AuiiCST I, 1901] 



NA TURE 



15 



or not ; by |ilacing one's hand on them the only slight vibration 

 discernible is right aft, and is due to the propellers. (5) The low 

 centre of gravity of the turbine machinery has given good stability 

 in the King Edward without either a " hard bilge or long 

 floor," rendering this class of machinery conducive to high 

 speeds. During the trials Rothesay was "made " as an experi- 

 ment, and the vessel behaved splendidly, coming to easily and 

 quickly — an important point in passenger excursion traflic, for 

 which the steamer is intended. The King EJw.ird is now on 

 her run in Scotland, and is by far the fastest boat of her class. 



We have received from Messrs. Baker and Co., of Newark, 

 U.S.A., an illustrated catalogue of platinum apparatus for use 

 in large and small college chemical operations. The illustrations 

 show a variety of useful contrivances for laboratory purposes, 

 and the catalogue concludes with some valuable observations on 

 the use and care of platinum, on the cleaning of platinum wire, 

 and with some tables which will much assist in calculating the 

 weight, and therefore the price, of platinum apparatus. 



The popular science lectures for young people, which have 

 been given at the Kensington Town Hall during the autumn 

 and winter, will be continued in October next. The aim is to 

 interest juveniles in various aspects of scientific study and 

 encourage them to view natural objects and phenomena in a 

 sympathetic frame of mind. The subjects of lectures arranged 

 for the autumn are secrets in sands, by Mr. C. Carus- Wilson ; 

 waves of sound and waves of light, by the Rev. J O. Bevan ; 

 colour and colour photography, by Dr. A. H. Fison ; flowers 

 and their insect visitors, by Prof. J. B. Farmer, F. R.S. ; and 

 secrets in flint pebbles, by Mr. C. Carus- Wilson. 



Mr. Edward Stanford has published a South Polar chart 

 which will be of service in following the progress of the expedi- 

 tions about to sail for Antarctic regions. The chart indicates, by 

 contours and eight shades of blue, the ocean depths, so far as 

 they are known, down to 5000 fathoms and below. Lines are 

 also engraved on the chart to show the approximate limit of 

 the pack ice during the southern summer months, the line of 

 freezing-point in air in January and February, the northern limit 

 of icebergs, and the tracks of the Challenger, Valdivia and 

 Bclgita expeditions. It is a little to be regretted that the pro- 

 posed tracks of the expeditions about to start are not also 

 included, so that the fields of operations of the German and 

 British expeditions could be easily distinguished. 



The paper by Prof. S. P. Langley and Mr. F. W. Very, " On 

 the Cheapest Form of Light," which appeared in the American 

 Journal of Science in August, 1S90, has been reprinted and 

 published as No. 125S of the Smithsonian Miscellaneous Col- 

 lections, with a note pointing out some of the additions to our 

 knowledge of the light from living and mineral sources during 

 the last ten years. It will be remembered that' the paper deals 

 with the light of the fire-fly and shows that the insect produces 

 light without heat, so that its efticiency as a light source is far 

 higher than any artificial means of illumination. In connection 

 with this subject, the luminous bacteria cultivated by Mr. J. E. 

 Barnard and Prof. Allan Macfadyen, and shown at the last Royal 

 Society conversazione (see p. 57) are of interest. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Vervet Monkey (Cenopilhccus latandii) 

 from South Africa, presented by Mr. Crandon W. Gill ; an 

 Alpine Marmot (Arctomys marmotta), European, presented by 

 Mrs. Curtis ; a Rough-keeled Snake {Dasypeltis scabra), four 

 Rhomb-marked Snakes (Trimci-orhinus rliombealiis, four Ru- 

 fescent Snakes {Leplodira holaniboeia], three Crossed Snakes 

 (Psanunophis ci-iicifer), a Coppery Snake {Prosy/nna siindezhzlli), 

 a Delalande's Lizard {Nucras delalandii) from South Africa, 

 presented by Mr. A. W. Guthrie ; two Pond Herons {Ardeola 

 NO. 1657, VOL. 64] 



grayi), a Cattle E^ret (Bubnlcm •coroimndus), a White-bellied 

 Drongo {Dicruriis coerulescens), a Common Hawk Cuckoo 

 (Hierococcyx variiis), two Baya Weaver-birds (Ploceui baya), 

 two Scarlet-backed Flower-peckers {Dicoeum cruentatuni), two 

 Purple-rumped Sun-birds {Arcichneckihra zeylonica), a Hima- 

 layan Black Bulbul (Hypsipeles psaroides) from British India, 

 presented by Mr. E. W. Harper ; two European Pond Tor- 

 toises [Emys orbicularis), European, presented by the Hon. 

