May 22, 1884] 



NA TURE 



Royal Microscopical Society was of great interest, and gave 

 promise that his forthcoming Challenger Report will be of high 

 importance as a contribution to the morphology of these Echino- 

 derms. His exhibition of microscopic preparations of the system 

 of cords which he and his father assert to be of a nervous nature 

 was supplemented b) an interesting account by Dr. Carpenter, 

 C.B., of the observations and experiments which had led to the 

 conviction as to their nervous nature, which is gradually being 

 accepted by other investigators. 



M. MaSCART, Professor at the College of France, will give a 

 discourse at the Royal Institution on Friday evening. Mi) 30, 

 the subject being " Sur les Couleurs." 



We regret to learn of the death of Mr. Henry Baden Pritchard, 

 whose name has been so long connected with the Photographic 

 News, and with the photographic world in general. 



A STRONG earthquake shock causing some damage was felt 

 last week at Pandemia and Erdek in the province of Broussa, 

 Asia Minor. Two slight shocks, unattended by any damage, 

 have occurred at Balikesri in the same province. 



A 1 a meeting of the Governors of North Wales University, 

 held last week at Bangor, Mr. Henry Rudolf Reichel. M.A., 

 Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, was elected Principal of 

 the College. 



That the railway should be the means of enriching the flora 

 of a district seems strange. This has, however, been shown to be 

 the case in Arbra parish, in the province of Helsingland, Sweden. 

 Thus, since the extension of the Great Northern main line into 

 this province in 1878, no less than seven new species of plants 

 have immigrated along the line. They are Galium mollugo, 

 Plantago lanceolata, Euphorbia helioscofria, Dactylis glomerate, 

 Bunias orientalis, Arena fatua, and an American importation, 

 Rudbeckia hiria (L.). That these must owe their introduction 

 to the railway is clearly demonstrated by the fact that in spite of 

 the closest scrutiny these plants have never before been found in 

 this district, and that they are even now confined to the railway 

 embankment and its immediate vicinity. The four first-named 

 have, in all probability, only come from the parishes south of 

 Arbra, but the Bunias orientalis and Avena fatua have no doubt 

 travelled along the line all the way from the province of Gestrik- 

 land, to whose flora they belong. The last-named, Rudbeckia 

 hiria, which hails from the eastern part of the United States, 

 seems to follow in the track of the navvy in the whole of 

 Northern Sweden. In the summer of iSSoit was seen some ten 

 miles south of Bollnas station ; in 1882 it appeared for the fust 

 time at Arbra, about twenty miles further up the railway line; 

 and last year it had travelled as far as Torps parish, in the 

 province of Medelpad, i.e. s distance in four years of about one 

 degree. 



A correspondent writes in reference to Prof. McKenny 

 Hughes' article on earthworms, that the worst consequence of 

 the sea going over the walls in the Somerset low grounds is that it 

 kills the worms, thousands of which come to the surface and die 

 in agony, and the fanners arc very sensible of the evil done to 

 the land for a long time afterwards. 



. Crosby Lockwood and Co. inform us that they 

 will shortly publish " A Treatise on Earthy and other Minerals 

 and Mining," by D. C. Davies, F.G.S. The work, which is 

 uniform with and forms a companion volume to the same 

 author's "Treatise on Metalliferous Minerals and Mining," will 

 be fully illustrated. The same publishers announce a work 

 on an entirely new subject, viz. " Stone-working Machinery, and 

 the Rapid and Economical Conversion of Stone, with Hints on 

 the Arrangement and Management of Stone-Works," by M. 

