January-^, 1902] 



NA TUBE 



199 



has not had the same attention lavished on it as has been 



■ given to the more historic epochs of the Leonids, Lvrids and 

 Perseids. Yet occasionally, even when only moderately active, 



■ the Quadrantid Radiant furnishes displays of about 40 meteors per 

 hour. In the year 1S39 Herrick drew attention to the recurring 

 character of a meteor shower on January 2. A stimulus was 



■ given in the same direction when in 1839 Quetelet published his 

 valuable contribution tome teoiic literature in his " Catalogue des 



' Principales Apparitions d'Etoiles Filantes," in which were cited 

 two instances when meteors were reported to have been unusually 



• numerous on the morning of January 2, viz. in 1S35 and 183S. 

 There was also a previous account of the appearance of an ex- 

 traordinary bolide in the north of Italy in the year 1825, on the 



1 morning of January 2 at 5 o'clock, before and after which hour 



■ on that night there was noticed a great abundance of metectfs. 



When <Juetelet published a second edition of his work a few 



■ years later it contained notices of ijuadrantid displays on the 



■ same day of the month in the intervening years 1839 and 1840. 

 Their observation in those years, however, may have been due 



' to their having been specially looked for. The next notable 

 display occurred in 1862, and was accidentally witnessed on the 



I morning of January 2, between about 4 and 5 o'clock, by a lady 

 residing in Harford, Connecticut, U.S., who on this occasion 



■ seems to have had the honour of being the sole observer of the 

 apparition. Her attention was attracted by a luminous cloud 

 moving from west to east, and also by the appearance of fine 

 meteors at the rate of about three per minute. Two years later 



' there occurred another display in England, on the night, how- 

 ever, instead of the morning of January 2, for which an organised 

 watch had been kept. Profs. Herschel and Gregg (British 

 ■Association Reix)rt,i 1864, p. 30) each observed fifty shooting 

 stars from different stations during the hours 10 to 12 p.m. 

 and 10 to I respectively, while another observer, Mr. W. H. Wood, 



■ reckoned that the Ouadrantids were appearing at the rate of one 



• per minute during the hours 12 to 2. Prof Kirkwood, who in- 



■ stituted researches respecting the periodicity of these meteors 

 and also of other meteor-systems, showed in a paper read before 



• the American Philosophical Society in 1873 that the Quadrantid 

 maximum recurred every thirteen years, the principal displays 



I having taken place in 1S25, 1S38 and 1864- The intervening 

 maximum between the two last dates is supposed, of course, to 



' have passed unnoticed. 



The expected shower, however, in 1877 was looked for in 

 vain owing to unfavourable weather, but on the morning of 

 January 2 in the following year, during a brief interval of clear 

 sky beginning at '4 o'clock. Prof. Herschel noted the appear- 

 ance of seventeen Quadrantids, nearly half of which ranged in 



' brightness from the brilliancy of Sirius to that of second mag- 



' nitude stars. Weaker apparitions from the Quadrantid radiant 

 also occurred on the nights of January 2 in the years 1S72 and 

 1873, but seem to have been only partially or imperfectly 



- observed. The circumstance that the principal appearances of 

 these meteors evidently took place in 1825, 1838, 1862 and 1864, 

 and (probably) also in 1878 naturally leads to the expectation that 

 another fine display may be observed in 1902. An examination 

 of the dates at which the first three of these showers occurred 



• shows that the Quadrantid meteoric epoch is gradually, as in 

 the case of other well-known star showers, advancing into the 



■ year. The advance takes place on the average, however, and 

 is not very noticeable over -short periods, being warped by 



r fluctuations in the date of the shower's appearance with respect 

 to the mean date, such fluctuations being produced by the per- 



' turbations which occur in the meteoric orbit. 



The display in America in the year 1862 and also those on 

 the night of January 2 in \%^^ and 1S73 illustrate this advance. 



-A calculation made by the writer with such data as the above 

 displays afford shows that the time of the next shower's expected 



■ appearance falls on the night of January 4 in 1902, the maximum 



• or centre of the display being due at 3h. 30m. on the morning of 

 the S'h. Earlier in the night, shortly after 12 o'clock, meteors 

 will probably be unusually numerous. The display in 1864 

 evidently did not attain the brilliancy of the previous displays. 



