NATURE l DECEl\IBEK 28. 1899 J 1 _;. wh. 1m. of Algol 1$ Persei). followed ll\' no loss of accuracy, and thereft•re their puhlicatio:I 1:; . \'enus. Illuminated portion of <lise = o·873· is In :lccordance with th<: decisions of the Con­ l(r. 6h. sorn. :'llinimum nf Algol (8 . ference of Superintendents of Ephemeride;; held at _l'aris in 1(). t7h. 17m. to 17h. som. OccultatiOn of a Cancn 18<)6, I he constants of aberration, precession, and nutatron have (mag. 4'3) by the moon. _ . lreen altered from the commencement of 1901' ; but, for the con­ 20 12h. 46m. to 13h. 46m. Occuliatwn of IL\.C. Yenience of oh<en·ers Hill desirint-: to use the Stnl\·e-l'cter's 4006 (mag. 5 71 by the moon. constants, both been inchulcd in the present tables. 21. 1 1 h. 22m. to 12h. 26m. OccultatH>n of '/ "l'Ot•t:I.AR ,. FOR DECE:l!IIER. · -The issue of \"irnini< (mog. 57) by the moon. l'opu!ar Ash·oiiOIII)' for this month contain>, among much -J? ' ISh 3sm. to I6h. 45•11 . Occuliation cf H . .-\.C. generally interesting matter, two useful :lrticlcs by _Profs. II. C. 4722 mag. 5 ·s). \Yilsun and \V. II. Pickering. The former descnbcs a photo­ 2(}, 1h. Conjunction of Jupiter and the moon graph of the nebula of Andromeda obtained by at Coodsell (Jupiler z ' 3' i'l.). Observatory, the 8-inch Clarke refractor, wrth an exposure I ;h 40n1. of Jupiter'.; Sat. Ill. of twell'e hours given on three nights. Reproductions of the - ( Egre!'s). picture accompany the paper, and the minute of the mOll)' spirals first photographed by Roberts arc n>:tgnrficcntly .-bTKOI'IIYSICAI. SociETY OF AMF.IUCA. ...;hown. -Prof. E. B. Fro;,t, of the Ob;;en·a!ory, contrilm_tes to Prof. Pickering writes to keep up hopes of the meteor shower so·m.-,• a full account of the at the first rneetrnt-: of still beint-: observable. I le has examine<! the times of appear­ this nc\\· ;;r' cicty, which is the permanen! _outcome the two ance of the maximum from 902 more minutely, :tnt! finds they congresses 'f astronomers and hcltl In the past occurrc<l al regular IOO ,·cars' intervals umil tli9S, when there two ,·ears. The following notes are from the report:-- was a perturbation of fo.ur years. Since then thirty-four years PrOf. S. l. Brown hb mt:asures of the changes in the would :tppear to more closely satiSfy the pcnod, so that 1<)01-2 orbit of satellite of "'cptune, in to determine_ lhe may ;ail\ be the maximum year. J><•sitilln of the polar :1xis and flattening ol the planet. fins I 1 ftatteninn i.s fcnn:d tc1 he t.'- . -, an ::unount corresponding >- 102'2 I- to only o"·o; between the polar a1HI Equatorial . THE SOUTH- WESTERN POI. YlECIINIC. Tht· period of the re\·olution of the pole of the satellne·s orlnt. :\E of the best equipped governed is 53 I '75 )'<"If,;. 0 of the London polytcchnrcs 1s that hutlt :lt a cost of l'rof. A. S. Flint <lcscrihcd the new Repsold tmnsrt micro­ I 55.ooo!. , and located at Road, Chelsea: Si_tn;tted "' meter of tlw \\'ashburn Ohscn·atory. it is in the midst of a densely-populated drstnct, Its work, \Jr. Kurt l.ave< read a paper on the "Determination of the which a staff of lecturers and dem<rnstrators, under the of 1111tation from heliometer measures of Eros." The able guidance of Prof. H. Tomlinson, F. K S., the opposition of this planet al the e1Hl of 1900 will offer special arc year by >:ear steadily accomplishing, _be overestimated. facilitic' ltrr 1his purpose. The work ol the polytechmc rs earned on m a frne smte of hutld­ Ati account W:ls given of a propusc:l new." Han·anl _Photo­ ings place< I within a slonc·, throw of the Cl_lelsea Town II all. and merry. '· In the original work all stars were of srxth or the ir.stiturion is provided laboratoncs and lecture-r()oms brighter lll<q.,!nitutle, as obtained from the pnnc1pal catalugues for each 11! the many departments of science and technolnt-:r then extant : !rut it has Lcen fuund in the coms.: of the work which its work comprises. lr is designed more e>pecrally tv that in thi> way many have Leen included which are fainter than meet the educational need.< of the inhahilant;; of Chelsea, Fulham, nla)..!. (>'2. TIH.; star.