November, 1910. 



KNOWLEDGE. 



461 



ZOOLOGY. 



Threads in the Web of Life. — By Margaret R. Thomson 



and J. Arthur Thomson'. 4T-in. x 7-iii. 198 pages. 



72 figures. 



(Macmillan & Co. Price Is. 6d.) 



" Threads in the Web of Life " belongs to the same series 

 as the book last noticed, and, like it. is intended to promote an 

 interest in science in a way quite different from laboratory 

 guides, text books, or works of reference. Our readers ha\e 

 been long familiar with the fascinating way in which Professor 

 Thomson is able to put his facts before us, and in the 

 production of the little volume imder consideration he has 



successfully collaborated. The book is very skilfully planned 

 to suit its special purpose. It begins with an account of 

 man as a hunter, which must appeal most strongly to the 

 interest of the reader, and proceeds through the consideration 

 of domesticated animals which are well known and of value to 

 man, to the flesh-eating forms with which he has had to 

 struggle, and those that destroy his crops. The balance of 

 nature, which it is so important not to upset, comes in for 

 attention, and as an instance of the scientific spirit which 

 leads men to devote their lives to the advancement of natural 

 knowledge, Pasteur and his work, are considered. This 

 " readable book in natural knowledge " is one from which e\ery 

 nature student should obtain inspiration and new interests. 



QUERIES AND ANSWERS. 



Readers arc invifc{, 



I to send in Questions and to ans-u'cr the Queries which are printed on this page. 



13. THE FINDING OF TIME AT NIGHT.— F.R.A.S. 

 asks whether he may repeat Question 2. which is as follows : — 

 Without instruments, books, or knowledge of the compass 

 bearings, how can time be found appro.ximately at night ? The 

 substance of it is asked of boy scouts who desire to obtain the 

 Star Badge of Astronomy ; as it seems a question which 

 would be more suitable for University examinations and is 

 unfair to boy scouts it would be interesting to learn what 

 answers our readers would give. 



14. SIGHT AND HEARING.— Which is the quickest, 

 sight or hearing ? 



F. P. H. 



15. E.\RTH TIDES. — Has any account appeared other 

 than that of Mr. Hardcastle in the September number of 

 " Knowledge " of Dr. Becker's work ? I am anxious to 

 follow up the subject and should be grateful for any 

 information. 



T. E. HODGKIN. 



16. ST.\R ATLAS. — The enquirer would be glad to know 

 if any amateur astronomer could refer him to a simple and 

 reasonably priced Star Atlas giving particulars of the R.A. and 

 Dec. of the principal objects of interest in the constellations 

 visible in the northern hemisphere. Owing to short sight and the 

 usual unsatisfactory atmosphere, the writer finds some difficulty 

 in picking up the various objects from "" Serviss's Pleasures of 

 the Telescope." The difficulty would be almost entirely 

 overcome if the book referred to gave declinations only, as 

 with an equatorial with a declination circle it is a fairly 

 simple matter to find an object, knowing the constellation in 

 which it should be. The ideal atlas for the amateur having a 

 telescope with or without divided circles should satisfy the 

 following main requirements : — 



1. Portability for use outdoors and fairh- large print. 



2. Whole page map of each constellation with small portion 

 of the surrounding constellations, the map being as near as 

 possible to the descriptive matter. 



3. Each constellation to be shown and described in the 

 rotational order in which it becomes visible. 



4. The R.A. and Dec. and short pithy descriptions of each 

 sufficiently important object of interest. 



Reflector. 



17. METEOK AT HONOR OAK.— On September 19th. 

 at exactly 11 p.m.. at Honor Oak Park, a magnificent Meteor 

 of a yellowish tint travelled in direct line from N.E. to S.W. 

 leaving a fairly developed tract along the entire line. Radiated 

 almost directly under Cassiopeia, took four seconds from 

 appearance to disappearance. .-Vny other information would be 

 interesting. Brilliance, double that of Jupiter at his best. 



W. B. 



IS. STARS BY DAYLIGHT.— On page 63 of Sir John 

 Herschel's " Treatise on Astronomv " he states that stars are 



\isible by daylight from the bottom of a deep narrow pit. such 

 as a well or shaft of a mine. 



Professor Maunder in "' Astronomy without a Telescope," 

 page 240. mentions this assertion of Sir John's, and suggests 

 that a first-hand scientific testimony of an observer is still to 

 seek ; by scientific testimony meaning the day, hour and 

 minute when the star is seen, the latitude of the place, the 

 depth of shaft and the breadth of its mouth. Professor 

 Maunder says, " There must be not a few . . . who could 

 report " I have seen such a star at such a time,' or ' I have 

 watched for such a star at the time of its transit across the 

 zenith on so many occasions . . . and could see nothing '." 



19. THE PLANET NEPTUNE. — Would any of our 

 friends who are fond of the study of Astronomx- and follow 

 the orbital motion of the Planets kindh' inform me if the 

 calculations with regard to the orbit of Neptune agree with 

 those made shortly after the discovery of the Planet in 1846. 

 The distance given in the various books on .Astronomy is so 

 much at variance with the "formula of Bode" that it does 

 not seem to follow the order of the other Planets. The distance 

 of Jupiter to Saturn is almost double; again, the distance of 

 Saturn to Uranus is almost double, but that of Uranus to 

 Neptune does not bear anything like the same proportions. 



W. C. Dixon. 



20. THE DISTANCE OF THE EARTH FROM THE 

 SUN. — Would some reader inform me if a reward has ever 

 been offered for the discovery of a more accurate means of 

 determining the distance of the Earth from the Sun than by 

 the obser\ation of the transit of Venus, or by means of the 

 minor Planets? Professor Newcomb, says : — ".•^s we before 

 observed we cannot ascertain the distance of the Earth from 

 the Sun within a few hundreds of thousands of miles." 

 Sir R. Ball, says : — '" These circumstances make it difficult to 

 determine the distance of the Sun from observations of the 

 transit of Venus with the accuracy which modern science 

 requires. It seems therefore likely that the final determination 

 of the Sun's distance will be obtained in quite a different 

 manner." Sir R. Ball, also says : — " The transit of Venus can- 

 not be described as a very striking or beautiful spectacle. It is 

 not nearly so fine a sight as a great comet or a shower of 

 shooting stars. Why is it then that it is regarded as of so 

 much scientific importance? It is because the phenomenon 

 helps us to sohe one of the greatest problems which has e\er 

 engaged the mind of man. By the transit of Venus we may 

 determine the scale on which our solar system is constructed." 

 When it was considered desirable to ascertain a correct mode 

 of ascertaining the longitude at sea a large reward was offered ; 

 surely the distance from the Sun, on which all the other data 

 are based, is a matter of great interest to the scientific world 

 and should be worthv of a like reward. 



W. C. Dixon. 



