
Marcu 25, 1915 | 

NATURE 
99 

of ‘hundreds of motor-cars crashing through the 
trees.” The storm occurred:at about 4 p.m. in Devon, 
at 5.40 to 5.50 p.m. in South Wales, at 7.35 to 7.45 
[p-m. in Shropshire, and at 9 p.m. in Cheshire. The 
progress of the central area of the storm is given as 
36 miles an hour No absolute measurement of wind 
velocity was secured, and a similar absence of baro- 
meter records is mentioned, with the exception of one 
station only a few yards from the South Wales track, 
where the record shows a fall of pressure from 
29:20 in. to 28-91 in., followed by an almost immediate 
rise. 
Tue Scientific American for February 13 contains 
the third of the series of articles entitled “ Doing 
without Europe,’ to which we referred in these 
columns a month ago. The principal object of the 
articles is to show how vast are the mineral resources 
of the country and how little they are utilised. The 
present article deals mainly with the barium salts used 
in the manufacture of paint. Up to the commence- 
ment of the present war these had been imported 
from Germany, but one of the largest paint manu- 
facturers of New York has commenced manufacturing 
them from an ore found in Tennessee, and now turns 
out 15 tons a day. In respect to potash salts, of 
which the annual import from Germany exceeded 
3,000,000l,, the United States Government has directed 
attention to the natural deposit of the salts at Searles 
Lake, California, and a manufacturing plant has been 
set up there the success or failure of which will be 
watched with interest. Soda, magnesia, and several 
other substances are also mentioned as being found in 
abundance in the country, and as only requiring work- 
ing to supply all requirements. 
AN interesting paper on the internal-combustion 
engine in the oil field was read at the Institution of 
Petroleum Technologists on March 18 by Mr. F. G. 
Rappoport. It appears that the steam engine still 
largely holds its own despite its inefficiency, the reason 
for this being in the special character of the worl: 
to be done in boring and baling oil wells. Great 
flexibility in power and speed is required, and while 
electric power distributed from central stations is ideal 
from other points of view, electricity lacks that flexi- 
bility at the well which makes steam power so con- 
venient. The oil engine has created a large and 
important sphere of its own by facilitating profitable 
operation of a large class of wells having a small 
yield. Such wells had formerly to be closed, and the 
advent of the oil engine with its low fuel-consumption 
has rendered possible their operation. The oil engine 
is well adapted for outlying districts and for prospect- 
ing work; the Binagadi oil field, without adequate 
water supply, is worked almost entirely by means 
of oil engines. The new Ural and Biellilx districts 
in Russia are largely worked by oil engines. Appli- 
cations of the gas engine are also discussed, and 
reference is made to an engine made by Messrs. 
Tangye, which can be run as a gas engine, or as an 
oil engine, by. alteration of certain parts. Several of 
these engines are in successful operation on the Baku 
oil field. 
NO. 2369, VOL. 95 | 





Messrs, W. HEFFER AND Sons, Ltp,, Cambridge, 
have just issued a classified catalogue of numerous 
scientific books, periodicals, and publications of scien- 
tific societies which they offer for sale, including large 
selections from the libraries of the late Sir Robert Ball 
and Dr. J. Reynolds Green. The catalogue contains 
titles and descriptions of many rare and valuable 
works which may be purchased at reasonable prices 
for private or public libraries, 

OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 
Comet Notes.—In the Astronomische Nachrichten 
(No. 4789) Dr. Elis Strémgren communicates an 
ephemeris up to March 29 for comet Mellish (1915a), 
computed by Herren J. Braae and J, Fisher-Petersen, 
from the parabolic elements given by the latter, with 
Herr R. Andersen. The data for the present week are 
as follows :— 
R.A. (true) Dec. (true) Mag. 
Wh inh oS é , 
March 25 17 55 53  SONZ4-9) - 2 So 
27 7 58 13 0 50-0 
29 18 0 33 T6270 
31 URS) APE Rog keh 
April 2 18)5) 19 5S ANG ane HS 
The comet lies approximately between y Ophiuchi 
and 7 Serpentis. 
Herr K. Hillebrand, in an Ephemeris Circular of the 
Astronomische Nachrichten (No, 478), publishes the 
elements and ephemeris of the periodic comet of Win- 
necke for its appearance in the current year. The 
latter extends from April 16 to the end of August. 
A search ephemeris for Tempel’s comet (Ephemeris 
Circular, No. 479) is given by Herr J. Braae. . In 1910 
this comet was not seen, but it is pointed out that 
this year it will be a little more fayourable for observa- 
tion. The ephemeris is extended to the end of June 
of the present year, and will be continued later. 
THE STRUCTURE OF THE Hy LINE IN STELLAR SPECTRA. 
—In this column for July 31 of last year attention was 
directed to a paper by Herr K. F. Bottlinger, in which 
was shown the result of a study of the intensity dis- 
tribution of lines in many of the brighter stars. Ina 
recent number of the Astronomische Nachrichten 
(No. 4788, vol. cc., No. 12) Dr. Adolf Hnatek gives 
his conclusions from rather a similar investigation. 
The author has measured both the intensity (Linien- 
tiefe) and breadth (Linienbreite) of the Hy line in 
several bright stars, and summarises the values de- 
duced according to the spectral. types of the stars 
examined. Thus, in the case of the line-width the 
following are mean values in Angstrém units which 
he has deduced. 
Maury Cannon Width Intensity 
II-VI ou B cae 16 0°55 
VII-VIII pa A mae 26 500 1°40 
X-XI ate F ae 17 a o'8r 
XILI-XV G-K... 8 = 0°35 
Summarising the values of the line-intensity (Linien- 
tiefe), he points out that they show also a similar 
relation to the spectral types; these intensity values 
are added in the last column of the above table. The 
paper contains also a number of curves of the Hy lines 
in the individual stars arranged in groups according 
to their spectral classes. While the above investiga- 
tion deals only with one line and a small number of 
stars, the author hopes to extend the research to more 
lines and stars in order to deduce results of a more 
definite and trustworthy value. 
