500 



NA TURE 



[Febkuaky 24, 1910 



The 'Qcestion of " Absorbing Matter " in Space. — In 

 the January number of the Astrophysical Journal (vol. 

 .\xxi., No. I, p. S) Prof. Barnard discusses some of the 

 "dark lanes," seen on a number of his beautiful photo- 

 graphs of nebulse, from the point of view of their repre- 

 senting masses of actual absorbing matter. A nebulous 

 re.<;ion involving v Scorpii is shown to be nearer than 

 (hi; general background of stars, and is at least partially 

 tr;insparent, but the absorption of the light of the stars 

 bfihind it must be considerable, for it seems to show a 

 <listinct veiling tendency in certain regions. In the case 

 of p Ophiuchi nebula, also, there are dark lanes which 

 tempt Prof. Barnard to believe in the existence of opaque 

 matter in the sky, although, if there is, it must be there, 

 as shown on the photographs, on a gigantic scale. If it 

 does exist, it is probably in connection, in some way, with 

 nebula, for it is in nebulous regions that it is found. A 

 magnificent photograph of the p Ophiuchi region is repro- 

 duced with the article, and Prof. Barnard believes that 

 better photographs will show the nebulous region which 

 he has photographed near tt and 5 Scorpii to be connected 

 with the v Scorpii and p Ophiuchi nebulosities. 



Photographic Observations of r/ Aouil^. — In No. 4385 

 of the Astronomische Nachrichten Herr A. Kohlschiitter 

 •discusses a number of photographic observations of 

 n Aquilae made at Gottingen during 1906-7, and compares 

 the results with those obtained from visual observations. 

 This comparison shows that, essentially, the variability is 

 the same photographically as visually, but the amplitude 

 of the photographic variation is about 042 magnitude the 

 greater. 



Ephemeris for Daniel's Comet, igoge. — A revised 

 ephemeris for Daniel's comet (igoge) is given in No. 4387 

 ■of the Astronomische Nachrichten. Dr. Ebell, having been 

 informed by Mr. Crommelin that the previous ephemeris, 

 to which we directed attention last week, was incorrect, 

 has calculated another, which he now publishes. 



PRESENTATION TO SIR EDWARD THORPE, 

 F.R.S.- 



A T the Governmnnt Laboratory on Friday, February iS, 

 "^ Sir Edward Thorpe was presented with a silver tea 

 and coffee service and silver ciffaretle box subscribed for by 

 iformer colleagues on the staff of the laboratory, and by 

 members of other public departments intimately connected 

 with the laboratory. Among the company present, besides 

 Sir Edward and Lady Thorpe, were Sir George Murray, 

 'G.C.B., permanent secretary to the Treasury; Sir Thonuis 

 Elliott, K.C.B., secretary to the Board of Agriculture; .Sir 

 Nathaniel Highmore, Board of Customs and Excise ; Mr. 

 Middleton, Board of Agriculture ; and Dr. J. J. Dobbie, 

 principal of the Government Laboratory. 



In making the presentation, Sir George Murray said he 

 remembered being present at the opening of the Govern- 

 ment Laboratory, and he had had ample opportunities of 

 watching the progress of the department and the working 

 out of what seemed in its inception to be a very novel 

 and perhaps rather hazardous experiment. That experiment 

 arose from a conviction that the demands of the Govern- 

 ment on chemical science, as applied to the administrative 

 business of government, could best be satisfied by a great 

 ■central institution with an adequate equipment, and placed 

 under the control of the most eminent man of science the 

 Treasury could procure. The opposite idea was always 

 ■dear to the hearts of departmental chiefs. They preferred 

 a series of independent laboratories under their own control. 

 From the moment of Sir Edward Thorpe's appointment, 

 however, the laboratory gained the confidence of all the 

 departments concerned, as well as of the public and the 

 scientific world. He thought that the imposing variety of 

 the work which was done in the laboratory could not fail 

 to strike even the most uninstructed observer. The excel- 

 lence of that work could be appreciated by only a very few. 



