2IO 



NA TURE 



[December 28, 189; 



The Tail of Comet Brooks (c. 1893). — The tail of this 

 comet seems to have undergone some interesting changes, and 

 the following brief descriptions from two well-known observers 

 will show the diflferent appearances observed. Mr. Brooks 

 describes the tail on October 21, lyh, as having a sharp curve 

 close to the head towards the south and accompanied by a 

 faint secondary tail, issuing from the head at an angle of 30° to 

 the main tail towards the north {Astronomy and Astrophysics 

 for December). On November 4, the tail assumed its usual 

 straight form, but on November 9, lyh, it was straight for a 

 length of half a deg;ee from the head, where it became forked, 

 the larger portion curving gracefully to the south, the fainter 

 part straight, or nearly so, branching to the north, the two 

 branches making an angle with each other of about 25". Prof. 

 Baruaid, who has obtained several pictures, found that they 

 showed undoubtedly that on October 21 the tail had encountered 

 some outside or obstructive medium which badly shattered it. 

 Rapid and some very remarkable changes in position angle 

 were also gatheied from an e>aminaticn of the plates. The 

 advantage of photography for obtaining cometary photographs, 

 and especially for making analyses of the tails, will be at once 

 grasped when one con'-iders that Prof. Barnard, with the 12 in., 

 could not trace the tail even to a distance of 1°, while the photo- 

 graphs taken with the Willard lens (6 in. aperture, 31 in. 

 focus) showed it fully for 10^. 



Hydrogen Envelope of the Star D.M. +30^3639. — 

 Prof. W. VV. Campbell, in the December number of .-^i/rdJ^owj 

 ■and Astrophysics, communicates a very important observation 

 with regard to the spectrum of one of the Wolf-Rayet stars. 

 The star in question is of the 93 magnitude, D.M. +30^3639, 

 and its spectrum is very rich in bright lines. The most striking 

 features of the visual spectrum have been noted as the bright 

 line A 5694, the bright blue band at A 4652, and the very bright 

 hydrogen line Hy3. By arranging the spectroscope so that each 

 of these different parts of the spectrum is in focus, the line A 

 5694 is seen as " a very small image of the star. " The band 

 at A 4652 is " broad and lies wholly upon the narrow continuous 

 spectrum," the H/8 line observed with a narrow slit "is along 

 line extending to a very appreciable distance on each side of 

 the continuous spectrum," and with an open slit is " a large 

 circular disc 5" in diameter." Other hydrogen lines H7 and 

 Ha also exhibit the same peculiarities. The explanation of 

 this appearance is that the star in question must be surrounded 

 by an envelope of incandescent hydrogen, for other lines in the 

 same spectrum are not so changed. It is remarked also that 

 in other stars of the same type no such image has been 

 observed. 



" L'Astronomie" for December. — The December number 

 of this journal commences with a most interesting article by Dr. 

 Tanssen on the Observatory at Mont Blanc. The article itself 

 contains nothing of which our readers have not been informed 

 in the previous columns of Nature unless it be the illustration 

 showing the summit of the mountain with the observatory "in 

 winter." Two good illustrations of the appearance of the sun 

 during the last total eclipse of the sun (April 16, 1893), the 

 cliches of which were obtained by M. Schreberle and Prof. Des- 

 landres. "Around the world of Jupiter in ten hours" is the 

 title of a series of observations made at the observatory of 

 Juvisy by M. Eugene Antoniadi. The writer gives twelve 

 drawings of this planet, as made during this period, showing 

 the various surface markings which were brought to view by 

 rotation. Amateurs and others who at this time are 

 observing this planet will find these drawings a most useful 

 help in recognising many markings. The red spot is described 

 as excessively pale: " Elle est coloree en rose; ses regions 

 centrales sont claires, ses bords plus sombres ; elle est entouree 

 d'une aureole blanchatre." 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 



The death of Dr. H. Rink, on December 15, removes the 

 greatest authority on Greenland and the Eskimo. His life-long 

 devotion to the problems of the Arctic people gained for him 

 the esteem of all geographers. 



Reuter's Ac.ency announces that information has been re- 

 ceived from Baron Toll to the effect that up to October 25 Dr. 

