406 
microscopical and embryological investigations. To this 
laboratory is added a complete aquarium, in which it is 
hoped to be able to keep all sorts of marine and fresh- 
water creatures. (5) The private laboratory is organised 
NATURE 
ALDEBARAN. a ; e 
[Mar. 27, 1873 
so as to afford opportunities for every kind of physio- 
logical inquiry, so that future professors will feel at home 
in it, whatever may be their peculiar branch of physio- 
logical research, Then, of course, there are dark 
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Fic, 34—.Spectra of Aldebaran and , Orionis. 
chambers looking to the south for optical experiments, 
rooms for a’respiration apparatus, and all sorts of stables, 
an aviary, a ranarium for the summer, and one for the 
winter, &c. There is to be a dwelling-house close by, 
in fact so connected with the laboratory that from 
the study a lobby and a flight of stairs lead to 
the private laboratory. The House has been de- 
signed entirely according to the English fashion, and 
wonderful to say, hitherto has not yet met with serious 
opposition from the architects and the authorities. 
On the same premises there will be (1) Helmholtz’s 
laboratory and dwelling-house ; (2) a laboratory for in- 
organic chemistry; (3) one for pharmacology, under 
Leibreich. The accompanying sketch will give an idea 
of the whole. It covers an area of 4} acres. The 
style of building is to be magnificent, much more so than 
Fic. 35- Fic. 36. _. 
Fig 35.—Ring Nebula in Lyra, with its spectrum. Fig. 35.— Planetary 
Nebula in Aquarius, with its spectrum. 
is desirable, because the costliness of the establishment 
increases the responsibility ; but now that they are at it, 
they do not care for ever so many hundred thousands of 
dollars. All around the buildings, there will be an area, 
after the English plan, in order to mitigate the tremor 
occasioned by vehicles. In the Neue Wilhelmstrasse 
and the hitherto very nasty lane called Schlachtgasse 
there remains an open space facing the streets, so that 
the gardens intervening between the two great masses 
of building get as much light and air as is possible in the 
town. After all we are not so exclusively military as it 
may seem at a distance, and some of the French millions 
find their way into a scientific channel. 
(Huggins and Miller.) 
ON THE SPECTROSCOPE AND ITS 
APPLICATIONS 
VI. 
ie the first place, then, what does the spectroscope tell 
us with regard to the radiation from the sun and the 
stars? And here I ask you to neglect and banish from 
your minds for a time any idea of those dark lines in the 
solar spectrum that I drew your attention to on a former 
occasion, 
merely to take the fact that our sun, but for the dark 
lines, would give us a continuous spectrum. The spec- 
trum of the stars is very much like the spectrum of 
In Fig. 34 is seen a representation of the 
the sun. 
spectra of two stars, a Orionis and Aldebaran, mapped 
with the minutest care by Dr. Miller and Mr, Huggins. 
Fic. 37.—Spectrum of the Nebula.—1, 2, 3, lines observed. Above, the 
solar spectrum is shown fromé to¥ ; below, the bright lines of magnesium, 
nitrogen, barium, and hydrogen, in the corresponding part of the spectrum, 
In both cases we should have a continuous spectrum but 
for the presence of the dark lines. I think you will see 
in a moment what I am driving at. Suppose the sun or 
stars composed of only sodium vapour, for instance, it is 
clear that their light analysed by the prism would give us 
no great indication of a continuous spectrum, we should 
merely get one bright line in the orange. But neglect 
the dark lines for a moment: dealing merely with the 
continuous spectrum of the sun and star, it shows that we 
have a something, whether it be solid or liquid, or whether 
it be a dense gas or a vapour, competent to give us a con- 
tinuous spectrum. So we are justified in assuming that 
sunlight and starlight proceed from the incandescence of 
I hope I shall be able to explain them satis- — 
factorily to you afterwards, but for the present I wish you 
a ——— ee ee 
