5i8 



NA TURE 



[September 21, 1905 



Copies of two booklets, which have been published 

 privately by Mr. F. W. Armstrong, of the Blue School, 

 Wells, Somerset, have been received. They deal re- 

 spectively with elementary inductive chemistry and in- 

 ductive physics. 



A NEW catalogue of physical and electrical instruments, 

 balances, &c., has been issued by Messrs. W. G. Pye and 

 Co., of the " Granta " Works, Cambridge. The excellent 

 illustrations, drawn to a larger scale than is usual in 

 similar publications, should greatly assist customers order- 

 ing instruments from a distance, since with the accompany- 

 ing concise explanations little room is left for misappre- 

 hension. 



OVR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



The V.'iRiABLE .Asteroid 1905 Q.Y. — From a telegram 

 from Dr. Palisa to the Kiel Centralstelle, it appears that 

 the asteroid which, on the supposition that it was a 

 newly discovered one, was designated 1905 Q.Y., is 

 identical with that known previously as (167) Urda. The 

 identity is confirmed by Prof. Berberich, who writes that 

 on August 28 the magnitude of Urda was from o-5m. to 

 I'Om. brighter than shown by the value given in the 

 Jahrbuch (Astronomische Nachrichten, No. 4046). 



Nova Aquil^ No. 2. — From a note in No. 4046 of 

 the Astronomische Nachrichten, we learn that the position 

 first given for Nova Aquilae was im. wrong in R.A. It 

 should have read R..A. =284° 17' ( = i8h. 57m. 8s.) instead 

 of 284° 2' as given, the mistake occurring in the first 

 telegram received at Kiel. 



Observing this object on September 5, Prof. Hartwig 

 determined the position, referred to the equinox of 1905-0, 

 as R..'\. = 284° 16' 16" ( = i8h. 57m. so6s.), dec. = - 

 4° 34' so", and found the magnitude to be 10. 



French Observations of the Total Solar Eclipse. — 

 No. 10 (September 4) of the Comptes rendus contains the 

 brief reports received from various French eclipse expedi- 

 tions by the .\cad^mie des Sciences. 



Prof. Janssen, .M. Bigourdan, and MM. Stephan and 

 Tripled, observing at Alcosebre, Sfax, and Guelma re- 

 spectively, report satisfactory meteorological conditions and 

 successful observations. At the last named place M. 

 Bourget obtained fourteen negatives of the corona, using 

 coloured screens. The parties at Cistierna, Burgos, and 

 Tortosa were less fortunate, clouds interfering with, or 

 totally preventing, observations. The measures of the 

 ionisation of the electric field were, however, carried out 

 throughout the eclipse by the observers at Tortosa. 

 Similar observations were carried out, entirely according 

 to programme and under perfect conditions, at Philippe- 

 ville, and M. Nordmann, from a preliminary examination 

 of the curves obtained, expects that some very interesting 

 results will accrue when these are finally compared with 

 those obtained on previous occasions. M. Salet, from the 

 same station, reports that the polarisation of the corona 

 was well observed, the deviation of the plane of feeble 

 polarisation being 3°. Ten coronal radiations were photo- 

 graphed with a " Nicol " in front of the slit, and fifteen 

 ultra-violet coronal radiations were photographed with the 

 spectroscope. 



From the eclipse station at Alcald de Chisbert (Spain) 

 M. M. Move writes that the eclipse was observed under 

 good conditions, and that the corona was very brilliant, 

 the longest streamers occurring in the south and the north- 

 east. The green line was very apparent. Shadow bands 

 were well observed both before and after, but were in- 

 visible during, totality. 



Observations of the partial phase were made in Paris, 

 where the times of the contacts and of the occupations 

 of spots were recorded by several observers. Unfavour- 

 able meteorological conditions prevented the actinometric 

 observations, which it was proposed to carry out at 

 Trappes, Bordeaux, and the Pic du Midi, from being made, 

 but a series of good observations was obtained at 

 Bagn^res. 



