March 19, 1908] 



NA TURE 



4; I 



Observations of Jupiter during the Present Opposi- 

 tion. — M. P. V'incart, of Antwerp, to whom we referred 

 in our issue of January i6 (No. 1994, p. 259) as having 

 made his own reflector, describes his more recent observa- 

 tions of Jupiter in No. 3 of the Gazette Astronomique 

 (p. 27). On February 5 the shadow of the fourth satellite, 

 projected on to the bay of the Red Spot, appeared 

 elongated, and was encircled by a brilliant halo where it 

 came in contact with the Red Spot. On February 13, 

 despite prolonged attention, M. Vincart was unable to find 

 the least trace of the regular markings recently described 

 hy Mr. Bolton. 



M. Vincart states that with his instrument he is able 

 to separate, clearly, the components of 7" AndromedEe, 

 whilst with the naked eye he is able to count thirteen 

 stars in the Pleiades and to see Jupiter's third satellite 

 when at its elongations. 



Recent Observations of Venus. — The third number of 

 the Gazette Astrononnqiie {February 29, p. 21) contains an 

 interesting description, by Mr. J. M. Harg, of Lisburn, 

 Ireland, of his recent observations of Venus, made with 

 refractors of 104 mm. and 123 mm. aperture, and using 

 a magnifying power of 200. Four sets of markings were 

 recognised from time to time during the period 

 December 29 to January 20, and are illustrated by the 

 drawings accompanying the note. The first, in longitude 

 180°, is a long oblique shadow; the second is in longitude 

 270°, and is an irregularly shaped marking showing 

 numerous details in its outline ; the third is a doubtfully 

 permanent, double marking in longitude o'' ; and tlie fourth 

 is of a curiously bent form in longitude 90°. Mr. Harg's 

 observations indicate that the rotation period does not 

 exceed 23h. 28m. 



The System of f Urs.i; Majoris (Mizar). — Prof. Frost, 

 in a brief note communicated to No. 4235 of the Astrono- 

 misclie Nachrichten (p 171, February 29), confirms Dr. 

 Ludendorff's observation of the variable radial velocity of 

 the fainter component of f Urs.x Majoris, but states that 

 the Yerkes spectrograms show a greater range of velocity, 

 varying from —17 km. to -I- 10 km. per second; the period 

 of the variation cannot yet be stated. 



The plates of Alcor, the naked-eye companion to Mizar, 

 show that the radial velocity of this star also is variable, 

 the changes in the spectrum being so rapid that it has 

 been found necessary to take spectrograms in continuous 

 succession for several hours ; it seems probable that the 

 period will be found to be exceedingly short. A qualitative 

 examination of the spectra obtained shows that the 

 4481 Mg line and the hydrogen lines are sometimes double, 

 sometimes single. The displacement of the 4481 line with 

 respect to the Ti line of nearly the same wave-length also 

 varies considerably. 



Mars as the .Abolie of Life. — The title of Prof. Lowell's 

 article in the March number of the Century Magazine is 

 "The Sun Dominant," and in it the author discusses the 

 analogies between areographical and terrestrial conditions. 

 The evolution of the conditions of habitability on the earth 

 is described, and it is shown that the same kind of evolu- 

 tion is probably taking place on Mars. From the fact 

 that the same species of animals, often the same in- 

 dividuals, are able to sustain life under the vastly different 

 conditions of temperature and atmospheric pressure 

 exhibited at various altitudes in the Andes and similar 

 mountain ranges, it is argued that the variations of 

 temperature and the constant lowness of the pressure on 

 Mars should prove no bar to the possibility of living 

 creatures existing there. The presence of water — demon- 

 strated, since the article was written, by Mr. Slipher's 

 spectrograms — and of vegetation are also discussed, and 

 the article concludes with a discussion of the mode in which 

 the presence of organic life is manifested. 



The Variable Star 31, 1907, Aurig.«. — A telegram from 

 Prof. Hartwig, published in No. 423S of the Astronomische 

 Nachrichten (p. 223, March 9), states that the variable 

 star 31, 1907, Aurigs, which he has found to be of the 

 U-Geminorum type, was of the ninth magnitude on 

 March 6, having increased four magnitudes in one day, 

 whilst within eight days it was less than the fourteenth 

 magnitude. 



