i86 



NA TURE 



[December 22, 1898 



to speak, in iheir wake, may not llie first comet have undergone 

 considerable perturbations and internal action, causin>; the 

 original assemblj- of panicles to separate into two or, perhaps, 

 more porlions? We should thus have two comets pursuing the 

 same path, but jja^sinjj perihelion at different limes. 



Ei'iiRMEKis Of I'l.ANKT i8ci8 I)(^). — We give below an 

 ephemeris foi Witt's planet for the remainder of this month. 

 The planet is of the I2th magnitude, and will be found in llie 

 constellation of Aquarius, a little to the north of the stars tj and 

 ^ Aquarii. 



1:9s. R.A. (app.) Dec. (.App.) 



Dec. 21 



+ 1 3"-8 



1 54-2 



2 17-0 



2 40-3 



3 40 

 + 3 28-2 



26 II 

 23 ■• 30 35 



25 - 35 2 



27 ... 39 32 



29 ■•• 44 5 



31 ... 22 48 40 



TiiK CfiMi'.AN'ioN TO THK Ofserv.atokv FOR 1899. — This 

 handy little vadeincium, which contains in a condensed form 

 . the more useful data that are of more general interest in 

 observational astronomy, has just been issued. As the 

 introduction states, "the present 'Companion' closely 

 resembles that of last year," and a brief perusal of its contents 

 does not lead us to state otherwise. Mr. Denning, as usual, is 

 responsible for the meteor notes, and Mr. Maw has supplied 

 numerous observations of double stars. The variable-star 

 ephemeiides have been obtained from M. Loewy's "advance- 

 proofs," and Mr. Cromnielin has communicated the list of 

 stars which will be occulted by the moon during the lunar 

 eclipse of December i6. 



TtlE S'ii..-kR Dl.sc Dl'Rixc. 1897. — The solar observatories 

 at Uehra Dun, Mauritius, and Greenwich, give us between (hem 

 pictures of the disc of the sun 364 days out of the 365 in the 

 year. We have thus practically a daily record of ihe spots that 

 appear on the solar di.sc that is absolutely unique in astronomical 

 photography. As we are approaching, as far as we know, a 

 period of minimum sunspots, which, in other words, means a 

 niore quiescent state of the solar atmosphere, spots are getting 

 less numerous, and their latitudes are becoming lower. A 

 general summary ofan examination of such photographs, as 

 mentioned above, for the year 1%<)T {Monthly Notices., A'.A.S., 

 vol. lix. No. I), shows that there has been a slight decrease in 

 the daily spotted area as compared with the preceding year, the 

 rapidity of the decline which set in after 1S93 having now 

 received a check ; the decrease in facul.c has been quite con- 

 siderable. The most noticeable feature has been the reduction 

 of the mean distance of the spots from the equator. For the 

 four preceding years the distance was 14°, but for 1897 it was 

 not quite 8'. In both hemispheres the decline in latitude has 

 been irregular. In the northern hemisphere the decline was very 

 great for ihe first six months of the year, and was accompanied 

 with a great decrease in spots. A secondary revival and subse- 

 quent decline and revival terminated during the year. A similar 

 but less pronounced movement occurred in the southern hemi- 

 sphere. The observations of the sun during the current year 

 have shown that the spotted area has begun somewhat to 

 increase again ; but whether this is an indication that the 

 minimum is now passed, or that only a temporary revival is 

 taking place, cannot be definitely slated. 



The MEi.uot'R.NE Observatory.— The thirty-second report 

 of the Board of \'isitors to the observatory, together with the 

 report of the Oovernment astronomer, Mr. I'. Baracchi, for the 

 period included between July I, 1S97, and June 30of the present 

 year, show that the observatory is in good working order. With 

 regard to the position of .Mr. Baracchi, the Board says: "We 

 regret to find that the Acting Astronomer still occupies the 

 anomalous position he has occupied since he has had charge of 

 the Observatory : his salary being that which he enjoyed prior 

 to the retirement of Mr Ellery, and we venture to hope that 

 the (Jovernment will sotm be able to appc;inl Mr. Baracchi to 

 the full position of Government Astronomer, with the emolu- 

 ment fixed thereto under the Public .Service Act." Mr. B.tracchi's 

 report shows that the observatory has been very busy during the 

 past year. The appointment of a new assistant has led to a 

 slight change in the distribution ol the work, which has proved 

 advantageous. The meridian work and reduction has been 

 extensive, and the usual time and meteorological service con- 

 tinueil. Considerable progress has been made with the astro- 



VOL. 59] 



photographic work, the catalogue plates being now compl 1 

 and the chart plates numbering 278. By an arranoement ttii)| 

 Mr. H. C Russell, the Government Astronomer of New Soulll 

 Wales, Mr. Baracchi has decided to have all the work ol 

 measuring and reducing the plates of the photographic calalocuJ 

 of the two zones done at the Melbourne Observatoiy, the Iwil 

 Colonies sharing the expense. The proposal that four younil 

 assistants, directed by one of the officers of the Melbournl' 

