November 2, 1899] 



NATURE 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



Astronomical Occurrences in November:— 



November 6. oh. Conjunction of Saturn with the moon, 

 hi°i'N. 



11. Saturn. Outer minor axis of outer ring = 



i6"*ii. 



12. Ilh, iim. to iih. 29m. Occultation of k 



Piscium (mag. 5) by the moon. 

 12. 20h. Jupiter in conjunction with the sun. 

 14-16. Expected brilliant return of the Leonid 



meteoric shower. 

 15. Venus. Illuminated portion of disc = o '966. 



15. Mars. Illuminated portion of disc = o'goi. 



16. 4h. Mercury at greatest eastern elongation 



(22° 18'). 



17. loh. 2im. to iih. 29m. Occultation of A^ 



Tauri (mag. 45) by the moon. 

 19. 6h. lom. to 7h. im. Occultation of Neptune 



by the moon. 

 19. loh. 32m. Minimum of Algol (/3 Persei). 

 22. 7h. 2im. Minimum of Algol (j3 Persei). 

 25. I4h. iim. to I5h. 2im. Occultationof 55 Leonis 



(mag. 6) by the moon. 



Holmes' Comet (1899 d). 



Ephemeris for \2h. Greenwich Mean Time. 



1899. 



R.A. 



Decl. 



Co.MET GlACOBiNl (1899 c).— The following ephemeris is 

 given by Herr S. K. Winther, of Copenhagen, in Aiir. Nach., 

 Bd. 150, No. 3598 :— 



Ephemeris for izh. Berlin Mean Time. 



066 



063 



o 60 



New Algol Variable inCvgnus.— The following minima 

 will occur at convenient times for observation during Novem- 



d. h m. 



1899. Nov. 6 8 57 



15 12 27 



29 5 43 



New Variable Star.— In \h& Astronomical Journal, No. 

 470, Mr. R. T. A. Innes, of the Cape Observatory, gives the 

 individual results of his observations leading to the detection 

 of a new variable. Its position is : — 



C.P.D. 



S4•■«34{g;^,:z■5^4?-.^-■}(.875). 



The star was first suspected of variability by Prof J. C. Kapteyn, 

 who furnished a list of possible variables to the Cape Observ- 

 atory in December 1896. Mr. Innes, from a discussion of the 

 Jifty-eight observations he records, finds the period to be about 

 12-68 days, the variation of magnitude being from 8-7 to 93. 

 The fall to, and rise from, minimum seem to be very sharp ; but 

 notwithstanding this similarity to the Algol type, it is not con- 

 sidered likely to belong to that class. The colour of the star is 

 distinctly red. 



NO. 1566, VOL. 61] 



GEOGRAPHY A T THE BRITISH ASSOCIA TION 



'piIE Dover meeting was characterised by the unusual 

 quantity of solid woH< in physical geography and mainly 

 m oceanography, including polar research, which was brought 

 before the Section. Travel papers were less numerous than 

 usual, though certainly of no inferior type, and the use of the 

 lantern to illustrate nearly every communication added both to 

 the interest and the value of the expositions. The hall was ill- 

 situated and not well adapted for the purpose it was called upon 

 to serve, and this unfortunate environment, not any falling off in 

 the quality of the papers, accounted for the remarkably small 

 audiences, which were the subject of general remark. 



The address of the President, Sir John Murray, contained a 

 summary of exi.sting knowledge as to the ocean floor, and con- 

 cluded with indications as to the direction in which advance 

 during the immediate future is to be looked for. In this respect 

 Sir John Murray gave prominence to the improved prospects for 

 Antarctic research, and emphasised the importance of the forth- 

 coming expeditions aiming at scientific completeness in their 

 work. In seconding the vote of thanks for the address. Sir 

 Michael Foster, the President of the Association, spoke of the 

 interest which the Royal Society as well as the Royal Geo- 

 graphical Society felt in Antarctic exploration, and of the 

 determination of both Societies to make the best possible use 

 of the funds which might be placed at their disposal for the 

 complete scientific study of the south polar area. 



Arctic Papers. 



The most recent results of Arctic exploration were described 

 by three explorers who had attacked the problem in very dif- 

 ferent ways. Admiral Makaroff, of the Russian navy, gave an 

 account of the trial trip of the great Russian ice-breaker 

 Yermak, a vessel recently constructed at Armstrong's works on 

 the Tyne for service in the Baltic during winter and in the Kara 

 Sea in summer. The vessel is built of steel, the plates being 

 very heavy and the ribs and cross-girders of very great strength 

 arranged to meet the thrust of ice from all sides. She is built 

 with two hulls, one within the other, is minutely subdivided 

 into water-tight compartments, and fitted with an elaborate 

 system of tanks and steam-pumps which enable the trim of the 

 vessel to be altered very rapidly. Thus the vessel may be 

 depressed at bow or stern, or canted to port or starboard by 

 pumping water from one set of tanks to another. The dis- 

 placement of the vessel fully equipped is 8000 tons, and her 

 engines have power by acting on three propellers at the stern to 

 drive her at the rate of 14 knots. A fourth propeller at the 

 bow, intended to drive away the broken ice by the currents it 

 generates, was found useful only in light ice, but of no value in 

 breaking ice of great thickness. The trial-trip, which Admiral 

 Makaroff described with many illustrations from photographs, 

 demonstrated the power of the ship to break away through ice 

 as much as 14 feet thick, not so much by smashing the ice as 

 by determining the direction of cracks by which the mass is 

 split. A cinematograph picture was obtained of the Yermak 

 forcing her way through the thickest of the Arctic pack-ice 

 north of Spitsbergen, but Admiral Makaroff regretted that the 

 film could not be developed in time for exhibition at the 

 meeting. During the trip the ice was not only broken to make 

 way for the ship, but studied minutely. The powerful derricks 

 with which the vessel is filled made it possible to capsize large 

 blocks of ice so as to study the parts normally under water, and 

 also to hoist on deck masses of many tons weight, to be studied 

 as to temperature by the insertion of thermometers to different 

 depths, and as to chemical composition, melting point, &c. 

 Admiral Makaroff is convinced of the perfect suitability of 

 strong steel ships for polar research ; and in reply to an inquiry 

 as to whether he hoped to reach the North Pole in the 

 Yermak, .said that he only wished he might be allowed to try. 

 There was a long discussion on the paper, in which the value 

 of this new method of mastering the ice was generally 

 recognised. 



Mr. W. S. Bruce, who had just returned from a voyage to 

 Spitsbergen in the Prince of Monaco's yacht, I'rincesse Alice, 

 gave an account of the physical and biological conditions of the 

 Barents Sea, lounded on that crui^c and on a voyage last year 

 in Mr. Andrew Coats' )acht Blemalhra. Only two of the 

 many current floats thrown overboard by the Blemathra had 

 as yet lieen recovered. 



Mr. Walter Wellnian, in an address on his recent journey to 