 Powis Bale, M.Inst.M.E., A.M. Inst. C.K. Messrs. Crosby 



Lockwood and Co. also announce " The Blowpipe in Chemistry, 

 Mineralogy, and Geology,".by Lieut.-Col. Ross. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Hodgson's Partridge {Perdix hodgsoniee), 

 presented by Mr. W. Jamrach ; a Bonnet Monkey (Macacus 

 radialus), presented by Mr. A. King ; two Japanese Pheasants 

 {Phasianus versicolor), two Egyptian Geese {Chenalopex eegypt- 

 iaca), a White American Crane [Grits americana), thirteen Green 

 Lizards [Lacerla viridis), purchased; two Common Vipers, pre- 

 sented by Mi. W. II. B. Pain; a Common Partridge {Perdix 

 cinerea), presented by Mr. R. Steele ; a Banded Ichneumon 

 {Herpestes fasciatus), presented by Master Adams ; twelve 

 Variegated Sheldrakes {Tadotna variegata), four Soft-billed 

 Ducks {Hymenals mu s tnalacorhync/ius), a Bernicle Goose {Ber- 

 nicla leucopsis), an Argentine Tortoise ( Testudo argentina), pre- 

 sented by Mr. Wm. Petty. 



536"-: 



Perihelion distance 1-1950 

 Revolution ... 6 609 years 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN 



ANew Comet of Short Period. — M. Schulhof of Paris 

 has lately ascertained that the observations of the third comet of 

 1858 (a very limited number) are closely represented by an ellip- 

 tical orbit with a period of about six years and a half. The 

 comet in question was discovered by Mr. H. P. Tuttle at the 

 Observatory of Cambridge, Mass., on the evening of May 2 ; it 

 was observed there until May 12, and likewise at Ann Arbor by 

 the late Prof. Watson from May 9 until June 1. Eight observa- 

 tions in all are available for the calculation of the orbit, and upon 

 these M. Schulhof bases four positions, from which he deduces 

 the following elements : — 



Perihelion passage, 1S5S May 2-96719 G.M.T. 



Longitude of perihelion ... 

 ,, ascending node 



Inclination 



Angle of eccentricity 



Mean daily sidereal motion 

 From these elements we find — 



Eccentricity 0-660676 1 



Semi-axis major ... 3-5217 



,, minor ... 2-6436 | 

 M. Schulhof finds the limits for the mean daily motion 612" and 

 470" corresponding to periods of 5 'So and 7-55 years. 



With such elements the comet must approach very near to the 

 orbit of Jupiter, as is the case with nearly all the comets of the 

 short-period group: and with the most probable period (6'6 

 years) would come into close proximity to the planet in 1879 and 

 18S0. It unfortunately happens that an endeavour to identify 

 this comet with any one of the imperfectly observed comets of 

 past times, or with missing nebulous objects, has so far been 

 fruitless, and hence much uncertainty remains as to the true 

 length of the revolution, but M. Schulhof has prepared sweep- 

 ing-ephemerides. of which a part is printed in No. 2590 of the 

 Astronomische A'achrichten : it contains the sweeping-line for 

 every fourth degree of the sun's true longitude from 40 to 104°. 

 At the time of discovery in 1858 the comet was a very faint 

 object in the comet-seeker, and continued faint during the month 

 that it was observed. To this circumstance and unfavourable 

 weather is attributed its not having been seen at Washington : it 

 was not observed in Europe. Parabolic elements were com- 

 puted by Profs. Hall and Watson, but no suspicion of periodicity 

 could have arisen from the results of their calculations beyond 

 what comparatively small inclination and direct motion might 

 have suggested ; indeed we believe it is somewhere upon record 

 that Prof. Hall considered the tendency was rather towards a 

 hyperbolic orbit. M. Schulhof's merit in drawing the attention 

 of astronomers to the real nature of the comet's path is so much 

 the greater. 



Could reliance be placed upon the period given by the few 

 observations in our possession as the most probable one, a return 

 to perihelion might he expected in October next, but as already 

 remarked such period would have brought the comet into close 

 proximity to the planet Jupiter 111 1879-80, and the next peri- 

 helion i" sage might he considerably affected thereby. Further, 

 11 1- io bi remarked that with perihelion passage in the middle 



