October 29, 1908J 



NA TURE 



A SIXTH edition of Prof. Strasburgcr's " Handbook of 

 I\actical Botany," tianslated and edited by Prof. W. 

 Hillliouse, has been published by Messrs. Swan Sonnen- 

 schein and Co., Ltd. Considerable textual revision has 

 been effected, some new figures have been introduced, the 

 chapter on cell and nuclear division has been in part re- 

 written, and Prof. HiUhouse has rearranged the material 

 in such a way as to illustrate grades in cylological 

 technique. 



Messrs. A. E. Stalev axd Co., Thavies Inn, London, 

 E.C., have forwarded us a copy of the .September issue 

 of Prism, a little magazine published by Messrs. Bausch 

 and Lomb Optical Co., Rochester, N.Y., U.S..\. This 

 issue deals popularly with the manufacture of the micro- 

 scope. Messrs. A. E. Staley and Co., who are the 

 exclusive agents of the American company in England and 

 the colonies, will send a copy of the magazine to any 

 interested reader on receipt of a stamp for postage. 



Messes. , Longmans, Green and Co. have published a 

 second edition of Mr. J. P. Johnson's " The Stone Imple- 

 ments of South Africa," which was reviewed at length on 

 its first appearance in our issue for May 30, 1907 (vol. 

 Ixxvi., p. 99). The volume has been revised and enlarged, 

 further discoveries of the author have been incorporated, 

 and a number of new illustrations added. The compre- 

 hensive terms adopted in the first edition have been re- 

 placed by the current European nomenclature, though most 

 of the data remains the same. The volume possesses 

 neither index nor table of contents. The price of the new 

 edition is los. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



Astronomical Occurrences in November : — 

 Nov. 4. 2ih. lom. Saturn in conjunction with the Moon 

 (Saturn 2° 42' N.). 

 „ iih. l6ni. to I3h. 56m. Occultation of 30 Piscium 



(mag. 47). 

 9. 8h. l6m. to gh. 14m. Occultation of e Tauri (mag. 



37)- 

 10. gh. 45m, to loh. 29m. Occultation of Tauri (mag. 



4-S). 



12. loh. 5Sm. Neptune in conjunction with the Moon 



(Neptune 2° 36' S.). 



13. Mercury at greatest elongation, 19° iS' W. of the Sun. 

 16. 2ih. 42m. Jupiter in conjunction with the Moon 



(Jupiter 4° 20' S.). 



20. 3h. 42m. Venus in conjunction with the Moon 



(Venus 3' 6' S. ). 

 ,, 9h. Vesta in conjunction with the Moon (Vesta 

 0° 40' N.). 



21. 23h. l6m. Mercury in conjunction with the Moon 



(Mercury 1° 55' S.). 

 23. I5h. Ceres in conjunction with the Moon. (Ceres 



o" 14' N.). 

 26. I4h. 6m. Uranus in conjunction with the Moon 



(Uianus 1° 17' N.). 

 30. Ilh. 15m. Venus in conjunction with Mars (Venus 



lM7'N.). 

 ,, 8h.46m to9h.5om. Occultation of T'-Aquarii( mag. 4 •3). 

 Morehouse's Comet, igoSc. — This object has now be- 

 come visible to the naked eye, and may be picked up, on a 

 clear night, by any keen-sighted observer who has an 

 idea of its approximate position. Photographs taken at 

 the Solar Physics Observatory, South Kensington, with 

 the 6-inch Dallmeyer camera on October 23 show tails 

 nearly 2° in length, whilst those taken with the 36-inch 

 reflector show a complex series of streamers going to the 

 edge of the plate. 



Observations recorded in No. 4277 of the AstrononiiscJie 

 yachrichien (p. 84, October 20) appear to confirm the 

 suggestion that the comet and tail have suffered some 

 remarkable changes in visibility. Dr. H. Thiele states 



that both the length and breadth of the tail and the 

 visibility of the comet have v^iried. .'\ccording to his 

 observations the length of the tail has varied between 10' 

 and 2°, and the breadth, within 10' of the nucleus, from 

 15° to 40°; the dates of the longest and narrowest tails 

 were September 12?. 15, 20, 23-27, October 4 and 5. 



Prof. Hartwig also reports changes from October 2 

 to October 5 and 6, and suggests a periodic outrush of 

 tail material. 



A telegram from Prof. Pickering to the Kiel Central- 

 slelle states that Messrs. Metcalf and Morehouse each 

 announce a remarkable change in tail of Morehouse's 

 comet on October 15, a change which is confirmed by the 

 Harvard observations. 



We give below part of the ephemcris published in No. 

 4276 of the Astronomischc Nachrichtcn by Prof. Kobold, 

 and the accompanying chart indicates approximately the 



Path of Comet 190ft-, October 24 to December 2, 190S. 



position of the comet, in regard to the brighter stars, 

 according to this ephemeris, for every alternate night from 

 October 24 to December 2. 



El>hcmcris 12I1. M.T. Berlin. 



NO. 2035, VOL. 78] 



