20<? 



NA TURE 



[December 29, 1898 



articles included in ihe volume always give special interest to 

 it ; they are this year on the following subjects : — On sound- 

 ing balloons,by M. Bouquet de la Grye ; modern French geodesy 

 by M. Bassot ; on the large sideroslat and telescope of 60 metres 

 focal length and I 25 metres aperture, which is being con- 

 structed by M. Gautier ; and, lastly, on the work done at the 

 Mont Blanc Observatory in 1898, by M. Janssen. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Puma ( Fclis coiicolor) from Argentina, pre- 

 sented by Mr. T. S. Nicholson ; a Red and Blue Macaw {Ara 

 macao) from Central America, presented by Mr. H. Sneggitt ; a 

 Gannet i^Sula bassatm), European, presented by Mr. A. Trevor- 

 Batlye ; a Greek Partridge ( CaiVrt/'/j sa.xatilis) from Greece, 

 presented by Lieut. J- H. Mackenzie, R.N.R. ; a Lapland 

 Bunting (Calcarius lapponica), a Reed Bunting (Emberiza 

 uhnoeichis) European, presented by Mr. F. Chatwin ; two 

 Black- winged Peafowl (Pavo nigripenins, i 9 ) from Cochin 

 China, presented by Mrs. Johnes ; a Hallowell's Tree Snake 

 (Deitdraspis viriclis)l!om the Gold Coast, presented by Mr. J. 

 W. Kaye ; an Antillean Boa (Boa diviniloqtte) from the West 

 Indies, three Horsfield's Tortoises (Testuio hyrsfieldi) from 

 Central Asia, deposited; a Triton Cockatoo [Cacatua iriton) 

 from New Guinea ; six Gadwalls {Chaulelasmus strepenis) from 

 Holland, purchased ; three Rosy-faced Love-birds [Agapornis 

 roseicolUs), bred in the Gardens ; an Urial .Wild Sheep (Ovis 

 vignei, i ) from Persia, received in exchange. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



Astronomical Occurrences in Jani-.^ry 1899 : — 



January 2. .Meteoric shower from Quadrans (Radiant 230 

 + 52°.) 

 2. ^h. I4ni. Minimum of Algol {B Persei). 



4. I5h. 38m. to I7h. 24m. Transit of Jupiter's 



Satellite IH. 



5. uh. Venus at her greatest apparent brilliancy 



and a fine object in the morning sky. She rises 

 about 34 hours before the sun, and is situated 10° 

 north of the red star Antares in Scorpio. 



7. I7h. 3m. to I7h. 48m. The star 42 Librx (mag. 

 5 '2) occulted by the moon. 



9. I9h. Mercury in conjunction with the moon ( J 



2° 56' N.) 

 9. loh. 3Sm. Partial eclipse of the sun visible at 

 Greenwich. 



II I4h. Mercury at his greatest elongation (23° 35' 

 W.), rising about I-J hour before the sun, and 

 situated 10° east of Saturn, and 19° east of Venus. 



II. I9h. 48m. Ingress of Jupiter's Satellite in. 



15. Jupiter. Polar diameter 32"'8. 



15. Venus. Diameter 35" '4. Illuminated portion of 

 disc 0'332. 



18. I2h. Mars in opposition to the sun. 



18. Mars. Apparent diameter I4"'4. 



19. 8h. 5m. to 9h. 14m. The star ju .Vrielis (mag. 



5 '8) occulted by the moon. 

 22. I5h. 33m. to i6h. 29m. The star 121 Tauri (mag. 

 5 4) occulted by the moon. 



24. I7h. 32m. to i8h. 26m. The star 56 Geminorum 



(mag. 50) occulted by the moon. 



25. 5h. 45m. .Minimum of Algol (J3 Persei). 



30. I3h. 39m. ti> I4h. 57m. The star B.A.C. 4006 

 (mag. 57) occulted by the moon. 



It may be mentioned as a very unusual circumstance, that during 

 the first half of January all the ni.ijor planets of the solar system 

 may be observed in the morning sky. 



Comet Chase — The following is the tpheineris for comet 

 Chase for the ensuing week. The comet is moving in the 

 "nilhern extremity of the constellation nf I'rsa Major, and lies 



few degrees south of the star { Urs;v Majuris. 