 Nansen had not called at the Olenek river. This is practically 

 decisive news that Dr. Nansen found the sea so open that he 



NO. 1261, VOL. 49] 



determined to push northward without delaying to call any- 

 where ; and it is improbable that we shall hear more of the in- 

 trepid traveller until we receive his own report of success or 

 failure. 



Dr. Murray's paper on the renewal ot Antarctic explora- 

 tion will be published in the January number of the Geographi- 

 cal younial, which commences the third volume. It will be 

 accompanied by a series of letters from distinguished foreign 

 oceanographers and naturalists, strongly urging the importance of " 

 resuming systematic exploration in Antarctic seas. 



Dr. Hillier has recently communicated a paper to the 

 Vienna Academy of Sciences on the geography of the Pindus 

 range, one of the few mountain systems of any extent in Europe 

 which has never yet been adequately explored. He finds that 

 the system consists of three parallel ranges, and he has 

 unravelled the geological structure of each. 



A communication to the Royal Geographical Society states 

 that Mr. Crawshay, a Government official in British Central 

 Africa, has recently visited the Angoni country near Lake 

 Nyasa. He found the Nyika Plateau, which was traversed 

 on the way, a magnificent country, inhabited by a scattered 

 population of Anyika, living in huts built on narrow terraces 

 on the mountain-side or in caves, and cultivating peas as an 

 almost exclusive crop. In this district there are some fine 

 mountains, exceeding 8,000 feet in height, the principal town 

 of the Anyika, on the slope of Kantorongondo, being nearly 

 6,000 feet above the sea. 



EPIDEMIC INFLUENZAE 



'X'HE present report, a welcome supplement to the epoch- 

 -'- making report on the epidemic of 1889-90, is divided into 

 eight parts, the first seven by Dr. Parsons, and the last one by 

 Dr. Klein. It includes statistical studies of the epidemic of 

 1890, an account of the recent epidemics in England and Wales, 

 a history of influenza abroad in 1891 and 1892, considerations 

 respecting the retiology of the disease, notes on some clinical 

 features of the later epidemics, reports on outbreaks in institu- 

 tions, &c., remarks on the prophylaxis of the disease, and, in 

 Dr. Klein's department, a report on influenza in its clinical and 

 pathological aspects, to which photographic plates are appended 

 exhibiting influenza bacilli. 



Among the conclusions confirmed by the present report are 

 the small influence of locality, or environment, and the invariably 

 potent factors of exposure or proximity to the sick, and bad 

 ventilation. Over and over again serious epidemics in a town 

 or island have been traced to the arrival of one or two persons 

 from an infected place. With regard to the later epidemics, it 

 would appear that the contagion of the disease, scattered 

 broadcast, had "retained its vitality, but in a suspended or 

 inconspicuous form, perhaps by transmission from one human 

 being to another in a succession of mild sporadic cases, perhaps 

 in some medium external to the human body." Recrudesence 

 has taken place chiefly in early spring and in autumn. Observers 

 in various parts of the world have contributed their experience 

 that the progress of influenza in a country is gradual. The 

 most remarkable instances of rapid and wide diffusion were in 

 the United States, especially in the Western States and to settle- 

 ments far apart. 



A good example of the usual manner of spread is given in 

 Part IV. A teacher of music visited two relatives ill with 

 influenza on April 6, and returned to his own locality, which 

 had been hitherto unaffected. On April 9 he was attacked, 

 but struggled through his work, and gave lessons to pupils at 

 several houses. On April 11, ten of his pupils, and on April 

 12, the people with whom he lodged, developed the disease. 



One medical officer states that he recollects no instance of 

 the disease spreading from one member of a household to 

 others where strict precautions for isolation and disinfection were 

 taken. Unfortunately, however, it often happens that the first 

 member attacked was not the only one who had been previously 

 exposed to infection. Dr. Newsholme, medical officer for 

 Brighton, states that the borough sanatorium, being very 

 strictly isolated in every respect, escaped during the first two 

 outbreaks, and in the third until a servant who had been absent 



« Fuither report and papers on Epidemic Influenza, 18S9-92. With an 

 introduction by the Medical Officer of the Local Government Board. 1893. 



