300 



NA TURE 



[January 25, 1894 



substance of the composition CHoNoO is produced, which ex- 

 plodes below the temperature of boiling water. An account of 

 the work is contributed to the current Bcrichte. 



A NEW mode of preparing methylamine and ethylamine, 

 based upon the reduction of the remarkable ammoniacal com- 

 ivcands of formaldehyde and acetaldehyde, is described by 

 MM. Trillat and FayoUat in the current issue of the Bulletin 

 de la Societe Chimique. When aqueous solutions of formal- 

 dehyde and ammonia are mixed, a vigorous reaction occurs with 

 considerable rise of temperature, and the evaporated liquid 

 deposits hexagonal needles of the ammoniacal compound, the 

 composition of which has been given by several chemists as 

 N4(CH.,)g. It is now shown that the reaction can be much 

 more simply explained in the light of the behaviour of the com- 

 pound upon reduction, by accepting the simpler formula 

 N2(CH2)3. By the direct union of equal molecules of formal- 

 dehyde and ammonia, the substance CHg : NH, methylene 

 imide, is supposed to be produced, two molecules of which 

 then combine with another molecule of formaldehyde to pro- 



/N : CH2 

 duce the compound in question CHj^ with elimina- 



\N:CH2 

 tion of a molecule of water. This substance is rapidly broken 

 up upon treatment with zinc dust and hydrochloric acid, and 

 subsequent addition of caustic alkali, with liberation of methyl- 

 amine. It is probable that four atoms of hydrogen are taken 

 up during the reduction, thus fully saturating the molecule and 



.NH -CHa 

 forming the compound CHo<^ ; this latter substance 



NH • CHs 



then becomes converted into formaldehyde and methylamine by 

 assimilation of water during the saponification with alkali. In 

 order to prepare methylamine it is unnecessary to isolate the i 

 ammoniacal compound ; formaldehyde and ammonia are simply ] 

 mixed and immediately treated with zinc dust and dilute hydro- i 

 chloric acid. The liquid is then saturated with caustic alkali, 

 and the methylamine, together with excess of ammonia, ex- 

 pelled by a current of steam and received in dilute hydrochloric 

 acid. Upon evaporation of the acid solution, a mixture of sal- 

 ammoniac and methylamine hydrochloride is left, and the latter 

 may readily be extracted by absolute alcohol. A second dis- 

 tillation of the methylamine hydrochloride with caustic alkali 

 yields pure methylamine. Ethylamine may be similarly pre- 

 pared by reduction and saponification of the well-known com- 

 pound of acetaldehyde and ammonia. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during 

 the past week include a Himalayan Monkey {Macacus assa- 

 mensis, ? ) from Sikhim, presented by Capt. Edmund A. 

 Grubbe ; a Bonnet Monkey {Macacus sinicus, 9 ) from India, 

 presented by the Rev. Thomas Rickards ; two Japanese 

 Pheasants {P/iasiamcs versicolor, $ ?) from Japan, presented 

 by Mr. W. Rudge Rootes ; two Spanish Terrapins (C/^;«»?jj/^ 

 leprosd) from Melilla, North Africa, presented by Mr. 

 Bennet Burleigh ; a Dwarf Chameleon {Chamaleon pumi- 

 lus) from South Africa, presented by Mr. E. Wingate ; five 

 Gigantic Salamanders {Megalabatrachus maximus) from Japan, 

 deposited ; a Cuvier's Podargus {Podargus cuvieri) from 

 Australia, purchased. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



Report of the Wolsingham Observatory. — The Rev. 

 T. E. Espin is to be congratulated upon the large amount of 

 good work he is carrying on at the Wolsingham Observatory. 

 The system he adopts of sending out circulars announcing any 

 new or strange phenomenon observed by him, is one that could 

 be followed with advantage in many other observatories, for 



NO- 1265, VOL. 49] 



astronomers thus have their attention drawn to interesting 

 objects that they might otherwise have overlooked. We have 

 noted the contents of these circulars from time to time, and the 

 report that has just been issued sums up the work done in 1893. 

