July 13, 1905] 



NA TURE 



255 



year with which the report is concerned is given, and a 

 statement of accounts supplied. Dr. Bryce points out in 

 his address that the members of the society may be divided 

 into three classes, viz. those who devote themselves specially 

 and scientifically to the business of research in all those 

 lines of inquiry which concern man as a social being ; 

 those interested in sociology as educated and intelligent 

 men ; and practical men who are not able to devote them- 

 selves entirely to scientific study, but have to deal with 

 sociological problems in the course of their daily life. 



The first number of a new periodical devoted to birds 

 has just made its appearance at Cape Town. It is called 

 the Journal of the South African Ornithologists' Union, 

 and is the organ of the association recently formed under 

 that name. Besides information relative to the new union 

 and reports upon the proceedings of its first meetings, this 

 number contains original articles upon South .African birds 

 by Major Sparrow, Mr. F. J. EUemor, Mr. G. C. Short- 

 ridge, and Mr. A. Roberts. The journal is edited by Mr. 

 W. L. Sclater (the president of the union). Dr. Gunning, 

 and Mr. Bucknill, and will appear at irregular intervals, 

 " when sufficient matter has been received." 



Many inquiries having been made for part ii. of the 

 Museum Boltcnianiim, 1798 (which relates to MoUusca, 

 and is very scarce), it has been decided to reproduce a 

 few copies by photographic fascimile from the Crosse copy 

 now in the British Museum (Natural History), and to 

 sell the same at 2/. per copy if a sufficient number of 

 subscribers be forthcoming. The work, if issued, will be 

 produced under the supervision of Mr. F. W. Reader. 

 Those wishing to subscribe should apply to Mr. E. R. 

 Sykes, 3 Gray's Inn Place, Gray's Inn, London. 



The Journal of the Royal Sanitary Institute (vol. xxvi.. 

 No. 6) is mainly devoted to housing problems. Mr. Turton 

 introduces a discussion on re-housing tenants dispossessed 

 from insanitary property. Dr. Louis Parkes a second on 

 housing in mansions let as flats, and Dr. Robertson a 

 third on certain aspects of the housing problem. 



The Psychological Bulletin (vol. ii.. No. 6) contains a 

 report of the proceedings of the north central section 

 of the American Psychological Association, a paper by 

 Raymond Dodge on the illusion of clear vision during 

 eye movements, various reviews, notes, &x. 



A SECOND edition of the " Key to the Classifications of 

 the Patent Specifications of France, Germany, Austria, 

 Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Switzerland in the Library 

 of the Patent Office " has now been published at the 

 Patent Office. The price of the " Key " is td. 



Mr. John Murray has just issued the ninth edition of 

 Mr. Edward Whymper's guide to " The Valley of Zermatt 

 and the Matterhorn," and the tenth edition of his guide 

 to " Chamonix and the Range of Mont Blanc." The price 

 of each volume is three shillings net. 



We have received from Messrs. Hurst and Blackett a 

 copy of a map of Lhasa drawn to a scale of 4 inches to 

 a mile. The map is based on the survey in 1904 of 

 Captain C. H. D. Ryder and Captain H. M. Cowie, with 

 a few additions by Mr. Perceval Landon. 



The first of a series of illustrated papers by F. J. 



' Sprague on " The Electric Railway " appears in the 



Century Magazine for July ; it gives many interesting 



particulars of the early experiments made in electric 



traction. 



The articles contained in the Bulletin of the Johns 

 Hopkins Hospital for June (vol. xvi.. No. 171) are all of 

 considerable medical interest, and comprise papers on 

 the a?tiologv and pathogenesis of pernicious anaemia, by 

 Dr. Bunting, on recurrent phlebitis, by Dr. Briggs, on 

 heart block in mammals, by Dr. Erianger, &:c. 



Messrs. Gurney and Jackson announce the preparation 

 in three volumes of a translation by Dr. C. A. Keane of 

 Lunge's " Technical Methods of Chemical Analysis." 



We are asked to state that Mr. C. S. Sargent's " Manual 

 of the Trees of North America (exclusive of Mexico)," 

 which was reviewed in our issue for June 29 (see p. 197), 

 is published in England by Messrs. Archibald Constable 

 and Co., Ltd., 16 James Street, Haymarket, and that its 

 price is 25s. net. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



July and August Meteors. — We have now nearly 

 arrived at what is the most interesting period of the 

 year for the meteoric observer. With skies often clear, 

 with the air at an agreeable temperature, and with meteors 

 visible in more than usual abundance, success is 

 promisingly offered to everyone who practically enters upon 

 the study of this important and complicated branch of 

 astronomy. 



In the previous months of May and June, with their 

 strong twilight and a scarcity of meteors, there has been 

 no special inducement to observers, but after the third 

 week in July the nights will become perceptibly darker, 

 early Perseid's will begin to manifest themselves, and many 

 Aqu'arids will probably appear towards the close of the 

 month from a radiant at 33q''-io''. .Active showers in 

 Sagittarius, Pegasus, Draco, Cygnus, Cepheus, .Andromeda, 

 and Cassiopeia will also be observed, but the radiant 

 points will be more remarkable for their variety and 

 number than for striking activity in individual cases. 



It is an interesting feature in observations at this time 

 of the year to watch the Perseids from their earliest 

 arrivals (about July 15) to their most belated apparitions 

 (about August 21), and to trace the motion of the radiant 

 point towards the E.N.E. In the following table the 

 position of the radiant is given for every third night : — 

 Date Radiant I Date Radiant 



during the period from July 25 to August 9. At the 

 time of the Perseid maximum (either on the morning of 

 .August 12 or 13) the moon will set as follows : — 



h. m. 



Thursday, August 10 12 52 



Friday, August 11 ... ... ... ... 13 45 



Saturday, August 12 14 45 



The moon will be increasingly gibbous, and though maiiy 

 meteors will doubtless be exhibited before moonset, it will 

 be very advisable to count the number visible in the dark 

 sky after our satellite has gone down, and particularly on 

 the last two dates mentioned above, as the maximum is 

 likely to occur between 2h. and 3h. 30m. a.m. when the 

 radiant is high. 



To give anything like a comprehensive list of the radiant 

 points visible in July and August would require a large 

 space, and is, moreover, unnecessary, a pretty con-iplete 

 summary of them having been published in Astronomische 

 Nachrichten, No. 3874, for 1903 June 3. 



The FoEM.tTioN of the Martian Snow-caps. — A short 

 note communicated by Prof. W. H. Pickering to No. 6, 

 vol. xiii., of Popular Astronomy states that on examin- 



NO. 1863, VOL. 72] 



