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or NATURE [Oct. 2, 1873, 
Brought forward I ey; .. £780 © © | expelled, confirms the discoveries of Grahame and Professor 
‘Coleg Mallet, in America, of the existence of the same gases in other 
F meteoric irons. Dr. Wohbler has thus detected the oxides of 
ee Pegs ee eras 10 o o | ¢atbon as gases in the vast waesicfia) iron of a in 
Sie ts . a .y iA ag Greenland, and brought to Stockholm during the last few years 
Piullips, Prof-—Labyrinthodonts of the Coal Mea- TOD Scare oe Tor. Nordenskidid, and the same gas was found by Prof. 
Sia Tr Collection sof. Woesteaen thecantothe Laurence Smith in the siderite which fell recently in the United 
States. A connection between comets and meteorites a ears to 
West of Scotland ... 10 te 
comme) : ge 
os ea 2) Siaeaee bt “ be indicated by these discoveries, in the spectra of ‘some o 
Y v. T.— igatio i Is} <255'50" mo : oa. ? a 
Wilts, Me Fe The Seb Vemma Beene Pa ee which gases containing carbon appear to have been certainly 
Lyell, Sir C.—Kent’s Cavern Exploration a maESO, 10 0 OTR ae , pin. Fe 
: sees : n€é past year was distinguished by the occurrence of a 
fae ae Positions of Erratic 10 0 o | Most remarkable star shower on the night of November 27 last, 
Woodward. Mr. Ht ate of Geological arid to the expected appearance of which astronomers were looking 
Paleontological literature ... is s4 .. 100 0 o | forward with especial attention from the unexplained absence of 
Lubbock, Sir J.—Exploration of Victoria Cave ... 50 0 0 | the double comet of Biela (to which it belongs) from its accus- 
z : tomed returns in the last three of its periodical revolutions, - he 
. Biology 4 probability of the comet’s path being marked by a meteoric stream 
Lane-Fox, Col. A.—¥Forms of Instruction for into which the earth might plunge on or about Noy. 27 every year 
Travellers (25. renewed) ... ” 59 © © | was already become a certainty, by the observation of such 
Stainton, Mr.—Record of the Progress of Zoology 100 0 o 
Jeffreys Mr. Gwyn.—Dredging off the Coasts of 
Yorkshire ... Bs ae bis on oe 80). 
McKendrick, Dr.—Physiological Action of Light 20 o 
Brunton, Dr.—The Nature of Intestinal Secretion 20 0 
Foster, Dr. M.—Methods of Breeding the Embryos 
of Delicate Marine Organisations at ae 
Statistics and Economic Science 
Houghton, Lord.--Economic Effects of Trades 
Unions “oh A ae 
meteoric stream on Noy, 30, 1867. On that night M. Zezioli 
of Bergamo, observed a distinct star-shower, according to 
Schiaparelli, no doubt of whose belonging to the missing comet 
could be entertained, Although the exact date of the shower 
could not be accurately foretold with certainty from the want 
of recent observations of the comet, yet every probability of 
its being seen was favourable to its reappearance last year, and 
those who awaited it, as well as many unexpected watchers o 
meteor-showers, were surprised by the brilliant spectacle which 
rae af 25 © 0 | it suddenly presented. At the first approach of darkness on the 
ies evening of Wednesday the 27th of November last, the cloudy 
Mechanics ; state of the sky unfortunately deprived observers in the south of 
Froude, Mr, W.—Instruments for Measuring the England from witnessing the sight, but in Scotland, and north of 
Speed of Ships and Currents (renewed) a ts0140 JO 
the Midland Counties of England many uninterrupted views of 
it were obtained. On the European continent and in the United 
States of America, as well as in the East Indies, at the Mauritius 
and in Brazil observers were equally fortunate in recording its ap= 
pearance, and few great star-showers have hitherto been more 
satisfactorily observed, or indeed more abundantly described. — 
In an astronomical point of view the agreement of the time and 
other circumstances of its appearance with the supposed path of 
the lost comet is so exact as to prove that the calculations made 
by astronomers of that comet’s orbit cannot be affected by an 
errors of a large sensible amount, and a proof almost certain. S 
thus obtained that the disappearance of the comet is owing to no 
unexplained disturbances of its path; but that like some former 
comets of variable brightness, it has not improbably faded for a 
time out of view, and that at a future time a reasonable ex: f 
tion may be entertained of re-discovering it pursuing its original | 