 Sweeps for stars with remarkable spectra were made on fifty- 

 three nights during the year. The total number of stars detected 

 was 578, of which 489 were found to be new to Argelander's 

 Chart. A thorough examination was made of the Red Region 

 in Cygnus, and several new objects detected. Many nebulous 

 objects were also met with, fifteen of which are not contained 

 in the New General Catalogue. The Compton 8-inch photo- 

 graphic telescope was used during the year for photographing 

 stars suspected of variation. The variability of four stars was 

 confirmed, and three new variables were detected. Mr. Espia 

 points out that it is much to be desired that the Compton instru- 

 ment should be mounted separately, so that the large telescope 

 could be devoted exclusively to spectroscopic work. During the 

 latter part of the year photographic work was almost entirely 

 discontinued, on account of the necessity of using the large 

 telescope for spectroscopic observations. Early in last year the 

 Observatory sustained a severe loss in the sudden death of Miss 

 Brook, who equipped the Observatory with meteorological 

 instruments, and generously defrayed all the incidental expenses. 

 We hope a new benefactor will soon spring up and supply the 

 much-needed mounting for the photographic telescope. 



Anomalous Appearance of Jupiter's First Satellite. 

 — It will be remembered that in September 1890, Profs. Burn- 

 ham and Barnard saw the first satellite of Jupiter, with the 12- 

 inch telescope of the Lick Observatory, crossing the disc of the 

 planet as a small dark double spot like a close double star [Astr. 

 Nach. No. 2995). Various suggestions were made to account 

 for this anamalous appearance, and it was even supposed for a 

 time that the satellite was actually duplex. The explanation 

 that found greatest favour in the eyes of astronomers, however, 

 was that there was a permanent bright belt around the satellite, 

 approximately parallel to Jupiter's belts, while the poles of this 

 "Galilean star" are of a dusky hue. A repetition of the 

 phenomenon was observed by Prof. Barnard, on September 25 of 

 last year, with the 36-inch Lick telescope {Astr. Nach. No. 

 3206). The observations show that beyond doubt the second ex- 

 planation is the true one. The satellite apparently rotates on an- 

 axis nearly perpendicular to the plane of its orbit. When it is 

 over a portion of the Jovian disc as dark as its own polar regions, 

 it appears more or less elongated, and parallel to the belts of 

 Jupiter. But when it is projected on a brighter region it appears 

 double, with the components in a line nearly vertical to Jupiter's 

 equator, the dusky polar regions alone being visible. The 

 smaller size of the southern component is very probably a 

 perspective effect produced by a tilt towards Jupiter of the 

 satellite's south pole. 



Astronomy and Astro-Physics.— The January number 

 of Astronomy and Astro- Physics maintains the high reputation 

 of that journal. Prof. W. H. Pickering describes a number of 

 different telescope mountings in use in England and France, 

 and compares them with some of those employed on the other 

 side of the Atlantic. The history and work of the National 

 Argentine Observatory forms the subject of a paper by Mr. 

 J. M. Thorne, the director. The immense number of observ- 

 ations made in that Observatory testifies to the zeal of the 

 astronomers as well as to the generally cloudless sky of 

 Cordoba. Prof. S. W. Burnham gives a descriptive list of so- 

 called double stars, of which the change of position is the result 

 of proper motion. An important paper is contributed by 

 Prof. F. H. Bigelow on the polar radiation from the sun, and 

 its influence in forming the high and low atmospheric pressures 

 of the United States. Prof. E. C. Pickering gives a brief 

 account of the new star that appeared in the constellation 

 Norma last summer, and was discovered by Mrs. Fleming on 

 October 26, while examining a photograph of the spectra of 

 the stars in its vicinity. An excellent plate accompanies the 

 account, showing that the spectra of Nova Aurigje and Nova 

 NormK were exactly alike, line for line. Among other articles 

 of interest is one on Prof. Langley's recent progress in bolo- 

 meter work at the Smithsonian Astro-Physical Observatory, 

 and another on the object-glass grating, by Mr. L. E. Jewell. 

 In the latter paper it is proposed to construct a photographic 

 object-glass grating for use instead of the object-glass prism m 

 obtaining photographs of stellar spectra. The plan suggested is 

 to photograph a series of images of a long narrow slit. This 



