iS 



A'A TURE 



[November 2, 1S93 



I 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



T!rooks' Comet. — Dr. F. Bidschof has compnted the fallow- 

 ing elements and ephemeris for the comet discovered by Mr. W. 

 K. Brooks, on October i6 : — 



T = 1S93 September ic)'6<)2g Berlin mean time. 

 Si = 175' ro 1 Mean 



<^ = 348 307 ( eq- 

 i = 129 546 ) 1893-0 



log <j = 9 '9 1 335 



JLpJuvicris for Berlin Midnight. 

 R.A. app. Dccl. avp- 



1S93. 

 November 



6 

 10 

 14 



h. 



12 45 

 12 53 



59 +24 35 9 



13 27 51 8 



13 I 12 31 21-1 



13 10 2 + 35 46 



The brightness of the comet on October 18 has been taken as 

 unity. 



The Planet Jupiter. — At the present time Jupiter is a 

 fine object for observation, his declination being between 18° 

 and 19° north of the equ.itor. Coming into opposition on 

 November 18, telescopes of moderate power can be used effect- 

 ively for observing the belts, .=mall spots, and other fine details. 

 Large instruments — that is, those having an aperture of 15 

 or 16 inches or more — may be used also for observations of the 

 5th satellite. Assuming the period of this satellite to be 

 1 ih. 57m. 2i*88s. with a probable error of about a second of 

 time according to Mr. Marth, the following are the approximate 

 times of elongation : — 



Greenwich T, me. 



p.m. 



The Wave Lengths ov the Nebular Lines. — Last week 

 we referred to Prof. Keeler's paper, read at the congress of 

 Astronomy and Astro- Physics at Chicago, and we may add 

 here a few words with regard to the results it included, as they 

 are of importance. This paper, on " The Wave-lengths of the 

 two Brightest Lines in the Spectrum of the Nebulx" is the 

 outcome of a series of measurements made with the 36-inch re- 

 fractor and the large spectroscope of the Lick Observatory, the 

 dispersion employed being equivalent to twenty-four 60^ flint 

 prism. The "normal position" of a nebular line is defined 

 as the position of the line in the spectrum of a nebula at rest 

 relatively to the observer. The results with respect to the two 

 chief nebular lines are — 



Normal position of the chief nebular 



line on Rowland's scale 

 Normal position of the second nebular 



line on Rowland's scale 



A 5C0705 ± -03 



A 4959-02 ± "04 



Prof. Keeler considers the greater part of this probable error to 

 be due to comparisons with the third line, which could not be 

 observed so accurately. From all the observations he finds that 

 the motion of the Orion nebula referred to the sun is 

 + 1 1 -o ± 0-8 miles per second, and the wave-length of the 

 chief line in this nebula, corrected for the earth's orbital motion, 

 is 5007-34 ± -013. 



5 GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 



Yet another plan for polar exploration is annnvtnced 

 ■with noj definite purpose of pushing on to the pole, although 

 that may incidentally be reached. Mr. Robert Stein, of the 

 U.S. Geological Survey, proposes establishing a station at the 

 south end of Ellesmere Land, which will be kept in touch with 

 the outer world by the whalers hunting in Baffin Bay. Here a 

 number of observers will live gaining experience in Arctic 

 travel, and from this base " a fan of secondary stations " will be 

 pushed out a hundred miles or so further north, where com- 



NO. T253, VOL. 49] 



fortable houses will be built and frequent communication kept 

 up with headquarters. From each secondary station the staff of 

 five hardy observers will travel northwards, combining science 

 with sport, and even when tracking the musk-ox or while bear 

 each explorer will carry his •' four-pound aluminium theodolite " 

 and "make game of the heights and bearings of the mountain 

 peaks." We fear that if this expedition, or rather system of- 

 exploration, is really set on foot, its difficulties will become much 

 more real than they now appear. In any case it would be wise to 

 postpone work on so large a scale until the two well-equipped 

 expeditions already in the field have added their contribution to 

 our knowledge. of Arctic conditions. 



M. E. de Poncins, who. is travelling in Central Asia, has- 

 written some interesting letters to the Paris Geographical 

 Society. In the latest, dated from Chajan, in the Pamirs, on 

 July 9, he mentions the curious fact that while in Europe he has 

 repeatedly suffered from mountain sickness on Mont Blanc and 

 Monte Rosa, he eats and sleeps at 4500 metres in the Pamirs 

 just the same as at sea-level. In crossing snow-passes at 5750 

 metres his horses caused some trouble, but with this exception 

 he found the Pamirs a pleasant region where it was easy to get 

 about in summer. 



The Russian Government has organised a new province In 

 Siberia under the name of Anadyr. It occupies the extreme 

 north-east of Asia, and is very thinly peopled, mainly by natives, 

 Koriaks, Kamchadales, Chuchis, &c., the last named being the 

 most numerous and the least uncivilised. 



Dr. E. v. Drygalski, who has spent eighteen months ir> 

 North- West Greenland studying the phenomena of Arctic 

 glaciers, has returned to Europe, and his report of the work 

 done by his expedition will be expected with much interest. 



A novelty in political boundary lines is reported in Let 

 Geograpliie, which stales that the frontier between Turkey and 

 Servia is lobe marked throughout its length by a wire fence. 



The November number of the Geographical Journal is rich 

 in new contributions to geography and exploration. The Earl 

 of J 'unmore's paper on the Pamirs and Central Asia occupies 

 the first place. — The Rev. J. A. Wylie gives an account of a 

 journey through Central Manchuria, with many interesting 

 notes on places and people, and a detailed itinerary which 

 must prove valuable to subsequent travellers. — Lieut. B. L. 

 Sclater writes a detailed report on routes and districts in 

 Southern Nysaland, illustrated by a new map of the district 

 east of the Shire as far as the Milanji Mountains, largely com- 

 piled from his own prismatic compass surveys. — Mr. Theodore 

 Bent communicates a letter from Mr. Swan, who is now ii> 

 Mashonaland, giving an account of fresh ruins recently visited 

 on the Lotsani and Lundi Rivers, the "orientation" of which 

 to the setting solstitial sun he believes he has established. — Mr. 

 W. S. Bruce and Dr. C. W. Donald publish a preliminary re- 

 port of their observations during a voyage toward the Antarctic 

 Sea, and Dr. Schlichter gives his paper on the determination of 

 geographical latitudes by photography. 



INS TITUTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS 



C\^ Wednesday and Thursday of last week, October 25 and 

 ^^ 26, a general meeting of the Institution of Mechanical 

 Engineers was held in the theatre of the Institution of Civil 

 Engineers, in Great George-street, Westminster ; the Presi- 

 dent, Dr. William Anderson, occupying the chair. Dr. 

 Anderson retires in- rotation this year, and Prof. Alexander 

 B. W. Kennedy, F.R.S., is proposed as his successor. There 

 were two papers down for reading, as follows : — " On the Arti- 

 ficial Lighting of Workshops," by Mr. Benjamin A. Dobson, of 

 Bolton ; and " On the Working of Steam Pumps on the Russian 

 South-Western Railways," by Mr. Alexander Borodin, Engineer- 

 Director. 



Mr. Dobson's contribution was an interesting and valuable 

 paper, in which he described the results of inquiries he had 

 made with a view to obtaining the best mode of artificial 

 illumination for the large workshops of his engineering estab- 

 lishment at Bolton. Mr. Dobson's works are engaged in pro- 

 ducing textile machinery, more especially that for cotton- 

 spinning. Many parts of such machinery require to be finished 



