KNOW I.I nr,!'. 



Mav. 1912. 



Now, It iiiii.-^t Ik- obvious tliat this collection was 

 not Miacic witli a view to sul)sei|Uent sale, seeing that 

 valuable jewellery and silver plate could have been 

 obtained w ith just as little, indeed with considerablv 

 less, trouble. What then prompted these entirclv 

 meaningless thefts ? The only [lossible answer is 

 mania, ;in insane desire to steal for mere stealing's 

 sake, or in other words, the morbid craving ft)r 

 excitement which is at the bottom of so nianx 



motiveless and useless crimes, and which, again 

 and again, has driven apparently sensible men and 

 women to ruin and even suicide. Such diseases as 

 kle|)tomania belong exclusivel\' to civilisation. They 

 are the product of an age of sensationalism, wherein 

 all things, books, plays, even sermons, are valued 

 according to their capacity to thrill, .^nd, naturallv 

 enough, woman, w ith her delicately-balanced ner\ous 

 organisation, is the first and chiefest sufferer. 



THK NI-W .A.S'JROXO.MW 



NO\'.-\ CH.MI.XORIM. 



Bv PKOFICSSOK A. W". ]! I (" K i: RTON. 



Thr new star in Gemini seems to be behavinf,' exactly as the 

 other recent novae from which spectrograms have been 

 obtained. Professor Fowler says that the little spectrum he 

 has obtained by his student's small telescope is as near as 

 possible a replica of Nova Aurigae. By the kind permission 

 of the Astronomer- Royal I was allowed to inspect their 

 spectrograms. The first Greenwich spectrogram shows the 

 blaze bands of hydrogen, each one being bordered on the 

 more refrangible edge by a dark absorption band. The 

 velocity shown by these dark bands seems to me to be less 

 than half of Nova Persei and perhaps slightly greater than 

 Nova .\urigae, something like four hundred miles a second. 

 This was taken on the 1.5th. A break in the clouds on the 

 18th enabled the star to be again cleverly captured just long 

 enough to get a very narrow spectrum. The star is rapidly 

 losing light and the shadow bands are much thinner, almost 

 gone, without apparent lessening of displacement. 



Snrely this evidence must convince astronomers that novae 

 are the explosive third bodies struck from grazing suns. There 

 is not a single minute character of the complex progressive 

 details of their light curves, not one characteristic of all the 

 multiple series of spectrograms of novae, but are observations 

 confirming physical deductions from the third body and 

 published a generation ago in the original papers in the trans- 

 actions of the New Zealand Institute. 



Let us take the light curve. The sudden rise is the 

 explosion of the impact, taking about an hour. The further 

 rise is the expansion due to thermodynamic instability. The 

 descent of the curve is due to the rareness of the gas and the 

 consequent infrequency of molecular encounters that must be 

 associated with excessive expansion. Then comes the 

 oscillation of light ; this is due to the periodicity of the pulsa- 

 tion of the pressure of the gaseous nucleus under the influence 



of the struggle of attraction and inertia. Then, again, notice 

 the extraordinary evidence of the series of spectrograms. 

 The spectrum that shows immediately after impact is 

 continuous, because the light gases are at the centre and have 

 not escaped. Presently they escape and produce black lines. 

 These light gases by taking heat from the heavier acquire 

 enormous velocity. One thousand miles a second was 

 observed in Nova Persei. Hence they soon become vast 

 ensphering shells ever expanding. .As the motion is in all 

 directions the line becomes a blaze band. The nucleus 

 although much expanded produces a continuous spectrum, 

 except those isochromatic rays passing to us through the 

 hydrogen gas shell. These suffer reversion and a black line 

 results. This portion of the shell has the greatest resultant 

 speed in our direction, hence is on the extreme edge towards 

 the violet. So we have physical deductions exactly borne out 

 by ob.servations. But the speed of the escaping gas is so 

 enormously above the critical velocity that it will continue 

 steadily to expand. Hence it happens that the portion of the 

 shell in front of the nucleus becomes so rare that absorption 

 ceases and the black lines die out without change of position. 

 Here again deduction and observation agree, as do every 

 subsequent item in the series of spectrograms. Nova Persei 

 was so bright and so well observed that every detail of the 

 character of the bands due to axial extrusion, every difference 

 of the elements and their deduced behaviour, were all 

 confirmed, until the theory of the third body is no longer a 

 mere hypothesis but an absolutely demonstrated deduction. 

 In "The Earth's Beginnings" Sir Robert Ball sums up many 

 observations and concludes absolutely in favour of the idea 

 that novae are undoubtedly the result of grazing impact. The 

 evidence that has accuuuilated since he wrote is enormously 

 greater than that of which he made use. 



FISHERIE.S AXI) SHIPPING MUSEUM FOR HULL. 



.-\t Hull, on Saturday afternoon, March JOth, a museum was 

 opened to the public which is probably the only one of its 

 kind in the country. It is devoted entirely to objects connected 

 with the fishing and shipping industries, which play so 

 prominent a part in the city. The nuiseum, which is a large 

 building, and top-lighted, is the gift of Mr. C. Pickering, J. P.. 

 a prominent Hull merchant. The exhibits, which have been 

 arranged by the curator. Mr, T, Sheppard, F.G.S., include an 

 exceptionally fine series of harpoons, harpoon gims, tlensers, 

 blubber-spades, and other objects connected with the old 

 whaling trade, which commenced at Hull in the sixteenth 

 century, and which may be said to have started the present 

 flourishing oil and fishing industries. On the walls are 

 many valuable paintings of the old Hull whalers in the .\rctic. 

 shewing the methods of fishing, as well as paintings and 

 drawings of other Hull ships, from the earliest times to the 

 most recent. There are also dozens of models of ships, 

 illustrating the evolution and growth of the vessels from the old 

 " wooden walls ' to modern battleships and liners, all built at 

 Hull. The various phases in the evolution of the old fishing 



smack into the modern steam trawler are also well shewn by 

 models. There is a valuable set of Esquimaux boats and 

 fishing appliances, brought to Hull during the early part of 

 last century by the old whalers. .Amongst more modern 

 fishing appliances are some remarkable models, which were 

 shewn at the Japan-British Exhibition, and were presented 

 to the Hull Corporation by the Japanese Government. These 

 are supplemented by models of Hull fishing nets, and so on. 

 ancient and modern. There are preparations shewing the 

 growth of the prawn, trout, eel, carp, oyster, and so on, and 

 others illustrating the nervous system, blood vessels, skeletons, 

 and so on, of fishes. There is a representative set of 

 skeletons of whales and fishes, large and small, and a large 

 number of medi.aeval and later earthenware vessels, and so 

 on, which have been dredged up frotn the Dogger Bank by 

 the Hull trawlers. .As the nuiseum is situated at the entrance 

 to the new park, near the centre of the fishing industry, 

 it bids fair to become popular. This is the third public 

 museum which has been opened at Hull during recent years, 

 while the largest has been increased to twice its size. 



