126 



NA TURE 



[February i, 1906 



iip ludes more than 150 titles of books, above 30 of which 

 are in the chemical, engineering, and electrical depart- 

 ments of the library. 



The " Writers' and Artists' Year-book " for 1006 has 

 now been published by Messrs. A. and C. Black. It con- 

 tains much information likely to be of assistance to writers 

 cm all subjects. The list of papers and magazines, good 

 though i( is, is by no means complete; for though details 

 concerning Science Siftings are supplied, we have been 

 unable to find any mention of the Chemical News, the 

 Entomologist, the Irish Naturalist, and the Zoologist. 

 The price of the year-book is is. net. 



Messrs. Archibald Constable and Co., Ltd., haye 

 ready for publication immediately the following books 

 itific interest: — "Motor Vehicles and Motors," 

 vol. ii., by W. Worby Beaumont; "Tunnel Shields and 

 the Use of Compressed Air in Subaqueous Works," by 

 W. C. Copperthwaite ; " Modern Turbine Practice and 

 Water Power Plant," by J. W. Thurso; "The Seven 

 Follies of Science," by J. Phin ; " Experimental Electro- 

 chemistry," by N. Monroe Hopkins; "Gas, Gasolene, and 

 Oil Engines " (new edition), by G. D. Hiscox ; and " Prac- 

 tical Electro-chemistry " (second edition), by B. Blount. 



The twenty-sixth issue of the " Englishwoman '1- Year- 

 book and Directory," that for 1906, has been published 

 by Messrs. A. and C. Black. It maintains the high level 

 of usefulness to which attention has on previous occasions 

 been directed in these columns. Englishwomen anxious 

 to take part in the useful work of the world owe a debt 

 of gratitude to Miss Emily Janes, who edits the volume. 

 Great prominence is, as usual, given to education, and the 

 information given concerning the higher education of 

 women is exhaustive and interesting. An alphabetical list 

 of some distinguished women with their contributions to 

 science and education should serve to encourage others to 

 a-sist in the spread of knowledge. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 

 Astronomical Occurrences in February : — 

 Feb. 2. 5h. Jupiter in conjunction with the Moon. Jupiter 

 4° 39' N. 

 ,, 3. 5h. 23m. to 6h. 2Sm. Moon occults a Tauri (mag. 



i-i). 

 ,, 4. ioh. 6m. to I2h. 6m. Transit of Jupiter's Sat. III. 



(Ganymede). 

 ,, 5. Juno (mag. 87) in opposition to the Sun. 

 „ 7. 7h. 7m. to Sh. 4111. Moon occults ( Cancri 



(mag. 47). 

 " 7- 9h- 33m. Minimum of Algol (8 Persei). 

 ,, S. Total eclipse of the Moon. 



I7h. 57m. First contact with the shadow. 

 i8h. 5Sm. Beginning of total phase. 

 I9h. 47m. Middle of the eclipse. 

 2oh. 36m. End of total phase. 

 2ih. 37m. Last contact with the shadow, 

 igh. 30m. Moon sets at Greenwich. 

 Magnitude of the eclipse = 1 '632. 

 „ 10. 6h. 22m. Minimum of Algol (0 Persei). 

 ,, 10. nh. 7m. !o 12I1. 12m. Moon occults x Leonis 



(mag. 47). 

 ,, 14. Venus. Illuminated portion of disc =i - ooo. Of 



Mars = 0-944. 

 ,, 16. Juno h° S. of ( Hydra; (mag. 3-3). 

 ,, 22. I9h. 43m. Partial eclipse of the Sun, invisible at 

 Greenwich. 

 1 ih. Saturn in conjunction with the Sun. 

 i. 7h. om. to 8h. 9m. Moon occults fi Ceti (mag. 

 4'4). 

 NO. 1892, VOL. 73] 



24. 



Discovery OF a New Comet. -A telegram from the Kiel 



Centralstelle announces the discovery of a new c t b) 



M. Brooks at Geneva on January 26. Its position at 

 10I1. (Geneva M.T.I on that date was 



R.A. = i6h. 



1911 



j.S. 



dec. = + 47° 10', 



which is near to t Herculis. 



1 In- object is said to be a bright one, and to be moving 

 in a north-westerly direction. Being the first cornel to In- 

 discovered during the year, it will take the designation 

 1906a. At 9 p.m. t Herculis is fairly low down, near to 

 the N.N.E. horizon, and does not " south " until about 

 7.30 a.m. 



A second telegram from Kiel states that the comet was 

 observed by Dr. Palisa at Vienna on January 28. Ik 

 position at 15b. 13.3m. (Vienna M.T.) was 



R.A. = i6h. iSm. 164s., dec. = +50° 4' 45". 



From this it appears that the comet is at present travelling 

 nearly due north towards the constellations Draco and 

 Ursa Minor. 



Comet 1905c (Giacobini). — As comet 1905c is now 

 emerging from the immediate neighbourhood of the sun 

 and is fairly bright, it should soon become visible in the 

 ■ veiling sky, immediately after sunset, and in the south- 

 west. The following is an extract from a daily ephemeris 

 published by Herr A. Wedemeyer in No. 4067 of the 

 Astronomische Nachrichten : — 



Observations of Standard Velocity Stars. — In accord- 

 ance with the international cooperative scheme for the 

 regular determination of the radial velocities of ten standard 

 stars, Mr. Slipher, using the Lowell spectrograph, observed 

 the following stars during the summer and autumn of 1905. 

 y Cephei was substituted for a Crateris — the tenth star of 

 the standard list — because the latter was too near the sun 

 during the period covered by the observations. The mean 

 velocity obtained by Mr. Slipher for each star is also given 

 below : — 



Velocity 

 -14-3 km. 



- 25 „ 

 -13-0 „ 



+ 3'3 .. 



- 47 ,, 



-419 ,> 



Mr. Slipher describes the equipment and the method of 

 working, and directs attention to the fact that the high 

 altitude of the Lowell Observatory and the prevalent trans- 

 parency of the sky contribute greatly to the light-power of 

 the equipment. Satisfactory spei trograms of a Persei were 

 obtained in 15 minutes, whereas with the Yerkes equip- 

 ment the shortest exposure on this star was 30 minutes 

 (Astrophysical Journal, No. 5, vol, xxii.). 



A Fire near the Mount Wilson Observatory. — 

 From No. 1, vol. xiv., of Popular Astronomy, we learn 

 that a serious fire took place on Mount Lowe, near to 

 Mounl Wilson, on December 9, 1005. Fortunately, no 

 damage appears to have been done to the observatory equip- 

 in. ■111, but the heat was so intense that Prof. Hale, fearing 

 that some of the more delicate parts of the apparatus might 

 be injured thereby, had them removed and sunk in the 

 observatory reservoir until the danger was past. 