Sir Thomas Elliott took this occasion of thanking Sir 



Edward Thorpe for the assistance, and more than the 



assiCnncc, for the friendly advice and help that he had 



always shown himself ready to tender to the Board of 



NO. 2104, VOL. 82] 



Agriculture and Fisheries. Sir George Murray had 

 referred to the relations between various departments, 

 likening them to water-tight compartments. He, however, 

 would compare them with so many foreign Powers treating 

 with one another through the ordinary channels of 

 diplomacy. He was sure that in overcoming such obstacles 

 Sir Edward Thorpe showed the qualities of a statesman as 

 well as those of a public official. 



Mr. H. W. Davis, deputy principal, Mr. H. J. Helm, 

 I.S.O., former deputy principal, and Mr. J. Connah, of the 

 Customs branch of the laboratory, all referred to the excel- 

 lent relations which had existed between Sir Edward and 

 his colleagues, and to the great interest which Sir Edward 

 had always taken in everything affecting the welfare of 

 the laboratory staff. 



Sir Edward Thorpe, in reply, said there was a large 

 number of those present who could have very little concep- 

 tion of the difference between the old state of affairs at 

 Somerset House and the new state in the Government 

 Laboratory. The stars were favourable when he planned 

 the new building, and he was glad to acknowledge the 

 great assistance he received from individual members of 

 his own department. The laboratory was planned, as all 

 laboratories should be, from the inside outwards. He at 

 once recognised that the removal from Somerset House to 

 the new building was the opportunity for making new- 

 departures quite impossible to achieve under the old con- 

 ditions. With the improvements possible in the new 

 building, economies had been effected which practicallv 

 repaid the cost of the building several times over. Sir 

 Edward said that, apart from the routine work, sever-il 

 very important matters had devolved upon the laboratory 

 which had ta.xed its energies to the utmost. One of the 

 earliest arose out of the imposition of the sugar duties. 

 The laboratory was obliged to carry out experiments upon 

 the thermal expansion and specific gravities of glucose 

 solutions of varying qualities, and to weld the results into 

 tabular form. The arsenic poison scare, too, resulted in 

 the elaboration of an apparatus for the rapid and accurate 

 determination of infinitesimal quantities of arsenic. This 

 apparatus had since come into official use in several 

 countries besides our own. Further, at the present time the 

 laboratory was, in amicable conjunction with the Brewers' 

 Institute, engaged in a series of experiments with a view 

 to the reconstruction and amendment of the tables upon 

 which the method for detcrinining the original gravity of 

 beer is based. 



A vote of thanks to Sir George Murray was proposed by 

 Dr. Dobbie, and carried wilh acclamation. 



BRILLIANT METF.OR OF FEBRUARY 17. 



^~\N February 17, at 6.8 p.m., a brilliant fireball was 

 ^^^ observed from various parts of the country. The 

 evening twilight was strong, but the object created a very 

 luminous effect ; one observer, situated fully 250 miles from 

 the meteor, estimated its light as quite three times as bright 

 as Venus, and the streak or trail was visible for seven 

 minutes. 



Observations have come from the Thames near Sheer- 

 ness, Guildford, Cardiff, and other places, and the radiant 

 point appears to have been near Capella, from which a 

 fine shower of Februarv meteors is directed. The meteor 

 was situated over Lundy Island or that region, and its 

 height was probably from 88 to 46 miles, and velocity about 

 IS -miles per second. As seen from Guildford, the streak 

 remained on view nine minutes, when a cloud obscured it. 

 It drifted far to the S.W. during its visibility, and it will 

 be possible to compute the motion and direction of the 

 drift very exactly. 



More observations are required to define the real path 

 with greater certainty, and amongst the large number of 

 persons who saw the meteor it is hoped that some good 

 records were obtained. The writer would be much 

 interested in hearing some further particulars about the 

 object, and especially with regard to its path in the heavens 

 and place of the drifting streak. The meteor was probably 

 the most brilliant observed in the British Isles hitherto this 

 vear. W. F. Denning. 



