563 



NA TURE 



[April 16, 190^ 



have its centre shifted 8 A.U. towards the red. Prof. Hart- 

 mann deduces from this " shift " that the material emitting 

 these bright line radiations is moving away from the earth 

 with a velocity of 520 kilometres per second. The spectrum 

 i-3 similar to that of Nova Persei during the latter part of 

 March, 1901, and this fact, taken with the similar decrease 

 of magnitude, seems to prove that the object is truly a 

 Nova. 



The magnitude was estimated at Strassburg on March 27, 

 ijh. (M.T. Strassburg) as 79, and at Utrecht on March 

 27, nh. 20m. (M.T. Utrecht) as 8 1. 



Cooperative Determinations of Velocities in the Line 

 of Sight. — At a meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society 

 held on March 13, Mr. Newall read a paper dealing with 

 the results obtained at Cambridge in connection with Prof. 

 Frost's cooperative scheme for determining the motions in 

 the line of sight of ten selected stars. 



Mr. NewalPs results dealt with the stars a Arietis, 

 a Persei, and a Bootis, and for the first named he has 

 obtained a mean value of —14-23 kilometres per second. 

 The measurements of the spectrum of a Persei seem to in- 

 dicate that there is something peculiar, which is not yet 

 accounted for, in the motion of this star. Fourteen photo- 

 graphs give a mean velocity of —2 61 kilometres per second 

 with a probable error of +028. In the case of a Bootis 

 four of the lines, out of the seventeen which were measured, 

 give a velocity of an entirely different order from that given 

 by the other thirteen lines, although the lines themselves are 

 not remarkable in other respects ; two of these lines belong 

 to the iron, one to the scandium, and one to the titanium 

 spectrum (the Observatory, April). 



Wolf's Rich Nebulous Region in the Constellation 

 Lynx. — Writing to No. 3857 of the Astronomische Nach- 

 richten. Dr. Isaac Roberts states that he photographed 

 both H. iv55 and the new nebula mentioned by Prof. Max 

 Wolf (Astronomische Nachrichten, 3847) on March 24, 1897, 

 and included them amongst the regions given in his observ- 

 atory report which appeared in the Monthly Notices for 

 February, 1898. 



Dr. Roberts's notes describe the second nebula as 45s. 

 following and i4'-5 S. of H. 1V55, and state that " it' is 

 a spiral nebula viewed edgewise, about 285" of arc in 

 diameter from south following to north preceding : nucleus 

 stellar, equal to about seventeenth magnitude, faint indica- 

 tions of condensations." 



The Period and Light-curve of 5 Cephei. — In No. 3853 

 of the Astronomische Nachrichten Prof. A. A. Nijland dis- 

 cusses the previous observations and calculations of the 

 period and light-curve of the interesting variable S Cephei 

 (Ch. 8073). He compares the maxima given bv his own 

 formula and that of Schur with the chief observations made 

 between February, 1785, and February, 1897, and arrives at 

 the following formula as the one' giving the nearest 

 approximation to the true period : — 

 Maximum=i840 September 26d. ioh. 62m. (M.T. Bonn) 



+ 5d. 8h. 47m. 45-oosE-oooo75sE = -o 00000062 E 3 , 

 or, expressed in Julian Days : — 



Maximum = J.D. 2393375-421 (M.T. Bonn) 

 + 5366493dE — o ooo7';sE :! — 0-00000062 E\ 



Prof. Nijland has found during the discussion of the data 

 that a variation of the period is suggested, and he urges the 

 desirability of obtaining further trustworthy observations. 



CONSTITUTION OF A BOARD OF SCIENTIFIC 

 ADVICE FOR THE FURTHERANCE OF 

 SCIENTIFIC WORK IN INDIA. 



CUBJOINED is the complete text of the resolution of the 

 Government of India referring to the appointment of 



a Board of Scientific Advice to organise and coordinate 



the scientific work done in the several Departments of the 



Government of India. 