 Mrs. Fitzgerald; an Algerian Tortoise {Tcsludj ibera) from 

 North Africa, three South Albemarle Tortoises ( 7'<;jft<rfiii'/ci«a), 

 two Central Albemarle Tortoises (Tesliido, sp. inc.) from the 

 Galapagos, deposited ; two Herring GuUs [Larus argentatns), 

 bred in the Gardens. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 

 Astronomical Occurrences in August. 

 August 2. 2h. Mercury at greatest elongation, 19° 23' West. 

 4. I4h. 39m. to I5h. 47m. Moon occults S Piscium 



(mag. 4-6). 

 6. I2h. l6m. Minimum of Algol (j3 Persei). 

 9. 9h. 5m. Minimum of Algol {« Persei). 

 II. Maxmium of Perseid meteoric display (radian' 



45° + 57')- 

 13. Saturn. Outer minor axis of outer rmg = 17 -94. 

 15, Venus. Illuminated portion of disc = 0'873, ^J' 



Mars = 0'9I5. 

 15. 7h. 2lm. to loh. 26m. Transit of Jupiter's Sat. HI. 



(Ganymede). 

 17. 6h. 12m. to 8h. 32m. Transit of Jupiter's Sat. IV. 



(Callisto). 

 25. 6h. Saturn in conjunction with the moon. Saturn 



3° 42' S. 

 2S. I2h. 54m. to I3h. 59m. Moon occults c' Capricorni 



(mag. 5-2). 

 29. I2h. 29m. to I3h. 29m. Moon occults k .-Vquavii 



(mag. 5-5). 

 29. loh. 47. Minimum of Algol (3 Persei). 



The Paris Observ.\tory in 1900. — A Paris correspondent 

 sends us the following note : — The annual report drawn up by 

 M. Maurice Lcewy, director of the Paris Observatory, and 

 adopted by the Observatory Council, has been sent to the 

 National Printing Ofiice for publication. The international 

 mapping of stars not being in operation in three different parts 

 of the southern hemisphere, AL Lcewy, president of the com- 

 mittee, has sent representations to these countries, through 

 diplomatic agencies, with the result that work will soon begin 

 in them. Mr. Thome, director of the National Obser%-a- 

 tory, Cordoba, has written to M. Lrewy that the Argentine 

 Republic has authorised him to organise an astrophysical 

 service. Mr. Cooke, director of the Perth Observatory in 

 Southern Australia, has been notified by the Colonial Office that 

 a special grant will be at his disposal for the future budget. 

 M. Enrique Legrand, of the Uruguay Republic, has per- 

 suaded H.E. M. Cuertas to present a bill for the establishing 

 of an astrophysical service in Montevideo. The work is pro- 

 gressing favourably in all the countries where it has been 

 inaugurated. 



M. Lx'wy is investigating Prof. Turner's method of determin- 

 ing, from photographs, the positions of the celestial bodies with 

 almost the same exactness as from direct observations in the 

 sky. The report gives for the first time a complete list of the 

 fifty-eight observatories which have taken part in the Eros 

 international observations. According to the last news included 

 in the report, January 6, no single night had passed, since the 

 inauguration of this work, without at least one observatory 

 having . made at least one Eros observation. On favourable 

 nights the number of observations exceeded one hundred. 

 MM. Prosper Henry and Boinot took 104 series of photo- 

 graphs of the planet Eros from October 3 to January 6. 



Six hundred and seventy stars at a distance of not more than one 

 degree from the path followed by Eros were observed with the 

 meridian circle. For the first time observations of stars were 

 registered on the meridian with a special chronograph invented 

 by the Abbe Verschaffel. Ten sheets, containing 16,500 stars, of 

 the photographic catalogue of the heavens, have been published. 

 Each of these sheets contains a zone of one degree in declination 