NO. 2003, VOL. 77] 



THE CAKNEGIE INSTITUTION. 



T^HE " Year-book " for 1907 of the Carnegie Institu- 

 tion of Washington is now available. It contains 

 the minutes of the last meeting of the board of trustees, 

 the reports of the president. Prof. R. S. Woodward, and 

 the executive committee of the institution, and the reports 

 on investigations and projects. The volume, of 230 pages, 

 serves excellently to indicate the admirable work in science 

 w'hich is being done by means of the grants made by the 

 institution. The subjoined summary of the reports shows 

 the position of the institution and some of the directions 

 in which progress was made during the past year. 



At the meeting of the board of trustees in December 

 last a letter from Mr. Andrew Carnegie was read 

 annoimcing his intention to add 400,000/. to the endow- 

 ment of the institution. The financial statement for the 

 year ending October 31, 1907, shows that the assets of 

 the institution, including real estate and equipments, 

 amounted to nearly two and a quarter inillions sterling, 

 the endowment being 2,000,000/. At this meeting of 

 trustees the following general appropriations were made 

 for the present year : — pufilication fund, 10,000/. ; adminis- 

 tiation, 10,000!. ; grants for departments and large projects, 

 75,988/. ; and for previously implied grants, new minor 

 grants, and research assistants, 10,000/. 



The report of the president for the financial year 1906-7 

 shows that the amounts available during that year were : — 

 for large grants, 109,538/. ; for minor grants, 15,226/. ; 

 for rcseaich assistants, 5080/. ; and for publication, 16,400/. 

 The aggregate receipts from interest on endowment, 

 interest on deposits in banks, sales of publications, and 

 tuiscellaneous items, amounted to 578,274/. 



From the income of the institution during the last six 

 years there has been spent, for large projects, 240,462/. ; 

 for minor and special projects, 138,530/. ; and for publica- 

 tion, 28,117/. The gross sums allotted to large projects 

 since the organisation of the institution amounted to 

 271,237/., and for minor projects and research assistants 

 to 156,936/. 



The report of the president also summaiises the work 

 of the various departments of the institution. The depart- 

 ment of botanical research is engaged on a series of 

 problems the elucidation of which cannot fail to be of the 

 greatest interest and value, whether applied to the re- 

 stricted field of botany or to the broader domain of biology. 

 By means of observation, experiment, and measurement it 

 is proposed to determine, as nearly as may be, the con- 

 ditions of development, growth, distribution, migration, 

 and variation of desert plants. Thus, in addition to 

 systematic studies of the forms and distribution of these 

 plants, there must be carried on studies of the factors of 

 temperature, rainfall, evaporation, soil moisture, and 

 onatoiTiical and physiological adaptability. The location 

 of the desert laboratory in a country affording a wide 

 range of plant-forms, as well as a wide range of con- 

 ditions in altitude, temperature, soil-moisture and soil- 

 composition, presents unequalled opportunities for such 

 studies, .^long with these lines of work, the anatomical, 

 physical, and physiological researches of the department 

 staff have already resulted in noteworthy contributions to 

 biological science. 



The work of the department of experimental evolution is 

 progressing favourably along lines explained in preceding 

 reports, the principal problems under investigation being 

 those of heredity in plants and animals. 



The completion and occupancy of the geophysical 

 laboratory mark a noteworthy advance in the progress of 

 the novel and difficult experimental work carried on in 

 this department of research. 



The experiments and investigations of Mr. Luther 

 Burbank in horticulture, and the work of preparing a 

 scientific account of his methods and achievements, are 

 progressing as favourably as the available division of time 

 and labour will permit. 



During the season under review, as hitherto, the depart- 

 ment of marine biology has extended its laboratory and 

 collecting facilities to specialists in zoological research, 

 eleven such guests having availed themselves of the oppor- 

 tunities afforded at Dry Tortugas and in the adjacent 