The application of the resources of modern science to 

 the economic and agricultural development of the country 

 has for many years engaged the earnest attention of the 

 Government of India. The Famine Commissioners of 1S78 

 laid much stress on the institution of scientific inquiry and 



NO. I746, VOL. 67] 



experiment designed to lead to the gradual increase of the 

 food-supply of the country and to the greater stability of 

 agricultural outturn. It was considered desirable, however, 

 first to organise the Land Record system, and so to acquire 

 a stable basis of ascertained fact, before scientific inquiry 

 was undertaken on any considerable scale. The necessity for 

 such investigation was again emphasised bv Dr. Voelcker, 

 who was deputed in 1890 to advise the Indian Government 

 on the best course to be adopted in order to effect improve- 

 ments in Indian Agriculture. At the same time the experi- 

 ence of recent years has indicated the increasing import- 

 ance of the study of the economic products of India 

 and of its mineral-bearing tracts, with a view to the 

 development of the industrial and economic resources of the 

 country. 



(2) The organisation and work of the Indian Agricultural 

 and Scientific Departments prior to 1897 have been fully de- 

 scribed in the important series of Resolutions which issued 

 in that year, and especially in the fourth and fifth Resolu- 

 tions of the series. These contain a clear exposition of the 

 policy of the Government of India in establishing depart- 

 ments of scientific research to promote the industries of the 

 country and investigate its undeveloped resources, and they 

 describe the means adopted to give effect to that policy. 

 They further show how undue prominence had been given 

 in the past to pure science, to the neglect of its economic 

 application, and they affirm the necessity of extending the 

 economic side of inquiry, and of coordinating the labours 

 of the different departments on the basis of a well-con- 

 sidered working plan. 



(3) The policy laid down in these Resolutions has been 

 steadily pursued, though its development has been retarded 

 by an unfavourable cycle of seasons, which seriously affected' 

 the financial resources of the Government of India. To the 

 Geological Department two practical mining experts have 

 been added, while each year a portion of the scientific staff 

 devote themselves to inquiries connected with the mineral 

 resources of India. A cryptogamic botanist has ' been 

 appointed, whose special duty it is to study the fungoid 

 diseases of agricultural staples, such as rust in wheat, 

 which causes such serious and widespread loss to the country. 

 In Madras a botanist has been permanently entertained 

 whose attention will be mainly devoted to economic inquiry. 

 And of late years the attention of the officers of the Botanic 

 Survey has been more and more directed to questions of 

 practical importance to the country. The establishment of 

 the Reporter on Economic Products has been strengthened, 

 and a Curator with special qualifications as an economic 

 chemist has been added to it and provided with a laboratory, 

 while one agricultural chemist pursues his inquiries at Dehra 

 Dun, and it is proposed to procure another for Madras. 

 An entomologist has for some time past been added to the 

 staff of the Indian Museum ; a specially qualified Forest 

 officer has been deputed for investigation of the insect pests 

 which devastate the forests, while the Secretary of State 

 has been asked to secure the services of a skilled entomo- 

 logist in order to conduct similar inquiries in connection 

 with the agricultural and industrial staples of India. In 

 the Civil Veterinary Department a highly skilled bacterio- 

 logist is studying the diseases which prove so fatal to agri- 

 cultural stock in India. An agricultural expert has recently 

 been added to the Provincial staff of the United Provinces. 

 Finally, an Inspector General of Agriculture has been 

 appointed whose function it is to guide and correlate the 

 agricultural inquiries carried on throughout India, whether 

 by the Imperial or the Provincial Governments, and to act 

 as an adviser to both in all matters pertaining to 

 agriculture, while under him work, or will work, the 

 agricultural chemist, the entomologist and the cryptogamic 

 botanist. 



(4) The Government of India now desire to provide, as 

 far as possible, for that coordination of scientific inquiry 

 which the development of the machinery of the various de- 

 partments has rendered more than ever essential. The 

 work of many of the members of the scientific staff covers 

 fields in which experiments of a similar or cognate character 

 are being independently conducted. Thus in chemistry we 

 have several investigators following parallel lines of re- 

 search ; in economic botany there are two departments work- 

 ing independently of each other ; in economic entomology 



