Apkil 12, 1907] 



SCIENCE 



567 



these nebulous stars were examined with 

 the 12-ineh of the Lick Observatory in 

 1892, no , connecting nebulosity could be 

 seen. It was noticed, however, in a photo- 

 graph made with the Willard lens that a 

 nebulous wisp ran toward the group from 

 M 8. The photographs made by the writer 

 with the ten-inch Bruce telescope of the 

 Terkes Observatory at Mt. "Wilson in the 

 summer of 1905 show that in this group 

 the nebulous stars are simply condensations 

 in a large irregular mass of nebulosity 

 which extends to and connects with M 8. 



Apex of the Solar Motion: George C. 



COMSTOCK. 



It is well known that different astrono- 

 mers have reached discordant results in 

 seeking to determine the direction of the 

 sun's motion through space. It is the pur- 

 pose of this paper to present graphically 

 (lantern projection) these several results 

 classified with respect to the average 

 brightness of the stars employed in the 

 determination. When thus classified all 

 determinations indicate a solar motion 

 toward the north edge of the Milky Way, 

 and the discordances in galactic latitude 

 are not great. In galactic longitude, how- 

 ever, there is a well-marked dependence of 

 the position of the apex upon the mean 

 magnitude of the stars with reference to 

 which it is determined. Stars of the tenth 

 magnitude place this apex some 40° farther 

 east than do stars of the third and fourth 

 magnitudes, while intermediate magni- 

 tudes furnish intermediate positions. This 

 variation is attributed to a small drift of 

 the nearer stars in the plane of the galaxy 

 and toward the constellation Cassiopeia. 

 This is shared by most of the sun's stellar 

 neighbors and affects the bright stars in 

 larger measure than the faint ones because 

 a larger percentage of the bright stars are 

 included in this drift. 



A Comparison Study of Bright Clusters 

 and Nehulce: S. I. Bailey. 



Field Experience with Transit Microme- 

 ters: John F. Hatford. 



Spectrogra/phic Observations of Stars: 



Edwin B. Frost. 



Nine spectroscopic binaries were recently 

 discovered with the Bruce spectrograph of 

 the Yerkes Observatory, viz., BZ Cas- 

 siopeice, X Cygni, 13 Ceti, « Leowis, 85 

 Pegasi, t° Eridani, t' Eridani, t Orionis, 

 ^^ Canis Majoris. (To be published in the 

 Astrophysical Journal. ) 



The Central Eclipse of 1912, April 13: 

 David Todd and R. H. Baker. 

 Although the land-totality of this eclipse 

 will be visible for a few seconds only, it is 

 desirable to prepare for observation. The 

 central line extends from Oporto, Portugal, 

 to Oviedo, Spain, the line of subsequent 

 annularity passing close to Paris. These 

 points are given by a definitive calculation 

 of the track, made possible by the courtesy 

 of Professor W. S. Harshman, U. S. Navy,- 

 Direetor of the Nautical Almanac, who for- 

 warded in advance the necessary solar and 

 lunar data which will be embodied in the 

 'American Ephemeris' of 1912. The 

 change from total phase to annular takes 

 place in the Bay of Biscay, according to the 

 accepted diameters of sun and moon; and 

 it will be well to repeat the computation 

 with slightly varying values. The applica- 

 tion of photographic apparatus, operated 

 automatically, may make it possible to ob- 

 tain a useful and permanent record of this 

 brief totality. 



Belation between Stellar Spectral Types 

 and the Intensities of Certain Lines in 

 the Spectra: Sebastian Albrecht. 

 In connection with the measurement of 

 spectrograms obtained at the Mills Ob- 

 servatory in Chili by Professor Wright, an 

 investigation of the individual spectrum 



