132 



NA TURE 



[JUNE 9, 1904 



and can be carried out with great rapidity. Incidentally, 

 the existence in aqueous solution at temperatures between 

 0° and 40*^ of four hydrates of potassium persulphate is 

 established. 



Some experiments by Mr. K. E. Guthe, published in the 

 April number of the Physical Revinv, show that fused 

 steatite or soapstone can be used as a substitute for fused 

 quartz in the production of fibres of very small elastic 

 fatigue suitable for suspensions. The soapstone can be 

 melted in a gas-oxygen jet, and very fine fibres are easily 

 drawn out from the clear bead thus obtained. The elastic 

 fatigue and tensile strength of these fused steatite fibres 

 have approximately the same value as fused quartz fibres 

 of the same dimensions. In the same journal Mr. J. H. 

 Hart describes a continuous method of steam calorimetry 

 which, with simple apparatus, gives results which compare 

 very favourably with the best results obtained by the 

 admittedly excellent continuous electrical method. 



An exhaustive account of investigations with the respir- 

 ation calorimeter, by Messrs. Armsby and Fries, on the 

 available energy of timothy hay has been issued as Bulletin 

 No. 51 of the Bureau of Animal Industry of the U.S. De- 

 partment of Agriculture. .According to well known experi- 

 ments of Rubner, different nutrient materials — proteids, 

 fats, and carbohydrates — can replace each other in the 

 animal metabolism, and " isodynamic values " can be 

 deduced for the various nutrients. The authors question 

 the applicability of Rubner s generalisation to herbivorous 

 animals, and their experiments indicate that the digested 

 matter of hay is not isodynamic with body tissue when the 

 food supply is below the maintenance ration. It was found 

 that only 63 per cent, of the metabolisable energy served 

 to prevent loss of tissue, while 37 per cent, simply increased 

 the heat production of the animal. 



A VERY interesting paper dealing with the constitution of 

 the ammonium compounds is contributed by Dr. J. C. Cain 

 to the current volume of the Memoirs and Proceedings of the 

 Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society (vol. xlviii.. 

 No. 14). To take examples, the author's suggested formula; 

 for ammonium chloride and ammonium hydrate are 

 H3N = CIH and H3N = OH,, in which the chlorine and 

 oxygen are respectively trivalent and tetravalent. The con- 

 ception involved in this new formulation explains a la.'-ge 

 number of well known facts in a very satisfactorv manner. 

 It accounts for the difference between solutions of ammonia 

 and of the alkaline hydroxides, and for the existence of 

 isomeric quaternary ammonium salts. By means of it the 

 formation of metal-ammonia compounds and of diazonium 

 salts, the reduction of diazonium derivatives to hydrazine, 

 and the process of diazotisation are all capable of simple 

 representation. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 

 Spectrum and Oreit of 5 Orionis. — Some verv interest- 

 ing results have been obtained by Dr. Hartm'ann in a 

 research carried out at Potsdam on the spectrum and orbit 

 of 8 Orionis. The variability of the velocity in the line of 

 sight — or, as Dr. Hartmann prefers to designate it, the 

 " oscillation " — of this star was first discovered bv Prof. 

 Deslandres at Meudon, who determined the period as 1-92 

 days, and the orbit as very eccentric. Dr. Hartmann 's 

 results, however, do not confirm these conclusions, for he 

 finds the period and the eccentricity to be 

 Sd. lyh. 34m. 48s. + 17s. 

 and o- 10334 respectively. 



NO. 1806, VOL, 70] 



.\ striking feature on the spectrograms obtained is that 

 the calcium line at A 3934 (" K ") is always sharp, whilst 

 the other lines are characteristically hazy, and it does not 

 share in the periodic displacements of the lines caused by 

 the orbital motion of the star. Seeking an explanation of 

 this anomalous behaviour. Dr. Hartmann has arrived at 

 the conclusion that the absorption producing K does not 

 take place in either of the components of the 5 Orionis 

 system, but in a separate " cloud " of calcium vapour 

 situated somewhere between that system and our own. 

 The distance of this cloud cannot be determined, but Dr. 

 Hartmann suggests that its extent, perpendicular to the 

 line of sight, might be approximately determined by the 

 observation of the K line in stars situated in the same region 

 and having " oscillations " similar to those of 5 Orionis 

 {Astrophysical Journal, No. 4, vol. xix.). 



.■\nomaloos Dispersion and Solar Phenomena. — A 

 further exposition of anomalous dispersion, and its action 

 relative to solar phenomena, by Prof. W. H. Julius, appears 

 in No. 10 (May 30) of the Revue generate des Sciences. 

 .\lter reviewing the current theories as to the sun's physical 

 constitution. Prof. Julius proceeds to demonstrate that the 

 " apparent " excessive speed of prominence variations, the 

 abnormal solar spectrum photographed by Prof. Hale in 

 1894, the periodical variation of the solar radiation, the 

 eleven-year period of solar activity, the connection between 

 allied terrestrial and solar phenomena, and several other 

 phenomena, may all be explained by considering the relative 

 geometrical positions of the sun and earth, and the con- 

 sequently variable distorted paths of the solar radiations. 

 For example, he states : — " 'The eleven-year period may be 

 the combined consequence of a progressive variation (not 

 necessarily periodic) of the system of the surfaces of dis- 

 continuity and the periodic displacement of the Earth in 

 regard to the rotating mass of the Sun." 



Primitive Conditions of the Solar Nebula. — An 

 interesting mathematical study of the conditions which prob- 

 ably obtained in the primitive solar nebula has been com- 

 municated to the Academy of Science of St. Louis by Mr. 

 Francis E. Nipher, and is published in No. 4, vol. xiv., of 

 the academy's Transactions, .\ccording to the equations 

 developed by the author, it seems impossible that at the 

 time when the planets were separating from the parent 

 mass the nebula was wholly gaseous. The idea that the 

 planets were formed from condensing swarms of meteorites 

 is the only reasonable one which conforms with the 

 numerical results obtained. It also appears that at the 

 times when the moon separated from the earth, and Mercury 

 from the sun, the respective parent masses must have been 

 in the solid state, the sun having fused and become 

 vaporised since the separation of Mercury. Further, it 

 seems unnecessary, and even improbable, that the earth 

 should ever have been in a state of fusion. By substituting 

 the proper conditions in one of his general equations, Mr. 

 Nipher finds that the isothermal 7000° C. is probably the 

 one existing at the sun's surface at the present time. 



Invariability of Spark and Arc Wave-lengths. — In a 

 paper communicated to No. 4, vol. xix., of the Astrophysical 

 Journal, Messrs. Eder and Valenta describe the results they 

 have obtained from a series of experiments performed in 

 order to test the various theories as to the variability of 

 wave-lengths, in arc and spark spectra, with the amount of 

 vapour present or with the nature of the electric stimulus 

 used. 



As the result of his experiments, Prof. Haschek pro- 

 posed, in a paper published in February, 1902, a system of 

 quantitative analysis based on the measurement of the 

 amount of " shift " a line experienced %vhen varying quanti- 

 ties of the material under analysis were used. Taking 

 most stringent precautions to eliminate subjective photo- 

 graphic effects, Messrs. Eder and Valenta have shown that 

 these " shifts " do not really exist, and they state their 

 conclusions in the following words : — (i) That at ordinary 

 atmospheric pressure there exist no relative shifts between 

 the arc and spark spectra as were said by Exner and 

 Haschek to occur ; (2) that there also exist no shifts in 

 the 'spark spectrum which could be attributed to a reduced 

 quantity of the element present in the vapour. 