-; of the-Phorometry wen: ;tgain ohserved Kensington, St. (;e(Jrge's (llano\·cr Squan.:) , _and \_Vcstminster, in <)4, and, inclutlint-: special series of n1easurcs, there are though students from other i><trishes arc 1f accomnro· now prt'pan:d :. t'Z'i'/1 phDtomct ric car:dogues, givir.g elation is availal,Ie and other pcrnllt. lry dilkrcllt ol>servcrs with <litr<'rent instruments, Inn all lll:l<k Fiuandal l'osiliou. -The financial outlook of the S outh­ on the same pl:1n. It is therefore propost•d to is,ue a C:llalngue \\·,·stcrn l'olyteclrnic may certainly be regarded as hopelirl. of all the staf' from the north to the s"uth pole, showing the H•)th the fec.:s received frum lite and members H1hi lJrightnl's...; hy the meridian photometer in n\1 seven_ cala· 1he grants earned I:.L..;t session from thl..! Science anll Art logut: :-:.. and to call the work. the .Tiar\'ard Phoio­ l>cp:irtment shrrwerl a very increaS<'. The Iota! annual lllL'Ir\'. _·\:-- much referl'nce 111formatJc1n to other income recei,·ed from the Technical Education B•>anl rrf will .Lt.: gi\·cn as is and it i:::. th()ug.hr. :1 the London County Council amount.; to o\'er 4000/., and the lllert!"'ure ()f 1he col<Jllr will IH; furni:.;hcd by gt\'Jng the type of annual sub>idy from the Chari! y Commis,;i<mer,.; is I soo/. The spectrum :111d J,}JOttlgraphic magnitude. inadequate accornm"dation which the already extensive lruild­ l'rnf. ( Com.'itDck descnbed his experiments of placing a ing-5 utl'er the number of students to be pro\'lded for, \'cry c()ar ... t: ;..:rating befun.: the gla ....;.,. (Jf a tclesccJpe, and has necessitated a further extension, and the go,·cruing body the distance of of 1 mca:-.ltring between the mtan the pairs are nuw spcndit1g jOOO/. on new buildings. f,•rmnl "n each side of the central image. Ire' find,; f),'J'!,tr/JJJOZis. -Th.: operations of the institution arc diYided incidentally llrar the mean refrangibility of the of :'lla" is into two di,tinct portions-day classes a11d el'cning cla>se,;. In nHtrke<l l>y ic.c; than th:It of any red star> p·t t•xarnined. lie the day classe;; arc included ( 1) a llay College for men; (2) a ha, :1ls» namincd the satellites of Juoiter i11 this way, and l>.ty C>llege for womt:n; (3) a Schon! of Art; (4) a School of lind,; ,·alue> from those "'f"J)Itd by :'llichdso11 and Science f(JT buys and girls; and (S) a School of Domc;;tic llamr. EconomY for gids. The even classes cmhracc the \lr. 1-'. 1.. has t:lkcn hr.:liomcter observations of red sections; (I) (2) l'hysics and Electrical Engineer­ >tars, ,\c., in <>rdcr to determine the possibility of !here heing a ing; {31 i\lechanical Engineering and Buildint-: Trades; (4) dili.er,·nce of refraction between these and white stars, tiHh Chemi,; try: (S) "'atural Sciences; (6) Languages; (7) Com­ introducing a <listurbing element inlo measures of parallax. In merce: (R) l>nmestic Economy;(<)) .-\rt; (IO) !\lusic; (11) all his experience, however, he wa> unable t" detect any difll:r­ :'lliscellaneous; (12) Recreation. cn\.1.! whaten·r. Numl•ers of Sludolt.>·.-The mo!'l notable fact, and one of the Prof. S. I. Hailey said that our of the 900 star;; counle<l in !he mo;t encouragi-ng features of the W(Jrk of the South-\\'estern cluster r;., eighty- five \\·ere ,-ariable. I Jetailed examination l'olytechnic, is the regular and substantial incre:lse from year to of !he light curl'cs and periotl,; of many of them showed a rc· \'car in the Illtmbers of >lltdents attending the different. dcpart­ markahlc similarity both in the magnitude anrl range of 1·aria- ' ;nent.<. The munber of sttHlcnts in the ·day classes during the ti<1n. The periods vary from 10h. 4Xm. to 14h. 5')111. The o;e,;sion 1l597 -- 8 w:1s nearly half a,; many :1gain as that during unifortuiry of period, tn:lgnitude, and light curve a mung so many .. 7. all the day classes fnr both sexe,;together, the puints to a. cnnunon origin and cause of variabilily. number of indil'iduals :lltcnding during the present se"ion is 1.>.-\\' :\'t. :l ii:Eko-; OF ha1·e re· alrom 3" per cent. greater than for the last >chool year, the ceil'e<l a pamphlet giving the ,eparat<: day numbers for uo;c with number undergoing instruction at the present time being about the tal>lc.< for linJing cunstants for the year;; 1<)00, 1901, 900- 1902. Frorn the l''ht three ye:ors' expnience, l'rof. Turner I_ The number of individual student;; in all evening classes that restriction flf the table:; to three figure:; h:ts been I together is al>out 2000 for the current ses,;ion, during 18<)7-8 it i'-:0. 1574, VOL. 61] ©1899 Nature Publishing Group DECEMBER 28, I 899j NATURE 209 was 1844, and the preceding year, 1896-7, 1520.