354 



NA TURE 



[August i i, 1904 



Epoch and OsiiiUition 190+ November 90 (M.T. Berlin). 



M = 341 3 39 

 f = 159 2 39] 

 fi = 334 27 8-1904-0 

 >' = 12 35 37.1 

 ?> = 57 54 20 

 /I = 1075" 666 

 log a ^ 0-34555 



T = 1905 Jan. lid. S-Sh. M.T. Berlin. 



Epheweris oh. (.l/.V. Berlin). 



. (app.) 



S (app.) 



Aug. 13 



Sept. 



The Revision of the 

 MusTERUNG. — In the third 



+ 21 IO'2 03685 0-2634 



+ 21 45-0 0-3615 0-2421 



+ 22 ig-S 0-3542 0-220I 



+ 22 55-1 03467 0-1970 



+ 2S 30-4 03390 0-1732 



+ 24 5-7 03309 0-1485 



+ 24 23-4 0-3268 0-1358 



+ 24 41 -2 0-3226 0-1229 



C.'VrE PllOTOGR.AnilC DURCH- 



volume of the Cape Durch- 

 musterung Sir David Gill referred to several lists of stars 

 which Prof. Kapteyn had prepared in order that the objects 

 might be re-observed and the origins of the discrepancies 

 between the Cape and other catalogues discovered. 

 The work of revision was commenced by Mr. Finlay, but 

 has been continued, since 1896, by Mr. Innes. Parts i., 

 ii., and iii. of vol. ix. of the Cape Observatory .innals 

 contain the results of this revision, giving the observer's 

 full notes and copious remarks concerning each object 

 observed. Mr. Innes believes that not a single uncoloured 

 star of the ninth magnitude or brighter, and south of 

 declination —19°, is now missing from the catalogue. 



Many of the questionable objects have been found to be 

 variables or highly coloured, whilst others are fainter than 

 the ninth magnitude. Part ii. is especially devoted to full 

 particulars of each variable star observed at the Cape 

 between 1896 and 1902, the elements, the curve, the region- 

 charts, and all the available information — or references to 

 the same — being given for each of the seventy-three objects 

 observed. 



.•\ summarv of the number of stars in the C.P.D. exhibits 

 several interesting points. I-'or example, whereas M. 

 Stratonoff found that the B.D. (dec. +90° to —20°) gave 

 a mean of 4895 stars brighter than the ninth magnitude 

 for every square degree, the corresponding value in the 

 C.P.D. (dec. —19° to —90°) is 585. Part of this difference, 

 at least, may, however, be due to a difference of magnitude 

 standards. The total number of stars now contained in the 

 C.P.D. is 91,358, and the richest region is near to 7) .\rgus, 

 for in the —59° zone, between loh. and iih., there are 250 

 stars, or 32-7 per square degree, brighter than the ninth 

 magnitude. 



Part iii. tabulates, and comments on, the errors found 

 by Prof. Kapteyn — and others discovered since — in other 

 southern .star catalogues for the regions south of dec. — K)°, 

 and concludes with a table of reference to all the pub- 

 lished errata. 



Determination of L.\titude .\nii its \'ari.\tions. — In No. 

 3902 of the .islronomisehe Nacliriehteii ,M. E. Bijl, of the 

 Royal Belgian Observatory at Uccle, gives the results of 

 685 determinations of latitude made by him during the 

 period i8q8-4-i899.5. The table given shows the time of 

 each observation and the corresponding latitudes as de- 

 duced from the star positions given in the Berliner Jahr- 

 buch and Newcomb's catalogue respectively. There is a 

 constantly positive value for the difference Newcomb-B.J. 

 of .something of the order of +o"-6. The resulting latitudes 

 show a range of about o"-7 with a maximum at i888.b, 

 a minimum at i88qo, and a lower maximum at 1889-!- 

 1889.4. 



The Standardisation of Rowland's Wave-lengths. — 

 In an article appearing in No. i, vol. xx., of the .istro- 

 physical Journal, Prof. Hartmann answers the criticisms 

 which have been passed on the proposals of his previous 

 article, wherein he strongly urged the standardisation of 

 Rowland's wave-lengths to a uniform relative scale. It 



NO. 18 I 5, VOL. 70] 



has been urged that Michelson's absolute values should be- 

 used for the construction of an absolute scale, but Prof.. 

