Mav 1 6, 1 907 J 



NA TURE 



Regulations for Mining Work are also attached. The 

 revised rules are certainly an improvement on the previous 

 edition, and the rearrangement and enlargement under the 

 different headings tend to simplify them greatly- 



The May issue of the V, estminsUr Review contains an 

 appreciative unsigned article on the life and work of the 

 late Prof. Marcellin Berthelot. This biographical notice, 

 in addition to its references to Berthelot's achievements in 

 science, provides much interesting information concerning 

 his private life and his services to France in administrative 

 matters. 



06'/? ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



\ Nebulous B.ickground in Taurus. — In No. 3, vol. 

 XXV. (p. 218, April), of the Astrophysical Journal, Prof. 

 Barnard discusses the apparently nebulous background 

 shown on some excellent photographs of a region in the 

 constellation Taurus, of which two reproductions are 

 given. 



The vacant lanes among the Milky Way stars in 

 Ophiuchus suggest from their appearance that not onlv 

 are thev due to the absence of stars, but that they are 

 really darker than the rest of the sky, that is, they are 

 probably channels in a substratum of nebulous matter. 

 The recent photographs obtained by Prof. Barnard show 

 that lanes of this nature are undoubtedly in a substratum 

 of some kind, and not merely a subjective effect of con- 

 trast in a region otherwise densely packed with stars. 



The region dealt with is comprised between the limits 

 a = 4h. oni. to 4h. 34m. and 8=4-24° to 28^", well to the 

 east of the Pleiades, and shows numerous narrow, vacant 

 lanes, one of which is singularly well defined, and extends 

 for some 26m. in R.A. Another feature is a large space, 

 nearly devoid of stars, but containing a large nebula 

 which seems to suggest the possible existence of a larger 

 nebula of which the outlying portions are dead or non- 

 luminous, and therefore absorb the light of the stars 

 behind them. 



The White Sror on Jupiter's Third Satellite. — 

 Referring to the w-hite spot near the north limb of Jupiter's 

 third satellite, observed by Senor Jos6 Comas Sold in 

 November, iqo6 (see Nature, No. 1942, p. 281, 

 January 17), Prof. Barnard directs attention to the fact 

 that he observed the same, or a similar, spot some four- 

 teen years ago, and that, as in Senor Sola's observations, 

 it was only seen when the satellite was following Jupiter, 

 i'his leads to the assumption that this feature cannot be 

 a true polar cap in the sense of its being at the pole, or it 

 would be seen with equal facility in all parts of the 

 satellite's orbit. Further, if this white spot is an extra- 

 polar marking, and is only visible in certain points of 

 the satellite's orbit with respect to the earth, it indicates 

 that Jupiter's third moon, like the earth's satellite, always 

 keeps the same face towards its primary. 



During the observations of 1893-4, Prof. Barnard saw 

 a similar spot at the south limb of the fourth satellite 

 when that body was near superior conjunction (Astro- 

 nomische Nachrichten, No. 4173, p. 327, April 27). 



The Meteorite fro.m Rich Mountain, North Carolina. 

 — The results of a minute examination of a portion of the 

 meteorite which was seen to fall at Rich Mountain, 

 Jackson County, North Carolina, " about June 20, 1903, 

 at 2 o'clock in the day," are given by Messrs. Merrill and 

 Tassin in an abstract (No. 1524) from the Proceedings of 

 the U.S. National Museum (vol. xxxii., pp. 241-244, 

 April 18). 



The portion examined seemed to be the nose of a larger 

 mass, and weighed 668 grams. Metallic iron particles 

 project from the crust, and seem to have resisted the 

 frictional heat of the atmosphere better than did the silicate 

 portions. Chemical analysis showed about 7 per cent, of 

 iron, nearly 47 per cejit. of olivine, about 4 per cent, of 

 troilite, and about 40-7 per cent, of insoluble silicates. 

 Copper was apparently absent, and, among the compounds, 

 chromite was not four^, whilst a relatively large amount 

 of graphitic carbon was present. 