' Calculation shows that the maximum of this shower occurred 

 about 10 p.m. on the night of January 2, which prevented the 



•shower being fully observed. Probably some early Quadrantids 

 of the expected display will appear on the morning ami also 

 early on the night of January 3. The lateness of the maximum 



• on the night of January 4 is more apparent than real, owing to 

 \ 1900 not being a leap year, Joitx R. Hfnrv. 



NO. 1679, VOL. 6.5] 



Frost Patterns in Mud. 



On many occasions recently frost patterns in mud have been 

 exceptionally well marked, similar to those formerly described 

 by Prof. Bonney and others (see Nature, vol. Ixiii. p. 347 ; 

 Proc. Roy. Soc, vol. Ixiii. p. 217). 



On December 15 several of the usual forms were to be seen, 

 the patterns generally being rather coarse, btit elaborate, having 

 branched and curving axes. 



Thus, (l)on many ordinary flagstones the ice-fronds spread 

 from the centre outwards, over a patch, roughly oval on an 

 oblong stone, roughly circular on a square one, leaving bare a 

 space towards the edge ; although sometimes radial or branched 

 forms started from the edge in addition. (2) The centre of the 

 pattern on some flagstones was occupied by a lumpy mass. 

 This consisted of frozen mud, sometimes having a border two 

 to three inches wide formed of scattered separate^ lumps. (3) 

 One example, however, was rather exceptional. On a concrete 

 path in St. James's Park a space of a few square yards was 

 broken into patches (from a few inches to 2 feet or more in 

 diameter) with outlines roughly hexagonal or partly curved, 

 resembling the ends of basalt columns. In these patches the 

 branching frost-fronds had spread from the centre outwards, 

 while, between the patches, a space about \ inch broad was 

 clear of ice. This example reminded me of the spheroids with 

 attempts at spherulitic or variolitic structure in various igneous 

 rocks (see Q.J.G.S. vol. xlix. p. 155) ; and here also one asks 

 whether the contraction which caused such jointing was favour- 

 able to crystallisation, or did the crystallisation from a centre 

 cause the contraction, or were the two independent though they 

 cooperated to produce the general result ? 



Catherine A. Raisin. 



THE RO YAL COMMISSION ON COAL 

 RESOURCES. 



THE announcement that a Royal Commission has 

 been appointed to inquire into the coal resources of 

 the United Kingdom had not been anticipated by public 

 opinion. Yet, in view of the articles on the subject 

 published in Nature (1897, p. 389, and 1900, p. 124), it 

 should hardly give occasion for surprise. The duration 

 of the British coal supplies is a question that has lost 

 none of its interest since the previous exhaustive inquiry 

 conducted in 1866-1S71 by the Royal Commission of 

 which the late Duke of Argyll was chairman. The fifteen 

 Royal Commissioners — all of whom, with one exception, 

 have now passed away — were among the most eminent 

 men of their day, and their calculations were carried out 

 in a thorough and complete manner. In the course of 

 thirty years, however, unexpected changes have taken 

 place in the coal trade. The annual output of coal in the 

 United Kingdom thirty years ago was not more than 

 100,000,000 tons ; it now exceeds 225,000,000 tons, and 

 the process of exhaustion still continues. The beginning 

 of the twentieth century is evidently an opportune time 

 for taking stock of the national resources of the mineral 

 on which so much of the prosperity of the country de- 

 pends. The new inquiry is to be of a far-reaching 

 character. The terms of reference are as follows : - 



To inquire into — (i) The extent and available re- 

 sources of the coalfields of the United Kingdom ; (2) the 

 rate of exhaustion which may be anticipated, having 

 regard to possible economies in use by the substitution 

 of other fuel or the adoption of other kinds of power ; 

 (3) the effect of our export of coal on the home supply 

 and the time for which that supply, especially of the 

 more valuable kinds of coal, will probably be available 

 to British consumers, including the Royal Navy, at a 

 cost which would not be detrimental to the general 

 welfare ; (4) the possibility of a reduction in that cost 

 by cheaper transport, or by the avoidance of unnecessary 

 waste in working through the adoption of better methods 

 and improved appliances, or through a change in the 

 customary term and provisions of mineral leases ; and 



