lO 



NA TURE 



[May 7, 1908 



Messrs. McClean, Brooks and Walker, working 

 with the 4f-inch De La Rue Coronograph, 8 feet focal 

 length, obtained four pictures. 



The same observers secured no results with the 

 Voigtiander 4-inch objective, fitted with a Thorp 

 replica grating. 



Mr. Winkelmann, working with a telephoto lens 

 of equivalent focal length of 5 feet 3 inches, obtained 

 five pictures, showing various depths of corona. 



Mr. Short (assisted by Mr. Caflfin, purser of the 

 Tavmni) worked a photoheliograph of about 7 feet 

 focal length and a telephoto lens. Some of his results 

 will also prove very useful. 



It will thus be seen that while no spectroscopic 

 results were secured, a very complete record of the 

 form of the corona was obtained, and this was the 

 chief object of the expedition. 



With the exception of Raymond's refractor, all the 

 objectives were fed from the 22-inch siderostat mirror 

 taken out by Mr. McClean (see Fig. i). The De La 

 Rue and photoheliograph received the sunlight 

 directly from the mirror, while the remainder were 

 placed at right angles to the beam from the siderostat, 

 and obtained their light by means of small mirrors 

 placed in the path of the main beam. 



Some of the original negatives, and glass positives of 

 others, which have arrived from .\uckland indicate 

 at a glance what a magnificent sight the corona must 

 have presented. No wonder the eclipse was not de- 

 scribed as a dark one when such an extent of corona 

 encircled the dark moon ! 



It has been stated, I do not know on what authority, 

 that this eclipse resembled that of 1898. Mr. 

 McClean 's beautiful negatives do not in the least 

 remind me of the form it took in that year. Mr. 

 Raymond's, description, as quoted above, " an irre- 

 gular star of seven points," seems to define it very 

 well, and that description could not be given to the 

 form of the corona of 1898, vi'hicli I observed in India. 



In my opinion the photographs of the 1908 eclipse 

 display a form which approaches more to tliat gener- 

 ally seen when the sun is most active, that is, a 

 "maximum " corona, than to those of the " square " 

 and " wind-vane " variety. Perhaps if it be classed 

 as intermediate between a "maximum" and a 

 " square " form, one cannot be far from wrong. In 

 looking up the records of eclipses, I find that the 

 drawing made by Mr. Weedon of the corona of i860 

 July 18 (Memoirs, R.A.S., vol. .xli., 1879, p. 543) 

 more closely resembles that of 1908 than any I have 

 been able to find. The year i860 was a time of maxi- 

 mum sun-spot activity (and also probably a maximum 

 of prominence activity, only no data are available to 

 state this definitely). 



Mr. McClean 's photographs show several streamers 

 more than one and a half lunar diameters in length. 

 "One striking feature of them is their great length and 

 comparatively small breadth, giving them a very spiky 

 appearance. Several prominences are also recorded 

 on some of the negatives. Polar rifts are by no means 

 clearly evident, and this is due possibly to the presence 

 of some streamers in high latitudes. 



As was to be expected, Prof. Campbell rendered 

 considerable assistance to Mr. McClean 's party, and 

 Mr. McClean writes further in flattering terms of the 

 cooperation of Mr. Mortimer, resident on the island, 

 who rendered him " every assistance during the whole 

 period we were on the island." He also expresses his 

 deep obligations to Mr. A. B. J. Irvine, manager at 

 Auckland of the Union S.S. Company, who did every- 

 thing in his power to render the expedition a 

 success. 



Fortunately only one case of illness is reported. 

 This was Mr. Raymond, who was confined to his 



NO. 2010, VOL. 78] 



bunk on board the Taviuiii for four days owing to 

 a severe attack of cholera. Although left very weak, he 

 was able to rejoin the party ashore the day before the 

 eclipse, and carry out his programme of sketching the 

 corona as above mentioned. 



In conclusion, it may be remarked that the results 

 of the expedition are far more successful than one was 

 led to believe from the previous information received, 

 and the discussion of the photographs will form a 

 valuable contribution to science. 



William J. S. Lockyer. 



THE MUTATIONS OF CENOTHERA.' 



THE name of an animal or plant may become 

 famous for one of two reasons. Fame may be 

 due either to the intrinsic interest of morphological 

 or developmental characters of " intermediate," , 

 " primitive " or rare species, or to the fact that the * 

 form in question has been the material by means of 

 which discoveries, which help in the revelation of the 

 fundamental nature of living things, have been made. 

 Examples of plants of the first class are Ginkgo, 

 Ophioglossum, Coleochaete, and Anthoceros. Ex- 

 amples of animals of the first class are Peripatus, 

 Archaeopteryx, Acanthobdella, Ceratodus, Okapia, 

 Sphenodon, .Anaspides, and Tarsius. Thousands of 

 specimens of an animal which is an example of the 

 second class are daily hurled into the corner of the 

 knacker's stable in the shape of Ascaris niegalo- 

 cephala. Thousands of specimens of a vegetable 

 example of the second class could be gathered in 

 a very short time on the sand-dunes along certain 

 tracts of the coast of Lancashire in the shape of 

 CEnotliera Lamarchiana. 



Yet these two classes of forms agree in one 

 respect, that there is a certain magic about tlwir 

 names. .-Xny contribution, however trivial, to a closer 

 knowledge of such forms is regarded as worth 

 publication. The importance of the material is held 

 to compensate for the triviality of the contribution. 

 We are not arguing that this should not be so, 

 but merely pointing out that it is. A new fact, which, 

 if it related to Periplaneta, would not be thought 

 worth publishing will soon find its way into print 

 if it relates to Peripatus. 



Every biologist is familiar with, even if he does 

 not take a critical interest in, the wonderful series 

 of observations which have made Oinothera 

 Lamarckiana a household word in the mouths of 

 everyone interested in organic evolution. It is not 

 surprising, therefore, to find this form subjected to 

 an investigation which for minuteness and exhaustive- 

 ness is without parallel. Those who are familiar w ith 

 the mutation theory might be excused for thinking 

 that de Vries did not leave much to be done. But 

 the memoir before us shows that, much as de Vries 

 did, this is by no means the case; there is nothing 

 in " Die Miitationstheorie " which for minuteness 

 of detail compares with Dr. ShuU's description of 

 the fluctuations of Oinothera. 



The memoir is illustrated by a series of beautiful 

 heliotype plates of the various new elementary species 

 to which CEnothera has given rise. Plate 5, which 

 is here reproduced, shows at a glance the striking 

 difference between two of these, CEnothera lata and 

 CE. albida—iorms with which everyone who knows 

 d3 Vries 's work must be familiar. 



The part of this memoir which has interested us 

 most is that which deals with the origin of mutants 

 from strains of CEnotheras different from that which 



1 *' Mutations, Variations, and Relationships of the CEnotheras." By 

 D. T. Macdougal, 'A. M. Vail, and G. H. Shull. Pp. 92. (Washington : 

 Carnegie Institution, 1907.) 



