1 66 



NA rURE 



[Dfcemiser 9, 1909 



is decreasing dailv by some 460,000 miles; its distance from 

 .the eartli on December 11, at 9 p.m., will be about 12.VS 

 million miles. . 



Observations made at the Solar Physics Observatory, 

 South Kensington, with the 36-inch reflector, show that the 

 comet is a nebulous object, easily recognisable, and having 

 no visible nucleus ; exposures of five to ten minutes give a 

 distinct image, and show how rapidly the object is moving 

 in relation to the surrounding stars. 



With a 3-inch Dallmeyer portrait lens, Mr. Longbottom, 

 Chester, succeeded, on November 21, in photographing an 

 excellent image of the comet, on an Ilford plate, in thirty 

 minutes. 



Absorption of Light in Sface. — In this column for 

 February 25 (vol. Ixxix., p. 499) we directed attention to 

 Prof. Kapteyn's researches on the absorption of_ light 

 <luring its passage through interstellar space, in which he 

 found a value corresponding to an absorption of 0016 of 

 a magnitude in a distance of thirty-three light-years. 



Another paper dealing with this subject he now publishes 

 in vol. xxx., No. 4, of the AsUophyshal Journal, and as 

 No. 42 of the " Contributions from the Mount Wilson Solar 

 Observatorv." The criterion he adopts is that such 

 absorption ' would manifest itself, ceteris paribus, by the 

 more distant stars being redder than the nearer ones. 

 The subject is too complicated to discuss here, but, by 

 •comparing the photographic and visual magnitudes of stars 

 of which the spectral types are known, from Misses 

 Maury's and Cannon's classifications, and for which 

 measures of distance are available, he succeeds in showing 

 that such absorption probably does exist. The resuhs 

 indicate tliat for the photographic rays the loss per _ 32-6 

 light-years is 0.00945, while for the visual rays it is 

 000465, magnitude ; the final value for d (increase in red- 

 ness per 32.6 light-years) is 00066 + 00031 magnitude. 

 Apparently there is no reason for assuming the absorption 

 to be different in galactic and extra-galactic stars. 



Incidentallv, Prof. Kapteyn finds that for stars of the 

 same spectral class, the ratio between the brightness of 

 the violet radiations and that of the visual rays changes 

 largelv with the apparent magnitude. This, however, is 

 probably a photographic, and not a eosniical, phenomenon. 

 Prof. Kapteyn's result proves abund.antly that such large 

 values, for the absorption, as are implied by the results 

 recently brought out by certain investigators must be 

 "illusory. 



Copernicus Anticipated. — No. 21 of the Revue ginirale 

 des Sciences (November 15, p. 866) contains an interesting 

 article, by M. Pierre Duhem, giving an account of the life 

 and works of Nicole Oresme, who became Bishop of Lisieux 

 in 1377, and died at that place in 1382. Oresme translated, 

 with commentaries, the' four books of Aristotle, but the 

 translation was never printed, although there are several 

 manuscript copies ; it is on one of these that M. Duhem 

 bases his note. In this work, Oresme, commenting on 

 Aristotle's contentions for an unmovable, central earth, 

 gives numerous reasons and arguments against such an 

 ■hypothesis, and clearly shows that, in his opinion, it was 

 entirely wrong. In concluding his note, M. Duhem 

 suggests that, not only was Oresme the precursor of 

 Copernicus, but he may have been, also, the inspirer. 



Star .Almanac and Calendar for igio. — From Messrs. 

 King, Sell and Olding we have received copies of " The 

 Star Almanac for 1910," "The Star Calendar for 1910," 

 and " The Stars from Year to Year." These works, for 

 iQog, w'ere reviewed in our columns for December 3, 1908, 

 and maintain the favourable opinions then expressed con- 

 cerning them. The prices are 3d., is., and is., respectively. 



MAGNETIC EXPEDITIONS. 

