September 20, 1906] 



NATURE 



525 



Holmes's Comet (1906/). — In No. 4121 of the Aslro- 

 Hoiiiische Nachrichtcn Prof. Max Wolf states that he has 

 measured the position of Hohnes's comet on the plate 

 secured on August 28. He gives the e.\act position, for 

 19060, at the time of discovery, and this shows that correc- 

 tions of -I-6-79S. and -(-28".2 are necessary to Dr. Zwiers's 

 cphemeris. As the comet is extremely faint, mag. = 15-5, 

 a continuation of the cphemeris is not given here, but will 

 be found in No. 4085 of the Astroiomische Nachrichtcn. 



Observ.\tions of .Sol.\r Phenomena, 1906. — The results 

 of the observations of sun-spots, faculae, and prominences 

 made during the first semester of the present year at the 

 Catania Observatory are published by Prof. Mascari in 

 No. 8, vol. XXXV., of the Memorie della Societa degli 

 Spettroscopisti Italiani. 



The mean daily frequency of spots was higher during the 

 second than during the first quarter, the respective numbers 

 being 5.68 and 4-50 ; the faculte behaved similarly. For 

 prominences the reverse was the case, there being a mean 

 daily frequency of 438 prominences during the first quarter 

 and 3.47 during the second. Discussing the results in rela- 

 tion to the time of the solar maximum. Prof. Mascari 

 places the epoch of maximum spots at 1905-2, and that 

 of faculaj and prominences in the last quarter of 1905 or 

 the first quarter of 1906. 



Observations of Jupiter. — The observations of Jupiter 

 made by Mr. Denning during the last opposition showed 

 that the rotation period of the Great Red Spot and its 

 Hollow, in the south equatorial belt, between March 24 

 and May 4, was gh. 5Sm. 40-65., a period practically con- 

 formable with that of system ii. of the ephemerides. On 

 observing the phenomena on August 9, however, he found 

 that they were far in advance of their predicted places, an 

 observation confirmed by the Rev. T. E. R. Phillips. 

 From this it appears that the rotation period between 

 May 4 and August 8 was only qh. S5m. 33-8s. Mr. 

 Denning supposes that the conjunction of the dark 

 material, forming the south tropical disturbance, with the 

 Red Spot, in June last, may have caused the marked 

 acceleration of the latter, as it has done on several former 

 occasions. The present increase of velocity is, however, 

 much greater than any previously observed, and these 

 features appear to have been observable for seventj'-five 

 years (the Observatory, No. 374). 



In the September number of the Bulletin de la Socicti' 

 astrononiique de France M. Flammarion directs attention 

 to a remarkably sudden change in the visibility of the 

 north equatorial band on Jupiter. This band has been 

 diminishing since the end of 1903, and an observation 

 made by M. Benoit, at Juvisy, on April 10, 1906, showed 

 that it was almost completely invisible. After its con- 

 junction with the sun, Jupiter was observed again on 

 July 17 by M. Quenisset, who was astonished to find that 

 the north equatorial band was completely reformed, being 

 even broader, and at some points darker, than the south 

 equatorial band. A drawing, made by M. Quenisset on 

 July 23. is reproduced with the article. 



The Kodaikanal Observatory. — An interesting popular 

 account of India's solar physics observatory, situated at 

 Kodaikanal, on the Palani Hills, appears in the July 

 number of the Madras Christian College Magazine. Mr. 

 Monteith Macphail, the writer of the account, lately visited 

 the observatory, and was evidently impressed with its 

 situation and its work. The altitude of the observatory 

 is about 7700 feet, in an atmosphere of exceptional trans- 

 parency, and amid beautiful surroundings. 



.Mthough located in Madras, the institution was founded, 

 and is supported, by the Government of India, thus having 

 a national and not merely a provincial status. Its chief 

 raison d'Hre is the continuous study of the sun, with the 

 ultimate idea of elucidating still further the indicated 

 relationships between solar and terrestrial atmospheric 

 phenomena. To a country like India, the value of possess- 

 ing the fullest possible knowledge of these relationships 

 cannot be overestimated, and that is the reason why the 

 Government of India has seen fit to found and to sup- 

 port this observatory and its equipment in the most favour- 

 able situation at its command. Sun-spots, their spectra, 

 and prominences on the solar limb, are observed visually, 



and spectroheliograms of the solar disc and limb are taken 

 on every day on which the atmospheric conditions are 

 suitable. Magnetical and seismological records are also 

 taken. 



