_ 
DECEMBER 18, 1913] 
NATURE 
459 
and the use of a more trustworthy value of the vis- 
cosity of air. The author also examines the correct- 
ness of the assumptions: that the viscosity effect is 
uninfluenced by the oil drops being charged electric- 
ally, that the drops are spheres, and that their density 
is the same as that of the oil in bulk. Prof. Millikan’s 
final value for the atomic charge of electricity is 
4774. 10-19 electrostatic units, the probable error 
being 1 in 500. From this value of the charge the 
author calculates the following constants: number of 
molecules per gram molecule, 6-062 x 107°; number 
of gas molecules per cubic centimetre at normal tem- 
perature and pressure, 2-705x10'°; kinetic energy 
translation of a molecule at 0° C., 5-621x 10-* ergs; 
coefficient of the absolute temperature in the expres- 
sion for the energy at any temperature, 2-058 x 10-1°; 
coefficient of the logarithm in the expression for the 
entropy according to Boltzmann, 1-372 x 10-'®; mass 
of the hydrogen atom, 1-662x10-*4g; Planck’s 
“quantum” of energy, 6-620x 10-77 ergs; constant 
of the Wien displacement law, 1-447. 
Ar a meeting of the Alchemical Society on Decem- 
ber 12 Prof. Herbert Chatley, of Tangshan Engineer- 
ing College, North China, read a paper dealing with 
alchemy in China. Views similar to those of the 
medieval alchemists of Europe had been current, Prof. 
Chatley said, in China since 500 B.c. or even earlier. 
The Chinese alchemists regarded gold as the perfect 
substance, and believed in the possibility of trans- 
muting base metals thereinto. They also agreed with 
European alchemists in employing bizarre symbols 
in their writings, in using mercury as the basis in 
attempting to prepare the philosopher’s stone, in be- 
lieving in the slow natural development of gold from 
other metals, and in postulating a sexual generation 
for all things. Many interesting particulars concern- 
ing this last tenet of the Chinese alchemists, the doc- 
trine of Yin and Yang, were given, as well as others 
respecting their views concerning the elixir of life, in 
the possibility of obtaining which they firmly believed. 
Engineering for December 12 contains an_illus- 
trated description of the Hamburg-American Co.’s 
T.S.S. Konigin Luise, which is fitted with Féttinger’s 
hydraulic transformer for reducing speed between the 
turbine and propeller shafts. Sir John H. Biles 
attended the trials of this vessel, and his report is 
reproduced in our contemporary. Of special interest 
in the report is a complete table of comparison of 
the results for this ship and those for the Caesarea 
(turbine direct-driven) and for the Normannia (turbine 
mechanical-gear). At full power, the steam used per 
shaft-horse-power per hour, excluding auxiliaries, is 
15*I, 12-2, and 12 lb., for the Caesarea, Normannia, 
and Konigin Luise respectively; the coal consumption 
per shaft-horse-power per hour for all purposes, stated 
in the same order of vessels, is 1-72, 1-34, and 1-31 Ib. 
A special claim for the Féttinger transformer is ease 
in manoeuvring; this claim is fully maintained in Sir 
J. Biles’s report. Thus, in one experiment the 
engines were running at about 430 starboard and 
410 port. In three seconds from delivery of the order 
the engines were stopped; after an interval of some 
seconds they were put to full speed astern, and in four 
NO. 2303, VOL. 92] 
seconds from the time the valve was opened the speed 
Was 370 revolutions per minute. The complete time 
required to stop the ship was 1 minute 17 seconds, 
and she stopped in about a length and a half. It may 
be added that the total orders in hand for Féttingen 
transformers make an aggregate of 245,000 shaft- 
horse-power, including a 20,000 shaft-horse-power 
liner, two cruisers of 45,000 and 30,000, and several 
destroyers, each of 25,000 shaft-horse-power. 
WE have received a copy of the first number of a 
new monthly Italian journal devoted to the automobile, 
under the title, H. P. It is excellently printed, 
copiously illustrated, and contains interesting articles 
of technical and general interest. Amongst these may 
be noted a description of the ‘‘ Fiat’? works at Turin, 
and an article on rubber culture and manufacture. 
At the present moment no similar journal exists in 
italy, and the new venture will doubtless fill a real 
want. 
Messrs. G. ROUTLEDGE AND Sons, Ltp., will pub- 
lish in January a ‘‘ Handbook of Photomicrography,’* 
by H. Lloyd Hind and W. Brough Randles. 
Many old and rare works on mathematics, physics, 
chemistry, and kindred subjects, including a large 
collection of works by Newton and de Morgan, are 
comprised in a catalogue just issued by Messrs. H. 
Sotheran and Co., 140 Strand, W.C. A number of 
copies of Newton’s “Principia”? is included in the 
list, and we notice particularly a copy of the first 
edition of that immortal work offered at the price of 
eighteen guineas. 
Messrs. J. AND A. CHURCHILL are about to publish 
the following new books and new editions :—‘tA 
Manual for Masons,’’ by Prof. J. A. van der Kloes, 
revised by A. B. Searle; ‘‘Modern Steel Analysis,” 
by J. A. Pickard; ‘‘The Story of Plant Life in the 
British Isles,” by A. R. Horwood; “ Materia Medica, 
Pharmacy, Pharmacology, and Therapeutics,” by Dr 
W. Hale White, thirteenth edition; ‘‘ Elementary 
Practical Chemistry,” part i., by Dr. Frank Clowes 
and J. Bernard Coleman, sixth edition; ‘‘ The Medical 
Directory, 1914.” 
OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 
A Rerraction ActinG RaDIALLy FROM THE SuN.—In 
the expression for the variation of latitude, a term 
exists which is independent of the position of the 
observing station and which has a periodic character. 
M. L. Courvoisier has suggested that either the sun 
has an atmosphere which extends to very great dis- 
tances or that the zther is denser nearer the sun, 
causing a small refraction in the light of stars, and 
thus producing this periodic variation in their posi- 
tions. M. L. Courvoisier’s paper, entitled ‘‘ Ueber 
systematische Abweichungen der Sternpositicnen im 
Sinne einer jahrlichen Refraction” (K. Sternwarte, 
Berlin, No. 15), indicated that many series of observa- 
tions pointed towards the existence of this refraction 
varying in amount with the angular separation, 
according to a formula which he deduced. His 
observations included a number of stars at different 
distances, both in right ascension and declination from 
the sun. The amount of this refraction near the sun 
he derived from observations of Venus near upper 
culmination between the years 1858 and 1909. Mr. 
F. E. Ross points out a correction to Courvoisier’s 
