June 7, 1906 J 



NA TURE 



m 



is a Lirj^cr number of rejections than in any previous year, 

 although the number submitted was smaller than usual. 



In concluding the report, the Astronomer Royal directs 

 attention to the serious menace to the continued efiiciency 

 of the observatory on its present site involved in the 

 establishment in the immediate neighbourhood of large 

 generating stations for the supply of electric power to 

 distant districts. The most serious danger at present arises 

 from the new power station erected by the London County 

 Council, which is situated directly north of the observatory. 

 Not only will the high chimneys actually prevent stars 

 from being seen when near the northern horizon, but the 

 heated gases arising from the buildings may .seriously 

 affect the accuracy of any results obtained. Again, the 

 new station is but half a mile from the observatory, and 

 the running of the engines, although their number is not 

 yet complete, produces serious tremors on the mercury re- 

 flecting surface, on the steadiness of which the accuracy 

 of the astronomical results is critically dependent. At 

 present the instruments employed in the magnetic pavilion 

 have shown no disturbance, but it is greatly to be feared 

 th.U lhi> contemplated increase of the electrical plant will 

 .il-o h.ive a serious effect on the work of this department. 



THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH AND 

 THE NATIONAL GALLERIES OF SCOT- 

 LAND BILL. 

 /^N Friday last, June i, the .Secretary for .Scotland re 

 ^^ ceived an important deputation of the Royal .Society 

 of Edinburgh regarding the claims of science in the re- 

 adjustment of grants in aid and allocation of national 

 buildings as contemplated in the National Galleries of 

 Scotland Bill recently introduced in Parliament. 



The chief point discussed was the position of the society 

 in regard to its present occupancy of part of the Royal 

 Institution, Princes .Street. The deputation, which was 

 very representative of science in Scotland, was introduced 

 by .Sir J. Batty Tuke, M.P. The claims of the society 

 were presented bv Lord M'Laren, vice-president; Mr. 

 J. \V. Gullanil, M.P. ; Principal Sir William Turner, of 

 Edinburgh L'niversity ; Principal Mackav, Dundee ; Prof. 

 Cash, .Aberdeen ; Prof. Gray, Glasgow ; and Prof. Chrystal, 

 secretary of the society. It was pointed out that in the 

 National Galleries Bill, which contemplates devoting the 

 Royal Institution, as well as the present National Gallery 

 building, entirely to art, no provision is made for the Royal 

 Society, which has occupied the west wing of the Royal 

 Institution since that building was constructed seventy 

 years ago, and for which, indeed, the building was 

 originally designed. The deputation suggested the intro- 

 duction of a clause safeguarding the position of the society, 

 so that it shall not be tiispossessed until equally good and 

 convenient rooms have been obtained elsewhere out of 

 public money. It will be impossible to carry on the 

 important work of the society, especially as regards the 

 publication of valuable and expensive memoirs, without 

 this guarantee. Not only so, but it was urged that the 

 Royal .Society of Edinburgh should be placed on the same 

 footing as the Royal Society of London and the Royal Irish 

 Academy, both of which sit rent free in Government build- 

 ings, and receive grants to the extent of looo/. and 1(100/. 

 respectively. The Royal Society of Edinburgh receiver a 

 ■grant of 300?., w-hich, however, is nearly all paid back to 

 the Board of Manufactures in the form of rent. The 

 Royal .Society of London and five other scientific societies 

 are accommodated in Burlington House next door to the 

 Royal .\cademy, and it is hoped that a similar principle 

 \v\\\ be applied in Edinburgh. 



The Secretary for .Scotland expressed his hearty svmpathy 

 with all that had been said as to the importance of scien- 

 tific work and the national character of the work done by 

 the Royal Society. The National Galleries Bill introduced 

 by the present Government is practically the Bill of last 

 session with some minor alterations. The whole question 

 has been gone into very carefully, and the conclusion is 

 to put the National Gallery into the south building, and 

 give to the Royal .\cademy the Royal Institution, part of 

 which is at present occupied by the Royal Society. The 

 accommodation for the National Gallerv and for the 



Academy will thus be doubled, and ample scope will be 

 given for future development. It is not possible to house 

 the Roval Society and the Royal .\iadcmy in the same 

 building. The decision has been come to after review of 

 all the circumstances, and it carries with it the obligation 

 to find accommodation consistent with the necessities and 

 prestige of the Royal Society. It is the desire and inten- 

 tion of the Government to tneet the reasonable demands of 

 the Roval Society in a liberal spirit ; and the Secretary for 

 Scotland suggested that the Royal Society should consider 

 the new situation which has been created, and should 

 formulate some scheme for the consideration of the 

 Government. 



THE DISCOVERY OF MAGNETIC DECLIN- 

 ATION. 

 "TTIIE Meteorologiiclic Zcitschrijl for April contains an 

 ■'■ interesting article by Prof. (i. Hellmann on the know- 

 ledge of the magnetic declination before the time of 

 Christopher Columbus. Some years ago Prof. Hellmann 

 pointed out that, independently of the discovery by 

 Columbus, the variation must have been known on the 

 Continent, from the construction of many pocket sun- 

 dials provided with magnetic ne<-dles for adjusting the 

 instruments to the astronomical meridian, and showing the 

 declination by a line on the floor of the compass-box. 



Dr. A. Wolkenhauer recently discovered three such sun- 

 dials dating from before the time of Columbus. One of 

 these, which is in the Ferdinand Mu>eum at Innsbruck, and 



, about 



was probably made at Nuremberg, is shown in the accom- 

 panying photographs by Hofrath von Wieser. The glass 

 shade and magnetic needle have been removed so that the 

 lines on the bottom of the box might be more plainly shown. 

 The lid or flap, w-hich has also been removed, and which 

 adjusts the gnomon when opened, shows the date of con- 

 struction, viz. 1451, the figures 4 and 5 being in the old 

 form (see also the hour numbers of the dial). 



The rim of the compass-box shows the four cardinal 

 points :.— M. (Meridies), Oc. (Occidens), S. (Septentrio), 

 Or. (Oriens). On the f^oor of the compass-box is cut the 

 northerly-pointing bifurcated line of deviation of the mag- 

 net, showing about 11° easterly variation. This line is of 

 the same depth and thickness as the hour lines, and a 

 careful examination of the instrument shows that it must 

 have been originally done by the maker. It can easily be 

 recognised, however, that the three other marks west of 

 the original line (two of which have arrow-heads) were 

 roughly inserted at a later time, when probably the de- 

 clination had become westerly. The short, thick stroke 

 Iving 4°-5° west of the N.-S. direction has been scratched 

 the deepest. The magnetic variation was apparently prob- 

 ably known before the beginning of the fifteenth century, 

 but by whom and where it wa< discovered si ill remain an 

 open question. 



NO. 1910, VOL. 74] 



