46o 



NATURE 



[September 4, 1890 



magnesium) will be most obvious when the hydrogen lines are 

 not seen. A comparison of the two spectra with the same in- 

 struments under similar conditions will therefore be valuable. 



(3) This comparatively bright star of Group II. has not yet 

 been observed in sufficient detail, Duner simply staling that the 

 bands 2-8 are wide and dark. For purposes of classification it 

 is also necessary to know whether the bands in the blue or those 

 in the red are most intense. 



(4 and 5) These are stars of the solar type and of Group IV. 

 respectively (Konkoly). The usual observations are required in 

 each case. 



(6) Duner describes the spectrum of this star as one of Group 

 VI., consisting of three zones, of which the blue is also pretty 

 bright. The principal bands are very dark, and the secondary 

 bands 4 and 5 (A 589 and 576) were also occasionally seen. The 

 brightness of the blue zone varies very considerably in stars of 

 this group, and, moreover, does not depend upon the magnitude 

 of the star. It probably therefore depends upon temperature. 

 The associated phenomena are well worth investigation. 



(4) This interesting variable will reach a maximum about 

 September 6. The observations of the magnitude at maximum 

 are a little discordant, but there can be no doubt that it changes 

 considerably, the extremes being 6 "8 and 9 '5, whilst the minimum 

 is a prolonged one of about magnitude 13. The spectrum is 

 one of Group VI., showing very little blue light. Continuous 

 spectroscopic observations will be very valuable in connection 

 with Mr. Lockyer's theory of the cause of variability in stars of 

 this group. 



A. Fowler. 



Variable Stars near the Cluster 5 M. — At the June 

 •meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society, Mr. A. A. Common, 

 F.R.S., exhibited some photographs of the cluster 5 Messier, 

 taken with his 5-foot telescope at Ealing. Four photographs 

 had been taken on April 22, May 9, May 15, and June 9, with 

 exposures of 25, 45, 66, and 45 minutes respectively. The 

 plate taken on May 15 — that is, the one with the longest ex- 

 posure — contains five stars not shown on those taken before and 

 after that date. The presence of these five stars was not due to 

 longer exposures because they were all brighter than the loth 

 magnitude, whereas stars of at least the 12th magnitude were 

 seen on all the plates. A great difference was also observed in 

 the apparent magnitudes of many of the stars near the cluster. 



Prof. E. C. Pickering notes {Astronomische Nachrichten, 

 No. 2986) that an examination of the photographs of this 

 region taken at Harvard College Observatory proves beyond 

 doubt that the star about 9" or 10" south preceding the cluster 

 varies between 9*76 and 11 "6 magnitude, and that the south 

 component of the wide pair just following the cluster varies 

 between 9*3 and 12 '2 magnitude. 



New Asteroids. — A new minor planet (S), of the 13th 

 magnitude, was discovered by Dr. Palisa, at Vienna, on 

 August 17 ; and another, (^), by Mr. Charlois, at Nice, on 

 August 19. The latter was found near the position of Hera, 

 '(103), but because of the difference in magnitude it is thought to 

 be new. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, August 25. — On a jawbone of a 

 -Greenland seal, found by M. Michel Hardy in the grotto of 

 Raymonden. — Observations of the Denning (July 23, 1890) 

 Comet, made at the Paris Observatory, by M. G. Bigourdan. — 

 Observations of the new planet Palisa (Vienna, August 17, 1890), 

 made at the Paris Observatory, by Mdlle. D. Klumpke. — Ele- 

 ments and ephemerides of the planet (^, discovered at the 

 Nice Observatory, July 15, 1890, by M. Charlois. — On two 

 forms of electrical gyroscopes, one serving to show the 

 movement of the earth, and the other for the rectification 

 of the marine compass, by M. G. Trouve. The two instru- 

 ments are similarly constructed, but the latter is heavier, and 

 so hung as to be free from the various causes of dis- 

 turbance always present on board. It is able to correct the 

 compass with certainty, since its axis of rotation remains fixed 

 in space, however long it is necessary to prolong the observa- 



NO. 1088, VOL. 42] 



tion. — On the respiration of the grasshopper, by M. Ch. 

