JuLy 25, 1912] 
nitrates with the help of salicylic acid and of diphenyl- 
amine. The scientific papers deal with the synthesis 
of alkaloids, magnetic susceptibility, and the allo- 
tropy of sulphur. There is also an excellently illus- 
trated article on the scientific department of the 
Imperial Institute. The journal is performing a very 
real service in presenting in popular form a review 
of some of the most striking developments in the 
science and practice of chemistry. 
OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 
Rapium’ AND THE Soar CHROMOSPHERE.—In 
No. 4589 of the Astronomische Nachrichten, Prof. 
Dyson directs attention to a possible relationship be- 
tween the six principal lines in the spark spectrum of 
radium, as determined by Runge and Precht, and 
certain lines recorded by himself and Sir Norman 
Lockyer in the spectrum of the chromosphere observed 
at various eclipses. The agreement between the wave- 
lengths is shown in the following table :— 
Radium spark Dyes Chromosphere fone 
AA Int. AA Int. AA Int 
(1) 3649°75 ... 50 3649°66 I — = 
(2) 3814°58 100 3814°67 ... 6 Bolas...) 3 
(3) 4340°83 ... 50 Hy Hy 
(4) 4436°49... zo — 44366... 1 
(5) 4682°36 .. 50 4682':20 ... 2 4082°5 2-3 
(6) 4826712 ... 2u — wo 4826'0 <I 
The first line is identified by Dyson in the chromo- 
sphere as an iron line, while Fe and p-Ti are given 
by Lockyer for the second. The third would be hidden 
by the Hy line in the eclipse spectrum, and the fourth 
is near a manganese line; other strong lines of man- 
ganese are, however, absent. The fifth line is given 
by Lockyer as possibly due to proto-yttrium, and 
most of the other strong enhanced lines of this 
element are possibly represented in his 1898 record of 
the chromospheric spectrum. For the sixth line, weak 
in the chromosphere, no other origin has been sug- 
gested. 
Prof. Dyson also compares the spectrum of radium 
emanation, given by Dr. Royds, with that of the 
chromosphere, but arrives at no conclusive result. 
He suggests, however, that the coincidences already 
found are worthy of further attention. 
PHOTOMETRIC OBSERVATIONS OF Mira.—From_ ob- 
servations made at Catania, Prof. Bemporad finds 
that a minimum of the variable star o Ceti occurred 
on January 20, four days earlier than the date pre- 
dicted by the Guthnick ephemeris; the magnitude at 
minimum was 96. The observations were carried 
right through from the previous maximum (mag.=3"4), 
which took place on June 26, 1911, also four days 
before the predicted time. The date of the minimum 
is confirmed by Prof. Nijland, who, with a telescope 
“finder”? at Utrecht, found the minimum magnitude 
to be to'r. (Astronomische Nachrichten, No. 4589.) 
Tue EciipseE or Aprit 17.—A large number of 
photographs and accounts of the April eclipse of the 
sun is published in the July number of L’Astronomie. 
Of special interest are the reproductions of series of 
pictures from kinematograph films. On one strip, 
taken by M. Lobo at. Ovar, at central phase, the sun 
is represented by six or seven disconnected bright dots, 
the only suggestion of a continuous limb being that 
the dots are obviously on the circumference of a circle. 
A photograph taken from the balloon ‘‘ Le Globule,”’ 
apparently shows traces of the corona. 
A complete set of fifty-four photographs taken at 
the Hamburg Observatory is reproduced, with other | 
NO. 2230, VoL. 89] 
NATURE 
541 
photographs, in No. 4584 of the Astronomische Nach- 
richten, while in No. 4587 of the same journal, Dr. 
K. Graff gives an interesting sketch of the moon’s 
profile and a set of curves showing the distribution 
and relative heights of the various mountains. 
A Second METEORITE FIND 1N Scorr County, 
Kansas.—A roughly wedge-shaped fragment of a 
meteorite, weighing about 1900 grams, is briefly de- 
scribed by Mr. George Merrill in No. 1905, vol. xlii., 
of the Proceedings of the U.S. National Museum. 
The stone was found by Mr. J. T. Freed, of Scott 
City, and from the slightly glazed surface of an 
obvious fracture it is not improbable that other frag- 
ments may yet be found. The polished stone is of a 
greenish colour, and contains particles of iron and 
iron sulphide, one to two millimetres diameter, evenly 
disseminated throughout its mass. A fragment of the 
stone, 175 grams in weight, is in the U.S. National 
Museum collection, the main mass remaining in the 
possession of Mr. Freed. 
ASTRONOMICAL SOcIETIES.—The report of the Hamp- 
stead Scientific Society for 1911 shows the existence 
of an energetic and well-organised astronomical sec- 
tion, which uses the observatory on practically all 
fine nights, and holds meetings at which many in- 
teresting papers are read. The current report contains 
a lecture on ** Star Streams,” given by Mr. Eddington, 
and some reproductions of drawings of Mars made by 
members throughout the 1911-12 opposition. Venus 
near inferior conjunction was also regularly observed. 
The seventh annual report of the Antwerp Astro- 
nomical Society shows that the society, with nearly 
250 members, is in a flourishing condition. Its popu- 
lar lectures in French and Flemish are well attended, 
and its instruments are well used. During the pre- 
sent year the society hopes to acquire a much larger 
and better equipped observatory on the roof of a 
proposed new communal school. 
THE MUSEUMS ASSOCIATION AT DUBEIN. 
A for the second time been the meeting-place of 
the Museums Association. The gathering lasted 
from Tuesday, July 9, until Friday, July 12, inclusive. 
No observant attendant at both meetings could fail 
to be struck by the widening of interest noticeable in 
the recent, as compared with the earlier, meeting. 
In 1894 the members of the association, except for a 
preliminary municipal reception, were left very much 
to themselves, and the papers and discussions dealt 
for the most part with questions of museum tech- 
nique. This year the proceedings were opened by the 
Lord Mayor of Dublin, who attended in state, and 
the Viceroy of Ireland was present at the association’s 
annual dinner. An official welcome, was also person- 
ally offered by the Secretary of the Department of 
Agriculture and Technical Instruction. The pro- 
gramme of the meeting was drawn up to illustrate 
the relation of museums to general education, and 
though art collections and picture galleries furnished 
the special subject of most of the papers, the principles 
expounded might be also applied by the natural 
FTER an interval of eighteen years, Dublin has 
history curator. 
The president, Count G. N. Plunkett—like his pre- 
decessor of 1894, the late Dr. Valentine Ball—is 
director of the National Museum in Dublin. In.a 
thoughtful address he pointed out that nowadays even 
a small town desires a museum in touch with popular 
wants and national life; that a well-arranged museum 
is more instructive than a text-book, because less dog- 
matic and more incentive to thought; and that the 
museum gallery ought to be, as much as the class- 
