il 
NOVEMBER 19, I 903] 
NATURE 
65 
A RECENT number of the Electro-Chemist and Metallurgist 
contains an able article by Mr. W. C. D. Whetham on the 
present position of the theory of electrolysis. The investi- 
gations which led up to the theory of electrolytic dissoci- 
ation and the modern convective views of electrolysis are 
traced, and it is clearly shown that a vast number of im- 
portant observations are easily explained by the modern 
views. As the author points out, experiments on the com- 
parison of the electrical and the osmotic values of ionisation 
are of little use from the point of view of the controversialist 
seeking arguments for or against the ionic dissociation 
theory. The deviations between the two values are, how- 
ever, in most cases easily explainable by a consideration 
of the interionic forces, which probably exert an effect even 
at dilutions at which the intermolecular forces are negli- 
gible, and, further, of the complex ions which are so often 
formed in solution. 
Tue additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during 
the past week include a Red-fronted Gazelle (Gazella rufi- 
frons) from Senegal, presented by Lieut. F. P. Crozier ; two 
Common Mynahs (Acridotheres tristis) from India, pre- 
sented by Mr. H. Munt; a Hawk-billed Turtle (Chelone 
imbricata) from tropical seas, a Testaceous Snake (Zamenis 
flagelliformis) from South United States, deposited. 
OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 
Bricut Metreors.—An exceedingly bright meteor was 
observed by Mr. W. Moss at South Kensington at about 
II.-15 p-m. on Saturday. Although not looking in the 
direction of its path, Mr. Moss’s attention was directed to 
the meteor by its remarkable brightness, which he estim- 
ated as exceeding that of Jupiter. The part of the path 
that he observed was about 5° long, and commenced at a 
point near to the equator, and about 8° E. of 6 Orionis. 
The same object was independently observed by Mr. Mills, 
who describes it as the brightest he has yet seen, and states 
that it first appeared about 5° due east of y Orionis, and, 
travelling in a south-easterly direction, appeared to burst 
when approximately 8° or 10° to the N.E. of Rigel. 
Several meteors, six of which were probably Leonids, 
were observed by Mr. W. E. Rolston at South Kensington 
during an intermittent watch which lasted from 10 p.m. on 
Saturday until 4.30 a.m. on Sunday. The brightest of the 
six was one which appeared at about 3.15 on Sunday morn- 
ing in R.A. 7h. 10m. Dec. +6°, and disappeared at R.A. 
6h. 30m., Dec. +5°, leaving behind it a green broken trail 
which lasted for about two seconds. The same observer 
also saw more than 50 Leonids during a watch from 2.15 
to 3.45 on Monday morning. These meteors presented the 
characteristics of the November shower inasmuch as they 
were exceedingly swift and left broken trails of a reddish 
ue. 
Mr. A. M. Davies, writing from Amersham, Bucks, states 
that about 10.45 p.m. on November 14 he saw a brilliant 
meteor with a train move westwards in an almost hori- 
zontal path at about the altitude of 7 Ursa Majoris. 
SEARCH-EPHEMERIS FOR Faye’s Comet.—Herr E. Strém- 
gren publishes a further portion of his ephemeris for Faye’s 
comet in No. 3913 of the Astronomische Nachrichten. This 
ephemeris takes the time of perihelion passage as June 
3-64, and is given below :— 
Ephemerts 12h. (M.T. Berlin). 
