April 26, 1900] 



NA TURE 



621 



rainfall ; the weather ; the appearance of leaves and flowers of 

 plants ; the appearance or disappearance of birds and insects ; 

 observations with regard to fish and other animals; and mis- 

 ellaneous observations. But Gilbert White enriched his 

 ■ ' Calendar " with much other matter. There are not only 

 numerous disquisitions on points of natural history, but notes of 

 events of public interest and of personal or domestic concern. 

 These are written on interleaves, or such spaces as may happen 

 to be available. It is proposed to arrange for the publication of 

 the diary in the manner of the original in every substantial 

 particular. There will be no editorial notes, except in elucida- 

 tion of a few points of real obscurity. It will fill two large 

 quartos of about 700 pages each, and Messrs. Constable and Co. 

 are to be the publishers. 



In the current number of the Bulletin de la Classe des Sciences 

 of the Royal Belgian Academy is a paper by M. Henry, on 

 some new reactions of formaldehyde. Phosphorus penta- 

 chloride and pentabromide give methylene dichloride and dibro- 

 mide respectively, the latter in so good a yield as to be an advan- 

 tageous method of preparation. Formaldehyde also reacts 

 readily with acetyl chloride to give chlormethyl acetate, acetyl 

 bromide giving the corresponding bromine compound. The 

 yields are better than those given by the interaction of the 

 halogen and methyl acetate. 



The same number of the Bulle'.in contains an exhaustive 

 study, byM. Gillot, of the hydrolysis of raffinose by Penicillium 

 glaucum. In solutions containing a mineral acid the mould is 

 able to secrete a zymase capable of inverting raffinose, and this 

 ferment is still produced, although more slowly, when the 

 solution is neutral. In alkaline solutions the germination of 

 the spores is retarded, the solution losing its alkalinity as the 

 development of the mould proceeded, finally becoming acid. The 

 zymase from a pure culture of the Penicillium was isolated, 

 and raffinose inverted by its aid. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 



past week include a Baboon {Cynocephalus, sp. inc.) from 



Zanzibar, a Suricate (Sttricata tetradactyla) from South Africa, 

 a Common Boa {Boa constrictor), an Anaconda (Eunectes 

 murinus) from South America, a Pin-tailed Sand-Grouse 

 (Pterocles alchala). South European, deposited ; a Panolia Deer 

 (Cervuseldi, 9 ) from Burmah, five Common Wigeon {Mareca 

 penelope), three Pochards (Fuligula/erina), three Tufted Ducks 

 (Fuligula crista'a), four Goldeneyes {Clangula glaucion), 

 European; a Common Boa (Boa constrictor) from South 

 America, purchased ; a Barbary Wild Sheep {Ovis tragelaphus), 

 born in the Gardens. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



.\STRONOMICAI, OCCURRENCES IN MaY. 



May I. 8h. 58m. to gh. 48m. i Tauri (mag. 47) occulted by 

 the moon. 

 1-6. Epoch of the Aquarid meteoric shower (ladiant 

 338°-2°). 

 2. 5h. Venus in conjunction with moon. Venus 

 4° 55' N. 



5. uh. 48m. to I2h 42m. A' Cane ri (mag. 5-6)occulteJ 



by the moon. 



6. uh. im. to iih. 51m. w Leonis (mag. 56) occulted 



by the moon. 



7. loh. 43m. to uh. 49m. 19 Sextantis (mag. 6"o) 



occulted by the moon. 

 15. Venus. Illuminated portion of disc, 0*402; Mars, 



0-97S- 

 22. loh. 87m. Jupiter's Sat. IV. in conjunction N. of 



the planet. 



27. 7h. Jupiter in opposition to the sun. 



28. Total eclipse of the sun, partially visible at Greenwich. 



NO. I 59 I, VOL. 61] 



31. i8h. Venus at her greatest brilliancy. 

 Photographs of the Aurora Spectrum.— M. Paulsen 

 describes in Comptes rendus, cxxx. pp. 655-656, 1900, his 

 successful attempts to obtain a photographic record of the 

 spectrum of the aurora borealis. His station was in Iceland, 

 where he states the displays were very vivid during the period 

 December 31, 1899, to January 25, 1900, and photographs were 

 obtained with two spectrographs, one having a quartz train for 

 recording especially the ultra-violet, the second with glass com- 

 ponents. In all twenty-two lines have been recorded, of which 

 sixteen are new. Their wave-lengths have been provisionally 

 determined by means of comparison photographs of the spectra 

 of air and metals, and are as follows : — 

 Strong lines : 337, 358, 391, 420. 



Faint lines: 353, 371, 376, 381, 393, 397, 402, 406, 412, 

 417, 422, 432, 436, 443, 449, 456, 463, 470. 

 The four strong lines were obtained from even feeble streamers, 

 but for the others it was necessary to keep the spectroscope in 

 the brightest regions. Besides the lines given, several others 

 can be seen between W 357 and 250, but are too feeble for 

 reduction. 



New Variable Star in Taurus.— Dr. Anderson, of 

 Edinburgh, announces in the Astronoviische Nachrichten 

 (Bd. 152, No. 3634), that he has detected variability in the star 

 having the following position for 1855 : — 



R.A. = 5h. 441m. 

 Decl. = -(-15° 45'. 



This star is not in the B. D. , and some years ago he found it 

 about magnitude 9-25, while on 1899 November 8 it was in- 

 visible in a 3-inch refractor, which plainly showed a neighbour- 

 ing star of II mag. On 1900 March 26 it was about 97 mag. 



New Variable in Cassiopeia.— -In the Astronomische 

 Nachrichten (No. 3634), Dr. Anderson also announces the 

 variability of a star in Cassiopeia, whose position for 1855 is 

 R.A. =:23h. 48 -4m. 

 Decl. = + 52" 55'. 

 On 1900 February 10 the star was 9-6 mag. ; but on March 17 

 and 25 it was less than 10-5 mag. 



Formula for Atmospheric Refraction. — In the Comptes 

 rendus (\o\. cxxx. pp. 1060-1061, 1900), M. L. Cruls gives a 

 simple formula for calculating the astronomical atmospheric 

 refraction, which is found to give results very closely in agree- 

 ment with those calculated from Laplace's formula. 



The equation is 



R = (60" tan z- 1" tan- ,c)( 0-00138B -o-ooooi— J, 



in which R is the refraction, s the zenith distance of the object, 

 B the barometric pressure, and t the temperature in degrees 

 Centigrade at the time of observation. 



A table of comparisons is given, showing that the difference 

 in the refraction, as obtained from the above formula and that 

 of Laplace, is only o"2 at 10° zenith distance, the error gradu- 

 ally increasing as the horizon is approached ; but even at 70° 

 zenith distance the two formulje give results differing only by 

 I ""6 of arc. 



Determination of Axis AND Compression of Neptune. 

 —Tht Astronomical Journal, No. 479 (vol. xx. pp. 181-185), 

 contains an article by Prof. S. J. Brown, of the U.S. Naval 

 Observatory, on the determination of the position of Neptune's 

 axis, and the degree of its polar compression from an investiga- 

 tion of the perturbations of the orbit of its satellite. Eighteen 



