is 

 to p.i . "• • ■ :,j^en ovf-r the product, when in the 



pre,-,' rus the gas bcctimes phosphorescent 



in th' with a green tlarne, yielding phos- 



phoric !■ ) i. Ail :, I iti ii': identified by well-known tests. 



An Anti-Serum for Hsxy Fever. 



The hay fever of Murops is, as is well known, caused by the 

 pollen of a large number '>t plants— notably grasses; while the 

 widesprrnci and mnrr cr-rinii- '- nut'imm! rold " of North 

 Amcr: , ■ rag weed 



(Anil nllicniiims. 



The " ted by Pro- 



fessor I.ii.i.ljar, of th'j lly„-i>_ii;'- Iii..t:t ;te ol 1 huiibiirg, and a 

 simple method of serum treatment dcvis'd. A substance of 

 an albuminous character could bf i.'iolated from each of the 

 active pollens by extraction and precipitation with alcohol and 

 salt, and this substance produced all the symptoms of hay 



fever in susceptible individuals. I'nlike the true toxines pro- 

 duced by many pathogenic bacteria, it was not destroyed by 

 heat, and could also resist the action of dilute acids and of the 

 ferments of the digestion, though it was sensitive to the action 

 of alkalies. Different individuals varied as regards their sus- 

 ceptibility to its action ; but as a rule a dose of , oVs 'o .-o'sii of 

 a milligramme was sufficient to produce all the local toxic 

 effects. An anti-serum was obtained by inoculating rabbits 

 with this preparation, and the immunised serum thus prepared 

 neutralised the poison outside the body, and in practice pro- 

 tected susceptible subjects against the pollen. It is now sold 

 as a commercial preparation under the name of poUnnfin, 

 either in the liquid state or in the form of a powder, obtained 

 by evaporating the serum in a vacuum. It is only intended 

 for external application, for although subcutaneous injection 

 does afford some protection, the immunity is only partial, and 

 does not last more than a few d.iys at rr.ost. 



The Composition of Soot. 



Mr. E. Knecht has examined numerous specimens of soot 

 of various origin, and especially that from the Manchester 

 chimneys. This was found to contain about 11 per cent, of 

 ammonium sulphate, 20 per cent, of other mineral matter 

 (ash), and ij per cent, of substances soluble in benzene, the 

 residue {46 per cent.) being assumed to be carbon. The sub- 

 stances soluble in benzene were hydrocarbons of high boiling 

 point, while the insoluble residue was a brownish highly in- 

 flammable powder, taking fire spontaneously when heated to 

 the temperature of boiling water. l-"xtraction of the soot with 

 alkali yielded a brown product, from which a dyestuff could be 

 prepared, giving fast shades on cotton, ranging from fawn to 

 dark brown. London soot contained a very much smaller 

 amount (1-3 per cent.) of substances soluble in benzene, while 

 soot from Prague (lignite coal) yielded only 0-2 per cent, of 

 these substances and contained only traces of ammonia. 



GEOLOGICAL. 



By Ki.uAKD A. Maktin, F.G.S. 



Niagara's Horse-pou'er. 



According to a recent survey of I'nited States engineers, 

 the Niagara Kiver in its course from Lake Erie to Lake 

 Ontario falls a distance of 327 feet, and discharges 230,000 

 cubic feet of water per second from one lake to the other. At 

 the same time it develops an equivalent of about 9 million 

 theoretical horse-power, of which 50 per cent, is estimated to 

 be available for industrial purposes. 



Glaciation of Turkestan. 



Evidence of the extension of what we know as the Glacial 

 Period accumulates. Mr. Ellsworth Huntingdon, in " Explora- 

 tions in Turkestan " (Washington), claims for the neighbour- 

 hood of his explorations as many as six advances and six 

 interglacial withdrawals of the ice, basing his claim on the 

 phenomena exhibited by those valleys which still contain 

 glaciers in them. The idea that the Glacial Period was con- 

 fined to any one portion of the globe is vanishing before the 

 advance of geological science, and Croll's so-called astro- 

 nomical theory no longer gives an acceptable explanation of 

 the phenomena of the age. 



Black Gault. 



In the process of c.vcavaliiig lor drainage in the village of 

 Ditchling, in Sussex, three pits have been dug to a consider- 

 able depth, each pit being separated from the next by about 

 200 yards. At a depth of 10 feet, black carbonaceous clay has 

 been reached, so thickly impregnated with black vegetable 

 matter as to constitute a soft lignite. The base has not been 

 reached, but it extends to at least a thickness of 15 feet. The 

 village is situated about a mile north of the chalk escarpment, 

 and the outcrop of the gault clay is midway between the hills 

 and the village. The black mud is covered with what is pro- 

 bably the wash of the lower grcensand beds of the higher 

 ground somewhat farther to the north, and no doubt represents 

 a basemcnt-bcd of the gault cl.iy. It promises to yield a large 

 quantity of water, should it at any time be necessary to utilise 

 it for the purpose. 



