Appin 7, 1923] 
NATURE 
479 

may be commended to all those interested in this 
matter, as an impartial and penetrating survey of 
the subject. 
WE have received from the Eastman Kodak Com- 
pany their latest catalogue, No. 9, dated January 
_ 1923, of organic chemicals. There are 1500 chemicals 
listed, with prices, most being products of the East- 
- man Kodak laboratories. 
Tue latest catalogue (No. 8, 1923) of second-hand 
books issued by Mr. W. H. Robinson, 4 Nelson Street, 
Newcastle-on-Tyne, although dealing mainly with 
works in general literature, contains sections devoted 
to voyages and travel, folklore, and books relating to 
the north country. The prices asked appear to be very 
reasonable. ‘ 
_ THE announcement list of forthcoming books just 
received from Messrs. Methuen and Co., Ltd., contains 
particulars of many works of scientific interest, several 
of which are translations. Consideration of space 
permits reference to only a selection of titles. Among 
the translations are ‘‘ The Origin of the Continents 
and Oceans,’ Prof. A. Wegener, translated, from the 
third German edition, by J. G. A. Skerl; ‘ The 
Principle of Relativity,” Profs. Einstein, Lorentz, 
Minkowski, Sommerfeld, and Weyl, translated by Drs. 
G. B. Jeffrey and W. Perrett ; ‘‘ The New Physics,” 
Prof. A. Haas, translated by Dr. R. W. Lawson ; 
“Atomic Structure and Spectral Lines,’ Prof. A. 
Sommerfeld, translated by H. L. Brose; “ Recent 
Developments in Atomic Theory,’’ Prof. L. Graetz, 
translated by Dr. G. Barr; ‘‘ Crystals and the Fine- 
structure of Matter,’ Prof. F. Rinne, translated by 
W. S. Stiles; and ‘‘ The Mechanism and Physiology 
of Sex Determination,’’ Prof. R. Goldschmidt, trans- 
lated by Prof. W. J. Dakin. Of the English science 
books in the list we notice the following: ‘‘ Interfacial 
Forces and Phenomena in Physiology,” Sir William 
Bayliss; ‘“‘A Manual of Histology,’ Prof. V. H. 
Mottram; ‘‘A Text-book of Intermediate Physics,” 
H. Moore; and ‘‘ The Vault of Heaven,” Sir Richard 
Gregory. 
Our Astronomical Column, 
Meteors oF Marcu 17.—Mr. W. F. Denning 
_ writes to record that several conspicuous meteors were 
observed on March 17. At 7 h. 9 m. a fireball was 
‘seen from near Durham, travelling from a point 
considerably south of the Pleiades to a Andromede. 
Its motion was slow, and it left a trail which, however, 
quickly disappeared. The radiant point was probably 
‘in Canis Major, near the bright star Sirius. 
At to h. 8 m. a rather bright meteor of first 
magnitude was seen by Miss A. Grace Cook at Stow- 
market. It passed through the eastern region of 
Canis Minor and was directed from near 8 Gemin- 
orum. It left a train. The same meteor was seen 
from Bristol, and it traversed a short path between 
a and ¢ Bodtis, the direction being from § Bodtis. 
A comparison of the observations shows the radiant 
to have been at 309° + 76°, and that the height of the 
meteor was from 66 to 48 miles over the region of 
Epsom and Horsham. The shower in Cepheus to 
_ which the meteor belonged was seen in the third week 
of March, both in 1877 and 1887. At this period of 
the year it supplies rather bright meteors with slow 
motions and trains. It appears to be an annual 
display, and a radiant in the same position has been 
observed at other periods of the year, notably in 
August, September, and October. 
THE BRIGHTENING OF Beta CetI.—L’Astronomie 
for March gives a few more particulars of the observa- 
tions of this star in February. Mr. William Abbott 
telegraphed from Athens on February 14, 10 A.M., 
to M. Flammarion: “‘ Eclat subit de 8 Ceti, supérieur 
a Aldébaran.’’ M. F. Quénisset at Juvisy glimpsed 
the star on February 18, but mist prevented estimation 
of its magnitude. But on February 23 the sky in 
its neighbourhood was remarkably clear, and he 
could observe the star from 6 p.m. till 6" 25™ when it 
disappeared behind a tree near the horizon. He saw 
it with the naked eye in spite of the bright twilight. 
It was at least of the first magnitude (italics in original). 
An exact measure was impossible so near the horizon. 
The magnitude in “ connaissance des temps ”’ is 2-24. 
On the other hand, Mr. E. O. Tancock (B.A.A. 
Journ. No. 5) searched for the star by day in a clear 
sky on February 28 and March 3 without seeing it, 
though he could see Mira Ceti (estimated magnitude 
rather fainter than 2). Beta Ceti was lower down, 
no. 2788, voL. 111] 

but he considers that he would have seen it if it had 
still been of magnitude 1 on those days. His observa- 
tions suggest that the increase of light was short-lived. 
Vesta.—Vesta, the brightest of the asteroids, is 
now an easy object with binoculars, in the middle 
of the constellation Leo. It is due south at 10 o’clock 
at the beginning of April. The following ephemeris, 
by Mr. Bawtree, is from the B.A.A. Handbook for 
1923 :— 
Greenwich Noon. Mag. Nasty N: Decl. 
April 9 6-60 IO 43°2 19° 20’ 
ee 6-68 IO 41-2 vio i a A 
25 6°77 Io 412 18° 40’ 
The British Astronomical Association is undertaking 
the work of providing ephemerides of the four brightest 
asteroids, The B.A.A. Journ. No. 5 contains an 
ephemeris of Pallas, but as this will be in a much 
better position for observation in two months, we 
defer giving its place. 
Otp EGyptiaAN WATER-CLOCKS.—Several ancient 
time-observations, such as the statement of the 
equality of day and night at the equinoxes, make it 
clear that some form of clock was employed. It is 
therefore interesting to note that casts of two Egyp- 
tian water-clocks have lately been presented by the 
Egyptian Government to the Science Museum, South 
Kensington. One, from Karnak, dates from the 
reign of Amenhotep III. (B.c. 1415-1380) ; the other, 
from Edfu, is of the Ptolemaic Epoch ; in the former, 
time is measured by the uniform escape of the water ; 
in the latter, by its uniform admission. In each case 
there are twelve different scales, corresponding to the 
length of the night or day in different months. Each 
of these scales is divided into twelve equal parts, 
showing that an ‘‘ hour” was at first of variable 
length, being one-twelfth of the length of the day 
or night at the particular time of year. 
Claudius Ptolemy collected the observed times of 
the phases of a number of lunar eclipses ; these were 
used by several investigators, including Newcomb, 
Cowell, and Fotheringham, in studies of the moon’s 
secular acceleration. As the times were presumably 
observed with some such instruments as those now 
exhibited, their study is of some astronomical im- 
portance. 
