256 



NATURE 



[January i i, 1894 



derivative CHoI-O-CHoI is simultaneously formed. Incidentally 

 M. Henry observed that phenol reacts in a most violent manner 

 with formaldehyde, great heat being evolved, and a remarkable 

 porcelain-like substance being produced which is insoluble in all 

 the usual solvents. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during 

 tbe past week include a Black-handed Spider Vi-onVey {Atcles 

 ater. ? ) from Eastern Peru, presented by Mr. L. Clarke ; a 

 Coot {Fulica atra) European, presented by Mrs. L. Spender : 

 two Wedge-tailed Eagles {Aquila audax) from Australia, pre- 

 sented by Mr. F. W. Burgess ; a Long-billed Butcher Bird 

 {Barita destructor) from New Holland, deposited ; a Salvin"s 

 h.m2.zo^{Chrysoth salvini){xom. South America, two Purple- 

 capped Lories {Lorius dofiiicella) from Moluccas, purchased ; a 

 Yak {Paphagus grunnicns) born in the Gardens. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



Harvard College Observatory Report. — In this, the 

 forty-eighth annual report to the President of the University, 

 Prof. Pickering, the director of the Astronomical Observatory of 

 Harvard College, has a fine record of work to refer to, which has 

 beencarriedoutduringthe twelvemonths endingOctober3i, 1893. 

 We make the following brief extracts from the accounts given 

 of the various branches of work done in the several departments. 

 The East Equatorial was on the whole worked by Mr. O. C.Wen- 

 dell, and employed for the systematic observation of variable stars 

 upon the system lately adopted. Photometric observations of 

 Jupiter's satellites (twenty-five in number) were made ; forty- 

 eight series of wedge photometer observations (3354 measure- 

 ments) for determining the brightness of 11 18 stars occurring in 

 the Durchmusterung, were also made. Among other uses of this 

 instrument were the observations of comets, measurements with 

 the polarising photometer, &c. The Meridian Circle has been, 

 as usual, at work under the direction of Prof. W. Rogers, while 

 good progress has been made in the reductions of the observations 

 of the southern stars with the meridian photometer. The observ- 

 ing list for the latter observations contains about 6oco stars, and 

 excluding the 4000 already contained in the Harvard Photo- 

 metry, three quarters have now been made. Mr. W. Reed, with 

 the West Equatorial, on eighty-seven evenings has made observ- 

 ations on variable stars (489), comparison stars (1318), and ten 

 on the brightness of Comet Holmes. 



With regard to the Henry Draper Memorial, Mrs. Fleming 

 has given us, as usual, her list of stars with peculiar spectra, 

 and her examination has resulted in the discovery of the new 

 star in Norma. In addition to a classification of the 20149 

 spectra of stars for the new catalogue, work has been done with 

 the 8-inch and 11 -inch, resulting in the production of 2424 and 

 1037 photographs respectively. A most interesting series (213 

 photographs) of j8 Aurigas has also been obtained. 



In the Boyden Department, in addition to an expedi- 

 tion to observe the total solar eclipse in April last, important 

 work was done by the 13-inch telescope, which was devoted to a 

 study of the members of the solar system, an account of which has 

 been previously referred to in this column. Prof. Bailey, the 

 director of the third expedition, began work on April 4, and 

 with an 8-inch and 13-inch telescope has obtained 1516 and 

 852 photographs with these two instruments respectively ; some 

 ot these pictures show some very remarkable southern clusters. 

 This observatory has also a meteorological station on Mount 

 Chachani, 16,650 feet, the highest in the world ; a second one 

 has now been established on the volcano El Misti, at an eleva- 

 tion of 19,200 feet, with self-recording instruments. The Bruce 

 photographic telescope will now be soon completed and ready 

 for work, but the Bruce transit photometer has already made 

 some progress towards the observations of tenth magnitude 

 stars as standards for faint stellar magnitudes. Zodiacal phe- 

 nomena have also been systematically observed. The new 

 brick building for the thirty thousand glass photographic 

 plates is finished, and the plates have been transferred. In 

 his concluding remarks Prof. Pickering alludes to the diffi- 

 culty, now becoming more and more significant every year, 

 with regard to the observation of faint objects, owing to the 

 increasing number of electric lights in the neighbourhood. An 

 "electric tram" trouble seems also approaching a focus in 



the near future. We hope Prof. Pickering will successfully 

 override these difficulties. 



