NA TURE 



[May 3, 1906 



lamps or motors, e.g. ammonia, nitrobenzene, sulphuric 

 acid, carbon bisulphide, &c. ; (6) nor may it be poisonous ; 

 (7) further, its cost must not be so high as to prejudice 

 the use of methylated spirits for industrial purposes or 

 household use ; (8) its presence in methylated alcohol must 

 be easily detectable ; (9) it must possess advantages over 

 that now in use in France, and not permit of any swindling 

 of the Excise. It might be remarked that the discovery of 

 a methylating additive which shall fulfil all the foregoing 

 conditions is a matter of great difficulty ; indeed, four years 

 ago the Russian Government offered a prize of about 

 50,000 marks for a similar purpose, without, however, as 

 yet having had a satisfactory entry. (ii.) The use of 

 alcohol for illuminating purposes (prize of 50,000 francs). 

 In this the competitors are allowed full scope as to the 

 proposed system to be followed in order that alcohol may 

 be used for illuminating purposes under the same conditions 

 as petroleum. Suggestions, together with the necessary 

 apparatus and methods of using, are to be sent to the Chef 

 du Service des Laboratoirs du Minist^re des finances, 

 1 1 rue de la Douane, Paris. 



It was pointed out recently by a correspondent of the 

 Times that though in the manufacture of pig-iron before 

 1880 England was preeminent, and the product was 50 per 

 cent, more than that of the United States and Germany 

 combined, yet ten years later the former country produced 

 more than England, and the United States and Germany 

 together twice as much. In 1903 Germany produced more 

 than England, while the United States alone produced 

 twice as much as England. In 1880 England produced 45 

 per cent, of the world's make, Germany 15 per cent., the 

 United States 14 per cent. In 1903 the United States pro- 

 duced 39 per cent., Germany 20 per cent., and England 

 only 19 per cent. With steel the case is even worse. 

 .Since 18S0 steel has replaced wrought iron in nearly all 

 manufactures, and in i83o .the United States and Germany 

 manufactured about 30 per cent, less than England. In 

 1S88 the United States equalled England. In 1893 

 Gormany nearly equalled, and the United States largely 

 exceeded England. About 1S98 Germany's manufacture 

 was much greater than that of England, and America's 

 manufacture three times as great. These figures show that 

 during the last twenty-five years England has receded from 

 a position of great preeminence to the lowest place among 

 the three great steel-producing countries. On the other 

 hand, between 1900 and 1905, the importation of iron and 

 steel into England increased very largely, the importation 

 in 1905 being 1,435,000 tons, as against 741,402 tons in 

 1900. 



Messrs. E. Dent and Co. have lately introduced a new 

 astronomical clock which should find its way into many 

 observatories where an accurate instrument is required at 

 a moderate cost. For the sum of 21!. they supply a clock 

 with a 10-inch dial, dead-beat escapement, and wooden 

 rod seconds pendulum in a solid mahogany case ; and after 

 examining the instrument we have no hesitation in pro- 

 nouncing it a marvel of cheapness. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 

 Astronomical Occurrences in May: — 

 May 1-6. Epoch of Aquarid meteoric shower (Radiant 



338° -2°)- 

 2. I7h. Mercury at greatest elongation, 26 46' W. 



4. loh. 4m. Minimum of Algol (;8 Persei). 



5. I3h. 33m. to I4h. 3m. Moon occults 7 Virginis 



(mag. 3-0). 



6. 2h. Venus in conjunction with Mars. (Venu'; 



0° 5' S). 

 NO. T905, VOL. 74] 



May II. I5h. Venus in conjunction with Jupiter. (Vtnus 

 i°ii'N.). 

 15. Venus. Illuminated portion of disc =0^921. Of 



Mars =0'990. 

 iS. oh. Mars in conjunction with Jupiter. (Mars 



i°6' N ). 

 20. 23h. Ceres in conjunction with Moon. (Ceres 

 r6' S.). 



24. 5h. Mars in conjunction with Moon. (Mars 



4° 57' N.). 

 „ llh. 46m. Minimum of Algol (3 Persei). 



25. 3h. \'enus in conjunction with Moon. (Venus 



4°5i'N.). 

 27. 8h. 35m. Minimum of Algol (B Persei). 

 Comets 19060 and 1906c. — The results of a number of 

 observations of comets 19060 and 1906c, made at the Royal 

 Observatory at Arcetri during February and March, are 

 recorded in No. 4083 of the ,4stronomische Nachrichten by 

 Prof. Abetti. 



The same journal also contains the following set of 

 elements, and an ephemeris extending to May 8, for comet 

 1906c, computed by Herr E. Stromgren from places deter- 

 mined on March 19 (Nizza), 22 (Glasgow, Mo.), and 20 

 (.Arcetri). 



Elements. 

 T = 1906 Feb. 207555 ^f-T- Berlin. 

 00 = 274° 46' •4] 

 fl = 71° 47'7 -1906-0 

 i = 84° 36' -8 J 

 log </ =9'849i6 



The Total Solar Eclipse of January, igo8. — For the 

 information of those astronomers who intend to observe 

 next January's eclipse. Dr. Downing has prepared a 

 number of astronomical details for the observations at two 

 islands in the Pacific which are favourably placed. 



These two stations are Hull Island (long. = 172° 13' W.. 

 lat.=4° 30' S.) and Flint Island (long. = 151° 48' \\'., 

 lat. = 11° 26' S.), now the properties of Lever's Pacific 

 Plantations Company, Port Sunlight, Cheshire, with whom 

 intending observers should communicate. 



As the errors of the moon's tabular places now amount 

 to sensible and apparently increasing quantities. Dr. 

 Downing warns observers that the calculated times of the 

 several phases may differ sensibly from the observed times. 

 To obviate the possible inconvenience arising from this 

 source, he gives the number of seconds before the com- 

 mencement of totality that the cusps will subtend specified 

 angles (Monthly Notices R.A.S., vol. Ixvi., No. 5). 



Radiant Point of a Bright Meteor. — In No. 4083 of 

 the Astronomische Nachrichten Dr. Jiri Kavdn publishes 

 an account of a bright meteor observed at Prague at 

 6h. 2im. (M.E.T.) on October i, 1905. 



From observations of the altitude and azimuth. Dr. 

 Kavdn has deduced the following positions for the 

 beginning and end points of the meteor's path : — 



Beginning ... ... = 293°. i ••■ ^— ~ ^°'^ 



End... ... ... a = 273''-4 ... 5= — ii°.i 



The duration of the meteor's flight was 2 to 2.5 seconds, 

 and the colour of the object was green. 



Luminous Particles in the Chromosphere. — The details 

 of the equipment employed by Dr. Deslandres, in his ex- 

 periments to determine whether the chromosphere contains 

 luminous liquid or solid particles, are described in No. 14 

 (April 2) of the Comptes rendus. The results of the ex- 

 periments were briefly described in these columns on 

 .April 19 (vol. Ixxiii., p. 592). 



New Catalogue of Double Stars. — In No. 93 of the 

 Lick Observatory Bulletins, Prof. R. G. Aitken publishes 

 the detailed measures of 350 new double stars, A 901 to 

 A 1250 inclusive. The stars contained in the present cata- 

 logue are similar in character to those published in Prof. 

 Aitken 's previous lists; 267 of them, or 76 per cent, of the 

 entire number, have apparent distances less than 2", 31 of 

 them less than o".25, while only 9 approach the limit of 5". 

 .Some of the pairs consist of closer components to Struve 

 and Herschel stars, and most of them were observed with 

 the 36-inch refractor. 



