r 



270 



NA TURE 



[January 18. 1894 



have each his own la'ioiatf ry and rooms where research may 

 be comlucted under his supervision. 



4. That the scheme of any course of lectures delivered at 

 the institute, whether by the director, the lecturer on bacteri- 

 ology, or anyone else whom the council may appoint, be sub- 

 mitted to the council for their approval. 



5. That the director should exercise a general supervision 

 over the conduct of the institute, and be responsible for it to 

 ihe council. 



6. That all matters of expenditure at the institute should pass 

 through the hands of the director, and that he should be 

 entrusted with the appointment and dismissal of the servants of 

 the institute. 



7. Thai anyone desiring instruction at the institute, or wish- 

 ing to tngage in original research there, should make applica- 

 tion to the director, who should have power to admit him. 



8. That the director should present to the council a quarterly 

 statement of the work carried on at the institute, and furnish a 

 written annual report. 



9. That leave of absence b2 granted by the council to the 

 director and the lecturer on bacteriology, on the understanding 

 that in each case an efficient substitute, approved by the council, 

 be provided. 



(Signed) II. E. Roscoe. 



Victor Horsley. 

 J. Lister. 



Electromo'.ive Force from the Light of the Stars. 



On the invitation of Mr. W. E. Wilson, I came here a few 

 days ago for the purpose of trying whether it was possible or 

 nit to obtain measuia ile el^c romotive forces from the li^ht of 

 the planets and of the t'lxed stars. Tne sensitive cells which we 

 employed are seleno-alu'iiiniumrc lanthol cells, and (excepting 

 the liquid) are the same as the selenn-akiminium-acetone cells 

 which I described in the rhU. Jl/jt;. for March, 1892. 



Last night was the on!y one 01 which observations were 

 possible ; and, owing to the stale of the weather, it does not 

 seem likely that, in the time at our disposal for joint-work, any 

 more photo-electric measures can be made. The result of last 

 night's work is to prove that the electromotive force of starlight 

 is easily measurable. 



The electrometer which we employed is Clifton's form of the 

 quadrant electrometer of Lord Kelvin. It was placed in a 

 room beneath that in which the telescope is fixed, and was thus 

 kept quite dry and free from draughts. The telescope is Mr. 

 Wilson's two-feet reflector ; and the photo-electric cell, attached 

 to a cell-carrier, was connected with the telescope in place of 

 the eye-piece, and could be moved into or out of the image of 

 the star at pleasure. The poles of the cell were connected with 

 those of the electrometer by naked but well insulated fine wires 

 led through a hole in the floor of the observatory. The area of 

 the sensitive plate in the cell is about 3 square millimetres. 



An E. M.F. of i volt was represented by 460 divisions of the 

 scale, and the light of Venus gave about 40 divisions. Only 

 about one quarter of the disc of the planet is at present illum- 

 inated, so that the E.M.F. of the whole light of the planet 

 would have been represented by 80 divisions. [The square of 

 the E.M.F. is proportional to the incident energy.] Thus the 

 light of Venus concentrated by this telescope is represented by 

 about "17 volts. 



With Jupiter about 14 divisions on the scale were obtained ; 

 but no conclusion can be drawn from this, because the image of 

 Jupiter covered much more than the area of the sensitive plate. 

 Hence the energy of his light corresponds to a much larger 

 number than that given. 



From the light of Sirius we obtained an E.M.F. of about 

 •02 volts (a little over 9 divisions on the scale). 



An attempt on Aldebaran was not productive of any certain 

 result, and was interfered with by an accident to the cell. 



However, we consider that we have succeeded in our object, 

 and we hope that, with a slightly improved cell-carrier and a 

 much more sensitive electrometer, results will be obtained from 

 the lights of a large number of fixed stars. 



I would observe, in conclusion, that the relative values of the 

 lights of Venus and of Sirius as given in the " Encyc. Brit," 

 ("Photometry"), are most probably erroneous. It seems to 

 me that the light of Venus very much exceeds the value there 

 given. George M. Minchin. 



Daramona House, Westmeath, January 8. 



NO. 1264, VOL. 49] 



THE THYROID GLAND. 

 (With apologies to Mrs. Hemans). 



" \A/^ ^^^^ ^'^^^ speak of the thyroid gland, 

 * * But what thou say'st we don't understand; 

 Professor, where does that acinus dwell ? 

 We hashed our dissection, and can't quite tell. 

 Is it where the macula lutea flows, 

 And the suprachoroidal tissue grows ?" 

 — " Not there, not there, my class ! " 



" Is it far away where the bronchi part, 

 And the pneumogastric controls the heart ? 

 Where endothelium endocardium lines, 

 And a subpericardial nerve intertwines ? 

 Where the subpleural plexus of lyinphatics expand. -'- 

 Is it there, Professor, that gruesome gland? " 

 — " Not there, not there, my class ! " 



" I have not seen it, my gentle youths, 

 But myxoedema, I'm told, it soothes. 

 Landois says stolidly, ' functions unknown ' : 

 Foster adopts an enquiring tone. 

 Duct does not lead to its strange recess. 

 Far below the vertex, above the pes, 

 It is there, I am told, my class ! " 



R. M. 



NOTES. 



Prof. Ernst Haeckel completes his sixtieth year on 

 February 16 next. On the following day a marble bust of him 

 is to be placed in the Zoological Institute at Jena. Dr. Richard 

 Simon, of Jena, is the treasurer for the fund opened for this 

 purpose, and the following Englishmen are on the general com- 

 mittee : — Mr. F. Darwin, Dr. Gadow, Prof. Huxley, Prof. 

 Ray Lankester, Sir John Lubbock, Prof. Alfred Newton, Mr. 

 Poulton, Mr. Adam Sedgwick, Mr. Sollas, Mr. Herbert 

 Spencer, and Sir Wm. Turner. 



The competition for the prize of 500 francs, founded by 

 De Candolle for the best monograph on a species or a family of 

 plants, has been opened by the Societe de Physique et d'llis- 

 toire Naturelle of Geneva. The memoirs may be written in 

 Latin, French, German, English, or Italian, and should be sent 

 to the President of the Society before January 15, 1895. Mem- 

 bers of the Society are not admitted into the competition. 



M. Marey has been elected vice-president of the Paris 

 Academy of Sciences for the ensuing year. 



The death is reported, at Vienna, on December 2, 1893, at 

 the age of 62, of Dr. J. Boehm, well known for his researches 

 on the circulation of the sap in plants. 



The death is also announced of Baron K. von Kiister, eminent 

 in botanical circles ; of M. Quinquand, known for his investiga- 

 tions on nutrition and toxicology, and other important physio- 

 logical works ; and of Dr. Heider, Privatdocent in Hygiene 

 in Vienna University. 



We regret to record the death of Herr W. von Freeden, 

 which occurred at Bonn, on the nth inst., after a short attack 

 of inflammation of the lungs. Herr v. Freeden is best known 

 to science as the founder and first director of the Noiddeutsche 

 Seewarte of Hamburg, which in 1875 was developed into the 

 Deutsche Seewarte, under Dr. George Neumayer, Herr v. 

 Freeden was born at Norden, in Hanover, in 1822 ; he was 

 first appointed Teacher of Physics and Modern Languages at 

 the Gymnasium at Jever, a post which he exchanged for the 

 Headmastership of the Navigation School at Elsfleth, near 



