420 



NATURE 



[December 12, 1912 



reference containing important constants and facts, 

 and also a diary arranged by Messrs. Cliarles Letts 

 and Co. The price, bound in leather witli gilt edges, 

 is 2$. 



Messrs. J. .^nd A. Churchill announce for early 

 publication "A History of Chemistry, from the 

 Earliest Times till the Present Day," by the late Dr. 

 J. Campbell Brown; "Notes on Chemical Research: 

 an Account of Certain Conditions which Apply to 

 Original Investigation," by Mr. W. P. Dreaper; "A 

 Text-book of Anatomy for Nurses," by Dr. Elizabeth 

 Bundy; and "Who's Who in Science (International), 

 1913," edited by Mr. H. H. Stephenson. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



The Annular Sol-^r Eclipse of April 17. — Those 

 interested in the phenomena of the annular eclipse 

 which took place in April last will find forty-eight 

 columns of records and discussion in No. 4615 of the 

 Asironomische Nachricliten. Herr Ladislav Banes 

 describes the observations of contact times, &c., made 

 at the Strassburg Observatory, and, after discussing 

 them, arrives at corrections for the places of the sun 

 and moon ; the central line deduced lies between the 

 lines given by the Connaissance des Temps and the 

 Bureau des Longitudes, rather nearer to the latter. 



The observations made at the Leipzig Observatory 

 are described by several observers, and Herr F. Hayn 

 gives a set of curves showing the measured irregulari- 

 ties of the moon's limb. Prof. Luther brings together 

 a very large number of observations made at various 

 stations in the Rhine province, and derives a central 

 line passing through x = 6° 45' 4o'35" E., 

 ^ = +51° 25'6', giving a correction of — o'4' in latitude 

 to the central line published by Prof. Battermann. He 

 also gives a good photograph taken by Herr P. Boh- 

 nen. Prof. Wilkens publishes the results of the Kiel 

 observations, giving the true sun and moon positions 

 for the moment of each observation, and finds the cor- 

 rections published in the American ephemeris were 

 very near the truth. 



An interesting paper by Drs. Elster and Geitel, deal- 

 ing with the sun's observed light-curve during the 

 eclipse, appears in the Pliysikalische Zcitschrift, pp. 

 852-855. 



A Remarkable Shower of Meteoric Stones. — In 

 No. 203, vol. xxxiv., of The American Journal of 

 Science, Mr. W. M. Foote gives a preliminary account 

 of the shower of meteoric stones which occurred near 

 Holbrook, Navajo County, Arizona, on July 19. Mr. 

 Foote has collected a large mass of evidence which 

 appears to settle the question of authenticity favour- 

 ably. A large meteor was seen to pass over Holbrook 

 at 6.30 p.m. on the date mentioned, and created a 

 loud noise, which lasted for half a minute or more. 

 Numerous stones were seen to fall near Aztec, raising 

 puffs of dust for over a mile of the sandy desert, and 

 subsequently a great number of tliese stones were 

 found by the local people ; the largest found weighed 

 more than 14 lb., while several of about 5 lb. each 

 wore picked up over an elliptical area about three 

 miles long and half a mile broad. The preliminary 

 phvsical and chemical tests point to an undoubted 

 meteoric origin, and a sample taken from twelve 

 individual -stones was found to contain 3'68 per cent, 

 of nickel-iron, witli 96'32 per cent, of silica. _The 

 principal constituent appears to be enstatite, olivine 

 and monoclinic pyroxene making up the balance ; in 

 one section a patch of spinels set in quartz was found. 



.Mtogether more than 14,000 stones, weighing, in 

 all, more than 481 lb., were picked up and preserved, 



NO. 2250, VOL. 90] 



but of these 8000 weighed less than one gram 

 each ; 29 stones had weights ranging from 6665 grams 

 to 1020 grams, and some 6000 ranged between 1000 

 grams and one gram. 



The Orbit of Comet 1910a. — In No. 4605 of the 

 Astronomisclie Nachrichten M. S. Mello e Simas pub- 

 lishes definitive elements of the orbit of the bright 

 comet 1910a. The author has discussed an enormous 

 number of observations, and sets out in full detail 

 the numerous points he has taken into consideration, 

 finally arriving at the conclusion that the orbit is a 

 parabola with an inclination of 138° 46' 55'78", the 

 time of perihelion being 1910, January I7'09464 (M.T. 

 Paris). He also discusses the question of the multiple 

 solutions of problems of cometary orbits, which so 

 confused a number of calculators in endeavouring to 

 find a satisfactory orbit for comet 1910a during the 

 time of its apparition. 



The "Gazette Astronomique." — It is with pleasure 

 that we learn that the Gazette Astro)wmique, pub- 

 lished by the Antwerp Astronomical Society, is again 

 to appear each month. The gazette fulfils a very 

 useful nurpose in publishing monthly ephemerides and 

 notes for observers, and, also, in jjopularising astro- 

 nomical subjects. 



THE NEW PHARMACOLOGICAL LABORA- 

 TORY AT UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, 

 LONDON. 



WHEN University College was incorporated in the 

 University of London, a scheme was formed to 

 replace the old laboratories of the medical sciences by 

 more adequate institutes in the south quadrangle. 

 The first part of the plan was completed in 1909, 

 when the Pliysiological Institute was opened. A 

 second instalment has been rendered possible by a 

 donation of 5000!. by Mr. Carnegie, and the Phar- 

 macological Institute was opened on Wednesday, 

 December 4, by Sir Thomas Barlow, president of the 

 College of Physicians. It is to be hoped that the 

 third institute, ' for Anatomy and Anthropology, may 

 follow in due course and complete the buildings for 

 the medfcal sciences. 



The new pharmacological laboratory has been built 

 from the plans of Prof. F. M. Simpson, of University 

 College, and occupies an area of 42 ft. by 50 ft. 

 immediately adjoining the physiological building on 

 the east. It contains three complete floors and a 

 mezzanine floor, besides the basement, the actual 

 floor space amounting to about 6000 sq. ft., besides 

 the stairway and passages. The building is lighted 

 on three sides by large windows, which occupy the 

 maximum amount of space permissible under the 

 Building Acts. The ground floor is lined with white 

 glazed brick throughout, and contains a reading- 

 room 24 ft. by 18 ft., and the pharmacological- 

 chemical laboratory, 24 ft. by 30 ft., fitted with two 

 large chemical benches and fume cupboards. It com- 

 municates with an open-air balcony on the south side, 

 which is arranged for investigations on noxious gases. 

 On this floor there are also a balance-room, a dark- 

 room, and an attendant's workshop. Between the 

 ground and first floors a mezzanine floor contains 

 lavatories and a hospital-room for animals under 

 observation. The animal houses proper lie behind the 

 building. 



The first floor contains private rooms for professor 

 and assistant, and two large experimental rooms, 

 24 ft. by 18 ft. and 24 ft. by'so ft. respectively. The 

 smaller of these is designed for work with the large 

 kymograph, while the larger is used for smaller 

 rriovable apparatus. A heavy beam runs through 