NO. 1959, VOL. 75] 



Co.\iET 19076 (Mellisu).— In No. 4174 (p. 347, May 3) 

 a! the Astronouiische Nachrichten, Prof. Berberich directs 

 attention to the great similaritv between the elements of 

 the orbit of comet igoyb and those of the bright comet 

 of 1742 as published in vol. cl.xxii. (p. 105) of the same 

 journal. 



Prof. Barnard has discovered an image of this comet 

 on a plate taken on April 13, the day before the object was 

 found by Mr. Mellish. and a number of other American 

 observations are also recorded for April 14, 15, and 17 in 

 the same journal. 



The Orbits of Four Double Stars.— Recently deter- 

 mined orbits of the systems off Scorpii, 5 2173, '3 3121 

 and ft' Herculis are given by Dr. Doberck in Nos. 4169-70 

 (P- .257, April 17) of the Astronomische Nachrichten. The 

 orbits w-cre determined by successive corrections by the 

 least-square method, and the computed places are com- 

 pared with all the available observational results ; 

 ephemerides extending to 1926 are also given. The periods 

 given by the final elements for each of the above stars 

 are 45-12, 4620, 35-38, and 44-20 years respectively. 



The Discovery of Variable Stars. — The value of the 

 new method of discovering, photographically, variable 

 stars, by superposing a negative and a positive copy of a 

 similar negative taken at a different epoch, is illustrated 

 in Circular No. 127 of the Harvard College Observatory. 

 .\ plan has been started whereby the whole of the sky, as 

 photographed on the Harvard Map of the Sky, will' be 

 systematically examined for variables, and the present 

 circular deals with two regions already examined by Miss 

 Leavitt ; eight new variables were found in the one 

 region and six in the other. A comparison of the results 

 with those previously obtained shows that apparently all 

 the bright variables exhibiting conspicuous changes in 

 these two regions have now been discovered. 



The Radiant Point of the Bielids. — From observations 

 made at Stockholm in November, 1904, Dr. Karl Bohlin 

 finds the radiant point of the Bielid shower, epoch 

 November 21-33 (M-E-T.), to have been a=-l-26°2', 

 5= -1-44° 10' (1900). The record of the observations and 

 discussion of the results appear with a chart, in No. 2, 

 vol. viii., of the .Istronomiska lakttagelser och Under- 

 sokningar a Stockholms Observatorium. 



IRON AND STEEL INSTITUTE. 

 "T^HE annual meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute was 

 -'■ held at the Institution of Civil Engineers, West- 

 minster, on May 9 and 10. The proceedings opened with 

 the Right Hon. Sir James Kitson, Bart., M.P., past- 

 president, in the chair, who explained that the president, 

 Mr. R. .\. Hadfield, having attended to present an address 

 on behalf of the institute at the dedication of the building 

 given by Mr. Carnegie to American engineering societies, 

 was unable to return to England in time for the meeting. 



The report of the council, which was read by the secre- 

 tary, Mr. Bennett H. Brough, showed that the past year 

 had been one of exceptional activity and progress. The 

 membership of the institute amounted to 2052, and the 

 joint meeting with the .American Institute of Mining 

 Engineers resulted in the presentation of so large a number 

 of papers that it was found impossible to compress the 

 minutes into the usual two volumes, and two extra volumes 

 were issued. The report by the treasurer, Mr. W. H. 

 Bleckly, showed that the financial prosperity of the insti- 

 tute is a matter for congratulation. The receipts amounted 

 to 66ioi., and the expediture to 5915!. 



The first act of the new president. Sir Hugh Bell, 

 Bart., on taking the chair was to present the Bessemer 

 gold medal to Mr. J. A. Brinell, the eminent Swedish 

 metallurgist. 



In his presidential address, Sir Hugh Bell gave a sketch 

 of the iron trade in the last hundred years, the subject 

 being chosen from the fact that the life of his father. 

 Sir Lowlhian Bell, begun in 1S16 and ended nearly ninety 

 years later, almost covered the period reviewed. The 

 address is a work of conspicuous literary merit, and its 

 value is enhanced by the addition of a carefully compiled 

 chronological table of the more important events con- 



