sSo 



NATURE 



[October 8, 1908 



at Copenhagen on September 20, the corrections to be 

 applied to the ephemeris position were + im. iSs. and 

 -I'-j. Trof. H. Thiele also states that the comet was 

 visible to the naked eye, and that the tail was i°-s 

 long with a bend, amounting to 13°, at 12' from the 

 head. 



As pointed out in a letter received from Prof. Dale, the 

 positions given by the Lick ephemeris gradually became 

 worse until, on October 3, the error amounted to about 3°. 

 Elements computed by Prof. Dale differ but little from 

 those computed by Prof. Kobold, whilst an ephemeris with 

 which he has favoured us gives the following positions 

 for October 8 and 14 respectively : — R.A. 2oh. 2-8m., 

 dec. + 61° 52'-4; R.A. igh. 3i-5m., dec. + 51° 4o'.8. For 

 the Kiel ephemeris Prof. Dale's observations on October 3 

 indicated an error of — 3-4m. and —18', whilst later 

 observations indicate that the departure from the ephemeris 

 positions is steadily increasing. 



Comet TempeLj-Swift. — The comet Tempel, -Swift, for 

 which we gave a search-ephemeris in these columns last 

 week, was re-discovered by M. Javelle at the Nice Observa- 

 tory on September 29. The following was its position at 

 I5h. 9-4m. (Nice M.T.) on that date : — 



R.A. = 6h. 44m. i4-6s., dec. = -1-32° 37' SS"- 



Of the three ephemeris positions given for September 29, 

 this agrees best wdth that calculated for the mean date. 

 (September 30-88) of the perihelion passage. When re- 

 discovered, the magnitude of the comet was 140, and its 

 distances from both earth and sun are increasing. Its 

 present position is in the constellation Gemini, and it is 

 apparently travelling, according to the ephemeris, towards 

 Castor and Pollux. 



Bright Bolides. — .-X meteor, considerably brighter than 

 Vega, was observed by Mr. \V. Moss at Wimbledon Park, 

 at 7h. 4m. p.m., on October i. Its approximate path wa-, 

 from 213°, +76J°, to 183^°, +78*°, its colour bluish-white, 

 and its velocity medium. At its disappearance the meteor 

 exploded, leaving a short trail. Mrs. E. Gifford, writing 

 from Oaklands, Chard, says that at about 5.45 p.m. on 

 October 1, while looking at the moon, which was to the 

 south-west of her, she saw a shooting star of a brilliant 

 blue-green colour to the east of the moon. It was 

 still broad daylight, and the meteor gave the impression 

 of an oblong patch of light followed by the usual 

 streak. 



The Sixth Satellite of Jltiter. — Position measures 

 of Jupiter's sixth satellite, made with the Yerkes 40-inch 

 refractor during the period March 24 to May 3, are re- 

 corded in No. 4274 of the Astronomische Nachrichten 

 (p. 17) bv Prof. Barnard ; the estimated magnitudes of the 

 satellite were as follows : — March 24, 14-5 ; .April 13, 140 ; 

 -April 19, 14-2: .April 21, 14-5; and May 3, 14-0. 



A faint nebula of the sixteenth magnitude was seen in 

 the same field as the satellite on March 24, its position, for 

 iqoS-o, being o = 8h. 26m. 56-58s., 8=419° 55' S5"-4- 



The Solar Rotation as determined from the Motion 

 OF Dark Calcium Flocculi. — In a brief note, appearing 

 in No. 2, vol. xxviii., of the Astrophysical Journal (Sep- 

 tember, p. 117), Mr. Philip Fox gives a few preliminary 

 results obtained by him in the determination of the solar 

 rotation from measurements of the dark calcium flocculi. 

 The evidence so far educed shows that these features are 

 of the same order of height in the solar atmosphere as 

 the hydrogen features, which show a constant period of 

 rotation for all heliographic latitudes. Grouping the lati- 

 tudes from 2o°-25°, 25°-30°, and 30°-35°, Mr. Fox obtains 

 mean diurnal motions of i4°-32, i4°-io, and I4°-I4 re- 

 spectivelv, thus indicating that the motion is independent 

 of latitude : that is to say, from the results already obtained 

 hv Profs. Hale and .Adams, these dark calcium flocculi 

 belong to the higher levels of the solar atmosphere. Mr. 

