452 



NA TURE 



[August 30, 1906 



wliich are a separate boiling flask and a return condenser 



provided witli a mercury trap. With tliis apparatus 



measurements can be made very quickly, and the parts 

 liable to break are easily replaceable. 



In the same journal Mr. R. C. .Snowdon shows that 

 metallic lead can be electrolytically . deposited in a satis- 

 factory and adherent condition from an acidified solution 

 of lead acetate. This result is attained by employing a 

 rapidly rotating kathode and a virtual current density of 

 1-5 amperes per square decimetre, and adding about i gram 

 of gelatin to a litre of the solution. In an investigation 

 of the behaviour of ferromanganese anodes in solutions of 

 caustic soda, Mr. G. R. White finds that permanganate is 

 formed irrespective of the current strength and the concen- 

 tration of the solution. Metallic manganese yields per- 

 manganate at high current densities, but manganous 

 hydroxide is only oxidised to dioxide. The electrolytic 

 formation of permanganate is therefore a direct reaction, 

 the lower oxides not being formed as intermediate products. 



We have received from Messrs. Adam Hilger, Ltd., a 

 copy of their " List A " of spectroscopes and spectroscopic 

 accessories. This list contains descriptions and illustrations 

 of the numerous specialities manufactured by the firm, and 

 should be consulted with interest by all workers in spectro- 

 scopy. The spectroscopes, spectrographs, and accessories 

 of especial interest are too numerous to be referred to 

 here, but mention may be made of the fact that the firm 

 is now prepared to supply the strips of plane parallel 

 glass, up to 300 mm. by 40 mm., used in the Lummer and 

 Gehrcke parallel plate spectroscope described in the 

 Annalen der Physik, vols. x. (1903) and xx. (1906). These 

 strips may be used with any ordinary spectroscope of suit- 

 able size, but the firm will be pleased to quote prices for 

 specially designed instruments. 



The new edition of the Japanese Pharmacopoeia, 

 which has been in preparation for some considerable time, 

 has now been completed, and will be issued shortly. 

 .Among the alterations in it is the substitution of Japanese 

 characters for the names of drugs and chemicals for the 

 Chinese forms hitherto used. 



A NEW magazine, entitled the University Digest, is 

 announced for publication by the University Research 

 Extension of Chicago. Its aim (to quote from the pro- 

 spectus issued) is " to keep before its readers the ideal 

 phenomena that distinguish the modern, the greatest of 

 world-epochs," and the intention of its promoters is to 

 represent the results of scientific research in religion, 

 philosophy, and the social and natural sciences. The 

 periodical will be issued at monthly intervals from 

 September next, excluding the months of July and August. 



The Proceedings and Transactions of the Nova Scotian 

 Institute of Science for the session 1903-4, just received, 

 contains many papers of value. The_ address of the presi- 

 dent — Dr. H. S. Poole — dealt with the progress of the 

 institute and the application of science to mining, and 

 among other communications in the volume we notice the 

 following : — the earthquake of March 21, 1904, in Nova 

 Scotia, by Prof. J. E. Woodman ; swim bladder of fishes 

 a degenerate gland, by Prof. E. E. Prince ; and determin- 

 ation of elements of terrestrial magnetism at Halifax, 

 Nova Scotia, August, 1904, by Prof. S. M. Dixon. 



The official year-book of New South Wales for 1904-5 

 has just reached us. It is edited by Mr. W. H. Hall, 

 acting statistician to the State of New South Wales, and 

 NO. 1922, VOL. 74] 



is a mine of information, containing as it does papers on 

 the discovery of "Terra ."Australis," the physical configura- 

 tion, the geological formation, the meteorology, vegetation, 

 timbers of commercial importance, fish and fisheries, and 

 fauna of New South Wales, besides much information of 

 statistical importance. The volume is illustrated by some 

 twenty-eight well-executed figures, and should be seen by 

 all who are specially interested in the State under review. 



The twenty-sixth annual report of the Manchester 

 Microscopical Society, which has just been issued, tells of 

 continued progress. The address on precious corals de- 

 livered by Prof. S. J. Hickson, F.R.S., as president, is 

 to be found in the volume, as is also an illustrated paper 

 by Mr. M. L. Sykes on animal coloration. 



The seventh annual report of the Museum and Art 

 Gallery of Plymouth is of an encouraging nature. During 

 the year ending with March last many interesting additions 

 were made ; the public lectures on subjects connected with 

 the work of the museum were, it is stated, on the whole 

 decidedly successful. The museum and gallery were visited 

 during the period under review by 30,760 persons. 



A new (the second) edition of " The Geology of the 

 English Lake District, with Notes of the Minerals," by 

 Mr. J. Postlethwaite, has just been issued by G. and T. 

 Coward, Carlisle. The little book has been revised and 

 additional lists and plates of fossils have been added, and 

 the section on the Mollusca of the Skiddaw slates has been 

 rearranged. 



The current number of the Monthly Magazine contains 

 a very readable account, by Mr. H. W. Strong, of the 

 evolution of the turbine, entitled " The Coming of the 

 Turbine"; it has also an interesting paper by Mr. A. W. 

 Rees on a moorland sanctuary. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 

 Astronomical Occurrences in September: — 

 Sept. I. I4h. 42m. to I5h. 46m. Moon occults 1 Aquarii 

 (mag. 4-3). 

 2. I5h. .Saturn in conjunction with Moon. Saturn 



o' 34' N. 

 4. I3h. Mercury in conjunction with Mars. Mercury 



o 10' S. 

 ,, ish. Saturn in opposition to the Sun. 



8. Predicted date of perihelion passage of Finlay's 



comet. 



9. I4h. 27m. to I4h. 43ni. Moon occults a Tauri 



(Aldebaran, mag. i"i). 



10. loh. 47m. Minimum of Algol (3 Persei). 

 ,, Vesta 1° N. of star 105 Aquarii (mag. 47). 



11. Vesta (mag. 6'5) in opposition to the Sun. 



15. Venus. Illuminated portion of disc =o'5i4; 01 



Mars =0'9S9. 



16. Saturn. Major axis of outer ring =44"33, minor 



axis = 4"-i5. 

 20. loh. Venus at greatest elongation, 46° 29' E. 

 23. II h. Sun enters Libra, Autumn commences. 



29. ilh, 29m. Transit (egress) of Jupiter's Sat. III. 



(Ganymede). 



30. I2h. 30m. Minimum of Algol (B Persei). 



Discovery of a New Comet (i9o6e). — A telegram from 

 the Kiel Centralstelle announces the discovery of a new 

 comet by Herr Kopff at the Konigstuhl Observatory on 

 August 22. 



Its position at I4h. 17m. (Konigstuhl M.T.) on the day 

 of discovery was R.A. = 22h. 49m. 32s., dec. = + io° 23', 

 and the amount of its daily movement was found to be 

 — 44s. in R.A. and —2' in declination. Unfortunately no 

 idea of the comet's brightness is given. 



