Sept. 4, 1884] 



NATURE 



459 



that the verification to which I subsequently submitted that star 

 (B.A.C. 5457) leaves no doubt as to the legitimacy of the identi- 

 fication. But I wish especially to remark that amongst the 

 published orbits is one in which the observations at Algiers have 

 had no part ; it is that calculated by Chandler on the observa- 

 tions of July 16, 21, and 28." M. Trepied suggests that the 

 conjecture of Prof. Weiss as to the nature of the orbit rested 

 not only on the differences in the mean place, but on the agree- 

 ment of his own elements with those of Chandler. We are 

 now aware, however, as was mentioned last week, that the 

 apparent deviation from parabolic motion was caused by error in 

 the position published for the night of discovery, and that M. 

 Trepied's observations (the comparison star having been identi- 

 fied) prove very exact. The doubt we expressed was occasioned 

 by the large corrections given in the circular of the Astronomische 

 Nachrichtcn. 



Brorsen's Comet of Short Period. — The following posi- 

 tions of this comet are deduced upon the same assumption with 

 respect to the epoch of perihelion passage as those lately given 

 for the period of absence of moonlight in August : — 



I2h. G.M.T. R.A. Decl. Distance from 



h. m. . , Earth Sun 



Sept. 15 ... 10 26-6 ... +13 37 ... 1-416 ... 0-590 



17 ... 10 40-0 ... 13 2S ... 1-436 ... 0-593 



19 ... 10 53-3 ... 13 15 ... 1-455 ■■• °'598 



21 ... 11 6-3 ... 12 58 ... i'475 ... o'6o6 



23 ... 11 19-1 ... 12 37 ... 1-496 ... 0-617 



25 ... 11 31-7 ... +12 12 ... 1-518 ... 0-630 



An acceleration of four days in the time of arrival at perihelion 



would cause the following differences in the comet's geocentric 

 position : — 



In Decl. +31 

 + 1 



On Sept. 15 ... In R.A. +16-9 

 23 ... „ +15-3 



The intensity of light on September 15 is 1 -43, and the comet 

 would rise about 2h. 8m. before the sun. It should be'sought 

 for as soon as the moon is off the morning sky. 



M. Trepied writes on August 26 that he had commenced a 

 search for the comet according to the places given in Nature. 

 " Malheureusement," he says, " a Algers le temps qui pent etre 

 consacre a la recherche est tres-court, car le crepuscule arrive 

 presque immediatement. Neanmoins je n'ai pas encore perdu 

 tout espoir." 



The Cape Heliometer. — The Treasury have granted Dr. 

 Gill's application for a heliometer of large size for the Royal 

 Observatory at the Cape of Good Hope, and a contract has been 

 entered into with the Messrs. Repsold of Hamburg. The in- 

 strument will be of seven inches aperture, and is to be completed 

 by the end of 1886, at an expense of 2700/. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS 

 The American Journal of Science, August 1SS4. — Contribu- 

 tions to meteorology : reduction of barometric observations to 

 sea-level (continued), by Prof. Elias Loomis. The author con- 

 siders that it is quite useless to seek for a formula exactly repre- 

 senting the barometric reduction to sea-level at all pressures and 

 temperatures, unless the irregular movements in the upper and 

 lower strata of the atmosphere be taken into account. But these 

 movements are greatly modified by the obstruction of the moun- 

 tains upon which the observations are made, and therefore vary 

 with the locality ; hence he concludes that such an attempt 

 seems a hopeless undertaking. — Notes on the rock and ore- 

 deposits in the vicinity of Notre Dame Bay in Newfoundland, by 

 M, E. Wadsworth. The districts examined were chiefly various 

 points between Exploits Burnt Island and Betts Cove, which 

 yielded basalt, diorite, porodite, andesite (?), porphyrite, and 

 argillite, variously impregnated with chalcopyrite, malachite, and 

 copper. But none of the ores were found associated with serpen- 

 tine, which was nowhere seen except in small quantity at Betts 

 Cove. — On the origin of bitumens, by S. F. Peckham. The 

 author deals with the views of those who regard bitumens 

 (asphalt, naphtha, petroleum, &c.) either as indigenous to the 

 rocks in which they are found, as the product of chemical action, 

 or as a distillate produced by natural causes. He is on the 

 whole inclined to regard these substances as distillations from 

 animal and vegetable organic remains, and argues that if they 

 were the result of a purely chemical process we should not expect 

 to find Palseozdic petroleums of a composition corresponding with 



the simple animal and vegetable organisms that flourished a 1 

 that period, and Tertiary petroleums containing nitrogen un" 

