XOD 



NA TURE 



[July 30, 1908 



Messrs. George Bell and Sons have published a third 

 edition of Mr. W. M. Baker's " Elementary Dynamics." 

 Except that a number of minor corrections have been made, 

 this edition appears not to differ from the second. 



We have received the forty-first volume, that for 1907, 

 of the Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society ol 

 New South Wales. The meetings of the society are re- 

 ported from time to time in these columns under " Socie- 

 ties and Academies," and it is sufficient to direct attention 

 to the publication of the annual volume. 



OVR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



Astronomical Occurrences in August : — 

 Aug. I. iih. 28m. Minimum of Algol (/3 Persei). 

 4. 8h. 17m. 

 a. 6h. 41m. to 7h. 54m. Moon occults 4 Sagittaiii 



(mag. 4-6). 

 9. 8h. 31m. Moon in conjunction with Uranus (Uranus 

 0° 24' N. ). 

 10-12. Maximum of the Perseid meteors (Radiant 45^ + 57°). 

 II. I2h. Venus at greatest brilliancy. 

 14. 23h. 53m. Moon in conjunction with Saturn (Saturn 



2'4b'N.). 

 16. Saturn. Outer minor axis of outer ring = s""S4. Polar 



diameter of bill = i7"-6. 

 iS. Venus. Illuminated portion of disc = 0327. 

 24. loh. om. Minimum of Algol {S Persei). 

 27. oh. Vesta in conjunction with Moon(Vestao°2l' S.). 

 31. 3h. Ceresinconjunction with Moon(Cereso°3r N.). 



Early Perseids. — .Mr. Denning, at Bristol, observed the 

 first traces of the great .August meteor shower on July 21, 

 but no signs of it were apparent during watches maintained 

 over a part of the nights of July iS and 19. On July 25 

 meteors were very rare in a beautifully clear sky, but on 

 July 22 and 26 they were numerous, and supplied evidence 

 of several active minor showers at 298°- 15°, 28o°+57°, 

 and 303°-)-24°. On July 20 the Perseid display had 

 assumed very decided prominence, for it furnished during 

 the two hours preceding midnight about four meteors per 

 hour within the sphere of vision commanded by a single 

 observer. The radiant point appeared diffused over an 

 area with centre at 25°-|-53°, which agrees very nearly 

 witft the computed place of the shower centre on July 26. 



A bright flashing Perseid, nearly equal to Jupiter, was 

 recorded at loh. 23m. on the night mentioned crossing 

 the Milky Way in the south-west region of Aquila, the 

 path being from 287°-)- 3° to 278°- 11°, where it left a 

 bright streak for a few seconds. A bright star meteor 

 from a southern radiant was seen at iih. 33m. moving 

 from 350° -1-6° to i7°-t-20j°, and at iih. 49m. an Aquarid 

 shot upwards close to y Pegasi. A radiant at 45° -1-85°, 

 near Polaris, became well defined on the same night. 



Large Meteors from Scorpio. — In a letter to the Julv 

 Observatory (p. 287, No. 398) Mr. Denning directs atten- 

 tion to the recent apparition of several large meteors 

 coming from a radiant apparently situated in the con- 

 stellation^ Scorpio. So far back as June 7, 1878, Mr. 

 Denning's attention was directed to this radiant by the 

 appearance of a large meteor, and since then he has 

 regularly observed it, and has seen several very attractive 

 meteors from it. 



This year two fireballs from this radiant were observed, 

 on May iqd. loh. 20m. and May 22d. 8h. 50m. respec- 

 tively, and duplicate observations show that the former 

 passed over Ireland, from Ballytcigne Bav to co. Mayo, at 

 a height of about sixty-nine to forty-five miles, along a 

 path 142 miles in length; the radiant 'was in the region of 

 255°. —22°. Mr. Denning suggests that observations of 

 this radiant in future years will amply repay the observers 

 by providing them with brilliant meteoric phenomena at 

 a season of the year when such phenomena are neither 

 plentiful nor conspicuous. On the day of the partial solar 

 eclipse, June 28, ?tlr. Denning saw a magnificent meteor, 

 directed from Scorpio, w-hich occupied seven seconds ir. 



