June 27, 1907] 



NA TURE 



207 



regret that we are unable to speak favourably of the 

 scheme. The palpi are clumsily represented, but the speci- 

 mens show no trace of legs, proboscis, or even antennae, 

 the last deficiency being the most serious and inexcusable 

 of all, especially as they could easily have been imitated 

 in fine wire. We cannot suppose that so incomplete a 

 design can have been executed by, or even submitted to, 

 anyone wilh the slightest knowledge of entomology. The 

 colouring is fairly good, though in the case of some of 

 the xvhite butterflies it has too greenish a shade. 



The annual report of the Board of Scientific ."Advice for 

 India for the year 1905-6 has reached us. It will be 

 remembered that the Board is a central authority for the 

 coordination of official scientific inquiry, and the object 

 it has in view is the distribution of the work of research 

 to the best advantage, the prevention of dissipation of 

 energy by the useless duplication of inquiries, and its mis- 

 direction by a lack of inter-departmental cooperation. The 

 Board by its advice also aids the Government of India 

 in prosecuting practical research into questions of economic 

 or applied science. During 1906 the Board appears to 

 have held two meetings only, one at Simla in May and 

 the other in December at Calcutta. The greater part of 

 the report, which runs to nearly 200 pages, is made up 

 of contributions by distinguished specialists on scientific 

 work in various directions accomplished in India during 

 the \'ear under review. 



IS- 

 IS- 

 20. 



24. 



Moon occults 33 Piscium 



OVR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



Astronomical Occurrences in July : — 

 July 3. 8h. Uranus in opposition to the Sun. 



6. 3h. Mars in opposition to the Sun. 



7. 7h. Vesta in conjunction with Moon (Vesta o' 15' S.). 



8. I2h. 29m. Minimum of Algol (/3 Persei). 



:o. 3h. 7m, Sun eclipsed, invisible at Greenwich. 

 II. 9h. iSm. Minimum of Algol (|8 Persei). 



Saturn's Ring. Major axis =42"'li, Minor =l"72. 



I9h. Tupiter in conjunction with the Sun. 



lib. 58ni. to I2h. 57m. Moon occults B Librae 



(mag. 4-3). 

 Partial eclipse of the Mron. 

 I3h. 59m. First contact with the penumbra. 

 i6h. 22m. Middle of the eclipse. 

 iSh. 46m. Last contact with the penumbra. 

 Magnitude of the eclipse = 0620. 

 At i6h. lom. the Moon sets at Greenwich. 

 27-31. Meteors numerous from Aquarius and Perseus. 

 28. Ilh. lom. to t2h. 14m. Moon occults 30 Piscium 



(mag. 4.7). 

 ,, I3h. 4m. to I4h. 6m 

 (mag. 4-6). 

 iih. 23m. to iih. 55m. Moon occults 20 Ceti 

 (mag. 4-9). ^ , 



loh. 40m. to Ilh. iSm. Moon occults 4- Ceti 

 (mag. 4-3). 



Comet igo7d (D.^niel). — The following sot of elements 

 and ephenieris for comet i9o7<i have been computed by 

 Dr. E. Stromgren, and appear in Circular No. 98 of the 

 Kiel Centralstelle : — 



T=I907 Sept. 2 0105 (Berlin M.T. ) 



00 = 241 59-04 "j 

 n = i43 41 '99 hi907'0 

 i= 6 14-81 J 

 log</ = o-ii436 

 Ephemcris i2h. M.T. Berlin. 

 igoy a 5 Brightness 



June 24 ... 031-3 ... -h 2 25-9 ... 1-37 



,, 28 ... o 44-1 ... -f 3 27-2 ... 1-54 



July 2 ... o 57-4 ... +4. 29-0 ... 1-73 



The brightness at the time of discovery, given as equal 



ii mag. ii-o, is taken as unity. .As will be seen from 



ilio above, the comet is brightening considerably, and is 



29. 



31- 



travelling through Pisces, towards Aries, just south of the 

 ecliptic. At present it rises above the eastern horizon 

 about midnight. 



Observations by Prof. Hartwig on June 15 gave the 

 magnitude as 9-5, the diameter as 2'. and the magnitude 

 of the nucleus as 100. 



A Large Sun-spot.— One of the most marked features 

 of the present year has been the large number of sun- 

 spot groups of sufficient magnitude to be seen witff the 

 naked eye ; according to the Greenwich report, fourteen 

 such groups had been seen on the solar disc up to May 10. 

 The accompanying photograph, taken at 2h. 30m' on 

 June 21, shows the group of spots which appeared on 



NO. 1965, VOL. 76] 



the eastern limb on Thursday, June 13, and for several 

 days was quite an easv naked-eye object. The latitude 

 of the group was about 17° S., and, as may be seen 

 from the reproduction, its extreme length was about one- 

 tenth of the solar diameter, or about 85,000 miles. The 

 shape of the principal umbra changed considerably during 

 the spot's progress across the disc. 



The V.\rhbilitv of .\stekoids.— A striking photograph, 

 illustrating apparently rapid changes of brightness in an 

 asteroid, "accompanies a paper on the subject published 

 by Mr. Joel Metcalf, of Taunton (Mass.), in No. 4, vol. 

 .x'xv. (p. 264, May), of the .Istrophysical Journal. The 

 original negative vvas produced by making two exposures 

 of 'equal duration on the same plate, the camera being 

 guided so that the asteroid images are round and the 

 linages of the surrounding stars .are shown as trails. The 

 similarity of the two star trails for each star is evidence 

 that the rating of the clock and the atmospheric con- 

 ditions were constant throughout, and yet there is a 

 marked diflerence in the size and density of the linages 

 of the asteroid— in this case igo6 WE. This plate was 

 taken on November b, 1900, and the two exposures had 

 thirty-five minutes each, with an interval of a minute 

 between them ; therefore the asteroid appears to have 

 changed considerably in magnitude during an interval of 

 one hour eleven minutes. 



Comet 19071: (Gi.\cobim).— .\ set of elements and a 

 daily ephemeris extending to July 11 are given for 

 comet u)07c bv Dr. Stromgren in No. 4183 (p. 128. 

 June 14) of the .islronomische Nachrichtcu. Prof. 

 Millosevich, .at Rome, found this a difficult object to 

 observe with the 3S cm. (15 inches) telescope, and. accord- 

 ing to the ephemeris, it is decreasing in brightness. 