 stable, and corresponding with the decomposition-products o' 

 more highly organised beings ; but we should expect to find a 

 general uniformity in the character of the substance wherever 

 found all over the earth. On the other hand, if petroleum is the 

 product of metamorphism, its formation is coexistent only with 

 that of metamorphic action, which does not seem to have pre- 

 vailed on a large scale during recent geological periods. Hence 

 on this hypothesis its production must be considered as practically 

 ended. — On the measurement of rapidly alternating electric cur- 

 rents with the galvanometer, by L. M. Cheesman. — Note on 

 some specimens of nickel ore from Churchill County, Nevada, 

 by Spencer B. Newberry. The analysis of these samples i;ave : — 



NiO 337 1 per cent. 



As„0„ 36-44 ,, 



H„0 24-77 



From the extraordinary purity and richness of these ores, the 

 author considers it probable that the Nevada mines, which run 

 6000 feet north-east and south-west to the Carson Desert, will 

 eventually become a chief source of the world's supply of this 

 valuable metal. — On the formation of gorges and waterfalls, by 

 W. Morris Davis. The author considers that, although the 

 Colorado Canon, the greatest gorge in the world, was formed by 

 rapid downward erosion following the rapid elevation of the 

 plateau, most falls and ravines result from the local displacement 

 of streams by blockades of glacial drift, or by temporary obstruc- 

 tion from the glacial sheet itself. — On the influence of light on 

 the electrical resistances of metals, by Arthur E. Bostwick. 

 From a series of experiments with various metals, the author 

 concludes that, if light causes any diminution in the electrical 

 resistance of metals, it probably does not exceed a few thousandths 

 of one per cent. — Note on the rare mineral vanadinite occurring in 

 the Black Prince Mine, Pinal County, Arizona, by Francis Hayes 

 Blake. — Remarks on the united metatarsal bones of the Cerato- 

 saurus, an already described new Dinosaurian, by Prof. O. C. 

 Marsh. The author points out that all known adult birds, living 

 and extinct, with perhaps the single exception of Archaeopteryx, 

 have the tarsal bones firmly united, whereas all the Dinosauria, 

 except Ceratosauras, have these bones separate. The exception 

 in each case brings the two classes near together at this point, 

 and their close affinity has now been clearly demonstrated. 



Bulletin de V Acadhnie Royale de Belgique, May 1S84. — Ob- 

 servations on the shooting-stars made at the Royal Observatory 

 of Brussels on August 9-1 1, 1883, by L. Niesten. — Description 

 of the effects of a stroke of lightning on the new Palace of Jus- 

 tice, Brussels. — Memoir on the process of segmentation in the 

 Ascidians, and its relations with the organisation of the larvae 

 (two plates), by Edouard van Beneden and Charles Julin. — 

 Some arithmetical theorems, by E. Catalan. — Researches on the 

 absolute power of the muscles in the invertebrates, second part : 

 absolute power of the flexor muscles of the pinchers in the 

 decapod crustaceans (one plate), by Felix Plateau. — Exact dates 

 of the birth and death of Wenceslas Coebergher, by Auguste 

 Castan. — Essay on freedom of conscience in Athens, by M. A. 

 Wagener. — Theories of Plato and Aristotle on the social ques- 

 tion, by Ch. Loomans. — Memoir on the best means of improv- 

 ing the moral, intellectual, and physical state of the working 

 classes, by Joseph Danby. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 

 Sydney 

 Royal Society of New South Wales, July 2.— H. C. 

 Russell, B.A., F.R.A.S., President, in the chair. — Six new 

 members were elected, fifty-four donations received, and the 

 following papers read: — Notes on gold, viz. (1) a remarkable 

 occurrence of nearly pure gold in Queensland, being 99-7 of 

 gold, the rest copper, with a trace of iron, found in quartz and 

 stalactites of brown haematite ; (2) preparation of pure gold ; (3) 

 volatilisation of gold, by A. Leibius, Ph.D., M.A. — Notes on 

 minerals new to New South Wales, by Prof. Liversidge, F.R.S., 

 accompanied by specimens. Remarkable concretions of friable 

 iron pyrites containing septa of quartz, resembling in appearance 

 the well-known "septaria" of the London Clay, large crystals 

 of axinite, idocrase in association with grossularite from Nundle, 

 tourmaline in large prisms resembling the celebrated Bovey 

 Tracey forms, Scheelite, molybdenum ochre, antimonite contain- 

 ing native gold from near Armidale, and allophane, serving as a 



