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‘DeEcEMBER 7, 191 6] 
‘the distribution of the stresses; from the results of 
‘these the author deduces that the extensometer 
measurements on the outer surfaces of the cover-plates 
‘of a riveted joint are sufficient for the determination 
of the mean stresses in the plates, and that the parti- 
‘tion of the load among the rivets may be determined 
from such measurements. All the experiments tend 
to show ‘that friction does not play an important part, 
“but further experiments are necessary on this point. 
Experiments on a number of specimens having a 
‘single line of rivets gave results iff close agreement 
with the theoretical considerations. An empirical rule 
‘for the value of K is given for joints similar to the 
experimental specimens. We can commend a careful 
“study of this important article to any who are in- 
terested in riveted joints. 
Tue Journal of Anatomy and Physiology, founded 
_by the late Sir William Turner in 1866, will in future 
appear under the title Journal of Anatomy, and will 
be the official organ of the Anatomical Society of 
_Great Britain and Ireland. In the preface to the 
first part of the fifty-first volume Prof. R. Howden, 
president of the society, remarks that until the year 
1878 the journal was the organ of the two sciences, 
anatomy and physiology. In that year the Journal 
‘of Physiology was established, and thereafter physio- 
logical papers became few and far between in the joint 
journal, and finally ceased to appear. It has therefore 
been deemed advisable to drop the words ‘‘ and Physio- 
logy” from the title. The editors of the Journal of 
Anatomy are Profs. A. Macalister, A. Thomson, A. 
Keith, and A. Robinson. 
_ THE catalogue of publishers’ remainders just issued 
by Mr. H. J. Glaisher, 55 Wigmore Street, W., is full 
of interest. The works offered for sale at greatly 
reduced prices are new unless otherwise stated, and 
cover a wide field. Very many of the books deal with 
scientific subjects. Among them we notice :—New- 
ton’s A Dictionary of Birds’’; Galton’s ‘‘ Memories 
of my Life”; Spence’s ‘Notes of a Botanist on the 
Amazon and Andes”; Mill’s ‘The Siege of the South 
Pole’; Clerke’s ‘The System of the Stars” and “A 
Popular History of Astronomy’; Cooke’s ‘ Introduc- 
‘tion to the Study of Fungi,” “‘ British Edible Fungi,” 
and “ Handbook to British Hepaticze ’?; Smith’s “‘ The 
Life of Sir Joseph Banks’; Bonhote’s “Birds of 
‘Britain’’; Amundsen’s ‘‘The North-West Passage”’; 
“The Angler’s Library,” five vols. ; Gadow’s “Through 
‘Southern Mexico”; Scherren’s ‘‘ The Zoological Society 
.of London.” The catalogue should appeal to readers 
‘of Natur in search of standard works at low prices. 
Ow a previous occasion the attention of readers was 
directed to the excellence of the pads of ‘‘ Acribo”’ sec- 
tional paper supplied by Mr. W. H. Harling, 47 Fins- 
bury Pavement, E.C. He is now able to provide the 
paper printed on linen bank in three scales, and in 
‘this strong form the popularity of such a convenient, 
accurate, and British-made product should be in- 
creased. 
OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 
Tue Zopracat Licut.—Mr. Denning writes us that 
displays of this light were surprisingly intense on the 
mornings of December 4 and 5. He has observed it 
on many hundreds of occasions, both at the morning 
and evening apparitions, but never remembers to have 
seen it more conspicuous. It stretched upwards from 
about E. by S., and its fainter limits were just: trace- 
able to the stars Regulus and y Leonis in’ the 
Sickle of Leo. It was best seen at about 5.40 a.m., 
‘and as Regulus passed the meridian at Bristol at 
5-23 and 5.19 on the mornings mentioned, the light 
must have extended over a considerable arc. 
NO. 2458, VoL. 98] 
NATURE 
‘277 
A New Comer.—A: telegram from Prof. Pickering, 
‘received through the Centralstelle at Copenhagen on 
November 26, announces the discovery of anew comet 
by the Rev. Joel Metcalf on November 21. At Green- 
wich time 13h. 369m. on that day the R.A.. of the 
comet was 3h. 38m., and the N.P.D. 71° 27'. No 
indication of the brightness or motion of the comet 
is given. The above position is located about 5° south 
of the Pleiades, which are. now visible throughout the 
night. 
THE SEARCH FOR A TRANSNEPTUNIAN PLANET.—Not- 
withstanding the failure of nearly half a century’s 
systematic search for a planet beyond Neptune, M. A. 
Borelly, of the Marseilles Observatory, is still hopeful 
that such a planet may be discovered. The comet- 
seeker which he has mainly employed in his work on 
small planets has permitted the observation of stars 
down to the 12th magnitude, and M. Borelly is now 
inclined to think that the planet sought for must be 
of less brightness than this. He believes it possible, 
however, that the planet might be detected with the 
aid of the photographic chart of the heavens, which 
includes stars as faint as the 14th magnitude. If the 
period of the planet be a little more than double that 
of Neptune its motion would only be 1° per annum, or 
about 10” per day, so that the short exposures which 
suffice to show the motion of planets between Mars 
and Jupiter would not be effective. The occurrence of 
what may be called Transneptunian comets, including 
the comets of 1532, 1661, 1862 (III.), 1843 (I.), 1880: 
(I.), 1882 (II.), is regarded as an argument in favour 
of the existence of planets outside the orbit of Neptune 
(Jour. des Observateurs, vol. i., No. 12). 
SOLAR PROMINENCES IN 1916.—Admirable records of 
solar prominences are now being obtained under the 
direction of Mr. Evershed at Kodaikanal, and prompt 
publication of the results is a commendable feature of 
the work carried on. In view of the more satisfactory 
data relating to position angles, heights, and areas 
which are obtainable from the spectroheliograph photo- 
graphs, the visual observations are now practically 
confined to displacements of the hydrogen lines and 
to metallic prominences. A summary of the observa- 
tions for the first half of the present year is given in 
Kodaikanal Bulletin No. 52. Compared with the pre- 
vious six months, there was a decrease of 22-6 per cent. 
in areas and an increase of 26-1 per cent. in the num- 
ber of prominences, the average area per prominence 
having diminished by about one-third. The areas 
show a slight preponderance on the eastern, and the 
numbers a slight preponderance on the western, limb. 
Metallic prominences were observed in greater num- 
ber than during the preceding half-year, and there 
was also a large increase in the number of displace- 
ments of the hydrogen lines observed at the limb. In 
observations on the disc 305 reversals of the C line, 
34 darkenings of the D, line, and 103 displacements 
were recorded; there was a large preponderance of 
displacements towards the red. Absorption markings 
in Ha, attributed to prominences projected on the disc, 
were photographed on 147 days; the daily number was 
the same as for the previous period, but there was a 
diminution in area. P 
ANNIVERSARY MEETING OF THE ROYAL 
SOCIETY. 
THE anniversary meeting of the Royal Society. was 
held on Thursday last, November 30, when the 
report of the council was presented, and Sir J. J. 
Thomson delivered his presidential address, which in- 
cluded the following statement of the scientific work 
of this year’s medallists :— . 