NO. 1522, VOL. 59] 



1898-9. 



Berlin Mean Midnight, 

 R.A. (app.) Decl.(app.) 



Br. 



-F28 186 ... \\ 



28 39 -6 



29 i-i ... V\ 



+ 29 23 5 



Artificial Production of Sun-spots.— In the Archives 

 des Sciences physiijties et natureiles (November) M. Th. Lullin 

 describes some experiments he has been undertaking with regard 

 to producing the forms of sun-spots artificially. Commencing 

 with the now generally assumed hypothesis that sun-spots are 

 caused by the downfall of cool matter from the higher regions of 

 the solar atmosphere to the lower and more intensely heated 

 gases, he has been investigating the behaviour of splashes of 

 water on a viscous substance, such as barium sulphate placed 

 on a glass plate. An examination of the illustrations which 

 accompany his paper, shows that, even with these crude imita- 

 tions of the real elements at work, very striking results can be 

 obtained which have their counterparts in actual sun-spots. 

 Thus the striated appearance radiating from the umbra is well 

 obtained, while the appearance of bridges can be easily re- 

 produced. In these experiments there seems every hope that 

 by imitating the results of the falls of separate streams or series 

 of drops simultaneously on to a surface of some liquid of less 

 density, still greater approximation to the actual appearances of 

 solar spots would be obtained. 



Thk Heavens at a Glance. — For the last two years Mr. 

 Mee has issued a small card which contained a large amount of 

 useful information arranged in chronological order, showing the 

 amateur at a glance the sequence of astronomical events of in- 

 terest for the year. Unfortunately the information on this card 

 was not clearly printed, but was simply a reproduction of the 

 original handwriting of the compiler : on this account the card 

 was not such a useful addition to an observatory as it might have 

 been. The new issue for the year 1899 has, however, been 

 altered in this respect, and it is well arranged and clearly 

 printed. The constellations visible, the declination of the sun, 

 the phases of Ihe moon, those planets that are well placed for 

 observation, are given for each month, together with the times 

 of appearance of the most prominent meteor showers, maxinoa 

 and minima of the principal variables, i*v:c. 



These are followed by notes on the sun, planets, eclipses, 

 and others containing just that information that the amateur 

 should find most useful : symbols and abbreviations have been 

 used as little as possible. Equipped with this card, possessors 

 of small telescopes have a useful and simple programme of the 

 astronomical occurrences for the year 1899. 



Are Moi.davites of Celestial Origin ?— Herr Dr. Franz 

 E. Suess, of X'ienna, has had the opportunity of studying 

 several hundreds of specimens of pieces of moldavite which 

 had previously been found between "Trebitsch and Dukowan, 

 near Miihrisch-Kroman." These moldavites, which have a 

 bottle-green, glass appearance, and are inclined to be egg- 

 shaped, were first discovered at the beginning of this century, 

 and very much doubt has been cast on their origin. In the paper 

 before us {Kaiserliche Akad. d. IViss in Wicn, November 17), 

 Dr. Suess describes previous theories of origin suggested, 

 and gives his own reasons for the opinion he has formed. A 

 thorough examination of very many specimens has led him to 

 believe that their surface forms can in no way be explained by 

 weathering or collisions, but that these surface markings seem 

 to be very closely related to the indentations of meteorites. All 

 the surface markings on these moldavites can be explained on 

 the assumption of the influence of an enormous air resistance. 

 Dr. Suess then describes the differences in form of the surfaces 

 he examined, and classifies them under different headings. In 

 concluding his remarks, he suggests that the reason why the 

 origin of these moldavites has not been previously attributed to 

 the same as that of aerolites, can be accounted for only on the 

 curious chemical nature of these bodies. Considering the com- 

 parative little knowledge we possess concerning the chemical 

 nature of bodies of cosmical origin, we must conclude that we 

 "must add to the known groups of aerolites a new group, 

 namely moldavites." 



It would be interesting to make a spectroscopic examination 

 of some of these specimens, and compare their spectra with 

 thoseof other meteorites that have been previously examined. 



