November. 1912. 



KNOWLKDCxE 



441 



Within the last eighty-six years they have been regarded as 

 .as Foraminifera, calcareous, horny, Monaxonellid, and 

 Hexactinellid Sponges, Hydroida. Hydrocorallinae, Alcyon- 

 arians, .-\nthozoon corals, Poly/oa. Cephalopoda, and 

 vegetables ! Mr. Kirkpatrick, of the British Museum, has now 

 come to the conclusion that they are Foraminifera. .-\ vertical 

 section shows apparently a meshwork of regular or irregular 

 radial and concentric calcareous strands, which are really the 

 edges of walls of Foraminiferal chambers. It may be noted 



as an indication of the difficulty of the subject that Mr. 

 Kirkpatrick, who calls the Stromatoporoids Foraminifera in 

 September, called them Sponges in .\ugust. He returns to 

 an old zoological puz/le, that of Eozoiiii canadeiisc, a reputed 

 fossil from Lower Laurentian serpentines. Most zoologists have 

 of late .agreed to surrender Eozoon to the pctrologists ; but 

 Kirkpatrick revives Carpenter's conclusion that it represents a. 

 genuine organism. He regards it as belonging to the 

 Foraminifera, nearly related to Labcchia and Hcatricea. 



SOL.XR DI.STl'RB.ANXES DURING .SI-:r II'.M I'.l". R, 1912. 

 F.v FK.WK C. DENNETT. 



September contrasted strongly against .\ugust in the amount 

 of solar activity observed. On five days only — 1st to 3rd, 

 29th and 30th, — was the disc recorded as free from 

 disturbance, and on four others — 4th, 5th. 22nd and 23rd — 

 only faculae were noted. On the remaining twenty-one days 

 spots were visible. The longitude of the central meridian at 

 noon on September 1st, was 174'' 59'. 



No. 15. — A group of pores first seen on September the 6th, 

 amid bright faculae just round the eastern limb. There was 

 iniuh variation in the grouping of the pores from day to day. 



No. 19. — .V tiny pore on September 24th directly in front of 

 a faculic disturbance close to the east limb. On the 25th, 

 there was a little triangle of pores with a tiny point behind it. 

 On the 26th the leader and the trailer had both enlarged, the 

 former containing three umbrae. It had decreased on the 

 27th, and when last seen on the 28th only a tiny pore 

 remained. 



On September 22nd, Mr. Booth kept in view a tiny pore, 

 approaching the central meridian, but distant about 13°, 

 with a twelvt'-inch nnsilvercd glass Newtonian, using powers 



FiGiKi; 471. 



The diagram figures it upon the 9th. On the 12th only a little 

 gray pore marked the place of the leader. Its greatest length 

 was 67,000 miles. 



No. 16. — A pair of spots near the western limb, in a group 

 of faculae only seen upon the 8th. 



No. 17. — .A. considerable faculic area was visible a little way 

 on to the disc from the east limb on September the 10th. 

 On the 12th or 13th a small black spotlet appeared in this 

 area with two pores just ahead of it. On the 14th it was 

 a group 45,000 miles in length, and later increased to 

 60,000 miles. The spots attained their greater diameter on 

 the ISth, when the region directly north-west of the largest 

 middle umbra appeared of a light violet colour as seen with 

 an unsilvered glass Newtonian reflector. It was last seen 

 close to the western limb on the 21st. 



No. IS. — A group of spotlets and pores broke out amid 

 faculae nearing the western limb on the 14th. and was last 

 seen next day. 



varying between eighty and four hundred diameters. He 

 estimated that from four to six of the minute granulations 

 which go to make up the photosphere would have covered 

 up the pore. His drawings are reproduced in Figure 471. 

 A, at 9 a.m.; B, 10 to 10.30 a.m.; C, D, and E show dull 

 fluctuating lanes amid (he granulation; F, a bright lip on the 

 western or preceding side of the pore ; G, a dull lane 

 containing veiled pores; H, a stationary veiled patch from 

 1 until 2.15 p.m.; and I shows the pore, at 4.20 p.m., set 

 within curves of minute points joined by thin dark lines. 



Faculic areas were recorded around longitude 62°, latitude 

 8° S. from September the 4th until the 7th ; at 329°, 35° N., 

 on the 21st, at 185', 5° S. on the 23rd and 24th ; and between 

 the sites of groups numbered 16 and 19, on the 24th 

 and 25th. 



The chart is constructed from the joint observations of 

 Messrs. J. McHarg, A. A. Buss, E. E. Peacock, C. Frooms, 

 D. Booth, and the writer. 



DAY OF SEPTEMBER, 191 2. 



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