August 29, 1907] 



NA TURE 



447 



were modest, but enthusiasm was great, and the out- 

 come has been of the widest interest. One of the 

 earlv fruits from this new observatory was the spec- 

 trum catalogue of 4051 stars, important, not only 

 because it illustrated the manner in which large masses 

 of work could be dealt with in the new institution, 

 but for the extensive application of the method of 

 classifving stellar spectra to which the name of Vogel 

 is particularly attached. He early appreciated the prob- 

 abilitv that the phase of development of a particular 

 star was in general mirrored in its spectrum, and 

 that anv rational classification of the stars could 

 only be obtained by giving prominence to that central 

 fact. 



.\nother class of work which largely occupied Prof. 

 Vogel's attention was his investigation by means of 

 photographv of the motions in the line of sight of 

 all the brighter stars visible in Potsdam. If he was 

 not the first to apply photography in this particular 

 direction, he was certainly among the most successful. 

 This success was due in a great measure to the fact 

 that he recognised, more fully than was generally 

 the case thirty years ago, the necessity of constructing 

 an instrument to a definite end, of making it exclu- 

 sively av-ailable for one particular object. The pos- 

 session of the most suitable apparatus not only gave 

 improved and consistent values for the motion of stars 

 in the line of sight, but satisfactorily explained the 

 cause of the variability of .Algol and stars of that 

 type. His determination of the elements of that spec- 

 troscopic binary is typical of an immense amount of 

 work which Vogel effected in the case of many other 

 binaries. In observing variable and temporary stars 

 his energTi' found another large field for its display, 

 but it is impossible to enter into details. His was a 

 busy life with many interests, and he assisted science 

 in various directions. 



.\Ithough aided by able and zealous colleagues, he i 

 was responsible as director of the observaton.' for the I 

 conduct of several large pieces of work. It will be | 

 sufficient to refer here to his participation in the work 

 of the International Chart of the Heavens, to which 

 in its early days he devoted much attention. The 

 rigorous determination of the magnitude of all the 

 brighter stars in the Bonn Durchmusterung by 

 means of the Zollner photometer is another piece of 

 hea\y obser\'ation which he brought to a successful 

 issue. Simultaneously with the steady progress of 

 these and other inquiries has gone the remodelling 

 of the obser\-ator\-, and the substitution of larger 

 and more powerful instruments for those which 

 tended to grow obsolete. The mounting of the 

 80-centimetre refractor offers a proof of the care 

 and foresight which he devoted to this part of his 

 duties. 



We believe that when the effect of Vogel's work is 

 considered and judged, his capacity' as a director must 

 be fully and generously recognised. As guardian of 

 a new institution for which there were no traditions 

 to guide the future development, as a conductor of an ' 

 untried experiment, uncertain in what direction pro- j 

 gress might be anticipated, he has maintained the \ 

 observatory at a uniformly high level, and produced 1 

 a quantit}' of work of the most accurate character. 

 This has been shown to some extent by his election into 1 

 manv learned societies, the members of which have ap- I 

 predated his work and acknowledged his influence, j 

 He has left an example to be followed, and a reputa- 

 tion to be honoured. To his colleagues, some of 

 whom have ser\ed with him many years, and who ' 

 have suffered the loss of his experience and his kindly , 

 assistance, we offer our respectful svmpathies. i 



W. E. P. I 



NO. 1974, VOL. 76] 



NOTES. 



It is announced iji the Electrician that the " John Scott 

 Legacy Medal and Premium " of the Franklin Institute 

 has been awarded to Prof. J. A. Ewing, F.R.S., and Mr. 

 L. H. Walter for their method of detecting elf-ctrical 

 oscillations. 



The programme of proceedings of the forthcoming meet- 

 ing (on September 23 and 24) of the Iron and Steel 

 Institute in Vienna has now been issued ; from it we 

 learn that the following papers may be expected to be 

 submitted : — on the development of the iron industry of 

 Austria since 1882, by W. Kestranek ; on the Styrian 

 Erzberg iron-ore mines, by Prof. H. Bauernian ; on 

 steel and meteoric iron, by Prof. F. Berwerth ; on the 

 determination of the quantity of blast-furnace gas for a 

 given make of pig iron, by Prof. Josef von Ehrenwerth ; 

 on the application of the laws of physical chemistry to 

 the metallurgy of iron, by Baron H. von Jiiptner; on 

 case hardening of mild steel, by C. O. Bannister and 

 J. W. Lambert; on a new blue-black paint as a protective 

 covering for iron, by F. J. R. Carulla ; on the hardening 

 of steel, by L. Demozay ; on the structure of hardened 

 steel, by Percy Longmuir ; on case hardening, by G. Shaw 

 Scott ; on the ageing of mild steel : further notes, by 

 C. E. Stromeyer ; and on the economical distribution of 

 electric power from blast furnaces, by B. H. Thwaite. 



Prince Henry zv Schonaich-C.arolatm has consented 

 to act as president of the fourteenth International Congress 

 for Hygiene and Demography, which is to take place in 

 Berlin ne.xt month, and Dr. Rubner, Privy Councillor of 

 Medicine and professor of hygiene at the Royal Uni- 

 versity of Berlin, and Prof, von Mayr, Under-Secretary 

 of State, Munich, will be vice-presidents. 



The eleventh congress of Flemish naturalists will be 

 held from September 21 to 23 at Malines under the presi- 

 dency of Prof. C. de Bruyn, professor of botany and 

 zoology in the University of Ghent. The secretary of the 

 congress is Dr. de Bruycker, place du Grand-Canon, 

 Ghent. 



An International Exhibition is to be held in Tokio 

 from April i to October 15 of next year. The estimated 

 cost is 2,ooo,ooo<., towards which the Japanese Govern- 

 ment has set aside i,ooo,oool. 



According to a telegram in the Times, two sharp 

 shocks of earthquake occurred at 4.32 of the afternoon 

 of August 22 at Kingston, Jamaica. 



Particulars of the preparations in progress for the 

 Wellman Polar Expedition are given in a Reuter message 

 dated from Spitsbergen, July 25, from which we learn 

 it was expected that the expedition would be ready to start 

 for the far north by the middle of August. One of the 

 manv difficult pieces of work which had to be accom- 

 plished was the packing and making ready for the 

 America of the two " serpents " which form an important 

 part of the project. One of the serpents — a pipe of strong, 

 water-tight leather, 6 inches in diameter and 123 feet long, 

 its outside surface covered with more than 29,000 steel 

 scales, each about as big as a silver quarter, very thin, 

 and riveted to the leather, overlapping like the scales of 

 a fish — has been designed to have the smallest possible 

 resistance in sliding over the ice or snow, or floating on 

 the water, in which clement it is buoyant. The reiarder 

 serpent, on the other hand, is designed to make the 