NO. 2022, VOL. 7SI 



passing from 276°, -1-23°, to 1°, -1-48^°, and cast off a j 

 bright trail of yellow sparks. ; 



The Recent Night-glows. — Several accounts of observa- 

 tions of the night-glows which were seen, about the 

 beginning of the present month, by observers throughout 

 mid-Europe appear in No. 4262 of the Astronomische " ] 

 Suchrichten (p. 239, July ib). I| 



Prof. Weber, of Kiel University, reports that no marked, ' 

 irregular oscillations of the magnets were registered, but 

 from June 27-30 small regular oscillations of 2' amplitude 

 and 3m. period were observed at intervals, and were not 1 

 ascribable to any recognised cause. J 



Hrrr Kohl, of the Carina Observatory, Denmark, sug- 

 gests that the solar illumination of cometary dust in the 

 higher atmosphere might account for the phenomenon, and 

 in this connection directs attention to the fact that several 

 very large meteors were recently observed in Denmark. 



Herr N. Donitsch states that on June 30 a fine aurora 

 borealis was seen at Starya Doubossary, Bessarabia, an(i 

 was visible from iih. lom. p.m. (local time) until dawn. 

 The maximum illumination was a few degrees east of 

 north, and suffered several variations ; filaments, changing 

 rapidly in form, were also seen. 



Double-star Measures. — No. 4261 of the Astronomische 

 Kachrichten contains further micrometer measures of 

 double stars made by Prof. Burnham since the publication 

 of his General Catalogue. The main idea of these observa- 

 tions is to establish beyond doubt the existence, or absence, 

 of relative change of any kind in the lesser known and 

 often neglected pairs. With this idea, the present list, as 

 did the former, contains a note on each system indicating 

 •he nature and amount of any change which has been 

 discovered. 



The History of Lunar Relief. — Charged with the task 

 of bringing to completion the Loewy-Puiseux " ."Ktlas photo- 

 graphique de la Lune," M. Puiseux is preparing the text 

 which is to accompany the work. Whilst studying the 

 photographs for this purpose, he has been struck by the 

 peculiar formations surrounding the northern pole of our 

 satellite, and finds in them and their structure a possible 

 key to the history of lunar formations in generaf. These 

 rectangular formations, prominent in the region of 

 .'\naxagorus, M. Puiseux concludes to be typical of the 

 (■arlier types of lunar structure, since modified, in other 

 latitudes, by subsequent action, and he shows in a note 

 published in No. 2 of the Comptes rendiis (p. 113, July 13) 

 how they were probably formed by the contortions of the 

 thin superficial crust. M. Puiseux does not, in the present 

 note, discuss the reason whv the period of structure-forma- 

 tion should be a function of latitude, but points out that 

 in this respect the earth affords a parallel case. 



MINERALS, INCLUDING GEM-STONES. AT 

 THE FRANCO-BRITISH EXHIBITION. 

 CCIENCE and commerce regard minerals from two very 

 '^ different points of view, and many of the specimens 

 to which much prominence is given at the Franco-British 

 Exhibition — such as, for instance, the ubiquitous masses of 

 silver-bearing galena — would find no place in a purely 

 mineralogical collection. Commerce is concerned only 

 with the ore value of the specimens, and attaches no 

 importance to the presence of crystals or to their form and 

 symmetry. On the other hand, in a museum specimens 

 are arranged by the most interesting or the best developed 

 species displayed on them, and it is impossible to realise 

 at a glance what precisely are the minerals found in some 

 particular quarter of the globe. Thus collections that are 

 representative of the mineral products of various countries 

 cannot fail to be of interest, from whatever point of view 

 tliey may be considered ; moreover, here and there the 

 mineralogist will note with appreciative eye a well- 

 crystallised specimen. 



Most of the minerals will be found at the far end of the 

 extensive grounds in the spacious halls of the Dominion 

 of Canada and the Commonwealth of .Australi.T. In the 

 former, a singularly tasteful hall, the collection of minerals 

 is the property of the Government, and is permanently 



