March 19, 1885 



NA TURE 



473 



4. Each minor planet will be observed at least five times, near 

 opposition, when practicable. 



5. Observations of the list of miscellaneous stars will be 

 finished as soon as practicable. 



The Transit Instrument 



1. Observations will be made as often as practicable for time, 

 for the correction of the standard meantime clock ; and compu- 

 tations will be made daily for such correction. 



2. Observations for the right ascensions of the sun, moon, and 

 inner planets to be made as frequently as possible ; observations 

 of the major planets, and of the brighter of the minor planets, to 

 he made near opposition. 



3. The observations made during 18S3 will be prepared for 

 publication ; and the computations of those of 1884 continued. 



The 9 '6-inch Equatorial 

 Observations will be made : — 



1. Of all the minor planets whose brightness at "opposition is 

 greater than their mean brightness. 



2. Of comets, to determine position and physical peculiarities. 



3. Of occultations of stars by the moon. 



4. When arrangements shall have been made to photograph 

 the sun, any sun-spots which show any decided peculiarities in 

 the photographs will be examined with the spectroscope. 



The Prime Vertical Transit Instrument 

 Observations of a selected list of stars in conjunction with the 

 Royal Observatory at Lisbon, in pursuance of the plan recom- 

 mended by the International Geodetic Association, for the deter- 

 mination of variability of latitude. 



Time-Service and Chronometers 

 The time-balls at Washington and New York will be dropped 

 daily at noon of the 75th meridian ; and the noon signals will 

 be extended to such other places throughout the country as may 

 be desirable, as rapidly as arrangements may be made. 



The rating of chronometers will be continued as heretofore. 

 Meteorological observations will be made as usual. 



The Mural Circle 

 Observations will be made of stars down to the 7th magnitude 

 south of ten degrees North declination, the positions of which 

 have not been recently determined at some northern observa- 

 tory ; the observing list to be formed of all stars from Gould's 

 Uranometria Argentina visible here, and not found in Yarnall's 

 Catalogue, the Transit Circle list of B.A.C. stars, or the recent 

 Catalogue of the Glasgow Observatory. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS 

 Rendiconti del Reale Istituto Lombanlo, January 29. — On a 

 special class of involutions of space known as monoidal, by Dr. 

 Y. Martinetti. — Analysis of the meteorological observations 

 made at the Brera Observatory, Milan, during the year 1884, 

 by E. Pini. — An experimental study of the thermic phenomena 

 accompanying the formation of alloys, by Prof. Domenico 

 Mazzotto. — On some eruptive rocks occurring between Lakes 

 Maggiore and Orta, by Prof. Giuseppe Mercalli.— On the geo- 

 metrical movement of invariable systems, by Prof. C. Formenti. 

 — International right in connection with ihe proposed Italian 

 penal code, by Prof. A. Buccellati.— Meteorological observa- 

 tions taken at the Brera Observatory during the month of 

 January. 



February 12. — On the psychological act of attention in the 

 animal series, by E. T. Vignoli.— On S. Grimaldi's project of 

 an agrarian credit as a remedy for existing evils among the 

 agricultural classes in Italy, by P. Manfredi. — On a class of con- 

 figurations of the third power, by Prof. G. Jung. — On the geo- 

 metrical movement of invariable systems, by Prof. C. Formenti. 

 — On an integer more general than that of living forces for the 

 movement of a system of material points, by Dr. G. Pennacchi- 

 etti. — Integration of the differential equation &.-11 = o in some 

 ile planes, by Prof. G. Ascoli. 

 berkhie der Naturwissenschaftlichen Gescllschaft Jsis, 

 [884. — The organs of smell in the articulated animals, 

 by Dr. Kraepelin.— An account of the Papuan inhabitants of 

 Am, Eastern Archipelago, communicated in a private letter to 

 II. Engelhardt. — On An , , icola, a parasite infesting 



■plant on the Brazilian plantations, by B. Frank. — 



Phytclogical observations made on the flora of Dresden during 

 the years 18S3 and 1884, by A. Wobst. — On the morphology of 

 the orchids, by Dr. O. Drude. — On the diluvial fauna of the 

 Prohlis district, by Dr. Geinitz. — Remarks on some rare crystals 

 of zircon and pyrites from Cornwall and Ontario, Canada, by 

 A. Purgold. — On some archaeological objects from Saxony, the 

 Harz, and Italy, apparently connected with superstitious prac- 

 tices, by H. Wiechel. — On the chemical constitution of the 

 colouring substance known as methylic blue, by Dr. R. Mohlau. 

 — Memoir on new and little-known bird's eggs and nests from the 

 Eastern Archipelago, specimens of which are possessed by the 

 Dresden Zoological Museum, by A. B. Meyer. — On the latest 

 geological researches in North America, by Dr. H. B. Geinitz. 

 Remarks on the crepuscular phenomena observed in Europe and 

 elsewhere at the end of the year 1883 and beginning of 1884, by 

 Prof. G. A. Neubert. 



Rivista Scientifico-Industriale, January 31. — Influence of 

 static electricity on lightning conductors (concluded), by Prof. 

 Eugenio Canestrini. — On the Westinghouse compressed air con- 

 tinuous brake, by the Editor. — Improved method of preserving 

 ornithological specimens, by Dante Roster. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 

 London 

 Royal Society, March 5. — " On the Atomic Weight of 

 Glucinum (Beryllium)." Second Paper. By T. S. Humpidge, 

 Ph.D., B.Sc, Professor of Chemistry in the University College 

 of Wales, Aberystwyth. Communicated by Prof. E. Frankland, 

 F.R.S. 



This paper is a continuation of one previously communicated 

 to the Royal Society {Proc. Roy. Soc, vol. xxxv. p. 137). The 

 author has prepared a sample of metallic glucinum, having the 

 composition — 



Gl ... ... ... ... 99-20 



GIO 070 



Fe ... ... ... ... o'2o 



and has determined its specific heat at varying temperatures up 

 to 450° with the following results (for pure glucinum) : — 

 c[}„, 0-4286 



'■:; 0-4515 



cH, ... ... 0-4696 



<r!4o 0-4885 



c\U 0-5105 



c',l 0-5199 



cVf, ■■■ 05403 



These results correspond to the following empirical formula 

 for the true specific heat of the metal at varying temperatures — 



k t = i 4- 2at + 3&t*, 

 or with numerical values — 



kt = 0-3756 + o'ooio6^ — o"oooooii4/ 2 , 

 whence the following values for h t are calculated : — 



*o 0-3756 



... 0-4702 



*200 0-5420 



k 0-5910 



^4(10 0-6I72 



*600 0-6206 



If these values are graphically represented the curve so ob- 

 tained reaches a maximum at about 470 , and then fall^ ; but 

 whether it represents the specific heat at higher tempei atures 

 than 500 is doubtful. The specific heat of glucinum thus rises 

 rapidly up to about 400°, and remains approximately constant 

 between 400 and 500° at o'62. If this number is multiplied I y 

 9 - l it gives the atomic heat 5-64. Glucinum, therefore, belongs 

 to the same class as carbon, boron, and silicon, which agree 

 with Dulong and Petit's rule at high temperatures only. And 

 the true atomic weight is that required by the periodic law — viz. 

 9-1 and not 1 3 "6, as was previously deduced from the specific 

 heat between 10° and too . 



This conclusion is confirmed by the author's determinations of 

 the vapour-densities of glucinum chloride and bromide in a 

 platinum vessel. The experiments were done in an atmosphere 

 of carbonic acid collected over mercury after Meier and Crafts 

 (Berlin. Ber., xiii. 851), and gave the following results : — 