 Fox also confirms the previous observations that the dark 

 flocculi are prominences seen in projection on the disc, 

 but finds that they are not so easily seen as the corre- 

 sponding dark hydrogen flocculi. 



NO. 2032, VOL. 78] 



IKON .-LVD STEEL IXSTITUTE. 



npHE autumn meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute 

 was held at .Middlesbrough on September 28 to 

 October 2 under the presidency of Sir Hugh Bell, and 

 was largely attended. The institute was welcomed in an 

 eloquent speech by the .Mayor of Middlesbrough, and the 

 president, after acknowledging the welcome, announced 

 that Sir William T. Lewis, Bart., K.C.V.O., had been 

 chosen to succeed him in the presidential chair in May, 

 1909. Si.xteen papers were on the programme, and three 

 mornings were devoted to their reading and discussion. 



The first paper read was by Mr. J. E. Stead, F.R.S., 

 who exhibited and described a simple form of inexpensive 

 microscope suitable for the use of foundry foremen and of 

 assistants in steel works. 



The next paper read was that by Mr. W. Hawdon 

 (Middlesbrough), on the iron and steel industries of the 

 Cleveland district. He gave a brief review of the iron 

 and steel industries of the Cleveland district during the 

 last quarter-century, i.e. since 1883, on the occasion of ; 

 the last visit of the institute to .Middlesbrough, to the 

 present time. The record showed that the iron and steel 

 trade of the district had considerably increased and its 

 position consolidated. The population of Middlesbrough 

 had doubled, but the output of Cleveland ironstone remained 

 about as it had been. In 1S99 the first basic open-hearth 

 steel was produced in the district, 10,154 tons being made 

 in 'hat year. The output has rapidly increased, and the 

 question arises, if this increase oi basic open-hearth steel 

 continues, where is the ironstone to come from? The 

 best ironstone is rapidly going ; there is, how-ever, a large 

 area of stone, of a gradually diminishing richness, or 

 rather of increasing poverty, available for many years to 

 come. If, then, at the end of another quarter of a 

 century the Iron and Steel Institute again visits the dis- 

 trict, it may see, should the steel age still be vigorous, 

 a greater output of basic steel and a larger production of 

 pig-iron from native ironstone, which will be won, if not 

 by manual labour, then by one of the many devices which 

 are and will be available for the purpose. 



Mr. T. C. Hutchinson (Saltburn) read a paper on the 

 mechanical cleaning of iron ores, in which he considered 

 the most economical method of treating any description 

 of ore by careful selection, and the removal by mechanical 

 means of as much of the impurities as can be easily dis- 

 tinguished by their appearance. He gave his experience 

 in dealing with and smelting Cleveland ironstone when 

 worked for a period of years from the same mine, and 

 tabulated the yield of iron from the ore, and the con- 

 sumption of fuel and flux required under various con- 

 ditions due to the irregularity of impurities admixed with 

 ore as delivered from the mines. Many years of careful 

 observation have led him to the conclusion that, whether 

 these impurities are charged into the furnace in larger 

 or smaller percentages as compared with the main bed of 

 ironstone, the coke and limestone requirements and the 

 cost of smelting increase in exact ratio. It is cheaper to 

 pick out impurities mechanically than to melt them out in 

 the blast-furnace. Mechanical cleaning is desirable, and 

 can be applied to all descriptions of ores used in the manu- 

 facture of pig iron. 



The paper read by Mr. Greville Jones (Middlesbrough), 

 on Messrs. Bell Brothers' blast furnaces, was of great 

 historical interest and educational value. He gave full 

 particulars and dimensioned drawings of the furnaces built 

 bv the firm from 1.S44 to 1908. 



.A paper by Prof. H. Bauerman (London), on metallurgy 

 at the Franco-British Exhibition, was read by title only, 

 as the author, being a member of the jury, considered 

 that the paper should not be published until the official 

 list of awards had been announced. In connection with 

 this paper, a compilation of analyses of British pig-irons 

 shown at the Exhibition was presented by Mr. Benne-.t 

 H. Brough. In view of the paucity of published analyses, 

 it forms a very useful work of reference, as the exhibits 

 shown in the Collective Pig-iron Stand have been care- 

 fully selected as typical for the various districts repre- 

 sented. 



The paper read by Mr. C. H. Jlerz (London), on the 