 /^F the many successfully conducted land expeditions 

 ^'^ sent out by the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism 

 of the Carnegie Institution of Washington since its 

 establishment in 1904, news has just been received of the 

 successful completion of two of the most important and 

 "interesting ones. Mr. D. C. Sowers headed an expedition 

 which started out from Peking, China, on January 30 of 

 NO. 2093, VOL. 82] 



this year, passing through China and Chinese Turkestan, 

 reaching Kashgar on August 2, and then crossing the 

 Himalayan range and arriving at Leh, India, at the end of 

 September. Magnetic observations and other geographical 

 data were obtained along the entire route traversed. Mr. 

 Sowers's chief assistant was Prof. Fuson, formerly pro- 

 fessor of history and geography at the Christian College, 

 Fuson, China. 



Mr. C. C. Stewart started out from Washington last 

 July to take charge of a canoeing magnetic exploring 

 expedition in British North America. After reaching Lake 

 Abitibi the party next proceeded to Moose Factory, then 

 crossed James Bay to Rupert House, then up the Rupert 

 River, and coming out at Roberval, Lake St. John, the 

 middle of October. 



News has also been received of the successful progress 

 of the land magnetic surveys in Africa under the charge 

 of Profs. Bealtie and Morrison, research associates of the 

 Carnegie Institution, and of the magnetic work in charge 

 of Mr. J. C. Pearson in Persia, Asia Minor, and southern 

 Asiatic Russia. 



With the resumption of the ocean magnetic work by the 

 Carnegie, the director of the department. Dr. Bauer, 

 estimates that at the present rate of progress it will be 

 possible in another five years to construct accurate mag- 

 netic charts of declination, dip, and force, as based on 

 freshly acquired data, for the region of the earth 60° K. 

 to 60° S. 



The department is also cooperating with polar expedi- 

 tions so as to secure information in regions which cannot 

 be entered by the Carnegie, this vessel not having been 

 built for going into the ice. Thus instruments were 

 loaned and instructions drawn up for Mr. Jackson, of the 

 Canadian Meteorological Office, who was detailed for duty 

 on the Canadian exploring steamer Arctic (formerly the 

 Gauss), in command of Captain Bernier, the vessel having 

 recently returned to Quebec. Mr. Jackson has informed 

 Dr. Bauer that he has secured a series of magnetic, atmo- 

 spheric electric, tidal and meteorological observations at 

 various points in the Arctic regions. 



So also Dr. C. C. Craft, magnetic observer of the 

 department, was assigned to Commander Peary's auxiliary 

 steamer, the Eric, a year ago, and obtained magnetic data 

 at a number of points in Labrador, Baffin Land, and 

 Greenland. 



During the past summer Mr. E. Kidson, formerly 

 assistant at the Christchurch Magnetic Observatory, com- 

 pleted a magnetic survev of the interior of Newfoundland, 

 and in the early part of the year an expedition, in charge 

 of Mr. C. Sligh, made magnetic observations along the 

 coasts and in the interior of Centra! America. 



ETHNOGRAPHY IN THE PHILIPPINE 

 ISLANDS. 

 'T'HE Government Bureau of Science of the Philippine 

 -*■ Islands is actively prosecuting inquiries into the 

 physical anthropology and ethnography of the archipelago. 

 The fourth part of the fourth volume of its Proceedings 

 contains two papers of more than ordinary importance. 



Mr. R. B. Bean contributes an elaborate article on the 

 littoral population of Luzon and the adjacent islands, based 

 on measurements of students at Manila. The view gener- 

 ally accepted is that of M. L. J. Montano (" Rapport a 

 M. le Ministre de I'lnstruction publique sur une Mission 

 aux fles Philippines et en Malaisie," Paris, 1879-81), who 

 classes the inhabitants of the mountainous regions of the 

 interior as Negritos ; those of the fertile parts of the interior 

 as Indonesian ; those of the coast lands as Malay. In 

 addition to these there is a considerable Spanish element, 

 and, since the last conquest of the archipelago, American 

 and negro mestizos or half-castes are springing up in 

 every part of the islands, thus presenting in a very mixed 

 population a series of most interesting problems for the 

 phvsical anthropologist. Mr. Bean, from his recent 

 inquiries, classifies the coast population into Modified 

 Iberian, Australnid, and Primitive, with several inter- 

 mediate types. The Modified Iberians correspond to the 

 Mediterranean race of Sergi ; the Australoids are below 