path in repeated visits to the earth’s neighbourhood, and to the 
field of-telescopic observation. ; nq 
Only partial views of the ordinary periodical meteor showers 
of December, January, and April last were obtained, of which 
some descriptions are contained in the Report. | 
Reductions of the scattered meteor-observations on ordinary | 
nights of the year are an important subject of the Committee’s 
inquiries, which haye been kept in view in their operations of the — 
past year. Captain Tupman having obligingly placed a list of 
nearly 6,000 such observations (made by himself) at their dis- 
posal, the greater part of which he has reduced to their most - 
conspicuous radiant points, the present purpose of the Committee 
is most effectually obtained by the publication of the yaluable 
meteor list which has thus unexpectedly come into their posses- 
sion; and a graphic projection of the radiant points has been 
prepared, which will be printed as an illustration of the copious — 
information that will be gathered by observers from the contents 
of Captain Tupman’s list. The catalogue will be distributed this 
year to observers interested in the research; and to enable suit- 
able lithographic charts to be added to it, it is hoped that the 
members of the British Association will assist the Committee 2 
with such liberal communications of their observations as they 
have hitherto abundantly supplied, — ‘ 
Note on a Natnral Limit to the Sharpness of the Spectral Lines, 
by Lord Rayleigh, F.R.S. j 
In the explanation usually given of the broadening of the — 
fixed lines with increased pressure, it appears to beassumed that — 
their finite width depends on the disturbance produced by the 
mutual influence of the colliding molecules. I desire to point 
out that evenif each individual molecule were allowed to execute 
its vibrations with perfect regularity, the resulting spectral line 
1,495 0 oO 
Widow of the late Mr. Askham (Clerk! to the 
Association) Seu ePaxe ar emma 1 50\"0, vO 
41,545 0 0 
SECTIONAL PROCEEDINGS 
SECTION A.—MaArTuxMatics 
Report of the Luminous Meteor Committee of the British Asso- 
ciation on Observations of Shooting-stars in 1872-7 3. 
Shooting-stars and large fireballs have appeared during the 
past year in more than usual varieties. Large meteors have pre- 
sented themselves in considerable numbers, and ordinary shoot- 
ing-stars in a more striking manner as regards the explanation of 
their origin than has often been the case in former years, Of 
all these kinds of shooting-stars, both large meteors and 
meteoric showers, much accurate information has reached 
the committee ; but the extent of the knowledge acquired 
on all hands, has at the same time advanced so rapidly, 
that a smaller amount of attention has this year been di- 
rected towards the discussion of the individual descriptions, 
than the committee have hitherto bestowed upon them, and 
a more complete reduction of the separate observations will 
accordingly be attempted when the opportunities of the com- 
mitice allow of their closer examination. 
Those meteors, however, which have been observed simultane- 
ously at more than one observing station have been selected from 
the collection for transcription in suitable columns in this 
report, and a list of large meteors is added, among which some 
have occuried that have without doubt been noticed, and 
may have attiacted attention in other directions, than has 
hitherto come to the knowledge of the committee. Two of 
the largest fire-balls seen in Great Britain were aérolitic, or 
burst with the sound of a violent explosion on November 3 
and February 3 last. The first passed over the central 
part of Scotland, and the second burst oyer Manchester 
and its neighbourhood at half-past five, and at 10 o’clock respec- 
tively on the evenings of those days. Aérolitic meteors and 
acrolites have also been noticed in the scientific journals of other 
countries, which have given rise to experiments on the compo- 
sition of aérolitic substances, both chemical and micro- 
scopical, the conclusions of which continue to extend the 
range of our speculations regarding the origin of these 
bodies. Thus the existence of carbon and hydrogen in 
the atmosphere from which the largest iron meteorite yet 
fcund (a few years since upon the shores of Greenland) was 