 Observatory, should be employed on this work, has already Ixxi 

 sanctioned, and the work will be commenced as soon as th- 

 appointments have been made. The Victorian (iovernmenl ha 

 placed on the estimates for the current financial year a sumo 

 money for dealing with the observations in terrestrial magneli-ii 

 at the Melbourne Observatory for the past thirty years. } 

 di.scussion of such a fine series of observations should be of grca 

 value. 



THE RELATION OF THE TOXIN AND \ 

 ANTI-TOXIN OF SNAKE VENOM. 

 U ARLV in the present year a paper on this subject, bv I 



C. J Martin and Cherry, appeared in the H-occedr, 

 the Royal Society (vol. Ixiii. p. 420). A short summary ■I'; 

 experiments and conclusions was given in these columi - 

 supplementary paper has just been published by Dr. Mi 

 [Proc. Roy. Soc, vol. Ixiv. 88), in which further experiuli ri 

 this most important subject are detailed. They confm 

 conclusions previously arrived at, that the antagonism In ' 

 the toxins and anti-toxins is a directly chemical one, and i- 1 

 as Calmette and others state, due to an interaction solcl) 

 duced by the agency of the cells of the organism into v 

 these substances enter. 



The present experiments were performed with the - ; 

 venom derived from the Australian tiger-snake iyi'//oic/ L;.( 

 iiirtii') ; the anii-venene eitiployed was prepared by Ih 

 Calmette ; and rabbits were selected as the subjects of iht 

 experiments. The results obtained are not only of practic.i; 

 importance in the treatment of snake-poisoning, but are 01 

 special interest, as they bear on the relations of toxins and ami 

 toxins in general. In snake venom and its antidote we posse-- 

 substances of which the chemical nature is fairly well understoo i 

 A knowledge of their action (which must be regarded as typio 

 of the whole class of toxins and anti-toxins) furnishes the key ■• 

 the unlocking of the problem in diphtheria and other disease-, 

 where the chemical investigation of the actual agents is a much 

 more difticult matter, since they are diluted and obscured \<) 

 the other constituents of the blood and body juices. 



Dr. Martin finds that about the same quantity of anti-veneiic 

 necessary to neutralise the venom in vitro, is capable of doing ^o 

 also when the former is injected into the bloodstream, and tlic 

 latter subcutaneously. Solutions of the two substances can lie 

 titrated against each other just like standard solutions » ith the 

 life of a rabbit as an indicator. If anti-venene is introduced 

 into the blood-stream, it is there ready to neutralise the toxin' 

 as it is ab.sorbed from the subcutaneous (issues, and the amount 

 found necessary by titration outside the body is just about 

 adequate to neutralise the toxin as it makes its appearance in 

 the blood. To be quite exact, a slighter proportion of anti- 

 toxin is necessary under these circumstances, and this result isi 

 no doubt due to delayed chemical action owing to the dilutiin 

 of the anti-toxin in the blood. 



When, however, both venom and anli-vcnene are introducct! 

 into the body subcutaneously, Martin finds, as Eraser original y 

 staled, that at least ten to twenty times the quantity of an i 

 venene must be used to neutralise the toxin. This appare:. 

 contradiction of the results first given is really a confirmati 1 

 of the views of Martin and Cherry. In the first place, 

 necessitates the inference that anti toxin is comparatively slowlv 

 ab»orbed from the subcutaneous tissues. Calmette has stati 

 that the exact contrary is the case, but adduces no experimeni C 

 proofs of his statement. Brodie's (loiirn. of Patho/., 180" 

 work with the toxin and anti-toxin of diphtheria entire) 

 confirms Martin— experiments with tiger-snake venom. 



Our chemical knowledge of toxins and anti-toxins, togelli ' 

 with what is known of the physiological mechanism of absoi 

 tiiin, is ()iiile in accordance with the view that antitoxin is or. \ 

 capable of slowly penetrating the capillary wall, whereas t' 

 toxin passes through fairly rapidly. The toxins, both in t 

 case ol snake poison and diphtheria, arealbumoses ; they dial) 



NO. 1521, 



