JyV.NUARY 6, 1910] 



NA TURE 



293 



Januai''y ^' '* '< = t>h. 18-5111., 5= +53° 48-1', and it is still 

 niovir-'» northward slowly. 



Soi'-^R Activity and Magnetic Storms. — No. i, 

 vol. l>^>i-. of the Monthly Notices (November, 1909) con- 

 tains three papers on the connection between solar activity 

 and 'iiagnetic storms. 



In the first, Dr. W. J. S. Lockyer discusses a series of 

 spect roheliograms taken at the Solar Physics Observatory, 

 Sout'h Kensington, and shows that the enormous magnetic 

 distu '■''^nce of September 25, 1909, was preceded by an 

 ajjnc rinal outburst in connection with a spot then on the 

 sun. One of these photographs shows that at about 

 lu a-"!'- -September 24, the calcium flocculus surrounding 

 the *pot was so disturbed as to obliterate the very fine 

 nucli ■' s^^^" <'" 'he preceding photographs; these nuclei re- 

 appe'ared on a negative taken at iih. iim. the same 



mor '""S- 



X he time of the maximum magnetic disturbance appears 

 to l-iave been 4h. 30m. p.m. on September 25, showing 

 a " lag," after the solar disturbance, of about 30-5 hours. 

 In a similar case, in 1892, Prof. Hale found that the 

 " la'S " was about 253 hours. 



Ii'n the second paper, Father Cortie deals generally w'ith 

 the recent solar and magnetic disturbances, and points 

 out that this spot was not accompanied by any abnormal, 

 visi'al, spectroscopic outburst commensurable in intensity 

 ^vith the magnetic disturbance. 



j(n the last paper Mr. Michie Smith shows, from the 

 evi(Jence of the spectroheliograms and magnetograms 

 secured at the Kodaikanal Observatory, that a great erup- 

 tioii about a spot photographed on September 28, 1909, 

 wa ■ accompanied by a magnetic disturbance. 



ilTAR Sw.^RMs. — In an article which appears in the 

 cu, rent Fortnightly Rcvien' (p. 140), Prof. Turner gives 

 a ^•ery interesting and lucid popular account of " Migrating 



St;"-s-" 



•he difficulties and results of Prof. Boss's work in show- 

 in., that a number of stars in Taurus are moving together, 

 ap|Oarently to a convergent but really along parallel paths, 

 art- clearly explained and illustrated by some attractive 

 analogies. This cluster is now some 120 light-years from 

 usf snd occupies a space on the celestial globe comparable 

 \v]fh that occupied by India on the terrestrial ; but in about 

 5r| million years it will have receded so far as to appear 



erely as a star cluster, occupying an area, using the 



me analogy, about equal to Anglesea. 



The researches of Dr. I^udendorff on the related stars 

 o( Ursa Major, and of Dr. Hertzsprung, who has added 

 Sjrius. o Coronjp, and other stars to it, are also described. 



lln No. ^366 of the Astroiwmische Nachrichten, Herr 

 K.ostinsky directs attention to two swarms of stars in the 

 n.elghbourhood of the strir clusters x and h Persei, the 

 jr^tdividual members of which appear to partake of motions 

 \ji a common direction. 



' A Large Nebula in Cetus. — On a plate taken in the 

 aUtumn by Herr Lorenz, Prof. Wolf found traces of a 

 Ijirge patch of nebulous matter in the constellation Cetus, 

 a nd has recently succeeded in photographing it with the 

 yx'altz reflector. The negative obtained, with tw'o hours* 

 gxposure, shows that the object is a long streak rimning 

 jii the N. and S. direction, its length being 15'; at the 

 tjroadest part, E. and W., its breadth is 3'. The position 

 o^f the central part of the nebula is a = 23h. 54-6m., 

 ri= — 16° 15' (1855-0I, and the whole is seen to be a con- 

 (ilomeration of smaller nebuI.T (.'Istronomische Nachrichten, 

 'iVo. 43S0, December 28, 1909, p. 187). 



' .'\NNtAIRE ASTRONOMlnfE ET MfiTEOROLOGIOVE, I9IO. — 



ror the amateur observer conversant with French, there 

 Jire few more useful volumes than M. Flammarion's 

 Y .^nnuaire." This year's issue is very similar to its pre- 

 ipccessors, but contains a useful rcsum^, with many draw- 

 ings, of the observations of Mars during the recent opposi- 

 ■lion. Solar observers, wishing to chart sun-spots, will 

 rind the, " Disaues Moreux," fitjured on p. 67, a useful 

 jadjunct to their outfit. The climatology of 190S is re- 

 viewed, and at the end of the volume there are some useful 

 instructions on th= use of instruments for people com- 

 nif-nclng astronomical observation. 



