-published 
APRIL 25, 1907 | 
ayers have held that the natural dye gives a certain rich- 
ness of shade, or “* bloom,’’ which is invariably absent 
from goods dyed with synthetic indigo. The results of a 
practical dye test of the two materials, made with the 
object of throwing light on this disputed question, are 
described by Mr. Cyril Bergtheil in a report to the Bihar 
Planters’ Association. The conditions were such as to be 
strictly comparable for the two materials as regards con- 
centration of dye bath, temperature, and fabric dyed. 
The results obtained, working on the large scale under 
practical conditions and with dye baths of the same 
strength, were such as to uphold the objection of the 
dyers already referred to against the synthetic dye. 
Natural indigo not only gave a richer shade with the 
characteristic ‘‘ bloom,’’ but also actually a darker shade. 
The difference between the natural and synthetic material, 
which is hardly apparent in dyeing trials made on the 
small scale, appears to become of considerable importance 
under conditions such as exist in actual practice. 
Tue third fasciculus of the first volume of Prof. O. D. 
Chwolson’s ‘* Traité de Physique,’’ which is being trans- 
lated from the Russian and German editions into French 
by M. E. Davaux, and supplied with notes on theoretical 
physics by MM. E. and F. Cosserat, has been received 
from M. A. Hermann, of Paris, who is publishing the 
work. Two previous parts of this excellent treatise were 
reviewed at length in our issue for February 15, 1906 
(vol. Ixxiii., p. 362), and it is unnecessary on this occasion 
to say more than that the present part deals with the 
liquid and solid states of bodies, and maintains the same 
high standard which characterised the previous issues. 
Tue Chemical Publishing Co., of Easton, Pa., has just 
“Inorganic Chemistry for Schools and 
Colleges,’ by Mr. J. L. Howe. The book is an enlarged 
and revised edition of ‘‘ Inorganic Chemistry according to 
the Periodic Law,’’ by Prof. F. P. Venable and Mr. 
Howe. The number of experiments has been increased, 
and prominence has been given to the applications of 
chemistry. The book is published in this country by 
Messrs. Williams and Norgate. 
In the new issue of section i. of the catalogue of Mr. 
Charles Baker, of High Holborn, London, microscopists 
will find detailed information of a great variety of micro- 
scopes and accessory apparatus. 
A sIxtH edition of ‘‘ The Essentials of Chemical 
Physiology,’ by Prof. W. D. Halliburton, F-R.S., has 
been published by Messrs. Longmans, Green and Co. The 
book has been subjected to a thorough revision, and many 
parts have been re-written in order to incorporate recent 
advances in the knowledge of the proteins and of the way 
they are utilised in the body, together with the results of 
other researches. 
Tue authorised English translation of Dr. Ludwig 
Jost’s ‘“‘ Lectures on Plant Physiology,’’ done by Prof. 
R. J. Harvey Gibson, of Liverpool, will be issued very 
shortly by the Clarendon Press. The Press also announces 
the second volume of Dr. Paul Knuth’s *‘ Handbook of 
Flower Pollination,’’ translated by Prof. J. R. Ainsworth 
Davis, of Aberystwyth, containing an account of all known 
observations upon the pollination of the flowers of plants 
of arctic and temperate zones. 
A THIRD edition of the late Mr. Herbert E. Wright’s 
“Handy Book for Brewers’? has been published by 
Messrs. Crosby Lockwood and Son. The first edition, 
which appeared in 1892, was reviewed in Nature for 
NO. 1956, vou. 75 | 
NATURE 
615 
November 24, 1892 (vol. xlvii., p. 75). In the present 
issue, not only has the size of the volume been increased 
by more than fifty pages, but very many paragraphs have 
been re-cast and fresh matter inserted. The work of 
Buchner and others on zymase has been dealt with, and 
a synoptic table of enzymes has been included. 
’ 
A NEW edition of ‘‘ The Imperial Gazetteer of India’ 
is announced by the Oxford University Press. This may 
be considered as a new work rather than a new edition, 
and it will consist of twenty-six volumes, including a 
companion atlas. Apart from the historical volume and 
a few other chapters of the Indian Empire, the whole of 
this work has been written by officials in India under 
orders of the Indian Government, and évery page has 
been submitted to the criticism of the several administra- 
tions or departments concerned. 
OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 
Comet 1907b (Mettisn).—The following elements and 
ephemeris for comet 1907b have been computed by Messrs. 
Lamson and Frederick from places observed on April 15, 
16, and 17 :— 
Elements. 
T=1907 March 27'56 (G.M.T.). 
w= 328° 47’ 
8=189° 7’ } 1907'0 
Z— Oe 12'J 
log g=0'924 
Ephemeris 12h. Greenwich M.T. 
1907 a r) 
h. m. es 
April 22 7 46 +35 36 
ame Loan ocean Capa cece te) +40 58 
ee SOM eee LT; +44 17 
The brightness is decreasing rapidly, from 0-59 on 
April 18 to o-rr on April 30, the unit of brightness being 
that when the comet was first discovered (mag. 11-0). 
The comet is now circumpolar, and is travelling through 
the constellation of the Lynx, in a north-easterly direc- 
tion, towards Ursa Major (Kiel Circular, No. 96). 
A New Variaste or Nova, 156.1906.—In the Atti della 
Reale Accademia dei Lincet, vol. xvi. (fifth series), p. 241 
(March 3), Prof. E. Millosevich records the observations 
of a faint star which is certainly an interesting variable, 
and may prove to be a fading Nova. On November 6, 
1906, the star in question was first noticed as a yellow 
object of magnitude 8-4, its position being 
1906-0 a=th. 23m. 56-59s., 5=+50° 22! 12"-1. 
Subsequent observations showed that the star was fading, 
the decrease in brightness being roughly proportional to 
the time, and amounting to about 0-3 magnitude in ten 
days. By February 26, 1907, the magnitude had decreased 
to 12-3, the colour, in the interval, having passed through 
successive stages from yellow to red to quite a ruby- 
red, which was still notable on February 19, when the 
magnitude was but 12-0. 
Tue ALBEDOES OF THE SUPERIOR PLanets.—A novel 
methed of calculating the albedoes of the superior planets 
is suggested by Mr. J. E. Gore in No. 382 of the Observ- 
atory (p. 172, April). The mass of the brighter com- 
ponent of a Centauri is equal to that of the sun, and 
their spectra are similar; thus the star may be con- 
sidered as a duplicate of the sun, and Mr. Gore proposes 
to estimate the albedoes of the superior planets by cort- 
paring their photometric magnitudes when in opposition 
with that of a Centauri. rouge 
In a previous paper Mr. Gore has shown ‘mbled inty » 
the parallax of the star to be 0”-75, and < é 
whing ene 
diameter of its brighter component to be the emme as that 
of the sun, the apparent brightness of our central luminary 
is 75,232,650,000 times that of the brighter component of 
a Centauri. 
Connecting this with the amount of inter- 
sunlight 