CHEMISTRY AT THE BRITISH 

 ASSOCIATION. 



T T was somewhat noticeable that the trend of the pro- 

 ■^ ceedings in Section B this year was in the direction 

 of applied chemistry ; general problems on the theoretical 

 side of the science came under discussion in Section A ; 

 if this indicate either that this section is becoming alive 

 to the importance of chemistry to physics or a rapproche- 

 ment of the two sections, it is a good sign, but it is not 

 satisfactory if it mean the neglect of broad considerations 

 by the chemist. 



Reports were presented by Mr. S. S. Pickles, on the 

 chemistry of rubber ; on that of gums, by Mr. H. H. 

 Robinson; and on the hydrolysis of sugars, by Mr. R. J. 

 Caldwell. These gave rise to more or less interesting dis- 

 cussions and were a valuable feature of the meeting. 

 Discussion also centred round a paper by Dr. T. .\. Henry, 

 on the production of hydrogen cyanide in plants. The 

 joint discussion with the physiologists on diet was of 

 great interest, although it was mainly developed in physio- 

 logical and sociological directions. 



The proceedings opened on the Thursday, August 2, with 

 an important paper by Messrs. S. Leetham and \Vm. 

 Cramp, who have been engaged in perfecting an apparatus 

 for the production of an active mixture of gases which 

 may be used for bleaching and sterilising purposes, par- 

 ticularly in bleaching flour. The apparatus consists of an 

 alternator, transformer, ozoniser and spark box, the two 

 latter being in series on the high-tension side of the trans- 

 former ; on passing a current of air through the ozoniser 

 and then through the spark box a gaseous mixture is pro- 

 duced, containing minute amounts of ozone and oxides of 

 nitrogen, which has a very remarkable bleaching and 

 sterilising action on flour; the process is already one of 

 considerable commercial value. The bleaching action 

 appears to be an oxidation effect. 



The authors have studied in great detail the behaviour 

 of the different types of electric discharge and the influence 

 of such factors as the number and distance apart of the 

 discharge points, shape of the points, the air velocity and 

 the frequency. The conclusion arrived at is that ozonisa- 

 tion is not a mere induction effect. In commenting on the 

 paper. Prof. Armstrong dwelt on the importance of manu- 

 facturers taking interest in science, and referred to the 

 work as an illustration of the advantages of such co- 

 operation. 



Following a short paper by Prof, van Romburgh, of 

 Utrecht, on the 1:3: s-hexatrien, reports were read of 

 the committees on dynamic isomerism, on hydro-aromatic 

 substances and on aromatic nitro-amines. The rest of the 

 morning was devoted to inorganic chemistry, papers being 

 contributed bv Mr. A. Vernon Harcourt, on the effect upon 

 the concentration of a solution of the presence of an excess 

 of undissolved salt ; bv Mr. G. Beilby, on the crystallisa- 

 tion of gold in the solid state; and by Prof. H. A. Miers 

 and Miss F. Isaac, on the temperature at which water 

 freezes in sealed tubes ; this is found to be very consider- 

 ably below that at which solidification takes place in open 

 vessels. 



The greater part of Friday, August 3, was devoted to a 

 discussion on the production of hydrogen cyanide in plants, 

 introduced by Prof. Dunstan, who pointed out that in 

 the case of both Lotus arahicus and Sorghum vulgare the 

 cyanide was formed only during the early stages of growth, 

 and that it was missing in the mature plant. The fully- 

 grown Lotus vetch is much used as a fodder plant in the 

 Nile vallev, but manv fatal cases of poisoning have been 

 caused through its use in the immature state. Hydrogen 

 cyanide has also been detected in Java beans, of which 

 there are several varieties ; the maximum amount is found 

 in the dark beans, and it is only safe to use the light 

 bean. In the flax plant, which also affords hydrogen 

 cvanide, the maximum amount is produced at an inter- 



NO. 1925, VOL. 74] 



