July 10, 1884] 



NA TURE 



253 



G. Henderson ; a Spotted Cavy (C&logenys paca), a Blue and 

 Yellow Macaw (Ara ararauna) from South America, deposited ; 

 a Blue Crested Tanager (Stephanophorus leucocepka'ns i ) from 

 Brazil, two Cape Doves (CEna capensis) from South Africa 

 three Hardwicke's Spur Fowl (GallcpcrJix lunulata & 9 9 ), 

 two Rufous Spur Fowl ( Galloperdix spadiced), two Rain Quails 

 (Coiumix coromandelicd) from India, three Blackish Sternotheres 

 (SUrnotherus sulmiger) from West Africa, purchased ; a Helo- 

 derm (Hclodc-ma suspectum) from Mexico, received in exchange ; 

 a Burrhel Wild Sheep [Ovis burrhel 6 ), a Red Deer (Cervus 

 elaphus), six Upland Geese (Belinda magellanica), five Long- 

 fronted Gerbilles (Gerbillus longifrons), bred in the Gardens. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN 

 Minima of Algol. — In the calculation of the following 

 Greenwich times of geocentric minima of Algol, the later obser- 

 vations of Schmidt have been brought to bear : — 



h. m. h. rn. 



August 12 ... 14 35 September24 .. 14 43 

 15 ... 11 23 27 ... 11 31 



18 ... 8 12 30 ... 8 20 



September 1 ... 16 14 October 14 ... 16 23 

 4 •■• 13 3 17 ••• 13 12 



7 ... 9 51 20 ... 10 o 



12 ... 17 54 23 .. 6 49 



It is much to be desired that the observation of this star should 

 be taken up in a systematic manner by one or more observers. 

 We have been indebted to the late indefatigable astronomer at 

 Athens for nearly all the published determinations of minima 

 during the last ten years. 



The Comet 1S58 III. — Herr Spitaler, of the Observatory at 

 Vienna, who has been searching for some time past for this 

 comet with the 27-inch refractor along the track defined by the 

 calculations of M. Schulhof, remarked on May 26 three small, 

 faint, uncatalogued nebulae, of which, owing to rapidly-advancing 

 clouds, he was only able to secure the following approximate 

 places : — 



h. m. s. „ , 



1. Right Ascension ... 17 40 50 ... Declination ... + 35 33 



2. ,, 17 42 o ... ,, ... + 35 33 



3. „ 17 42 10 .. „ ... + 35 33 

 A period of almost unexampled bad weather followed, and it 

 was not till June 17 that observations could be repeated: the 

 first of the three nebulae was then missing, and its disappearance 

 from the position where it had been observed on May 26 was 

 confirmed with the same instrument on the night of June 20. 

 Its place is close upon that given in M. Schulhof 's ephemeris if 

 the comet's mean anomaly is assumed to have been 8° 33' at 

 midnight on May 26. 



It is not clear from what elements the positions assigned in 

 the sweeping-ephemeris have been derived. In M. Schulhof 's 

 most probable orbit the period of revolution is 6'6i years. If 

 we assume four revolutions to have taken place between 1S58 

 and 1S84, we find a period of 6-478 years, and reducing by the 

 factors for dfi in As/ron. Nach. No. 2592, in the most probable 

 ellipse, and bringing up the longitudes to May 26, 1884, we 

 have the following constants for the comet's equatorial co- 

 ordinates : — 



x = r. [9-99985] • sin (v + 291 27-5) 

 y = r . [9-99890] . sin (v + 201 33'8) 

 s = r . [8-87720] . sin (v + 181 14-6) 

 If the true anomaly, May 26-5 G.M.T., be assumed to be 

 49° 36'-6, we find that the calculated right ascension agrees with 

 that observed, but the calculated declination is 3° 34' too small. 

 And M. Schulhof's definitive orbit for 1S58 shows a similar dis- 

 cordance in declination, when the computed and observed right 

 ascensions are made to agree. A comparison (made as a check) 

 with the observed longitude and latitude leads to the same infer- 

 ence. It will be of interest to learn upon what elements M. 

 Schulhof has founded his predictions. 



If the comet's mean period between 1858 and 1884 were about 

 6'47S years, it might have approached the planet Jupiter in the 

 middle of September 1880, within 0-97 of the earth's mean 

 distance from the sun, a sufficiently near approach to cause a 

 sensible, though not very important effect upon the elements 

 defining the position of the plane of the orbit. 



