1*6 



NA TURE 



[December 7, 1905 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 

 Comet 19056. — Further observations of this comet are 

 recorded in No. 405b of the Astronomische N achrichten. 

 As an error was made in the Bamberg record of R.A. on 

 November [8, it became necessary for Herr Ebell to re- 

 calculate bis elements and ephemeris, and the amended 

 results are contained in Circular No. Si from the Kiel 

 Centralstelle. The correi ted elements are .is follows : — 

 T = 1905 October 257163 (Berlin). 



°° =132 34"9l 

 ffl =222 55'o 5-1905-0 

 i =140 37-1 J 

 log q =0'02l8S 



The new ephemeris gives the position of the comet, at 

 12ft. M.T. Berlin, on December ro as a = 2;,h. 30m. 53s., 

 8 = — 7 24'. 1, but, as its brightness at that time will be 

 only 0-07 of its brightness when discovered (mag. 7-5 1 , the 

 object will be a very difficult one to observe. 



Tin; Anomalous Tails of Comets. — fn No. 4, vol. xxii., 

 of the Astrophysical Journal Prof. Barnard discusses the 

 anomalous forms presented by the tails of comets. The 

 generally accepted idea is that the tails are produced bj 

 the sun's repulsive force acting on the cometarv matter, 

 but, from a study of a number of photographs — more 

 especially of Brooks's (1893) comet — Prof. Barnard has 

 arrived at the conclusion that too much importance is 

 attached to this cause, and that the eruptive action of the 

 comet itself, and the active interference of external matter, 

 should also be included amongst the tail-producing causes. 

 Short, straight, minor tails, issuing from the nucleus at 

 considerable angles to the main tail, seem to corroborate 

 the existence of the comet's own eruptive force, or, at 

 least, of some force in addition to that supplied by (lie 

 sun. 



The rapid deflections and distortions of the tail or tails, 

 as in Brooks's comet, suggest the existence of some resist- 

 ing medium which is not evenly distributed throughout 

 interplanetary space, and such a medium would also explain 

 the anomalous brightening up of some comets {s.g. 

 Sawerthal's, May, 1888) and the disruption of such a comet 

 as Biela's. 



Finally, Prof. Barnard suggests that all bright comets 

 possessing tails should be photographed hour by hour, as 

 the day by da) photographs hitherto obtained an- separated 

 by intervals so long that the changes recorded are not 

 necessarily connected. 



Nova AqtjiLjE No. 2. — A number of photographs of the 

 region about Nova Aquilse, taken with the Bruce telescope, 

 and with the 24-inch reflector of the Yerkes Observatory, 

 are discussed by Mr. J. A. Parkhurst in the November 

 Astrophysical Journal. These show that in the spring and 

 summer of 1904 the Nova was at least fainter than the 

 fifteenth magnitude. 



The final mean value obtained for the position of the 

 Nova for 1900 was 



R.A. = iSh. 56m. 48.96s., dec. = —4° 35' 2o"-3, 

 and a comparison of the images on different plates showed 

 that the Nova was only slightly coloured. 



A reproduction of one of the photographs taken with the 

 24-inch reflector (exposure, three hours) shows that the 

 Nova is situated in a dark lane, almost devoid of stars, in 

 a very rich field in the Milky Way, and also illustrates, in 

 a very striking manner, the connection of Nova.- with the 

 galaxy. 



Catalogue of Binary Star Orbits.— The results of a 

 critical study of till published double-star orbits are pub- 

 lished in Bulletin No. 84 of the Lick Observatory by Prof. 

 R. <.. Aitken. 



The catalogue is divided into two lists, of which the 

 first, relating to fifty-three stars, contains the. elements ni 

 those orbits which Prof. Aitken .. nsiders to be fairly trust- 

 worthy. The second contains the names, the period, and 

 the name of the computer of ninety-one stars of which 

 Prof. Aitken considers the published orbits are too untrust- 

 worthy to be of any practical value. 



A number of critical and explanatory notes relating to 

 some of the individual stars accompany Prof. Aitken 's 

 catalogue. 



no. 1884, VOL. 72>~] 



INDIAN METEOROLOGY, 1892-1902. 1 



CIR JOHN ELIOT, in discussing recent meteorological 

 "^ phenomena, says : — " The period 1892-1902 was 

 unique in the meteorology of India for the magnitude and 

 persistence of the variations of rainfall, cloud, humidity 

 and temperature from the normal." 



