May 2 I, 1908J 



NA TURE 



65 



method of representing dispersion on the electromagnetic 

 theory, as due to the presence in the medium of electrical 

 resonators, is capable also of explaining the gradual 

 extinction found to take place as due to radiation from 

 the resonators. He comes to the conclusion that it is not, 

 and in this respect is in opposition to Prof. Planck, to 

 whom the theory of dispersion owes so much. 



The concluding fascicule of the Bulletin dcs S(>anccs 

 of the Soci^t^ fran^aise de Physique for the year 1907, 

 which has just been issued, contains a valuable resume 

 of the communications made to the society during the past 

 year. It occupies eighty pages, and is of the greatest 

 service to those who have not the time to read the com- 

 plete papers. A glance at the titles of the abstracts is 

 sufficient to show that the Soci^t^ frangaise de Physique 

 maintains its position as one of the most successful of the 

 societies which receives and publishes original work done 

 in the field of physics. 



Many geographical works, offered at greatly reduced 

 prices, are included in a catalogue of publishers' remainders 

 just issued by Mr. H. J. Glaisher, Wigmore Street, 

 London, W. 



An admirable summary of the mineral resources of 

 Western .■\ustralia is given by the .Agent-General, the Hon. 

 C. H. Rason, in the May number of the Empire Review. 

 The twenty-three years' mining history of the colony proves 

 it to be one of the richest mineral territories in the world. 



An illustrated itinerary of pleasure cruises to the 

 Norwegian fiords by the yachting steamer Midnight Sun 

 has been received from the Albion Steamship Co., Ltd., 

 Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Each cruise extends over fourteen 

 days, and the minimum fare is ten guineas. The sailings 

 commence on June 6. 



.\ USEFUL catalogue of electrical measuring instruments 

 for technical and laboratory purposes has just been issued 

 by Messrs. Isenthal and Co., Mortimer Street, London, 

 \V. Particulars and illustrations are given of electro- 

 magnetic, moving-coil, hot-wire, and switchboard instru- 

 ments of special types, and also of aperiodic precision 

 instruments on the dynamometer principle, and insulation 

 testers. The catalogue makes the selection of a suitable 

 instrument of any of these designs a simple matter. 



Messrs. Marion and Co., Ltd., of Soho Square, 

 London, announce a prize competition in which money 

 prizes are offered for photographic work done on their 

 plates, films, and printing papers during the present season. 

 Of the four classes into which the competition is divided, 

 one is for photographs of scientific interest. Biological, 

 geological, astronomical, and natural history photographs, 

 spectroscopic woi'k, and photomicrography serve to indicate 

 the general character of this class, though other scientific 

 subjects are eligible. The first, second, and third prizes 

 in this class are, respectively, lo/., 5/., and 2I., and Mr. 

 Chapman Jones will be the judge. 



The recent removal of Swedenborg's body from London 

 to Stockholm, after it had reposed in the Swedish Lutheran 

 Church in London for one hundred and thirty-six years, 

 is a part of a larger movement for the recognition of the 

 genius of Swedenborg in the domain of science. The 

 movement began outside Sweden. Dr. Max Neubcrger, of 

 Vienna, in 1901 delivered an address before the assembly 

 of German Naturalists and Physicians entitled " Sweden- 

 borg's References to the Physiology of the Brain." 

 Following up this interest, Dr. Neuberger addressed a 

 communication to the Academy of Sciences of Stockholm 



NO. 2012, VOL. 78] 



in which he expressed his regret that Swedenborg's 

 extensive manuscript on the brain, which is preserved in 

 the library of the Academy of Sciences, had not yet been 

 published. This led to the appointment of a committee to 

 investigate the matter. Prof. Gustaf Retzius, the chair- 

 man of the committee and president of the academy, made 

 a study of the subject of Swedenborg's physiological 

 treatises. He became so impressed with the value of these 

 works that he proposed to the academy to issue an edition 

 of Swedenborg's scientific and philosophical works, and 

 offered to bear the expense of the first three volumes him- 

 self. Several volumes of these and other of Swedenborg's 

 works have already been published. The examination of 

 Swedenborg's manuscripts is leading to the conclusion that 

 theories and facts in many branches of science usually 

 assigned to much later dates and to other men of science 

 are becoming recognised as largely the work of Sweden- 

 borg. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



A Brilliant Meteor. — A meteor of extraordinary bright- 

 ness was seen by several observers at g.45 on Sunday 

 evening. May 17. Mr. T. F. Connolly, of the Solar Physics 

 Observatory, observed the object from Wimbledon Common. 

 It apparently commenced its flight about half a degree 

 east of Polaris, and, travelling slowly to the east of north, 

 passed about half-way between 6 and 7 Cassiopeife. The 

 brightness of the meteor exceeded that of Venus, which 

 was above the horizon, and the head was pear-shaped. 

 The duration of the flight was between three and four 

 seconds ; no trail was observed, and the meteor disappeared 

 when at some twelve degrees above the horizon. This 

 object was independently observed by Mr. H. E. Goodson, 

 who states that it was one of the brightest he has ever 

 seen. Mr. P. VV. Copeland also writes to say that he 

 observed the meteor at Helper, Derby, at the same time. 

 He says : — " The meteor was of the slow-moving type, 

 and I estimated its apparent diameter as from two to 

 three times that of Venus at the present time. Just before 

 the end of its path, a smaller portion, apparently at a 

 lower temperature, separated and dropped in a more 

 vertical direction. This observation has been confirmed by 

 a friend who saw the meteor at Derby, eight miles from 

 Belper. " 



Correlation of Stellar Characters. — A second paper 

 bv Miss Gibson and Prof. Karl Pearson on the correlation 

 of stellar characters appears in the Monthly Notices 

 (R.A.S.) for May (vol. Ixviii., No. 5, p. 415). The 

 characters of which the correlations have been examined 

 in this paper are magnitude, colour, spectral class, proper 

 motion, parallax, and position, all of which are of funda- 

 mental importance in any study of cosmical structure. As 

 might be expected, there is found to be a marked relation- 

 ship between the colours and the spectral classes of the 

 stars considered, whilst the relation between magnitude and 

 spectral class is but about half so marked ; the latter is 

 sensibly increased if the temperature classification of Sir 

 Norxnan Lockyer be taken as the index of spectral class. 

 The type of spectrum is also shown to be definitely 

 associated with proper motion and parallax. It follows 

 that, judging from the Yale parallax stars considered, there 

 is a sensible correlation between chemical constitution and 

 motion in .space, .'\mong the numerous other results 

 obtained bv Prof. Pearson we may mention that he con- 

 firms Prof.' Newcomb's deduction that the mean parallax 

 of an arrav of stars of given proper motion is one-fifteenth 

 of that proper motion. 



\'ariable Star Work at the Laws Observatory, 

 Missouri. — Bulletin No. 13 of the Laws Observatory, 

 Universitv of Missouri, contains brief descriptions of the 

 Zollner-Miiller photometer and the Gans-Crawford telescope 

 recently acquired by the observatory for use in the series 

 of photometric observations being carried out there. The 

 results of numerous observations and revised elements and 

 light-curves are also published for the variable stars X 

 and V Lacertoe. Bulletin No. 14, from the same source, 



