June 22, 1916] 



NATURE 



349 



theta, they should be carefully recorded. Duplicate 

 observations of the same meteors will be very valu- 

 able, and will probably supply the data from which 

 the question of duration may be finally answered. 

 The computed place of the radiant is as follows : — 



Selenium Photometry. — Prof. J. Stebbins describes 

 his important work in connection with the employ- 

 ment of selenium bridges in astronomical photometry 

 in the current number of the Observatory. This 

 doubtless forms a completed chapter in the stors- of 

 the electrical measurement of radiation, since Prof. 

 Stebbins has for some time directed his attention 

 to the later photo-electrical methods (Nature, May 4). 

 It may be remarked that there is a somewhat mislead- 

 ing reference to Prof. Minchin's work in the brief his- 

 torical statement, as the "cell,'' properly so called, 

 devised by him was based on a quite different principle 

 from that of the bridges used by Prof. Stebbins. 

 Moreover, the first essays in the application of Prof. 

 Minchin's selenium cell to stellar photometry were 

 made by Mr. Monck and Prof. Fitzgerald in 1892, at 

 Dublin. Afterwards Prof. Minchin greatly increased 

 the efficiency of his apparatus, and himself made 

 measures of stellar radiation in 1895 ^^ Daramona. 



The Chemical Origin of Solar Radiation. — This 

 question is discussed by Dr. Briner in the Revue 

 gendrale des Sciences, No. 9. The adequacy of purely 

 mechanical processes to account for the vast out-turn 

 of solar energy became seriously questioned after the 

 discovery of radium. Later, spectroscopic evidence 

 pointed to the existence of chemical compounds in 

 the sun's atmosphere, and additional hypotheses were 

 advanced. Dr. Briner agrees with Arrhenius regard- 

 ing the inefficiency of radio-active changes, but shows 

 that both endothermic and exothermic reactions in- 

 volving either elementary or compound substances are 

 likewise insufficient. Dr. Briner then proceeds to 

 consider the thermo-chemical aspects of Sir Norman 

 Lockyer's dissociation hypothesis, and concludes that 

 if the interior of the sun is largely made up of matter 

 in a proto-atomic state, it would constitute a respect- 

 able reservoir of energ\- capable of supplying a con- 

 siderable portion of the solar radiation by the suc- 

 cessive associations, resulting ultimately in the forma- 

 tion of the chemical elements. 



THE SOUTH-EASTERN UNION OF 

 SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 

 T^HE South-Eastern Union of Scientific Societies 

 -*■ held its twenty-first annual congress at Tun- 

 bridge Wells on May 24-27, with the Rev. T. R. R. 

 Stebbing in the presidential chair. Mr. Stebbing was 

 president of the first congress held in the same town 

 in 1896. Dr. Geo. Abbott, who was the chief founder 

 of the union, was also present, and read a paper on 

 "Some Remarkable Resemblances of Inorganic Forma- 

 tions to Organic." The president's address, which 

 was, as he said, full of "thoughts that burn," took 

 the unusual form of a comparison of Biblical records 

 with scientific truth. Considerable feeling was elicited 

 in discussion, and a proposal that the address should 

 not be printed was^ defeated overwhelmingly. Mr. 

 H. R. Knipe, in giving a paper on some extinct 

 animals, showed a series of new slides made from 

 remarkably lifelike drawings bv Miss Alice M. Wood- 



ward. Dr. Keeble's paper on "' Prehistoric Man " was 

 illustrated by models of a lake-village, beehive Neo- 

 lithic huts, etc., thus introducing an excellent method 

 of educating an audience into the mysteries of human 

 ancestrj\ Dr. P. Chalmers Mitchell lectured on the 

 ■' Youth of Animals," and Mr. A. Archibald gave a 

 valuable paper on the "Coinages and Mints of the 

 South-Eastern District," illustrated by the asphingo- 

 scope. 



In speaking on " Some Rarer British Birds," Miss 

 E. L. Turner spoke of the reeve having been known 

 to nest in England in 1907, and previously in 1897 

 and 1890, although now it is merely a migrant. Whole- 

 sale "egging," and the reclamation of land, were the 

 causes of the extinction of the bittern in our country. 

 The "boom" of the bittern was heard by a watcher in 

 July, 191 1, and by careful tracking the bird was found 

 to be actually breeding. Miss Turner referred to the 

 great crested grebe as a species which has largely 

 benefited by the Bird Protection Acts. The curiously 

 furtive habits of the water-rail were illustrated by a 

 fine series of photographs, its shy habits making it a 

 difficult bird to approach. Miss Turner undoubtedly 

 scored a triumph when she found a pair of cormorants 

 breeding in a disused heron's nest in Norfolk in July, 

 1914. This was the more remarkable in that there 

 has been no record of nesting since 1825, and that in 

 Suffolk. For upwards of 200 years Norfolk had lost 

 the cormorant as a nesting bird. Sir T. Browne 

 states that it built at Needham "upon trees, from 

 where King Charles I. was wont to bee supplved" 

 (" MS. Notes and Letters, 1605-82," printed by T. 

 Southwell, 1902). The nest which Miss Turner observed 

 could only be reached by a 40-ft. ladder, and at 

 this distance above the ground she exposed more 

 than one hundred negatives. Some of these showed 

 the playfulness of the young cormorants, and the 

 insight gained into the habits of the nestlings is 

 invaluable. 



In a lecture by Prof. H. H. Turner, on "The Dis- 

 coverv of Oxygen in the Stars," the various steps 

 by which the knowledge of this occurrence has been 

 obtained w^re described. A paper which mav prove 

 of great educational importance was given in 

 "Kosmos" Cinema Theatre by Dr. W. Martin on 

 "The Educational Importance of the Cinema." It was 

 pointed out how valuable a means of education is 

 being lost in the neglect of this invention, and it was 

 especially emphasised that by leaving picture-palaces 

 severely alone the better classes were tending to allow 

 the degradation of the t\-pe of film-pictures which are 

 shown in them. 



The congress met in very fine weather, and the 

 excursions that were arranged met with success. 

 Mention should be made of the visit to Lawson 

 Wood's half-timbered house at Groombridge, which 

 was removed from Udimore, near Winchelse^. where 

 it was threatened with demolition. The remains of 

 this fine old fourteenth-century court-house were thus 

 saved from being treated as firewood. 



NO. 2434, VOL. 97] 



BRITISH GEOLOGICAL SOCIETIES. 

 T^HE deep attraction which the studv of the earth 

 ^ possesses for dwellers in our islands is shown 

 by the existence of local geological societies, in addi- 

 tion to the numerous bodies devoted to natural history. 

 While to many workers "the Geological Societv'" 

 means that founded in London in 1807, and worthily 

 commemorated in the " History " written bv the late 

 H. B. Woodward, we must remember that associa- 

 tions with similar objects exist in Edinburgh, Glas- 

 gow, Manchester, and Liverpool. The Geological 

 Society of Dublin issued its first publication in 18^8, 



