4/0 



NATURE 



[Margii 19, 1908 



history and religion, as well as to matters of legal and 

 medical interest. Among the new modes of investigation 

 are the comparative methods, which have to a great extent 

 taken the place of the older introspection ; the experimental 

 method, which commands most attention in the present 

 dav ; and the pathological method, which, taking advantage 

 of nature's own experiments, has thrown much light on 

 the real character of the contents of some parts of our 

 normal experience. Finally, the newer aims of psychology 

 include the attempts to classify actual personalities with 

 reference to standard equilibrated types, and to find a 

 field for practical applications in pedagogy and in the 

 treatment of criminals. 



At the suggestion of Prof. A. A. Michelson, Mr. L. E. 

 Gurney, of the University of Chicago, has investigated the 

 viscosity of water at very low rates of shear in order to 

 determine whether any change in its value occurs when 

 the motion of the liquid is slight. The water was enclosed 

 between concentric cylinders, the outer one of which was 

 rotated at a measured rate about its axis, while the inner 

 one was prevented from rotating by means of a couple of 

 measured moment. For rates of shear varying from 

 5 radians down to o-66 radian per second the author finds 

 no evidence of an increase of viscosity as large as i per 

 cent. {Physical Review, January). 



In the Physikalische Zeitschrift for March i Dr. W. 

 Lohmann describes his measurements of the Zeeman effect 

 for the principal lines of helium. The helium tubes were 

 placed in cylindrical holes bored through the pole pieces 

 of the electromagnet in such a way that the electric current 

 through them flowed parallel to the magnetic field. The 

 separation of the outer from the middle lines of the triplets 

 produced was observed by means of an echelon spectro- 

 scope. Dr. Lohmann finds that the separation measured 

 on the scale of reciprocal wave-lengths, i.e. the quantity 

 dX/X'-, where d\ is the observed change of the wave- 

 length \, is the same for the whole of the nine lines of 

 helium observed, and is proportional to the strength of 

 the magnetic field used. He considers this result points to 

 an extremely simple form of helium atom. 



Prof. Augusto Righi announces the discovery of a new 

 type of rays in the Rendiconti del Lincei for February 2. 

 It was Pliicker who first observed that kathode rays, 

 immersed in a strong magnetic field, trace out the mag- 

 netic lines of force. This is now held to mean that the 

 projected electrons really describe high-pitched spirals about 

 the lines of force, which nearly coincide with those lines 

 when the field is very strong. Now Prof. Righi has found 

 that these rays do not, as a rule, convey an electric charge. 

 They are therefore not simple kathode rays. They are 

 more probably sets of molecular magnets, constituted by 

 electrons revolving about positive atoms in the planetary 

 fashion. Such systems would possess considerable stability 

 in a magnetic field of the same sign. They would not, 

 of course, carry an electric charge, being themselves neutral 

 combinations, but less close than ordinary chemical com- 

 binations. .\s the field gets weaker, the orbits would open 

 out, and the system would be retarded, and might even 

 return to the kathode. Prof. Righi has found evidences 

 of such return. He proposes the term " magnetic rays " 

 for the new radiation. 



A WORK on " Stone : Quarrying and Preparation for the 

 Market," by Mr. A. Greenwell and Mr. J. V. Elsden, will 

 shortly be published by the Chichester Press, Furnival 

 Street, London, E.C. 



NO. 2003, VOL. 77] 



The thirty-eighth annual report of , the Wellington 

 College Natural Science Society has been received. It 

 deals with the society's work during 1907, and serves to 

 show that the activity of the men jers is well maintained. 

 ,\ complete meteorological report for the year is included 

 in addition to the proceedings of the society. 



The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences is publishing 

 a new edition of Swedenborg's scientific works in Swedish 

 and the original Latin. The first volume has appeared, 

 and two others are in the press. These three volumes 

 include Swedenborg's contributions to geology, chemistry, 

 physics, mechanics, and cosmology. Introductions are pro- 

 vided to the various volumes, that to the first by Prof. 

 Alfred G. Nathorst, and those to the second and third by 

 Prof. Svante Arrhenius, while those for forthcoming 

 volumes on anatomy and physiology will be by Profs. 

 Gustaf Retzius and S. E. Henschen respectively. The 

 volumes are being edited by Mr. A. H. Stroh, of Phila- 

 delphia, and the price of each volume is 8s., p.iyable in 

 advance. 



The general report on the operations of the Survey of 

 India administered under the Government of India during 

 1905-6 is now available. It has been prepared under the 

 direction of Colonel F. B. Longe, R.E., Surveyor-General 

 of India, and deals with the operations of the depart- 

 ment for the survey year ending September 30, 1906. It 

 appears that the total out-turn of detail topographical and 

 forest surveys on all scales was 23,312 square miles, 

 against 26,340 square miles of similar surveys during the 

 previous year, and that no surveys on a smaller scale than 

 I inch equal to the mile were carried out during the year. 

 The total area triangulated or traversed for topographical 

 or forest surveys was 27,134, against 19,265 square miles 

 for the previous year. The total area of cadastral and 

 special surveys was 2982 square miles, and the area 

 traversed was 6464 square miles, as compared with 7305 

 square miles of survey and 6398 square miles of traversing 

 in 1904-5. Among special observations during the year 

 mav be mentioned systematic vertical observations of the 

 Himalayan peaks of Kedarnath, Srikanta, Jaunli, Bander 

 Punch, and Nanda Devi from stations near Dehra Dun ; 

 if this series of observations can be continued over five 

 or six years the varying effects of refraction and snow- 

 fall will be deducible. Pendulum observations were carried 

 across the plains of the Punjab from Simla to Quetta, and 

 the results have proved that a zone of excessive density 

 crosses the Punjab plains from north to south, underlying 

 Montgomery, Ferozepore, and Mian Mir. The field work 

 of the magnetic survey over different portions of the 

 country has been continued and extended. 



OUR .ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



A Possibly New Satellite to Jupiter. — A note in No. 

 4237 of the Astronomische Nachricliten (p. 207, March 6) 

 announces the discovery of a new minor planet, or, 

 possibly, a satellite, near Jupiter. The object was dis- 

 covered by Mr. P. Melotte on a plate taken by him with 

 the 30-inch equatorial reflector on January 27, and is of 

 the sixteenth magnitude ; it has been observed at Green- 

 wich on seven nights since that date, and Prof. Wolf 

 photographed it at Heidelberg on March 3. Should this 

 faint object prove to be a minor planet, its temporary 

 designation will be 1908 CJ, and it will probably prove 

 to be a unique object, as regards its orbit, of its class. 

 But it seems likely — so far as can be judged from the few 

 observations yet made — that it is, really, an eighth 

 member of Jupiter's satellite system, and if this is so it is 

 probably the faintest and most distant yet discovered. 



