172 



NATURE 



[October 10, 1912 



bo used during day and night, and capable of trans- 

 mitting and receiving messages over a distance of at 

 least one hundred miles. 



In "Relative Bestinmuingen der Intensitat dor 

 Schwerkraft " (Karlsruhe : G. Braun), Dr. E. 

 Becker gives the results of a series of pen- 

 dulum e.xperiments conducted during the years 

 1900-05 in Alsace-Lorraine. The work of the group 

 of experimenters concerned appears to have been very 

 carefully performed and the reductions of the observa- 

 tions have been carried out with a due recognition 

 of the systematic errors likely to be present. Using 

 Holmert's system of corrections to sea-level and 

 giving to the ideal surface layer of land a density of 

 2'4, the experimenters find the western Rhine valley 

 to be a region where gravity has its normal value. 

 In general the higher land to the west is a region of 

 gravity-excess. The map which accompanies the 

 work would enable the reader to make a more in- 

 telligent use of the tabulated results if by shading or 

 otherwise it gave an idea of the level contours or of 

 the geological distribution. That would at once con- 

 firm or disprove the idea left by the table that no 

 marked correlation between gravity-variation and 

 height or geological conditions has been found. 

 .\nother useful addition to the work would have been 

 some illustrations of the apparatus used and de- 

 scribed. It is to be hoped that the experiments will 

 be extended as suggested in the last sentence of the 

 memoir. 



The volume of Contributions from the Jefferson 

 Physical Laboratory of Harvard University for the 

 year 191 1 extends to nearly 400 pages, and contains 

 ■eight memoirs, several of which we have already 

 noticed in these columns. More than half the pre- 

 sent volume is occupied by the important papers ot 

 Bridgeman on the properties of water and of mercury 

 at pressures up to 20,000 kilogrammes per square 

 centimetre, and at temperatures between — So° and 

 + 80° C. In addition to the new information these 

 papers supply as to the various modifications of ice 

 and the conditions of equilibrium amongst them, they 

 show that the laws of change of state from solid to 

 liquid are much simpler than the theories and ob- 

 servations of Tammann and of van Laar have led us 

 to believe. Each melting point, for instance, changes 

 with pressure in the same direction at these great 

 pressures as it does at lower pressures, so that there 

 Is no maximum melting point in the case of mercury 

 or minimum in the case of water. It seems probable 

 that the maxima observed by Damien were due to 

 slight impurities, too small to have observable effects 

 on the melting points at low pressures, but which 

 appear to have considerable effects at these high 

 pressures. 



.\ COPY has been received of the third edition of 

 "The Record of the Royal Society of London," pre- 

 pared in connection with the celebration of the 2soth 

 anniversary of the foundation of the society. The 

 volume, which may be obtained of Mr. Henry Frowde, 

 Amen Corner, E.G., price 155. net, is much larger 

 and more complete than previous editions, and is a 

 NO. 2241, VOL. go] 



valuable official statement of the development and 

 position of our leading society for the promotion of 

 natural knowlege. The chapter of greatest general 

 interest is that with which the volume opens, on the 

 foundation and early history of the society. This has 

 been re-written by the president. Sir Archibald Geikie, 

 who has also supervised and edited the whole work. 

 The three charters are printed in full, with trans- 

 lations, while other chapters are devoted to the 

 statutes, trusts, benefactions, medallists, committees, 

 and like matters. There is a chronological register 

 of fellows, as well as an alphabetical list, with dates 

 of election. The volume is illustrated by twenty 

 excellent plates, mostly from portraits of former fel- 

 lows in the society's possession. Among the addi- 

 tions to the new edition are portraits of Lord Kelvin, 

 Lord Lister, and Charles Darwin. The officers and 

 the clerical staff have been successful in producing an 

 attractive volume of more than domestic interest. 



Mr. C. B.aker, 244 High Holborn, has just issued 

 a new classified list of second-hand instruments for 

 sale or hire. The catalogue contains particulars and 

 prices of more than fifteen hundred optical and other 

 instruments and accessories offered at low prices. 

 Every instrument is guaranteed to be in adjustment, 

 having been put in order where necessary in Mr. 

 Baker's workshops or in the works of the original 

 makers. 



Fifty volumes of the "Cambridge Manuals of 

 Science and Literature " have now been published by 

 the Cambridge University Press. Among the most 

 recent additions may be mentioned "The Work of 

 Rain and Rivers," by Prof. T. G. Bonney, F.R.S. ; 

 "Brewing," by Mr. A. Chaston Chapman; "The 

 Individual in the .Animal Kingdom," by Mr. Julian S. 

 Huxley; "House-flies and How they Spread Disease," 

 by Dr. C. G. Hewitt; and "The Psychology of In- 

 sanity," by Dr. Bernard Hart. We notice, too, that 

 Mr. L. Doncaster's volume in the series, " Heredity 

 in the Light of Recent Research," has reached a 

 second edition, jn which a chapter on heredity and sex 

 has been added. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 

 Gale's Comet, 1912a. — No. 4602 of the Asiro- 

 nomische Nachrichtcn contains new- elements for comet 

 1912. A set by Mr. H. E. Wood puts the perihelion 

 passage back to October i'86, and reduces the inclina- 

 tion of the orbit to 51° 54'; another by Mr. Merfield 

 agrees fairly well with that published by Dr. Ebell, 

 who gives a new ephemeris, derived from corrected 

 elements, from which the following is taken : — 



Ephemeris, i2h. M.T. Berlin. 



igi; a (true) S (true) log r log .i Mag. 



h. m. 



Oct. 1.5 ... 15 434 ■■■+ 8 27-1 ... 98673 ... 30454 ... 6-3 



15 ., 15 46-2 ... + 10 28-3 



17 ... 15 487 ... + I2 23-9 ... 9-8806 ... 0-0588 ... 6-4 



It will be observed that this ephemeris gives the 

 declination for October 13 nearly 1° more northerly 

 than that we gave, from the earlier ephemeris, last 

 week ; the calculated magnitude is also considerably 

 fainter. .-\n observation by M. Gonnessiat at Algiers 

 on September 26 gave the magnitude as S-q. 



