452 



NA TURE 



[September 6, 1894 



allowed to pass between a brass ball as anode, and the cleaned 

 surface of an amalgamated zinc disc as cathode, they disappear 

 in the presence of magnesium light. And if the distance 

 between ball and plate be enlarged, the magnesium light will 

 also hinder the formation of positive electrical brushes. 



[C/. W'itdemann' s Annalcn, Bd. 38, p. 40 ; 38, p. 497 ; 

 39, P- 332 : 4«. P- '61 ; 4>. P- '66 ; 42, p. 564 ; 43, p. 225 ; 

 44, p. 722 ; 46, p. 281 ; 48, p. 625 ; 52, p. 433 ; and Witiur 

 Bcruhtt, Bd. 101, p. 703. March 1892.] 



Wolfenbiittel, August 12. 



J. Elstkr. 

 H. Geitel. 



A Remarkable Meteor. 



On the evening of August 26 (Sunday) I saw what was to 

 me an unprecedented sight : a brilliant and curious " meteor " 

 fell near Gloucester. Starting from a point a little to the west 

 of K " Draco," at loh. 19m., falling in the direction shown in 

 Fig. I, through about an angle of 40° ; when It reached point x, 



POLE STAR. 



^-p« 



■"-^o^ 



~.x. 



-.8. 



.1: 



-'■p. 



If 

 lu. 



*; 



Fig. I. 



it appeared to melt, and its path from x to v was marked by a 

 most brilliant stream of light, equalling in intensity a magnesium 

 flame. 



This luminous streak from X to V remained stationary and 

 brilliant for nearly two minutes; then the lower extremity 

 gradually curled around, forming the letter J, asshoivn in Kig. 2 ; 

 the ends gradually converged until they met, forming a somewhat 

 irregular band, and travelling in the path indicated by the arrow 

 in Kig. 2. 



As it traversed the heavens it seemci like a phosphores-ent or 

 nebulous cloud, finally .-Ksuming the shape shown in Fig. 2 ; 



POLE STAR. 



^''.Co 



"% 



' "X. 



u 



between K and A " Ilrico," then gradually becoming fainter 

 and fainter, until at loh. 41m. just twcnty-lwo minutes after 

 the " meteor " fell) it became invisible, at a pomt as much to the 

 eautward of K " Draco " as the " meteor " had started from the 



westward of it. I should like to know if any of yojr readers 

 have seen a similar phenomenon, or if it is of common occur- 

 rence. John W. Earle. 

 Gloucester, August 27. 



A New Rhynchobdellid. 



It seems hard to believe that a leech, common and abundant 

 and possessing a chitinous dorsal scute, should have hitherto 

 escaped notice. But Jackson, in his edition of the " Forms of 

 .Vnimal Life," does not refer to such .1 structure, nor does Ling, 

 and I do not find notice of it in more recent literature. In the 

 hope that I am not adding a needless synonym, I give a short 

 description of the animal, of which a detailed account is in 

 preparation. 



{Glossiphonia?) sculifcra, n. sp. Sub-c.irtilaginous, semi-trans 

 parent, greenish grey above, paler beneath ; obscurely striated 

 above, with a row of dark spots on either side of the middle 

 line. Body widest about 4o;h annulus, tapering thence abruptly 

 to the disc and gradually to the head, which is narrowest, and 

 not marked off from the succeeding annuli. .\nnuli 64, g.inglia 

 22. Length in full extension about I inch, at rest jS-.hs 

 of an inch. Eyes two in centre of head. Genital apertures 

 behind 21st and 23rd annuli. The 9th annulus is broader than 

 its neighbours, and carries on the hinder part of its richly 

 glandular dorsum a chitinous plate slightly elongated trans- 

 versely, covering about an eighth of the width of the annulus ; in 

 young specimens the margins are overlapped by the integu- 

 ment. Anus dorsal. 



This species is meanwhile referred to Glossiphonia, to which 

 it bears a general resemblance. John VoUNG. 



Glasgow University, August 28. 



The Bleaching of Beeswax. 



Ca.n any of your correspondents inform me how to bleach 

 beeswax chemically, satisfactorily, and at a moderate cost? 

 August 28. J. ' 



D. 



SUNSHINE AND tVATER-yflCROBES. 



THE bactericidal action of light is perhaps of most 

 general hygienic significance in connection with the 

 fate of microorganisms in water, and there is ample 

 field open for investigation in this direction, which so far 

 has been but little explored. It is, therefore, with 

 especial interest that we note Prof. Uuchner's important 

 contribution to this subject in the Art/tiv fiir H\\^ieiu. 

 The title of the paper (" Ueber den Kinfluss des Lichtes 

 auf ISacterien tmd iiber die Selbstreinigung der Klusse") 

 already indicates that the practical aspect of the tittestion 

 has been considered, and indeed several experiments 

 have been planned and carried out with the object of 

 ascertaining what is the part played by sunshine in the 

 alleged bacterial purification which takes place in river- 

 water during its flow. 



1 n the first series of experiments samples of boiled tap- 

 water were inoculated with three drops of broth-cultures of 

 the typhoid bacillus, />'. lo/i coinmunis a.nd H. pyocyiineus 

 respectively. The typhoid bacilli, even in dill'used day 

 light, were reduced in numbers from 7400 per c.c. to start 

 with, to 5000 at the end of one day, whilst on the second 

 day none whatever were found. The B. coti communit 

 sample had only 220 left on the third day, out of 22,600 at 

 the commencement of the experiment, and was sterile on 

 the fourth day ; the A', pyoiyanctis was, however, hardU 

 affected at all during four days' exposure to diffused lighi 



The direct rays of the sun, however, were far mote 

 destructive. Thus about 30 c.c. of a sample of typhoid- 

 infected water, placed in glass dishes and exposed to sun- 

 shine, contained no typhoid organisms at the end of 

 six hours, and similar results were obtained with the 

 /)'. pyoiyaiiciis. 



In all these experiments the perfectly admissible objec 

 tion could be urged that the diminution in the numbers 

 present might, at any rale in part, be attributed to a pro 

 cess of starvation in consequence of the absence of food- 



NO. 1297, VOL. 50] 