The intervention of unfavourable weather at Vienna after 

 May 26 was particularly unfortunate, as the comet in the 

 observed position would be receding from both earth and sun, 

 and consequently the intensity of light would be rapidly dimi- 

 nishing, thus rendering a further observation after June 1 7 almost 

 hopeless. It will remain for M. Schulhof to decide whether the 

 object observed and missed at Vienna was really the comet the 

 return of which he had led astronomers to expect, or another 

 body. Possibly the discordance noticed above may be explained 

 by error in the orbit as printed. 



THE PHYSIOLOGICAL BEARING OF 



ELECTRICITY ON HEALTH^ 



HTHE reader of the paper commenced by stating that electricity 



-*- as at present used is at once a source of danger, a possible 



cause of sickness, and a remedy. 



In all these cases it has been insufficiently studied, and con- 

 tinues to be ill understood. This condition of affairs is probably 

 due to the fact that from the great subdivision of modern science, 

 a competent knowledge of physics as well as of physiology is 

 rarely acquired by the same person, whereas, for accurate work 

 it is essential that so powerful an agent should be measured by 

 accepted units. What little has been done by the physiologists 

 is marred by considerable errors as to the force actually in use. 

 Indeed much of it requires total revision in the light of modern 

 discoveries. 



1. Dangers to sight were very briefly considered. It was 

 noted that the incandescent and the arc light subjected the eyes 

 to two totally different risks, the former from heat rays at the 

 less refrangible, and the latter from actinic and chemical action 

 at the more refrangible, end of the spectrum. To obtain a suffi- 

 cient protection in both cases, a pair of eye-protectors, made for 

 the speaker by Mr. Baker of High Holborn, was shown, in 

 which the front glass was blue, and the side "blinker" deep 

 red. The former could be used alone for incandescent lamps, 

 to remove glare, and lessen irritation ; while the side glass could 

 be turned down over the blue when powerful arc lights had to 

 be gazed at. If the two tints were well selected and combined 

 by means of the spectroscope, a very handy and simple appliance 

 was obtained, clearly conducive to health. 2. Dangers to life 

 and health were more minutely adverted to. Causes of death may 

 be: — (1) By catalytic action; (2) by thrombosis of the larger 

 vessels ; (3) by shock and syncope, due to action on the cardiac 

 nervous system. It was admitted that, considering the enor- 

 mously increased power of our modern sources of electricity, 

 accidents had been singularly few ; and indeed it was abun- 

 dantly proved that a large steady current, even of considerable 

 magnitude, was comparatively harmless to the human economy. 

 Rapid fluctuations, especially at the starting or breaking of the 

 circuit, were much more dangerous ; and still more so if by acci- 

 dent, or by the impregnation of the skin with conducting saline 

 solutions, the resistance of the body was reduced to a minimum. 

 In reviewing the recorded accidents, at the Birmingham Music 

 Hall, in Paris, at Hatfield, and on board the Russian yacht, it 

 wa, obvious that they were not all to be classified under the third 

 heading given ; inasmuch as life in some cases had been pro- 

 longed for three-quarters of an hour after the accident. Probably 

 thrombosis in some form would account for them ; but more 

 precise information was much needed. Dr. Stone then pro- 

 ceeded to consider certain remedial and physiological points. 

 I. Several common errors were corrected, especially that of 

 imperfect contact. 2. Any approximate determination of the 

 electrical resistance of the human body to low and high tension 

 currents respectively was described. 3. Use of the telephone 

 and meter-bridge for measuring this resistance demonstrated ; 

 and 4. Measurements of E.M.F. cf high tension alternating 

 currents by dynanometer and quadrant electrometer were given. 

 Much of this had already appeared in the pages of Nature 

 on June 14 and September 13, 1883, and on April 3 of the 

 present year. The great need for an electrical testing establish- 

 ment open to observers at large, like that at Kew, was insisted 

 on, and might well le undertaken by the Society. Lastly, a 

 few suggestions were thrown out as to the therapeutical uses to 

 which electricity, administered, not as now, haphazard, but 

 quantitatively and scientifically, might be put. These were 

 clarified as (1) muscular, (2) sensory, (3) neurotic, (4) ehmi- 

 native, (5) vaso-motorial. 



' Abstract of a paper by W. H. Stone, M.A., M.B. Oxon, F.R.C.P., 

 Member, at the Conference of the Society of Telegraph Engineers at the 

 Health Exhibition, July 4. 



