Oct. 23, 1884] 



NATURE 



615 



ten miles, but Mr. Paterson believes it to be considerably 

 greater. When first seen, the upper part of the island was per- 

 fectly black, but it has now begun to whiten, owing to the 

 droppings of the myriads of sea-fowl which frequent the adjacent 

 coast and neighbouring islands, and seem already to have taken 

 possession of the new land. The neighbourhood of Reykjanes 

 is noted for volcanic manifestations — islands have from time to 

 time risen and sunk there, and only a couple of years ago a 

 violent eruption occurred near the spot where the new island 

 lies ; columns of smoke and steam rose out of the sea, and large 

 quantities of pumice were thrown up and floated ashore on the 

 neighbouring coast. 



It is stated that in consequence of the immense success ob- 

 tained by the opening of the Arlberg Tunnel, France has confi- 

 dentially sounded the Swiss Federal Council as to piercing the 

 Alps at the Simplon. 



A fatal gas explosion took place in Paris four months 

 ago near the Porte St. Denis, under circumstances quite 

 similar to the accident which took place in Bermondsey last 

 week. Since that time the Prefet de la Seine has appointed a 

 Commission to determine the best manner of searching for gas 

 escapes. An electric lamp fed with a portable accumulator has 

 been selected and rendered obligatory for such operations. This 

 apparatus has been described at length in the French illustrated 

 papers. It might perhaps be improved, but the principle is quite 

 sound, and it is to be regretted that 'the results of the French 

 experiments have not become known in England. 



We have received a communication from Prof. M. Nyren, 

 Director of the Imperial Observatory at Pulkowa, near St. 

 Petersburg, informing us that the weather there was so cloudy 

 that not a vestige of the moon could be seen on the occa- 

 sion of the recent total eclipse. In Helsingfors, where 

 Prof. Nyren happened to be that night on his return journey 

 from abroad, he could distinguish the darkening of the moon's 

 disk through the clouds, but it_, was too thick to observe 

 the eclipse of the stars. At 'Dorpat, the second great Russian 

 Observatory, the weather was also entirely unfavourable for 

 observations. This is greatly to be regretted, in view of the 

 elaborate preparations made by the Russian astronomers, to 

 which we referred last week. 



The Royal Bohemian Society of Sciences will celebrate its 

 hundredth anniversary at Prague on December 6 next. 



The new University building at Vienna was completed on 

 the nth inst. The new building at Strasburg will be inaugurated 

 on the 26th inst. 



The death is announced of Dr. Robert Ave-Lallemant, well 

 known as a traveller in Brazil, who was born at Liibeck in 1812. 

 He died there on October 10. Also of Dr. Wilhelm Gonnermann, 

 a naturalist who, together with Dr. Rabenhorst edited the 

 celebrated " Mycologia Europfea." He died at Coburg, aged 

 seventy-eight years. 



The French Minister of Public Instruction has commissioned 

 M. Brau de St. Paul Lias to proceed to Malacca and Sumatra 

 for the purpose of making natural history collections. M. 

 Etienne Gautier is to do the same in Persia and Asiatic Turkey ; 

 and Dr. Guardia goes to the Balearic Isles to study the dialect 

 there. 



The life of a Ceylon planter appears to be a constant contest 

 with insect pests of one kind and another. A short time since 

 we noticed a correspondence on a " blight" which attacked the 

 tea-plant, and now the Ceylon papers which arrived by the last 

 mail contain a report, by Dr. Trimen, the head of the Botanic 

 Gardens in the colony, on an insect which has caused much 

 alarm by its depredations on cacao and cinchona plantations. 



He thinks the only serious damage to cacao comes from the 

 Helopdlis antonii, which appears to be a recent importation to 

 Ceylon, although well known in Java. It is believed to be still 

 in small numbers, and to be confined to certain localities, and 

 the only remedy suggested by Dr. Trimen is that the planters 

 should have it carefully sought for and destroyed. 



We are requested to announce that in future the ordinary 

 meetings of the Essex Field Club will be held in the large hall 

 of the Public Hall, Loughton, Essex. The first meeting of the 

 winter session will be on Saturday next, the 25th inst., at seven 

 o'clock. 



A Society has been established at Vladivostok in Eastern 

 Siberia for the purpose of exploring the Amour district, with a 

 view of founding in Vladivostok a museum illustrative of the 

 natural history of the region. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis), six Twites 

 (I.inuLi flavirostris), a Linnet (Linda cannabind), eight Lesser 

 Redpolles (Linola rufescens), British, presented by Mr. T. E. 

 Gunn ; two Robben Island Snakes [Coronella phocarum) from 

 South Africa, presented by the Rev. G. H. R. Fisk, C.M.Z.S.; 

 a Hardvvick's Mastigure (Uromaslix hardwickii) from India, 

 presented by Mr. Cuthbert Johnson ; a Moustache Monkey 

 (Cercopithecus cephus) from West Africa, a Greater Sulphur- 

 crested Cockatoo (Cacatua sulphured) from Australia, a Blue 

 and Yellow Macaw (Ara araraund) from South America, de- 

 posited ; six Coypus (Myopotamus coypus), three Cockateels 

 (Calopsitta nava-hollandia), bred in the Gardens. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN 



Wolf's Comet. — The observations of this comet to the end 

 of September having been found irreconcilable with parabolic 

 motion, Prof. Krueger, the editor of the Astronomische Nach- 

 richten, and Mr. S. C. Chandler, jun., of Harvard College, have 

 investigated the elements by a general method, and find an 

 elliptic orbit of very limited dimensions, the period of revolution 

 being 6 - 55 years by Prof. Krueger's calculation, and 6 65 years 

 by Mr. S. C. Chandler's. Other elements by the former calcula- 

 tion are as follows : — 



Perihelion passage 1884 November I7'S999 G.M.T. 



M.Eq. 



Longitude of perihelion 19 20 56 



ascending node 206 35 35 / I ss 4 -o~ 



Inclination 25 3 54 1 



Angle of eccentricity 33 32 297 



Log. semi-axis major o '544040 



Log. perihelion distance ... o'i94792 

 In such an orbit there would be a very close approach to the 

 orbit of Jupiter in about 209° heliocentric longitude, where the 

 distance between the two would be less than o - I2, and with Prof. 

 Krueger's period of revolution there would be great perturbation 

 early in the year 1S75, so that it is possible the comet may not 

 have been moving long in its present track. It will be interest- 

 ing to examine this point further, when the major axis of the 

 comet's orbit has been more accurately determined by a wider 

 extent of observation. 



We have thus two comets of short period brought to light in 

 the same year. As regards Barnard's comet the length of revo- 

 lution appears to be yet somewhat doubtful, Prof. Morrison of 

 Washington assigning 6-43 years, and Dr. Berberich of Strasburg 

 5 '50 years only. 



The November Meteors. — Assuming that these bodies are 

 moving strictly in the orbit of the first comet of 1S66, we find by 

 Prof. Oppolzer's definitive elements that the nearest approach 

 to the orbit of Mars is in about heliocentric longitude o°'5, dis- 

 tance 030 ; the nearest approach to the orbit of Jupiter is in 

 I98 0, 7, distance 079 ; in the case of Saturn the least distance 

 of orbits is 0-46 at 2I4°'9; and in that of Uranus 0-37 at 234° -1. 

 In 1866 the comet traversed the plane of the earth's orbit in 

 5i°'4, distant therefrom only 00066. 