 Contejean, The abdomen is chiefly concerned with the respira- 

 tory movements. Stimulation of the nervous system by apply- 

 ing induced electric currents causes an obvious acceleration in 

 the breathing. — New researches on the production of light by 

 animals and vegetables, by M. Raphael Dubois. The author con- 

 cludes that the production of light in animal organisms is due to 

 ihe transformation of the colloidal protoplasmic granulations into 

 crystalloidal granulations, under the influence of a respiratory 

 phenomenon. — On the presence of the carboniferous formation in 

 Brittany, by M. P. Lebesconte. This paper contains a list of 

 the fossils obtained from some newly-discovered fossil-bearing 

 strata in the carboniferous limestones at L'llle-et-Vilaine in 

 Quenon. — On the storm of August 18, 1890, at Dreux, by M. 

 Leon T. de Bort. In its local and destructive character this 

 storm showed many analogies with the tornadoes of the United 

 Slates.— Notes were also submitted by M. Chapel, on the 

 coincidence of atmospheric disturbances with the meeting with 

 the Perseids ; by M. van Heyden, on the height of the atmo- 

 sphere ; and by M. E. Mathieu-Plessy, on a new ba=e obtained 

 by healing ammonium nitrate, possibly nitramide, NOj . NH2. 



BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, and SERIALS RECEIVED. 



Principia ; or, the Three Octaves of Creation : Rev. A. Kennion (E. 

 Stock). — Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute, 1889. 

 vol. xxii. : Sir J. Hector (Triibner).— Paul Nugent, Materialist, 2 vols., 3rd 

 edition : H. F. Hetherington and Rev. H. D. Burton (Griffith and Farran). 

 —Annual Report of the Department of Mines, New South Wales, for the 

 year 1889 (Sydney).— Inorganic Chemistry : Wm. Jago (Longmans).— Wild 

 Flowers of North Wales Coast ; R. Darlington (Roper and Drowley).— Wild 

 Flowers of Vale of Llangollen, &c. : R. Darlington (Roper and Drowley).— 

 The Ethical Problem: Dr. P. Cams (Chicago, Open Court Publishing 

 Company). — Report of the French Commission on the Use of Explosives 

 in the Presence of Fire-Damp in Mines (Newcastle-upon-Tyne). — Zur 

 Geschichte der Altesten Haustiere : Dr. Otto (Breslau).— Untersuchungen 

 iiber die Physiologischen Wirkungen der Lupetidine und verwandter Korper 

 und deren Beziehungen zu ihrer chemischen Constitution : A. Giirber 

 (Ziirich).— Timehri, No. xvii. (Stanford).— Journal of the Chemical Society, 

 August (Gurney and Jackson). 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



The British Association 433 



Inaugural Address by Sir Frederick Augustus Abel, 



C.B., D.C.L. (Oxon.), D.Sc. (Camb.), F.R.S., 



P.P.C.S., Hon. M.Inst.C.E., President . ... 433 



Section B (Chemistry)— Opening Address by Prof. 



T. E. Thorpe, B.Sc, Ph.D., F.R.S., Treas. 



C.S., President of the Section 449 



Section C (Geology)— Opening Address by A. H. 

 Green, M.A,, F.R.S., Professor of Geology in 

 the University of Oxford, President of the Section . 454 

 Letters to the Editor : — 



British Association Procedure.— Prof. William A. 



Tilden, F.R.S., ; W. A. Shenstone 456 



Fine Group of Sun-spots.— W. F. Denning .... 456 



Organic Colour. — F. T, Mott 456 



On the Soaring of Birds. — Rev. O. Fisher; C. O. 



Bartrum ^rn 



Occurrence of a Crocodile on Cocos Islands.— H. N. 



Ridley 457 



Helix nemoralis and hortensis. — ^J. W. Williams . 457 

 Mr. Williams's "British Fossils."— The Reviewer . 457 

 A Remarkable Rainbow. — D. MacGillivray .... 457 



Notes 457 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Objects for the Spectroscope. — A. Fowler 459 



Variable Stars near the Cluster 5 M 460 



New Asteroids 460 



Societies and Academies 460 



Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received 460 



