;88 



NA TURE 



[August 17, 1905 



has been removed, this subject being now dealt with in 

 the general chapter on staining, which has been re-written. 

 The chapters on connective tissues, on blood and glands, 

 and on the nervous system have been thoroughly revised 

 and considerably amplified. Explanations relating to the 

 principles of technical processes have been included in 

 general chapters, and do not in this edition occur under 

 the special sections. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 

 The Planet Mars. — In No. 360 of the Observatory 

 Mr. Wesley discusses the photographs of the planet Mars 

 which Mr.' Lowell recently published. Mr. Wesley has 

 made a very careful study of the si.\ prints, and has been 

 able' to distinguish easily, on one or another of them, the 

 features named by Mr. Lowell. He is not, however, pre- 

 pared to corroborate the opinion expressed by the latter 

 •that the photographs confirm the fact that the so-called 

 " canals " arc contiiuwiis lines, for imperfect definition 

 might render a row of dots as an unbroken line. As the 

 Lowell photographs are too small to reproduce satisfac- 

 torily, .Mr. Wesley has made a composite drawing showing 

 all the features seen on any of the prints, and this is 

 given as a frontispiece. 



In the same journal Mr. Denning gives, among other 

 planetary observations, an account of his recent arco- 

 graphical researches with a 125-inch Calver reflector, using 

 a power of 300. He is very certain of the actual existence 

 of the features termed " canals," many of which he was 

 able to identify quite easily. He regards " canals," how- 

 ever, as an unfortunate designation for the irregular, fre- 

 quently knotted streams of shading, which are by no means 

 straight or narrow, but have a perfectly natural appear- 

 ance, and says : — " The idea that they are clearly cut 

 lines, suggestive of artificial origin, may be dismissed as 

 a mere conjecture unsupported by reliable evidence." 



Major Molcsworth, of Trincomalee, Ceylon, has recently 

 communicated to the Royal Astronomical Society a record 

 of his observations of Mars during the opposition of 1903. 

 These observations were made, under excellent conditions, 

 with a 123-inch Calver reflector, generally employing a 

 power of about 450. An abstract of this paper, giving the 

 principal tables and conclusions, appears in No. 8, vol. 

 Ixv., of the Monthly Notices, accompanied by six 

 beautiful drawings showing the chief characteristic features 

 of the Martian surface during the opposition. As his 

 results testify. Major Molesworth has made a long and 

 laborious study of this planet with great zeal, and he has 

 not the slightest doubt as to the reality of the " so-called 

 canals." These markings do not, however, appear to him 

 as continuous definite lines, but rather like " streaky " 

 lines such as would be drawn on very rough paper with 

 a rounded crayon or stump. He records several instances 

 of gemination, and offers a natural explanation of the 

 phenomenon. On six occasions he observed projections 

 either on the limb or the terminator. In conclusion, he 

 proposes a new classification of Martian features, and dis- 

 cusses the several " contrast " and " illusion " theories 

 which have been opposed to the reality of the " canals." 

 Likening these peculiar markings to those seen on Jupiter, 

 he concludes that if the latter be accepted as real — as they 

 undoubtedly are — then the similar ones on Mars cannot, 

 on any logical basis, be ascribed to illusion. 



The Rings of Saturn. — Observing at Aosta (Italy) 

 during the later months of 1904, MM. .^mann and Rozet 

 noted a novel feature on Saturn's rings. On October 20 

 M. Amann saw a sharp, accentuated marking, or shadow, 

 on the rings some distance from the outer edge of the 

 shadow cast by the planet itself, and having a curved 

 form concave towards the planet. Between October 20 

 and November 15 this new feature was not seen, although 

 numerous observations were made under favourable con- 

 ditions. After November 15 the shadow was seen re- 

 peatedly, and it was then noticed that that part of it which 

 •was projected on the inner ring was always broader and 

 more accentuated than the other part. Between December 

 22 and 27 it was seen that this broader portion was 

 bifurcated, so that the whole shadow had the form of a 



capital V ; that the apparition was a shadow was shown 

 by its fixed position relative to the planet, notwithstanding 

 the rotation of the latter and its rings {Bulletin de la 

 Societe astronomiqiie de France. August). 



