November 4, 1922] 



NA TURE 



613 



the rat. Mr. Moore, to whom we submitted Mr. 

 Rodier's communication, sends us the following 

 comments upon it : " Boelter, who joined me soon 

 after I had initiated the British war on rats and mice, 

 agreed with me that if we could get international, 

 unified, and synchronised war on the rat, then and 

 not till then could we hope to have any success from 

 Mr. Rodier's method ; we agreed that our first step 

 must be to get the public fully to appreciate the 

 disastrous nature of the rat menace, but that we 

 could not afford to postpone rat destruction by all 

 and every means until the day when unified effort 

 was forthcoming. If Mr. Rodier agrees to work for 

 an International Commission to bring about a proper 

 understanding of the rat problem and concerted 

 action, then I am sure all of us would gladly co- 

 operate; but until we can get the public mind fully 

 alive to the extent of the issue, I am sure it would 

 be just as reasonable during the fly season to catch 

 as many flies as possible and to liberate all the males : 

 in this instance at any rate we should have a fair 

 chance of seeing the progress of our work." 



Readers of Nature interested in topography may 

 like to have their attention directed to a catalogue of 

 some 230 books, maps, and engravings relating to 

 London and its vicinity just issued by Mr. F. Edwards, 

 83 High Street, Marylebone, W.i. 



The useful quarterly list of new books and new 

 editions added to Lewis's Medical and Scientific 

 Circulating Library for the months July to September 

 has just been received. Copies are obtainable free 

 of charge from Messrs. H. K. Lewis and Co., Ltd., 

 136 Gower Street, W.C.i. 



Mr. W. H. Robinson, 4 Nelson Street, Newcastle- 

 upon-Tyne, has recently issued a catalogue of some 

 300 second-hand books of science. The prices asked 

 seem very reasonable. An interesting item is a copy 

 of the first edition in English of The Anatomical 

 Exercises of Harvey, concerning the Motion of the 

 Heart and Blood ; with the Preface of Zechariah 

 Wood, Physician at Roterdam, to which is added Dr. 

 James De Back, his Discourse of the Heart, con- 

 taining a defence of Harvey's work. 



A Directory for the British Glass Industry is 

 being compiled under the auspices of the Society of 

 Glass Technology. It will contain in classified form 

 the names of all firms, associations, societies, trade 

 unions, educational and research institutions inter- 

 ested in the manufacture and wholesale supply of 

 glass and glass articles, and in the supply of raw 

 materials, plant, and machinery to the industry. It 

 is hoped to publish the volume by the end of the 

 present year. 



Our Astronomical Column. 



Recent Meteors. — Mr. W. F. Denning writes 

 that two large meteors were seen at Bristol on October 

 17 at 7.15 and 10.46. The first of these descended 

 just under the " Pointers " in Ursa Major from 

 164° +52 to 164° +45 , and moved very slowly. 

 The other meteor traversed an unusually long path 

 of 113 degrees, the flight being from 163 +74° to 

 330 - 6°. The duration was about six seconds, and 

 the meteor threw off a bright streak all along its 

 extended course. The radiant point was near the 

 horizon in 152° +39 , but no further accounts of the 

 object have yet been received. 



The October meteoric shower has been fairly well 

 observed this year, a remarkable succession of clear 

 nights having occurred between October 10 and 21. 

 The chief showers have been from Orion and Aries. 

 Mr. Prentice at Stowmarket saw 246 meteors between 

 October 10 and 18 in 34 hours of watching. The 

 chief radiants in activity were determined by him 

 as follows : 



a Arietids . 31° +19 8 Meteors, October 13-15. 



e Arietids . 41^+22° 17 ,, „ 14-18. 



v Orionids . 90 +16 10 ,, ,, 18. 



t Geminids . 98 +15 8 ,, ,, 14-15. 



These various showers are well known at this period 

 of the year. The Arietids are slow-moving, brilliant 

 meteors, while the Orionids and Geminids are swift, 

 streaking meteors. 



Occultation of Aldebaran. — On Monday next, 

 November 6, the moon will occult the bright star 

 Aldebaran in Taurus. The disappearance takes place 

 at io u 8 n > G.M.T., and the reappearance at n h 20 m 

 G.M.T. 



Comets. — Numerous observations are to hand of 

 the comet discovered by Dr. Baade on October 19. 

 The comet is easily visible in a moderate telescope, 

 and should be observable for some months. It is, 



NO. 2766, VOL. I IO] 



however, receding from the sun and earth. The 

 following elements are by Mdlle. Vinter Hansen, from 

 Copenhagen observations on October 22, 23 and 24 : 

 T = i922 Oct. 16-5701 G.M.T. 



£2 = 219° 5o'-8g vi922 - o. 



* = 51° 47'"°°J 

 log £ = 0-35890 



Ephemeris for Greenwich Midnight. 



The comet should be looked for high up in the south- 

 west soon after sunset. 



The search ephemeris lately given for Perrine's 

 periodic comet did not include perturbations. M. 

 Kasakov of Moscow finds that these are large, and 

 gives the following elements : 



T= 1922 Dec. 25-2. 



u= 167° I5' - 2l1 



£2 = 242° i8''53 i-1922-o. 



i= 15° 42''56j 



0= 41° i5'-63 



M = 537"'53 8 - 



Ephemerides for Greenwich Midnight with Two 

 Assumed Dates of Perihelion. 



Perihelion Dec. 21.2. Perihelion Dec. 25.2. 



R.A. N. Decl. R.A. N. Decl. 



h. m. s. h. m. s. 



Nov. 10. 21 14 5 5° 29' 20 58 7 3 9' 



18. 21 35 II 4 35 21 17 53 2 33 



26. 21 59 34 3 52 21 40 32 29 



Dec. 4. 22 27 1 3 21 22 5 53 1 58 



It is some 26° south of the other comet, but con- 

 siderably fainter. 



