October 5, 1905J 



NA TURE 



5b: 



Chinese Maritime Customs. We have not yet received 

 the protocol of the last meeting, but we may state 

 that it included reports of the various commissions. 



\\'ith rog'ard to the Solar Commission appointed in 

 1903, complete arrangements were made for bringing 

 together all data necessary for the study of simul- 

 taneous solar and terrestrial changes. Letters had 

 been received from Prof. Hale and M. Deslandres 

 placing their photospectroscopic results at the disposal 

 of the commission. 



INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR COOPERATION 

 IN SOLAR RESEARCH. 



A T last the importance of solar research is assert- 

 ■^*- ing itself, even in the minds of some who in 

 the past have shown it scant favour. It is not a little 

 remarkable that during last month two international 

 bodies held meetings, both of them concerned with 

 solar observations, the one, the .Solar Commission, 

 established in 1903, which met at Innsbruck, dealing 

 with them in relation to the meteorological changes 

 on the earth, the other, the Solar Union, established 

 in 1904, which met at Oxford, dealing with the 

 physics of the sun itself. There is thus fortunately 

 a sharp-cut line between these two efforts to advance 

 our knowledge, and we hope that both bodies will 

 ultimately find out the best ways of doing this. In 

 a preliminarv circular we read ; — 



The number of international organisations having con- 

 siderably increased lately, it is desirable that overlapping 

 of the work of different organisations should be avoided 

 as much as possible. As far as solar research is concerned, 

 a committee on questions dealing with radiation and the 

 connection of solar and terrestrial phenomena has been 

 appointed by the International Meteorological Committee. 

 It will probably be found advisable to omit for the present 

 the investigation of the relation of the sun-spot cycle to 

 meteorological phenomena from the programme of the 

 union ; but the question of the solar constant being of 

 fundamental importance must form from the beginning an 

 essential portion of its work. The astronomical and 

 meteorological aspects of solar radiation are, however, very 

 different, and there is no reason to doubt that some 

 arrangement can be made by which the efforts of the 

 Meteorological Committee and those of the Union on Solar 

 Research may be united. 



We have not yet received the official protocols of the 

 O.xford meeting, but some points may be referred to. 

 The meeting was well attended, the following foreign 

 men of science being present : — Prof. K. Angstrom, 

 Acad. Sci. (Stockholm) ; Prof. A. Belopolski, Acad. 

 Sci. (St. Petersburg); Fr. Cirera, Ast. Soc. of France; 

 Cte. de la Baume Pluvinel, Ast. Soc. of France; Mr. 

 H. Deslandres, .Ast. Soc. of France; Prof. W. S. 

 Eichelberger ; Mr. Fabrv, Physical Soc. of France ; 

 Mr. G. E. Hale, Nat. .Vcad. Sci. (Washington); Mr. 

 Hansky, Acad. Sci. (St. Petersburg); Mr. J. Janssen, 

 Acad. Sci. (France); Prof. W. H. Julius, Acad. Sci. 

 (Amsterdam) ; Prof. H. Kayser, German Physical 

 Soc; Mr. Perot, Physical Soc. of France; Prof. E. 

 Weiss, Internat. .Assoc. Acad. ; Prof. Wolfer. 



Dr. Janssen was elected honorary president, and 

 Sir Wm. Christie president, of the meeting. 



Among the many resolutions passed were the follow- 

 ing, laying down the principles which should be 

 followed in the proposed cooperation : — 



(i) Cooperation is desirable in the various branches of 

 solar research such as visual and photographic observations 

 of the solar surface, visual observations of prominences 

 and observations of the solar atmosphere with spectrohelio- 

 graphs of various types. 



(2) When an institution has collected and coordinated 

 results from various sources, members of the union shall 



NO. 1875, \'OL, 72] 



be requested to place their observations at the disposal of 

 the said institution. 



(3) In the case of investigations which have not yet been 

 thus collected and coordinated, special committees specially 

 nominated by the union shall be charged with the work of 

 preparing and carrying out the needful cooperation. 



(4) It is proposed forthwith to organise such cooperation 

 in two branches of research : — 



(a) The study of the spectra of sun-spots. 



(b) The study of the records, by means of the H and K 

 light, of the phenomena of the solar atmosphere. 



(5) The committee lays special stress on the fact that, 

 notwithstanding the obvious utility of cooperation in certain 

 cases, individual initiative is the chief factor in a very large 

 number. It is as much the duty of the union to encourage 

 original researches as to promote cooperation. 



Much time was spent in discussing the constitu- 

 tion of the union, and several committees were 

 appointed. There were most interesting discussions 

 on solar radiation, Prof. Angstrom describing his 

 instrument which has now been taken as the 

 standard, and we may add that as this subject is also 

 dealt with by the International Meteorological Com- 

 mittee, Prof. Angstrom has been appointed chairinan 

 of the coinmittees appointed by both organisations. 

 The executive is to consist of a committee with Prof. 

 Schuster as chairman, and a " computing bureau " is 

 suggested at Oxford in charge of Prof. Turner, which 

 is "to deal, if necessary, with classes of observations 

 not alreadv provided for. 



The ne.x't meeting is to be held at Meudon in two 

 years' time. 



NOTES. 



We notice with much regret that Sir William Wharton, 

 K.C.B., F.R.S., died at Cape Town on September 29 from 

 enteric fever and pneumonia, at sixty-two years of age. 



We regret to see, in the Athenaeum, the announcement 

 of the death, in his sixty-ninth year, of Dr. W. von Bezold, 

 professor of physics and meteorology at the University of 

 Berlin, and director of the German Meteorological Institute. 



The death is announced of Dr. A. H. Japp, author of 

 a life of Thoreau, several works on natural history, and 

 " Darwin and Darwinism." 



The International Congress on Tuberculosis was opened 

 at Paris on Monday, October 2, by the President of the 

 French Republic. Dr. H^rard, the president of the 

 congress, gave an address on international medical con- 

 gresses, and the services which they have rendered in the 

 struggle against consumption. Addresses were then given 

 by the foreign delegates, and by M. Loubet. 



.\ Reuter message from Gothenburg reports that a 

 severe shock of earthquake was felt on September 26, 

 1.30 p.m., at Lundby, in the island of Hisingen. Sub- 

 terranean rumblings were heard, and the houses suddenly 

 began to rock so violently that inner and outer walls were 

 cracked. The disturbance lasted about a minute. 



News has been received from Samoa that a volcanic 

 eruption occurred on the Samoan islands on the morning 

 of August 21. The eruption was preceded by a violent 

 earthquake shock, which destroyed a large number of 

 buildings. During the eruption large masses of material 

 were ejected, and for five days lava flowed over mere 

 than four miles of the surrounding country. 



It is officially reported that a case of cholera occurred 

 in Berlin on September 23, the victim being a canal barge- 

 man on one of the Berlin canal harbours. 