NO. 2097, ■^'OL. 82] 



PRIZE AMWRDS OF THE PARIS ACADEMY 

 OF SCIEXCES. 



A T the annual public meeting of the Academy of 

 ■'^ Sciences, the president, -M. Ch. Bouchard, delivered 

 the annual address, dealing with the population question 

 in France, and announced that the prizes for the year 1909 

 had been awarded as follows : — 



Geometry. — The Francoeur prize to Emile Lemoine, for 

 the whole of his works ; the Bordin prize to G. Bagnera 

 and Michele de Franchis, for their memoir on the number 

 p of M. Picard for hyperelliptic surfaces. 



Mechanics. — .\ Montyon prize to M. Lecornu, for his 

 book on applied dynamics ; the Poncelet prize to M. de 

 Sparre, for the whole of his works ; the Boileau prize to 

 M. Boulanger, for his treatise on hydraulics. No satis- 

 factory memoirs having been received on the subject pro- 

 posed for the Vaillant prize, this has been postponed until 

 1911. 



Navigation. — The Prix Extraordinaire de la Marine 

 divided between M. Marbec, for his memoir on the theory 

 of the equilibrium of an elastic plate submitted to a 

 uniform pressure; M. Doyere, for his work on submarines; 

 M. L. J. H. Lecoq, for work on the stability of submarines ; 

 M.M. \'ictor Colin and Jeance, for their work on wire- 

 less telephony; M. Tissot, for work on wireless telegraphy; 

 and M. E. Fromaget, for his river survey work in eastern 

 I'rcnch .\frica. The Plumey prize between M. Routin, 

 for his work on the regulation of electrogenic groups, and 

 M. Henry Caralp, for his book on boilers and engines in 

 warships. 



Astronomy. — The Lalande prize to M. Borrelly, for his 

 work as a whole ; the Valz prize to M. de la Baume- 

 Pluvinel, for his work on solar eclipses and the constitu- 

 tion of comets ; the G. de Pont&oulant prize to Prof. 

 E. W. Brown, of Yale, for his work on the theory of 

 the moon. The Pierre Guzman prize was not awarded, 

 and the Damoiseau prize postponed until 191 1, no memoirs 

 having been received on the subject proposed. 



Geography.— T\v- Tchihatchef prize was not awarded, 

 but M. Henry de Bouillane de Lacoste receives a very 

 honourable mention (2000 francs) ; the Gay prize to M. L. 

 Joubin, for his researches on the distribution of marine 

 plants in the Roscoff region. 



Physics.— The Hebert prize to M. Paul Janet, for his 

 book' on general electrotechnics ; the Hughes prize to M. 

 Meslin, for his researches in physical optics, magneto- 

 optics, and phvsical astronomy ; the Gaston Plants prize 

 to M. Jean Pe'rrin, for his researches on the kathode rays 

 and on the Brownian movement ; the La Caze prize to 

 M. Lc5on Teisserenc de Bort, for his contributions to 

 meteorologv and phvsics of the globe. 



Chemistry. — The La Caze prize between M. G. Blanc, 

 for his researches on the derivatives of camphor, and M. 

 Marcel Guerbet, for his contributions to organic chemistry : 

 the Cahours prize betw^ecn MM. Carr^, Jolibois, , and 

 Brunei; Montvon prize (unhealthy tr.ades) to MM. Emile 

 I.efranc, Paul Letellier, and Maurice Perrot ; the La Caze 

 prize to M. Recoura, for his work on chromium com- 

 pounds. 



Mineralogy and Geologv. — The Grand prize of the physical 

 sciences to M. A. Th^venin, for his memoir on the stages of 

 evolution of the most ancient quadrupeds found in France : 

 the Delesse prize to M. Ph. Glangeaud, for his contributions 

 t.j the geologv of the .\uvergne ; the Victor Raulin prize 

 (1908) to M. L^on Bertrand, for his contribution to th- 

 stratigraohical and tectonic historv of the eastern and 

 central Pyrenees, and (1909) to M. Ferdinand Gonnard, for 

 his mineraloaic.nl researches; the Joseph Labb(5 prize to 

 M. Georges Rolland, for his geoloaical studies relating to 

 the mine basin of Meurthe-et-Moselle. 



Botany. — The Desmaziires nrize to M. r.\bb^ Hue, for 

 his researches on lichens: Montagne prizes to MM. H. 

 and M. Peragallo, for their work on French marine 

 diatoms, and M. Guilliermoiid, for his researches on ^ the 

 structure of the Cvanophycea? and bacteria ; the de Coincy 

 prize to M. Ren(:- Visjuier, for his work on the .Araliacene ; 

 the Thore prize to M. Paul Bergon, for his researches on 

 the structure and development of diatoms. 



Arntomv and Zoology. — The Savigny prize to M. Robert 

 du Buvsson, for his entomological studies in Egypt; the 