Declinations of Certain North Polar Stars. — In No. 

 3440 of the Astronomische Nachrichten Dr. Auwers pointed 

 out that in certain hours of right ascension, north of de- 

 clination -1-82°, there were gaps containing no " funda- 

 mental " stars, and asked that these gaps might be filled. 

 In answer to this request Miss Harriet Bigelow, of the 

 Smith College Observatory (University of Michigan), has 

 determined the places of twenty-one stars situated between 

 declinations -1-84° 34' and +88° 55', and now publishes 

 them in vol. vii. of the Proceedings of the Washington 

 Academy of Sciences (pp. 189-249). The instrument 

 employed was the Walker meridian circle, having a tele- 

 scope of (>3 inches aperture and a focal length of 8 feet. 



The Minor Planet Ocllo (475).— Another set of posi- 

 tions of the interesting asteroid Ocllo, as determined by 

 Mr. R. H. Frost at Arequipa, are given in Circular No. 

 103 of the Harvard College Observatory. The object was 

 re-discovered on, and its position determined from, a plate 

 taken on June 6, and was also shown on other plates 

 secured on June 7 and 9. The determined positions show 

 that Ocllo seems to be about 4° from its position as com- 

 puted from the previously published elements. The data 

 now given, together with the positions published in 

 Circulars Nos. 63 and loi, should enable the elements 

 of Ocllo's peculiar orbit to be determined with great 

 accuracy, and to insure against the future loss of this 

 planet. 



The Royal University Observatory of Vienna. — We 

 have just received vols. xv. and xviii. of the Annalen der 

 k.k. Universitcits-Sternwarte in Wien, edited by the 

 director. Prof. E. Weiss. Vol. xv. contains a catalogue 

 of 2417 stars the places of which have been determined 

 by Herr F. Bidschof with the meridian circle, and arc 

 given for the mean equinox of 1885-0. The instrumental 

 equipment and the methods employed in the reduction are 

 discussed at length. A series of observations of Jupiter 

 made between February 20 and May i, i8g8, by Herr J. 

 Rheden is also described in this volume, and the descrip- 

 tion illustrated by fifty coloured drawings of the planet, 

 which are given on the two accompanying plates. 



Vol. xviii., in the first part, is devoted to the results 

 obtained from the observations of minor planets and 

 comets, made by Dr. J. Palisa with the Grubb refractor 

 of 67 cm. {about 27 inches) aperture during the years 

 iSgg-iqoi. The observations of seven comets and four 

 nebulae are included, and the whole of the results are tabu- 

 lated at the end in a handy form for reference. This 

 volume is completed by the meteorological results obtained 

 in 1901, iqo2, and 1903, the pressure, temperature, &c., 

 being given for 7 a.m., 2 p.m., and 9 p.m. on each day. 



THE STATE AND THE CLAY WORKER.^ 

 T T is the purpose of each of these works to supply the 

 •'• members of the clay industry, in the State to which 

 it refers, with an account of the geological relationships, 

 the mode and place of occurrence, and the chemical and 

 physical properties of the raw clays both worked and un- 

 worked. The manufacturing processes of various types 

 of ware are also described as they are practised in the 

 .State, with numerous details of physical tests that have 

 been applied to them. 



The subject has been treated upon very similar lines in 

 both reports ; the Iowa volume, however, contains more 

 information upon the practical manufacturing side ; it 

 devotes a chapter to the selection and upkeep of power 

 plants, and has a fuller account of different forms of 

 kiln ; there is even a section dealing with the composition 

 of the fuels used in burning the clays. But this volume 



1 " Clays and Clay Irduslries of Iowa " By S. W. Beyer. G. W. Bi^sell, 

 I. A. Williams. J. B. Weems, and A. Marston. Iowa Geological Survey, 

 vol. xiv. Pp. xi4-664. (Des Moines : Iowa Geol. Survey, 1904 ) 



" The Clays and Clay Industry of New Jersey." By H. Ries and H. B. 

 Ki'immtl, assisted by G. N. Knapp. Geological Survey of New Jersey, 

 vol. vi. Final Report. (Trenton, N.J. : Geological Survey of New 

 Jersey, 1904.) 



NO. 1868, VOL. 72] 