This period can be divided into two parts, abnormal in 

 opposite directions : — 1892-4 characterised by excess of 

 rain, cloud and humidity, and a reduced temperature, and 

 [895—1902 characterised by deficient rainfall, less cloud, 

 drier air, and an average temperature above the normal. 



The normal rainfall for three years (taking the average 

 of 450 selected stations) is 123 inches, while the total rain- 

 fall for the period 1892-4 was 143-5 inches, an excess of 

 205 inches. The actual rainfall for the eight years 1895- 

 1902 was 303 8 inches against the normal 328-7 inches, a 

 deficiency of 24-9 inches. 



During two years of this dry period the deficiency was 

 so great over certain areas as to cause very severe 

 droughts, which in turn caused famines. These two 

 famines were, both in affected area and affected popula- 

 tion, the worst during the last 150 years. The drought of 

 1896 and the famine of 1807 afflicted the United Provinces, 

 Central Provinces, Central India, and Rajputana, an area 

 ol 300,000 to 400,000 square miles, 3,000,000 persons re- 

 ceiving relief. The drought of 1899 and the famine of 



1900 alt d South Punjab, Rajputana, Central India, 



Berar, Central Provinces, Hyderabad, Bombay Presidency 

 and part of Orissa, Chota Nagpur, and Madras, an area 

 of 600,000 to 700,000 square miles, and 6,500,000 persons 

 required relief. 



In discussing the meteorology of so large an area as 

 India, it is impossible to detail all the local variations, 

 I a from among some examples given, Kilba, a statien 

 i 1 the Simla district, may be mentioned. During the 

 eleven years under discussion, Kilba for ten years received 

 deficient rainfall, and instead of the normal 441 o inches 

 received 304.4 inches, the deficiency being equal to 3^ years' 

 normal fall. 



Csing the data from 450 stations selected by the late 

 Mr. Blandford as most trustworthy and representat ivi 

 and giving due weight according to the area represented 

 by each station, the average rainfall over India is given 

 in inches: — 1892, 46-18; [893, 5010; 1.894, 47 p 5° 1 ^OS. 

 38-90; 1S96, 36-26; 1897, 4004; 1898, 4152; 1800, 29-85; 

 1900, 4052; 1901, 3686; 1902, 3904, the normal annual 

 rainfall being 4109 inches. The division of these years 

 into a wet and a dry season is obvious. 



On examining the amount of rainfall during the different 

 seasuiis of the year, the fact is brought out clearly that 

 all the seasons were affected by the abnormal conditions. 

 During 1892-1894 all parts of the year had a tendency to 

 excess rain. In 1893 the dry season had relatively more 

 excess rain than the wet season. During the dry period 

 1S95-1902 there was a tendency to deficiency of rain 

 during all the seasons. Vet during a normal year the 

 meteorological conditions which obtain during the wet 

 season and the dry season are quite inverse of each other. 



The persistence of the abnormalities through the seasons 

 is also shown by the observations of cloud amount, 

 humidity and temperature. 



Discussing the geographical distribution of the rain, Sir 

 John Eliot points out that during the wet period 1N.12-4 all 

 parts of India received excess rain except in 1894, when 

 the Bombay and Malabar district and the Madras district 

 wire deficient by 2 per cent, and 3 per cent, of the normal 

 respectively. In 1892 the excess was more marked in 

 those areas which received their south-west monsoon rain 

 by the Bombay or Arabian Sea current, in 1S93 and 1S94 in 

 those areas supplied by the Bay of Bengal current, and 

 the excess was relatively greater in those areas which are 

 near the interior limits of the fields of the two currents. 

 The abnormal extension and strength of the monsoon 

 currents are indicated by this excess in the interior. 



During the period there was generally excess rain in 



1 •■ A Preliminary Inv 

 ieteorology of .Soull 



tigatii 



Countries tiuring the Period 1892-1902." With App 

 ' R.S., K.C.I.E. (Indian Meteorolog 



fcliot. M.A., F. 

 part if). 



f the more Important Features of the 

 ; Indian Ocean, and Nrighbo— : - 

 With Appemf- 



By'sir John 

 " s, vol. xvi. 



