5 68 



NATURE 



[July 31, 1913 



the fats and lipoids present in an alcoholic extract of 

 the tissue by means of ether, and, thus obtained, is 

 extremely active. Ordinary quinine and cinchonine 

 exert a temporary curative action upon birds affected 

 with polyneuritis, but as this action is destroyed by 

 heating the alkaloids at 125 , it is probable that the 

 curative properties are due to the presence of traces 

 of an anti-neuritic substance derived from the cin- 

 chona-bark, which is destroyed by this treatment. 

 The same number of The Biochemical journal also 

 contains an account by Dr. R. H. A. Plimmer of a 

 very useful method for quantitatively separating tyro- 

 sine from cystine by means of absolute alcohol 

 saturated with hydrogen chloride, which converts the 

 former into its ester, whilst the cystine does not 

 undergo esterification. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 

 Astronomical Occurrences for August : — 

 August 1. ih. 44m. Neptune in conjunction with 

 the Moon (Neptune 4 59' S.). 

 4. oh. om. Mercury in inferior conjunction 



with the Sun. 

 12. i6h. 29m. Jupiter in conjunction with 



the Moon (Jupiter 4 52' N.). 

 14. i8h. 9m. Uranus in conjunction with 



the Moon (Uranus 3 28' N.). 

 22. ih. om. Mercury at greatest elonga- 

 tion west of the Sun (18 25'). 



24. 5I1. 23m. Mars in conjunction with 



Saturn (Mars i° 9' N.). 



25. i8h. 54m. Saturn in conjunction with 



the Moon (Saturn 6° 53' S.). 

 ,, 2oh. 29m. Mars in conjunction with 

 the Moon (Mars 5° 43' S.). 



28. nh. 43m. Venus in conjunction with 



the Moon (Venus 5 25' S.). 

 I3h. 38m. Neptune in conjunction with 

 the Moon (Neptune 5° o' S.). 



29. i2h. 38m. Venus in conjunction with 



Neptune (Venus o° 18' S.). 

 31. 8h. 52m. Sun eclipsed, invisible at 

 Greenwich. 



Nova Geminorum No. 2. — Among recent references 

 to Nova Geminorum No. 2 may be mentioned a com- 

 munication by Herr C. Wirtz (Astronomische Nach- 

 richten, No. 4667, p. 219), who gives the values de- 

 rived from his observations of its magnitude. The 

 observations extended from March 14 to May 12 of 

 last year, from the time when the star was about 

 35 mag. to that when it had diminished to about 

 7-0 mag. 



Another communication in the same number of the 

 Astronomische Nachrichten, by Mr. F. P. Leaven- 

 worth, gives the position of the nova from photo- | 

 graphs taken at the University of Minnesota, the I 

 arithmetical mean of eleven observatorv positions 

 being given as — 



R.A. 6h. 49m. H-793S. Deck +32 15' 565". 

 Another excellent series of magnitude observations 

 of this nova is one which appears in the Memorie della 

 Societa degli Spettroscopisti Italiani (disp'. 6, vol. ii., 

 ser. 2, p. 105), by Dr. E. Guerrieri, at the Royal 

 Astronomical Observatory at Capodimonte. These 

 observations cover the period March 28, 1912, to 

 April 2Q, 1913, and are accompanied by a chart. The 

 curve shows the curious fluctuations which the light 

 of the nova was undergoing during its gradual 

 diminution in brilliancy. 



NO. 2283, VOL. 91] 



Variation of Latitude. — No. 4665 of the Astro- 

 nomische Nachrichten, p. 161, contains the pro- 

 visional results of the International Latitude Service 

 of the north parallel for the period 1912-0 to 1913-0, 

 communicated by Prof. Th. Albrecht. The author 

 states that the method for the determination of the 

 path of the pole is the same as that employed in his 

 previous publications, and he gives here the mean 

 values of the latitude of the six stations according to 

 group on which his values are based. In one table 

 he shows the values of the variation in latitude, and 

 in another the values of an expression from which 

 the variations in azimuth and longitude can be com- 

 puted for every 30 of longitude from 1912-0 to 1913-0. 

 The paper is accompanied by a chart of the now 

 well-known form showing the polar track from 19060 

 to 1913-0. During these years the amplitude is small 

 at first and then increases up to 191 1, afterwards 

 decreasing j-apidly up to the last-mentioned year. 



The Intensity Distribution of Individual Lines 

 in Stellar Spectra. — Those familiar with the lines 

 in the spectra of new stars know that at some stages 

 of development the lines, such as those of hydrogen, 

 have a complicated structure, the intensity distribu- 

 tion being very far from uniform. Herr K. F. Bott- 

 linger has recently taken up the study of the question 

 of the intensity distribution of lines in many of the 

 type stars, and communicates his results to the Astro- 

 nomische Nachrichten, No. 4662, p. 117. The spectra 

 were secured at the Astrophysical Observatory at Pots- 

 dam, and measured with a Hartmann's microphoto- 

 meter. The investigation chiefly consisted in the 

 study of H7 and a few other lines in the spectra of 

 the following stars : — a Can. maj., a Cygni, >j Leonis, 

 <T Ononis, 5 Orionis, and 7 Cassiopeia?. The paper is 

 accompanied by a series of curves showing the form 

 of the distribution, and brings out the fact that a 

 systematic study on a more extensive scale might lead 

 to important conclusions. 



RECENT WORK OF THE GEOLOGICAL 



SURVEY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

 'THE memoirs here referred to bear witness to the 



-1 publishing activity of the Geological Survey 

 during 1912 and the present year. In explana- 

 tion of Sheet 299, H. J. O. White describes 

 the country around Winchester and Stockbridge 

 (is. 6d.), where the broad stretch of chalk is cut by 

 the valley of the Test. Though Crawley stands out 

 isolated on its dome, few of our Upper Cretaceous 

 areas show more clearly the dependence of the vil- 

 lages on permanent streams. It is interesting to 

 notice that the pre-Eocene denudation of the Chalk 

 has not entirely removed the zone of Belemnitella 

 mucronata (p. 40). On the accompanying map, the 

 unusual feature of knolls of calcareous tufa, some 

 <; or 6 ft. thick, is represented in the valleys of the 

 Itchen and the Test. 



The description of Devon and Cornwall is continued 

 in three memoirs. Numerous authors are associated 

 in "The Geology of Dartmoor" (2s. 3d.), accompanied 

 bv Sheet 338 of the one-inch map. The great mass 

 of granite, penetrating Carboniferous strata, occupies 

 almost all the area. Its upper surface probably lay 

 at no time much above the present undulating surface 

 of the moor. The Culm-Measure rocks on its margins 

 are regarded as representing the Millstone Gr: f ; and 

 perhaps the higher zones of the Avonian Series. 

 Chapter vii. directs attention to the probability that 

 the valleys of the small streams, with a general north- 

 westerly and south-easterly trend, are controlled by 

 earth-fractures. The rapid deepening of the valleys 