The "Gegenschein." — In order to find out the origin of 

 this peculiar phenomenon an effort has been made to obtain 

 observations as nearly contemporaneous as practicable, and 

 made at widely separated points. The distribution of light in 

 the zodiac, and particularly of the slight maximum nearly 

 opposite the sun, and known as "Gegenschein," or Counter- 

 glow, has for some time past attracted the attention of astro- 

 nomers, and we hope the present systematic attempt will be 

 rewarded with successful results. Those cooperating in this 

 work are Prof. Barnard, of the Lick, Prof. Bailey at Are- 

 quipa. Prof. Searle and Mr. Reed at Strafford, Vermont, and 

 Mr. Douglass at Cambridge, U.S.A. Prof. Barnard, after 

 describing the general appearance of this phenomenon (Astr. 

 Journal, No. 308), besides noticing the change of form and its 

 connection with a zodiacal band, finds that his observations 

 show that the "Gegenschein" lags behind exactly opposite 

 the sun, or, in other words, that its longitude is not quite 180° 

 greater than that of the sun. His numbers are : — 



From 



1883-1887 



1888-1891 



Sept. and Oct. 1893 



His observations show no decided parallax to the object, 

 but an appreciable north latitude, as seen from the value of ;8 

 in the table above, will be noticed. 



Prof. Barnard believes that the latitude of the " Gegen- 

 schein " and the lagging in longitude to be due to "atmo- 

 spheric absorption, and that the object is exactly opposite the 

 sun, and that it lies in the ecliptic, and if its centre were a 

 definite point the position of the sun could be accurately deter- 

 mined from observations of the ' Gegenschein' by changing the 

 sign of the declination and subtracting twelve hours from the 

 Right Ascension." 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 



The Arctic expedition planned by Dr. Stein, of the U.S. 

 Geological Survey, as the first of a series for the gradual ex- 

 ploration of the Arctic regions from a base in Ellesmereland 

 (see Nature, vol. xlix. p. 18), is being actively prepared. Accord- 

 ing to Reuter's agency the command of the expedition has been 

 offered to Baron Nordenskiold, who has contributed .!^25o to 

 its fund and has arranged by cable to keep a place open for a 

 Swede on the staff. l3r. Stein has agreed to the latter pro- 

 posal, and has stated that his first duty will be to search for the 

 Swedish naturalists Bjorling and Kalstennius, whose tragic 

 story has been biiefly told in this column (p. 85). The possi- 

 bility that the unfortunate party was able to reach the Eskimo 

 of Ellesmereland and live with them for two years is very 

 slight, but as long as the faintest chance remains it is satis- 

 factory to find that arrangements are being made for a search 

 and possible succour. 



M. E. A. Martel, whose researches on the subterranean 

 watercourses of France and Greece are well known, has been 

 investigating the Adelsberg Grotto and other karst phenomena 

 of Carniola, in company with Herr Putick. They were able to 

 solve conclusively some points in the hydrology of the river 

 Piuka, and found their way into parts of the Adelsberg cavern 

 never before reached, proving that the whole length of the under- 

 ground passages in connection with it is not less than 10 

 kilometres. 



With the publication of vol. xix., dealing with South 

 America, M. Elisee Reclus' great work, " Nouvelle Geographic 

 Universelle : La Terre et les Hommes," has been completed. 

 Twenty years have elapsed since the first volume was published, 

 and these years have seen immense advances of geographical 

 knowledge ; but by the device of treating the less known con- 

 tinents at the end of the work, it has not fallen seriously out of 

 date. Its great features are the philosophic grasp of the relation 

 of man to his natural surroundings, and the working out of this 

 relation for each continent and country. It is unfortunate that 

 the state of public feeling on the continent makes it impossible 

 for the University of Brussels to carry out the appointment of 

 M. Reclus toaprofessorshipthere(seeNATURE, vol. xlvii. p. 327 

 on account of his political views. 



NO. 1263, VOL. 49] 



