544 
NATURE 
[APRIL 4, 1907 
OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 
Comet 1907a (GracopiNni).—The results of numerous 
observations of this comet are recorded in No. 4162 of the 
Astronomische Nachrichten, wherein there also appears a 
set of elements communicated by Prof. E. C. Pickering. 
On March 11, at Vienna, Dr. Rheden found that the 
comet was of the eleventh magnitude, and had a diameter 
of 30” with a central condensation. 
No. 4163 (March 20) of the same journal contains a set 
of elements and an ephemeris computed by the discoverer 
of the comet, and, according to the latter, the position on 
April 4, at 12h. (M.T. Paris), will be 
a=6h. 19-5m., 6=+1° 8-5, 
a point situated in Monoceros, and lying nearly half-way 
between « Orionis and Procyon. 
EPHEMERIS FOR THE MiINoR PLANET (588) [1906 T.G.].— 
An ephemeris for the minor planet (588), extending from 
March 23 to June 19, is published in No. 4163 of the 
Istronomische Nachrichten by Dr. Bidschof. At present 
the planet is apparently in the constellation Leo, near to 
91 Leonis, and is slowly travelling in a north-westerly 
direction ; its magnitude is about 14-0. : 
SEARCH-EPHEMERIS FOR CoMET 1900 III. (G1acopin1).—A 
continuation of the ephemeris for the 1907 re-appearance 
of comet 1900 IIT. is given by Herr Scharbe in No. 4163 
of the Astronomische Nachrichten. The ephemeris based 
on the assumption that perihelion passage will take place 
on June 8 extends from April 6 to May 16, and others, 
allowing for slightly different rates of motion of the comet, 
are also given. 
Tue Soar EciirsE oF JANUARY 13.—The most recent 
eclipse of the sun was observed as a partial eclipse at the 
Zi-ka-wei Observatory, and the results of the terrestrial 
magnetism, temperature, actinometric, and other obsery- 
ations appear in No. 1156 (March 23) of Cosmos. The 
magnetographs showed nothing abnormal, but, as shown 
by the curves which are given in the paper, there was a 
decided decrease from the normal, both in temperature and 
actinism. The former began to fall about fifteen minutes 
after first contact, and began to recover its normal 
value at about twenty-seven minutes after the maximum 
phase. An Arago actinometer was employed, and the effect 
of the moon’s interposition was observed much sooner than 
in the case of the ordinary thermometer. The times of 
the first and last contacts and of the disappearances of 
several groups of spots were also recorded. 
Man’s Pack IN THE Universr.—In an article appearing 
in the April number of the Fortnightly Review, Prof. 
Turner returns to the discussion of Dr. Wallace’s views 
regarding the unique position of the earth in the universe. 
It will be remembered that Dr. Wallace advanced reasons 
for the belief that the earth was at the centre of the 
universe, and, occupying this unique position, was possibly 
the only inhabited sphere. But, as Prof. Turner now 
points out, the researches of Prof. Kapteyn and, more 
recently and definitely, those of Mr. Eddington (see 
Naturr, No. 1938, December 20, 1906, p. 182) have shown 
that we have to consider the question of two universes, 
and this renders Dr. Wallace’s position untenable unless 
the assumption is made that the solar system is the centre 
about which both universes oscillate. 
Tue AsTRONOMIcAL Society oF ANTWERP.—We _ have 
received the second annual report of the Société d’Astro- 
nomie d’Anvers, dealing with the work performed by the 
society during last year. This society was founded for the 
purpose of popularising the study of astronomy amongst 
the inhabitants of the town, and appears to be fulfilling 
its purpose in an exceedingly business-like manner. An 
observatory has been opened .and is regularly used by the 
members, and, with the assistance of the city authorities, a 
course of free lectures on elementary astronomy is being 
given. The summaries of the first eleven lectures are pub- 
lished in the report, and these indicate that they should 
prove most instructive and worthy of emulation. 
WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY IN LonGituDE DETERMINATIONS.— 
A series of experimental determinations of longitude 
between Potsdam and the Brocken, made by Prof. Albrecht 
NO. 1953. VOL. 75 | 
| during 1906, has shown that wireless telegraphy may be 
usefully employed for this purpose between stations not 
connected by the ordinary telegraph. In this case the 
older method has been previously employed, so that the 
relative precision of the two methods may be compared. 
In general, the differences were found to be of the order 
of one-thousandth of a second, and were not modified by 
any variation of the amount of energy used. The duration 
of the transmission was negligible, but it was found that 
atmospheric influences were more effective than in the case 
of ordinary telegraphy (La Nature, No. 1765, March 23). 
ANcIENT CHINESE AsTRONOMY.—In an interesting paper 
appearing in the Revue générale des Sciences, No. 4 
(February 28), M. de Saussure discusses the astronomical 
records contained in an ancient Chinese canonical work 
dating back to before 2300 B.c., and from the discussion 
arrives at some striking conclusions concerning the 
antiquity of systematic astronomical observation in China. 
The chief conclusion is that prior to 2000 B.c. the Chinese 
possessed instruments and the complete theory of their 
equatorial astronomy, in which they presumably observed 
certain selected stars situated near to the equator, and 
from these observations deduced the apparent position of 
the sun, and hence the progress of the seasons. That the 
inhabitants of Britain and of Egypt possessed the astro- 
nomical knowledge and the means to attain the same end— 
although by somewhat different methods—at an equally 
early date has been already demonstrated by Sir Norman 
Lockyer. 
PUBLIC HEALTH. 
THE thirty-fourth annual report of the Local Govern- 
ment’ Board, 1904-5 (Supplement containing the 
Report of the Medical Officer, price 4s., London, 1906) 
commences with a useful summary of its contents by Mr. 
Power. Appendix A contains the provisions of the Inter- 
national Sanitary Convention of Paris, 1903, and. of the 
West Indian Intercolonial Sanitary Convention, 1904, 
many reports by the Board’s inspectors, statistical tables, 
and summaries by Dr. Bruce Low of the diffusion of 
plague and of cholera throughout the world in 1904, Inter 
alia, we are informed that vaccination is being increas- 
ingly adopted, the abstentions for 1903 being 14:7 per cent. 
of births as against 15-2 per cent. for 1902, and still 
higher for preceding years. 
Appendix B contains the auxiliary scientific investigations 
carried out for the Board; Dr. Klein has investigated the 
transmission of plague in the rat, particularly by feeding. 
Feeding animals with cultures of the plague bacillus mixed 
with food having failed to infect, Dr. Klein conceived 
that if the organism were first protected from the digestive 
juices by drying it with the food, infection might occur ; 
this was found to be the case, and in animals so infected 
the dejecta probably teem with bacilli. It was also found 
that earth or sand to which plague bacilli had been added 
in the form of gelatin cultures retained its infectivity for 
six to eight weeks. 
Dr. Houston contributes a report on the bacteriological 
examination of deep well waters and of upland waters. 
The first section shows that B. coli is absent from 1000 c.c. 
of deep well water drawing its supply from distant and 
pure sources. The second section deals with the results 
of the examination of the waters of Loch Laggan and 
Loch Ericht (Inverness-shire). Loch Laggan is subject to 
a slight degree of pollution from human sources, Loch 
Ericht is not, and bacteriologically B. coli was contained 
in 10 c.c. in 33 per cent., and in 100 c.c. in 49 per cent., of 
Loch Laggan samples, while of Loch Ericht samples only 
I per cent. contained B. coli in 10 c.c. and 19 per cent. 
in too c.c. Dr. Houston therefore concludes that fish (of 
which, the lochs contain abundance) and birds probably 
contribute little to the content of coli-like microbes, and 
that too stringent standards must not be adopted without 
topographical data. 
Dr. Sidney Martin has investigated the chemical pro- 
ducts of the B. enteritidis sporogenes, but finds them to 
be without physiological action; also the specifie agglutinins 
of various organisms. 