a 6 
1903 a log + log A 
alle) (Se suet 
Nov. 15 ... 9 4259 +1 45°0 0°35605 0°3288 
» 19 ... 9 46 23 +111°5 
Pee Sines 740) 25) +0 39°5 073655 0°3180 
Zee O52: 73 +0 9°3 
Dec. I ... 95416 —0 190 0°3743 0°3067 
coaelba: 156) Se -- SOMA SEI 
BON HONS) 29) isch oes 0°3830 0°2952 
op HS} cha CMO They hes fo 
Dm cos CIS iby —1 487 0°3916 0'2840 
ele ONSOMET ey — 2) Aro 
a 25 958.38 .:. — 2169 074000 .. 0°2736 
NO. 1777, VOL. 69] 
Tue SECULAR VARIATION OF STARLIGHT.—In a research 
on the secular variation of starlight, that is, the minute yet 
regular variations in magnitudes which take centuries to 
become evident, Mr. J. E. Gore has compared the present 
magnitudes of a number of stars with their respective 
magnitudes as recorded by Al-Sufi and Ptolemy. Recog- 
nising the important bearing of these variations on the 
theory of stellar evolution, he selected a number of stars 
having spectra of the first and second types for the com- 
parison, and has published the details of his research in 
the November number of the Observatory, giving in each 
case the type of spectrum, the recently estimated magni- 
tude, and the magnitude as recorded by Al-Sufi and 
Ptolemy, together with remarks on the validity of the 
latter. Mr. Gore has prepared two lists, one of which 
contains the data concerning 26 stars which are apparently 
decreasing in magnitude; the other deals with 20 stars 
which show an apparent increase. He points out in his 
remarks that in many cases the stars which are decreasing 
in magnitude have spectra of Pickering’s ** A’ type, which, 
according to Sir Norman Lockyer’s classification, would 
place them amongst those which are decreasing in tempera- 
ture, and therefore, presumably, in magnitude; a well- 
known example of this agreement occurs in the case of 
B Leonis, which, according to Sir Norman Lockyer, must 
be placed on the descending side of his temperature curve, 
and, according to Mr. Gore’s result, has decreased in 
magnitude from 1-o in Al-Sufi’s time to 2-2 at the present 
day. 
Sonar Opservations at Lyons Osservatory DURING 
1902.—In his annual report for 1902, M. J. Guillaume, 
director of the Lyons Observatory, states that the solar 
surface was observed on 236 days during the year, and was 
reported as being free from spots on 161 days. Thirty- 
three groups of spots were observed, their mean latitude 
being 21°-0, an increase of 5°-3 over last year’s value. 
According to the Lyons observations the last sun-spot 
minimum took place at the end of 1901. 
The observations of facula show an increase in the 
number of groups, and the area covered by them, over the 
two preceding years; they also indicate that the mean 
latitudes of spots and faculee do not show a parallel vari- 
ation, and from this, and the differences exhibited in their 
persistence and activity, M. Guillaume arrives at the con- 
clusion that it is really the faculae which indicate the regions 
of principal activity, the spots being only of secondary 
importance in this matter. This conclusion is supported 
bv the various tables: which accompany the report in the 
November issue of the Bulletin de la Société de France. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS WITH 
KITES AT. SEA. 
HE. following extracts from a communication to our 
contemporary Science by Mr. A. L. Rotch indicate 
the rapid progress which is being made in the exploration 
of the upper air by means of kites from ships, and a scheme 
for further investigation. 
The first to repeat the pioneer experiments of the late 
Mr. Sweetland and the writer during their voyage across 
the North Atlantic in 1901 were Messrs. Berson and Elias, 
of the Prussian Meteorological Institute, who, last August, 
made a voyage from Germany to Spitzbergen and back, 
achieving satisfactory results with their kites. Meanwhile 
Prof. Koppen, of the Deutsche Seewarte, carried out 
analogous experiments on the Baltic Sea. About the same 
time, Mr. Dines, aided by grants from the Royal Meteor- 
ological Society and the British Association, employed a 
small steamer for kite-flying off the west coast of Scotland, 
in connection with a fixed station on land. 
Meteorological kites have recently been flown from steam- 
boats on Lake Constance by Count von Zeppelin and Prof. 
Hergesell on some of the term-days of the international 
balloon ascensions. Similar experiments upon the smaller 
lakes of Prussia and. Russia have also shown that kites 
may be rendered’ nearly independent of the wind even in the 
interior of the continents. 
