NA TURE 



[January 9 1908 



found among the observers stationed on the line of 

 totahty as it crossed the Spanish peninsula. At a 

 still later period, when the International Union for 

 Cooperation in Solar Research met at Meudon, last 

 May, Dr. Janssen, as president of the congress, ex- 

 hibited an unflagging interest in all that could pro- 

 mote the object of the meeting. 



On the occasion of the transit of Venus in 1874, 

 Janssen not only took part in the observations — going 

 for this purpose to Japan — but devised an apparatus 

 to take a number of pictures of the sun in a short 

 space of time. In many ways the late astronomer 

 distinguished himself by his photographic researches. 

 Not only was he one of the first to direct his attention 

 to the possibility of photographing comets and nebulae, 

 securing satisfactory pictures of Tebbutt's comet of 

 188 1 and of the Orion Nebula, but his photographs of 

 the solar surface, taken at the Meudon Observatory, 

 have acquired a world-wide renown, both for the 

 beauty of the results obtained, and the ingenuity of the 

 devices employed to secure short and uniform ex- 

 posures. These photographs were not left as mere 

 pictures to please the eye by the infinite variety they 

 revealed. They were studied and compared until the 

 photospheric network of varied granulation was made 

 to disclose its tale, and put us in possession of the 

 beginning of a solar meteorology. In the course of 

 his photographic experiments he was led to suggest 

 the use of a camera with double slits, so as to allow 

 only a narrow portion of the spectrum to reach the 

 photographic plate, a method of observation which 

 in the hands of Prof. Hale and Deslandres has proved 

 so effective. 



He served his country in many capacities, but per- 

 haps rendered no service greater than that of estab- 

 lishing and organising the observatory at Meudon. 

 By this act a permanent home for the furtherance of 

 physical astronomy and solar research has been 

 ensured, and here the work which he began and 

 pursued with such eagerness will be carried on with 

 more powerful instruments than were at his com- 

 mand ; but however successful its future career may 

 prove, it will owe its origin in no small measure to 

 the insistence, perseverance, and reputation of Dr. 

 Janssen. 



In many ways his colleagues acknowledged the 

 value and extent of his services. He was Commander 

 of the Legion of Honour, Membre de I'lnstitut; he was 

 the oldest member of the Academy of Sciences, having 

 succeeded Langier in 1873. He was also a member 

 of the Bureau des Longitudes, and had been deco- 

 rated with the Lalande medal. The learned societies 

 of many countries enrolled his name on their list of 

 fellows. In this country he was a foreign member 

 of the Royal Societv, from which he received the 

 Rumford medal for his researches ; Edinburgh made 

 him an LL.D. of that university, and in 1872 he was 

 elected an Associate of the Royal Astronomical 

 Society. 



The annual meeting of the British Science Guild will 

 be held at the Mansion House at 4.15 p.m. on Wednesday 

 next, January 15, by invitation of the Lord Mayor. Mr. 

 Haldane, president of the Guild, will address the meet- 

 ing; and among other speakers will be Dr. T. H. Warren 

 (Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford), Sir Archi- 

 bald Geikie, K.C.B. (secretary of the Royal Society), Sir 

 John Rhys, Sir Wm. Bousfield, Sir John Wolfe-Barry, 

 K.C.B., F.R.S., and Mr. A. Siemens. 



The death is announced of Prof. Albert L6vy, professor 

 of mathematics at the Paris Municipal School of Industrial 

 NO. 1993, VOL. 'J']'\ 



Physics and Chemistry, and director of the chemical 

 department , of the Municipal Observatory of Montsouris. 

 Prof. L6vy was well known for his analyses of the air and 

 water supply of Paris. 



A TELEGRAM from Brovvnstown, Jamaica, announces that 

 a severe earthquake occurred at 8.5 a.m. on January 3. 

 Considerable damage is reported from Kingston and other 

 places on the south shore. — Reuter reports on January 4 

 that Vesuvius is again active. The volcano is emitting 

 clouds of vapour from large fissures near the summit of 

 the crater, and also towards Atrio Cavallo. 



A Reuter message from Rome states that Signor Rava, 

 Minister of Public Instruction, has appointed a special 

 commission to direct and supervise the excavations at 

 Herculaneum, composed of Commendatore Gattini, 

 administrative director of the Museum of Naples ; Signor 

 De Petra, professor of archaeology of the University of 

 Naples; Prof. Gabrici and Prof. Dall'Osso, both of the 

 Naples Museum ; Prof. Sogliano, director of the excava- 

 tions at Pompeii ; Commendatore Avena, director of the 

 technical office of the monuments of Naples ; and two civil 

 engineers of the province of Naples. 



On Tuesday next, January 14, Dr. A. .\. Gray will 

 deliver the first of two lectures at the Royal Institution 

 on the internal ear of different animals, and on Thursday, 

 January 16, Prof. W. W. Watts will deliver the first of 

 two lectures on (i) the building of Britain. On Saturday, 

 January 18, Prof. Gisbert Kapp will commence a course 

 of two lectures on the electrification of railways. The 

 Friday evening discourse on January 17 will be delivered 

 by Prof. T. E. Thorpe, on the centenary of Davy's dis- 

 covery of the metals of the alkalis, and on January 24 by 

 Colonel David Bruce, on the extinction of Malta fever. 



The discovery of a large group of dene-holes in the 

 woods between Woolwich and Erith, close to the ruins of 

 Lessness Abbey, was announced in the Times of January 3. 

 Two of these holes have already been explored, the posi- 

 tion having been marked in each case by a shallow cup- 

 like depression on the surface overgrown with verdure. 

 Excavation in the centre of the hollow exposed the shaft, 

 which is rather more than 3 feet in diameter, and circular 

 in transverse section. After descending for about 50 feet 

 through loam, the shaft enters chalk, and having pene- 

 trated this for 4 feet or S feet expands into chambers 

 about 18 feet in height. In the sides of the shafts are 

 holes, evidently for supporting a rude kind of ladder for 

 descent. A conical mound of earth, about 10 feet high, 

 occupies the floor at the bottom of the shaft. Each cave 

 has six chambers grouped 'radially around the central 

 shaft, so as to form in plan a rough double trefoil, re- 

 calling the pattern familiar to explorers of dene-holes else- 

 where. 



According to a paper by Mr. H. Beeston published in 

 the December (1907) number of the Zoologist, the breed- 

 ing-range of the marsh-warbler in the south of England 

 is gradually spreading east, a nest having been observed 

 during the past summer in Hampshire. The nest was 

 attached to four or five reeds at an elevation of about 

 4 feet, like that of a reed-warbler. 



To Natiiren for November and December, 1907, Prof. 

 A. W. Brbgger contributes an illustrated article on 

 " eoliths," in which a number of types from various parts 

 of Europe are described and figured. The author appears 

 to be convinced that these stones were shaped by human 

 agency for special purposes, describing some as knives, 

 others as scrapers, &c. 