 Hartmann points out that the adoption of this idea would 

 necessitate a wholesale revision each time a new estimate 

 of the absolute wave-lengths was made. 



In lieu of this he again suggests that the wave-length 

 of the red line in the cadmium spark spectrum in air at 

 + 20° C. and 760 mm. pressure be adopted as A = 6438.69ii 

 for all time, and that a coordination of a system of relative 

 wave-lengths should be made with this as the standard. 



The most urgent need before such a sy'stem can be com- 

 pleted is that an observer having the control of a large 

 grating spectrograph shall continue Kayser's work in 

 establishing a system of standard iron lines in the region 

 as yet untouched by that observer. This need supplied, the 

 values obtained by Michelson, Hamy, Fabry and Perot for 

 a number of metals would furnish the connecting links for 

 the completion of the proposed system. 



Saturn's Ninth Satellite. — From a note by Prof. E. C. 

 Pickering in No. 3962 of the .'\stronomisehc Nachrichten, it 

 appears that the position angles and distances of the satellite 

 Phoebe, which were recently published in a Kiel Circular. 

 were obtained from an ephemeris corrected to agree with 

 the positions determined from eleven photographs obtained 

 by Prof. Frost at .Arequipa. These allowed the path of the- 

 satellite to be followed from April 16 to June 9. 



DISTRIBI'TION OF SUCCESSES .AND OF 

 N.iTUR.iL .ABILITY .AMONG THE KINSFOLK 

 OF FELLOWS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY. 

 'IP HE result of this inquiry is to prove the existence of a 

 ■'• small number of more or less isolated hereditary 

 centres, round which a large part of the total ability of the 

 nation is clustered, with a closeness that rapidly diminishes- 

 as the distance of kinship from its centre increases. 



The materials are derived from the replies to a circular 

 which I sent with a blank schedule, to all fellows of the 

 Royal Society, asking for the names and achievements of 

 their " noteworthy " kinsfolk in each degree of near kin- 

 ship as specified in the schedule. Noteworthiness was de- 

 fined as including anv success that was, in the opinion of 

 the sender, at least equal in its way to that in which the 

 honour of a fellowship of the Royal Society is held by 

 scientific men. 



Returns are still dropping in, and now exceed two 

 hundred. They continue to be very acceptable, but I judged 

 it best to content myself with the number received up to a' 

 date w-hen I could conveniently work at them, and to publish 

 preliminary results without longer delay. The total number 

 of returns received up to the date in question, that contained 

 one or more noteworthy kinsfolk, was no. 



.Subjoined are classified lists of the qualifications that were- 

 considered by one or other of the 1 10 correspondents as. 

 warrants of notew-orthiness. I attached to each of these 

 more or less noteworthy kinsmen (for my ov\ti private use 

 in this inquiry) a*, a +, a — , orao, signifying re- 

 spectively 3, 2, I, or no marks. In doing this, account was: 

 taken of honours, of biographical notices, and of the context 

 of the communication, which often helped in deciding cases. 

 Only one of these symbols was allotted to each individual. 



j4 Lis/. — Mostly recipients either of a * or a +. 



Ministers of Slate, Heads of Departments, Permanent Secretaries, andl 

 other high posts in public offices. Member of Parliament, but subject 

 to reservation. 



Foreign Ambassador or Minister, Consul General, Secretary of Legation. 



Governor of a Colony, Colonial Secretary, higb Colonial Office. 



Admiral or General in important command, high Stafl' appointments. 



Clerical dignitaries, eminent ministers, philanthropists. 



Legal dignitaries at home and in the colonies. 



Medical men of distinction. 



Professors in great universities, heads of the more important colleges and 

 schools. University scholarships, first or second place in class lists oF 

 universities or in competitive examinations for Woolwich, Indiaa 

 Civil, or principal home services. 



Distinction in any form of Art — as poet, musician, singer ; architect 

 sculptor; painter, engraver, caricaturist; actor. 



President or secretary of great institutions connected with science^ 

 literature, art, or purposes of public utility. 



Authorship of a standard woik, editorship of an important journal, author- 

 ship of valuable memoirs. 



Inventor in any branch, scientific traveller. 



Founder of a great business, management of great commercial undertakings^ 

 pioneer of a new industry. 