Eve-estimates of the Transits of Jupiter's Spots. — 

 In order to determine whether his own eye-estimates of 

 the transits of Jupiter's spots were subject to any error 

 similar to that suspected by Schmidt, the Rev. T. E. R. 

 Phillips has analysed his observations, which number 

 about 140, and cover the period of seven apparitions. As 

 a result he has arrived at the conclusion that at the 

 beginning of each apparition, when the planet's hour- 

 angle is east, he observes the transit a little too early. 

 Similarly, at the end of each apparition, when the hour- 

 angle is west, the transits are recorded a little too late. 

 The explanation of this error is that it is due to the vary- 

 ing slant of the belts as the planet is removed from the 

 meridian, and the consequent failure of the eye to deter- 

 mine correctly the position of the line which bisects the 

 disc and is normal to the planet's equator. If this explan- 

 ation is correct, the error should be of the opposite sense 

 in the two hemispheres, but the evanescent character of 

 the spots in the northern hemisphere has prevented Mr. 

 Phillips from making this test. Again, if the cause 

 suggested is the true one, this error should disappear if 

 care be taken to keep the line joining the eyes parallel 

 to the belts. 



In No. 361 of the Observatory Mr. Phillips gives the 

 details of his observations during each opposition since 

 1898, and a diagram which shows the effect of the error 

 referred to above on the observed drift in longitude of the 

 Great Red Spot " Hollow." The hope is expressed that 

 this may lead other observers to elucidate the matter 

 further from their own experiences. 



The Solar Activity, January-June. — No. 7, vol. xxxiv., 

 of the Menwrie della Societa degli Spettroscopisti Italiani 

 contains Prof. Mascari's usual summary of the solar 

 observations made at the Catania Observatory during the 

 first six months of the current year. A comparison of 

 the " frequencies " observed with those recorded for the 

 latter semestre of 1904 shows that the solar activity was 

 much greater during the later period, but the increase 

 was much more marked during the first quarter of this 

 year than during the second. The daily frequencies of 

 spots, faculs, and prominences during the six months 

 under discussion were 7-18, 7-12, and 3-29 respectively. 



Two plates which accompany this publication show, 

 diagrammatically, the sizes and positions of the promin- 

 ences observed on the sun's limb at the observatories of 

 Catania, Kalocsa, Odessa, Rome, and Zurich during the 

 last quarter of 1902 and the first two months of 1903. 



NO. 1873, VOL. 72] 



INSTITUTION OF MINING ENGINEERS. 

 HTHE sixteenth annual general meeting of the Institution 

 of Mining Engineers was held at Manchester on 

 September 13, 14, 15, and 16 under the presidency of Sir 

 Lees Knowles, M.P. The report of the council contained 

 an expression of deep regret at the loss sustained by the 

 death of the president. Sir Lowthian Bell. The Institu- 

 tion of Mining Engineers is a federation of seven local 

 mining societies — the Manchester Geological and Mining 

 Society ; the Midland Counties Institution of Engineers ; 

 the Midland Institute of Mining, Civil and Mechanical 

 Engineers; the Mining Institute of Scotland; the North of 

 England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers: 

 the North Staffordshire Institute of Mining and Mechanical 

 Engineers ; and the South Staffordshire and East 

 Worcestershire Institute of Mining Engineers. Since the 

 formation of the institution in i88g, the membership has 

 increased from 1239 to 2901 in 1905. 



The first paper read was on the leading features of the 

 Lancashire coalfield by Mr. Joseph Dickinson, formerlv 

 H.M. Chief Inspector of Mines. This paper gave a 

 concise summary of the recent developments of the geo- 

 logical investigation of the coalfield. Electric power dis- 

 tribution was dealt with in a paper by Mr. R. L. Gamlen, 

 in which he showed the advantages possessed bv the 

 power companies as providers of power. Mr. B. H. 

 Thwaite submitted a paper on colliery explosions in which 

 he suggested, as a method of dealing with explosions, the 

 installation of a series of pipes conveying a supply of 

 oxygen and a pneumatic method of coal-dust removal. 

 The former proposal met with much adverse criticism in 



