62 



NA TURE 



[November i6, 1899 



that is, a little north-west of 7 Andromedse. The usual 

 characteristic of these meteors is their slow flight, in contrast to 

 the swift Leonids, and this should facilitate photographic 

 impressions of them being obtained. 



Holmes' Comet (1899 d). 



23 ••• 2 13 55'i7 ••• +47 40 0-2 



OccuLTATiON OF Neptune. — On Sunday evening next, 

 November 19, there will be an occultation of Neptune, visible 

 throughout the whole of northern Europe, for the observation 

 of which the following particulars will be useful : — 



Sidereal time. Mean time. 



Disappearance... 22 4 

 Reappearance... 22 56 



h. m. 



6 10 



7 I 



Angle from 

 North point. Vertex 



Po 



,.. 95 ... 129 

 .. 261 ... 299 



The angles given will facilitate the adjustment of the moon's 

 image so as to bring the points of "immersion" and "emer- 

 sion" into the positions of best definition. The " angle from 

 the north point " is the angle subtended at the centre of the 

 moon's disc by the arc extending from the star when in con- 

 tact to the point of intersection of the moon's limb by a great 

 circle passing through the North Pole ; the " angle from the 

 vertex " is the angle subtended by the arc extending from the 

 star to the point of intersection of the limb by a vertical great 

 circle passing through the zenith. 



For the convenience of observers south of London it may be 

 mentioned that the limits of latitude for this occultation are 

 90° N. to 25° N. 



"The Heavens at a Glance" (1900),— Mr. Arthur Mee, 

 of Cardiff, has published his annual astronomical calendar, upon 

 which is given a concise tabulation of the more important 

 astronomical constants and events for the coming year. One half 

 of the card constitutes a celestial diary, indicating the favour- 

 able dispositions of the various constellations for each month, 

 the sun's declination, phases of the moon, and configuration of 

 the planets, with detailed enumeration of occultations and 

 variable star phenomena. Following this, descriptive notes 

 are given of the prominent features visible on the moon at 

 various stages throughout the lunation ; times of elongation, 

 opposition, &c., of the planets throughout the year; a list of 

 the more prominent meteor showers, the eclipses of the year, 

 and several facts concerning variable stars. The whole is 

 printed on a single card, facilitating its being kept within reach 

 for instant reference by the observer's side, and thus specially 

 recommends itself to the amateur who may be unable to spare 

 the time necessary for obtaining the information from the more 

 complete reference works of the observatory. Astronomical 

 time is used throughout, and all the data are for Greenwich, 

 but are applicable with slight corrections to the whole of the 

 British Isles. Not the least important feature is the clear style 

 of arrangement and printing, which will render its use more 

 pleasant under actual working conditions. 



THE CONFERENCE OF GERMAN MEN OF 

 SCIENCE A T MUNICH. 



'T'HE seventy-first meeting of the Society of German 

 . Naturalists and Physicians opened at Munich on Sep- 



tember 17, and continued until the 23rd. 



. A great disaster had just visited the city ; the floods which 

 had wrought such havoc throughout the SaJzkammergut and 

 South Bavaria culminated their work of destruction in Munich, 

 where the Isar, rising many metres in a few hours, destroyed 

 two of the finest bridges in the capital, inundated the low-lying 



NO. 1568, VOL. 61] 



parts of the town, and threw out of gear the Electric Works and 

 many factories along the banks ; many lives were lost. 



The Prince Regent bridge, which was entirely destroyed, was 

 the gift of the ruler whose name it bears ; the original cost was 

 1,500,000 marks, and the munificent Prince has undertaken to- 

 bear the cost of rebuilding the same. 



In spite of the dislocation of all routes of communications,, 

 the congress was attended by about 3500 members. The pro- 

 ceedings opened with a gala meeting in the Royal Theatre on. 

 Monday, September 18, when the congress was inaugurated by 

 Councillor von Winckel, and the members were welcomed, on 

 behalf of the Prince Regent, by Prince Ludwig Ferdinand, 

 who evinced his interest by attending all subsequent general 

 meetings. 



After several other speeches had been delivered, Dr. Fridtjof 

 Nansen ascended the tribune and summarised the scientific 

 results of his Polar Expedition. 



Parenthetically, it is interesting to note that three of the most 

 remarkable addresses were delivered by foreigners — Nansen, 

 van l' Hoffand Ramsay — in fluent (Jerman. 



Nansen showed the typical glacial appearance of the Siberian 

 coast, then described Franz Josefs Land, which is far less ex- 

 tensive than appears on the maps ; the land is almost entirely 

 covered with ice, relieved here and there with masses of black 

 basalt rocks, which rest on a seam of clay some 500 feet in 

 thickness. 



The Arctic Ocean may be considered as a kind of lagooD 

 separated from the Atlantic by a .submarine range of mountains, 

 stretching from Spitsbergen to Greenland ; this range is re- 

 sponsible for a curious condition of things. The Arctic Oceaiv 

 is covered with a layer of brackish water containing a low per- 

 centage of salt, and collected from the Siberian rivers and the 

 Bering Strait ; below this is Gulf Stream water, containing a 

 normal quantity 'of salt. 



If these two layers of water were mixed, the average temper- 

 ature would fall, but this average would not be so cokl as that 

 of the surface layer of Arctic water ; this condition accounts for 

 the enormous formation of ice in the polar region. 



The points were all illustrated by photographs, tables and 

 diagrams, and drawings of the diatoms found in the fresh-water 

 lakes, formed by the sun melting the surface of the ice, were 

 shown. 



The lecturer was followed by Prof, von Bergmann, who de- 

 monstrated the value of radiography in the diagnosis of surgical 

 diseases ; and by Prof. Forster, who described the alteration in 

 the face of the heavens from the remotest periods down to the 

 present time. 



After these addresses many members adjourned to the 

 Technical College, the whole of which magnificent building hacJ 

 been placed at the disposal of the congress, and where reading 

 and writing rooms, reception and inquiry offices, a restaurant, 

 &c., were to be found. 



Here the daily programme was to be obtained, and each 

 member of the congress was presented by the city with ai> 

 admirable album of views and a " Festschrift." 



The Festschrift was a magnificent quarto volume describing 

 the development of Munich under the influence of the natural 

 sciences during the last decades. The first'part of the work was. 

 devoted to vital statistics and general municipal organisation. A 

 few facts are, however, of general interest and formed the sub- 

 ject of addresses during the congress. 



The Electrical Works on the Isar are a most remarkable 

 example of a municipal undertaking ; besides the current used for 

 the electric cars, lighting, telegraph and telephone purposes, they 

 supply current to work 172 motors (1329 H.P.), 13,500 incand- 

 escent and 329 arc-lights in 91 factories. Besides the Corpora- 

 tion works, there are 317 private installations, of which 69 use 

 gas, 39 water, and 179 steam to supply the motive power. 



The population of Munich is 450,000. The cost of lighting 

 the streets (incandescent gas and arc-lights) represented last 

 year, per head of the population, a yearly cost of 1-925 marks; 

 in 1881 the cost was less than half this sum, 081 mark per 

 head. 



Of the two most prominent industries in Munich, the second, 

 the industrial production of cold, originated in the demands and 

 necessities of the first, the brewing industry. 

 ■ In 1898 there were 24 breweries, producing 1,540,000 hecto- 

 litres of beer. Munich has always been celebrated for its beer, 

 and in the year 1500 possessed 38, in 1618 no less than 69 

 breweries. 



