524 



NA TURE 



[September 19, 1901 



There was no noticeable falling off in the brightness of the 

 planet near the limb, so that there appears to be no evidence 

 of any kind of atmospheric absorption on Mercury. 



The paper concludes with a list of previous measures of the 

 diameter, and a discussion of the reasons why heliometer and 

 filar-micrometer measures of diameter do not always agree, the 

 discrepancy being ascribed chiefly to the distortion produced 

 by the division of the objective in the heliometer {Astronomische 

 Nachrichtcn, Bd. 156, No. 3737). 



Periodicity of the Inequalities of Mercury. — In 

 the Bulletin de la Sociim Astronomiqtie de France, pp. 402-403, 

 1901, M. Souleyre gives some results of his investigations into 

 the variation of the inequalities of the planet INIercury. The 

 times of contact of the planet with the sun's disc have been 

 reduced from the observations available during the period 

 1677-1S94, and the residuals are found to have a probable rela- 

 tion to the sun-spot period, inasmuch as the errors are all 

 positive at or near the years of sun-spot maxima, and negative 

 about the times of sun-spot 7ninima. A rather discordant value 

 is found for 1894, but the error is very small for that year. 

 The mean error for years of maxima is about -I- 6 seconds, and 



,, ,, ,, minima ,, -9 ,, 



Evidence of the Existence of an Ultra-Neptunian 

 Planet. — In a paper read before the Royal Society of Edin- 

 burgh {Proc. Roy. Soc. Edinburgh, vol. .xxiii. pp. 370-374), 

 Prof G. Forbes outlines the observations and calculations which 

 he considers indicate the probable existence of a planet beyond 

 Neptune. The chief factor on which the discussion is based is 

 the proposition enunciated by Prof. Newton in 1S79, stating 

 that if the elliptie orbits of comets have been changed from para- 

 bolas by planetary perturbations, \\iexi the aphelion position of 

 the new orbit will most probably be that occupied at the time of 

 change. Prof. Forbes in iSSo (Observatory, June iSSo) found 

 that seven comets had aphelia distances about equal to one 

 hundred times the mean distance of the earth from the sun. 



The present note then deals more particularly with the recent 

 discovery of a remarkable confirmation of these original results. 

 The comet of 1556 (possibly identical with that of 1264) was 

 not detected in 1848, and the computations undertaken show 

 that the longitude of the new planet in 1696 was 112°, and its 

 distance about one hundred times the earth's mean distance. The 

 number of comets affected by these observed perturbations is so 

 large that the new planet is probably greater than Jupiter. 



A minute examination of all the comets in Galle's Catalogue 

 showed the author that no one of them represented the lost 

 comet of 1556, and a further search has been made among those 

 comets to which elliptic orbits have not yet been assigned. Of 

 these comets 1844 iii. or 1843 "• turn out to have aphelion 

 longitudes near 115°. This position, he calculated, would be 

 occupied by the hypothetical planet about 1 705, and if the former 

 comet (1S44 '"•) should be the representative of the long lost 

 comet 1556, the observed perturbations would all be as required 

 by the theoretical deductions, viz. the node has retrograded 

 considerably, the inclination greatly increased, and the longi- 

 tude of perihelion advanced. The chief discrepancy is in the 

 latitude of aphelion, which is smaller than would be expected. 

 It thus appears that the long lost comet 1556 is represented by 

 that of 1844 iii. perturbed by a planet considerably larger than 

 Jupiter, situated at about one hundred times the mean distance of 

 the earth from the sun, and whose longitude is about iSl° in 

 the present year 1901. A re-examination of the 1556 observa- 

 tions is M progress, in the hope of finding more definite infor- 

 mation. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



The Sunderland Municipal Technical College, which has been 

 erected at a cost of 27,000/., was opened on Friday last. 



The new technical school at Liverpool, the foundation stone 

 of which was laid on July I, 1S9S, is now practically completed 

 and will shortly be opened. The school will accommodate 

 1300 students. The rooms devoted to chemistry and navigation 

 are already in use. 



Mr. W. J. Pope has been appointed professor of chemistry 

 and head of the chemistry department at the new Municipal 

 School of Technology at Manchester. He has been succeeded 

 as head of the chemistry department of the Goldsmiths' 

 Institute, New Cross, by Dr. A. Lapworth. 



NO. 1664, VOL. 64] 



A HANDY little diary and note book, which should be useful 

 to students, has been issued by Messrs. Philip Harris and Co., 

 Ltd., of Birmingham. It contains information as to the subjects 

 and dates of the forthcoming examinations in connection with 

 the Board of Education, City and Guilds of London Institute, 

 &c. 



Mr. R. M. Ferrier, late lecturer in mechanical engineering 

 at the Durham College of Science, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, has 

 been appointed to the professorship of engineering at University 

 College, Bristol, in the room of Dr. Stanton, whose appoint- 

 ment to the National Physical Laboratory was recently 

 announced. 



The new laboratory and class rooms of the Muir Central 

 College; .Allahabad, described in a recent number of \\\& Pioneer 

 Mail, are in marked contrast to the rooms hitherto devoted to 

 science in the institution. Judging from our contemporary's 

 description, no pains have been spared to give the College 

 sufficient accommodation and apparatus for the carrying on of 

 scientific instruction. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, September 9. — M. Bouquet de la 

 Grye in the chair. — Observations of the planet GO, made at the 

 Observatory of Algiers with the o'3i8 metre equatorial, by 

 M. F. Sy. The apparent positions of the planet, the positions 

 of the comparison stars, and the magnitudes, were measured on 

 the five nights August 21 to 26. The magnitude varied between 

 8 '5 and 9'6. — On the existence of fundamental functions, by 

 M. W. Stekloff. — On integral invariants, by M. Th. de Donder. 

 — On the impossibility of representing by isophygmic curves the 

 distribution of instability in a given seismic region, by M. F. de 

 Montessus de Ballore. The author concludes that since seismic 

 phenomena are essentially discontinuous both in time and space, 

 the isophygmic curves can have no real existence. Proof of this 

 is found in the paper by Oldham on the aftershocks of the great 

 earthquake of June 12, 1897. — On the simultaneous appearance 

 of mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles and the first cases of 

 malarial fever in the region of Constantine, by M. A. Billet. 

 The first cases of malaria occurring during the season were 

 nearly simultaneous with the first appearance of the mosquito. 

 The proof in one case of the presence of the malarial sporozoites 

 in the Anopheles presents a particular interest. — On the biology 

 of Galeriica xanthomelaena, by M. A. Menegaux. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Wireless Telegraphy. By C. C. G 497 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Larmor : "Geometrical Exercises from Nixon's 



'Euclid Revised,' with Solutions" 497 



Royer : " Ilistoire du Ciel" 497 



The Denver Meeting of the American Association . 49S 

 Address by Prof. R. S. Woodward, President of 



the Association 498 



The Glasgow Meeting of the British Association . 502 



Section B. — Chemistry. — Opening Address by Prof. 



Percy F. Frankland, F.R.S., President of the 



Section 5°3 



Section C. — Geology. — Opening Address by John 



Home, F.R.S., President of the Section .... 509 

 Section G. — Mechanics. — Opening Address by 

 Colonel R. E. Crompton, President of the 



Section 5'7 



Notes 520 



Our Astronomical Column: — 



Diameter of Mercury - 5^3 



Periodicity of the Inequalities of Mercury . . . 524 

 Evidence of the Existence of an Ultra-Neptunian 



Planet 5^4 



University and Educational Intelligence 524 



Societies and Academies 5^4 



