510 
wards of 1700 titles (with, in many cases, comments) 
of books in the following subjects: botany, agri- 
culture, early medicine and surgery, forestry, fruit- 
culture, gardens and gardening, herbals, and tobacco. 
As usual, many choice and rare volumes are 
included. 
No. XI. of the “ Publications de la Société de 
Chimie Physique ’’ is a short monograph of 15 pages 
on isotopes, by M. Maurice de Broglie, which was 
delivered as a lecture in November 1920. The 
previous publication was a lecture on Bohr’s theory 
of the constitution of the atom. The monograph is 
published by Hermann et Cie at the price of 2 francs. 
Two series of somewhat similar monographs are being 
issued by the Libraire Scientifique Albert Blanchard. 
One of these, of which seven parts are announced, 
consists of groups of two or three lectures on physical 
subjects. In addition to these a series of foreign 
scientific monographs is being issued. The third of 
these, which has recently come to hand, is by Prof. 
Kossel, and bears the title ‘‘ Les Forces de Valence et 
NATURE 

[APRIL 14, 1923 
les Spectres de Réntgen.’”’ The monograph covers 
70 pages, and is issued at a price of 4-50 francs. 
4 
THE Society of Glass Technology, which has its 
headquarters at the University of Sheffield, has issued 
a useful handbook, a “‘ Directory for the British Glass 
Industry,” price 7s. 6d. to non-members of the 
Society. The volume is divided into sections pro- 
viding lists both alphabetical and classified of glass 
manufacturers and craftsmen, with particulars in most 
cases of the class of work produced, and lists of 
firms supplying material and machinery required in 
glass making and working. The concluding short 
sections give useful information concerning industrial 
associations, trades unions, City Companies, educa- 
tional institutions, and research associations, and 
publications dealing with glass technology. It is 
difficult to understand on what principle the selection 
of a group of publications, mentioned in the last 
section, which are referred to as ‘‘ Periodicals in which 
articles on glass and ceramics occasionally appear,” 
has been made. 

Our Astronomical Column. 
A SupPOSED METEORITE AT QuETTA.—The Pioneer 
Mail for February 23 reports the fall of a supposed 
meteorite at Quetta on January 25, which, if con- 
firmed, will for the first time establish the power of a 
meteorite to cause a conflagration. The fragments 
of the meteorite collected are said to weigh 6 tons, with 
a volume of 500 cubic feet! Hence the material 
must be abnormally light for a meteorite. It struck 
a large stack of closely packed straw 30 feet high, and 
penetrated it nearly tothe ground. The“ meteorite ”’ 
is said to consist of materials like slate-grey igneous 
tock, volcanic glass, and coke. Possibly the stack 
was struck by lightning and the fused residue of the 
straw has been mistaken for a meteorite. The Geo- 
logical Survey of India will doubtless settle the nature 
of this phenomenon. 
SOLAR EcLipsE INVESTIGATIONS.—At the meetings 
of the Australasian Association for the Advancement 
of Science held at Wellington, N.Z., two papers 
dealing with observations of the total solar eclipse 
at Wallal were communicated by Prof. A. D. Ross, 
who was a member of the Crocker Eclipse Expedition 
of the Lick Observatory. Shadow bands were ob- 
served for two minutes before and for one minute 
after totality. They altered in appearance, but the 
most persistent type was indistinct dusky bands 
about 6 inches wide, at 17-inch intervals, moving 
in a direction 30° S. of E. at 6 or 7 miles per hour. 
The bands at times came in groups and developed 
from a general shimmering effect. Their appearance 
‘was inconsistent with a diffraction theory, but sug- 
gested irregular refraction due to atmospheric tem- 
perature inequalities. The wind was from N.N.W. 
to N.W. at about 4 miles per hour, and there was a 
temperature drop of about 8° due to the eclipse. 
By comparison of six photographic plates exposed 
to a region surrounding the south celestial pole about 
mid totality and during twilight the same evening, 
it was found that the eclipse illumination corresponded 
to twilight with the sun 74° below the horizon. 
Wellington Anti-screen plates were used. The 
humidity was about 45 per cent. at the time of 
totality and about 50 per cent. at twilight, so that 
NO. 2789, VOL. 111] 


it is unlikely that the estimate of brightness was 
much affected by variation in the transparency of 
the atmosphere. Determination of the brightness 
of the corona was attempted with a specially designed 
integrating photometer, but the measurements of 
the plates had not been completed. 
PLANETARY RAp1atTion.—No. 460 of the Scientific 
Papers of the Bureau of Standards, Washington, 
contains an account of researches made at Flagstaff 
by W. W. Coblentz on the thermal radiation from 
planets and stars. A cell of water 1 cm. thick is 
used to separate the long heat-waves from planets 
(due either to inherent heat or to warming of the 
surface by the sun) from the reflected solar radiation. 
A vacuum thermocouple made of bismuth wire was 
used to measure the radiations, the instrument being 
mounted on the 40-inch reflector. Observations on 
the moon are stated to confirm Very’s results, but 
are not described in detail. 
The observations lead to the conclusion that the 
planetary (long wavelength) radiations, expressed 
as percentages of the total radiation received from 
them, are Jupiter (0), Venus (5), Saturn (15), Mars 
(30), the moon (80). The high figures for the moon 
and for Mars indicate that rarity of atmosphere 
increases the warming of the surface; further, the 
northern hemisphere of Mars, which was in autumn, 
and more cloudy than the southern hemisphere, 
indicated a lower planetary radiation. It is hoped 
2 360 ce eeee) 
to compare the radiation from the orange and dusky — 
regions of Mars, which might give a clue as to the 
conjectured interpretation of the latter as regions 
of vegetation. 
The zero figure for Jupiter is concluded to be due 
to the enormously thick atmosphere, which acts as 
an opaque screen to the radiations from the (supposed) 
heated interior. The instrument is restricted to 
wavelengths 7 to 12 u. Hence nothing can be stated 
about radiation between 4 and 7 uw, or from 12 to 
15 ; 
The star temperatures are given as 3000° for type 
M, 5900° for Capella and sun (type G), and 12,000° 
for type B, in close accord with previous results. 
