in the liquid form reaches them only by capillary absorption from the soil.

Turning now to our observations, as early as 1837 it was pointed out by Mädler that there were two small spots in the crater Alphonsus which always became very dark at about the time of full moon, while earlier and later they were much lighter. A similar observation had been made by him regarding a region just to the south of the Mare Crisium. Little else was known regarding the matter until 1892. Since that date spots presenting these characteristics have been found all over the moon's surface, except in the vicinity of the poles. The most northern spot known is in latitude +55°, the most southern in latitude - 60°. It is possible that some of the maria, notably Tranquillitatis, and part of the borders of Serenitatis and Vaporum, are covered with these spots, but in any case they do not cover more than 5 per cent. of the moon's visible surface, and possibly it is very much

less.

It should be mentioned here that the western spot shown by Mädler in Alphonsus is now comparatively

maintained by the south-western quadrant of the floor throughout the lunation. About three days after sunrise a dark spot appears on the north-western slopes of the central mountain range. The regions at its immediate base darken at about the same time, and an irregularly mottled dark sector appears as the result. On the fourth day the centre of the sector lightens, leaving two canal-like forms radiating from the central peaks. Although in a small telescope these canals appear straight, yet when well seen with a large glass they are found to present considerable irregularity of structure. On the eleventh day the southern one fades out, and just before sunset the northern one also disappears.

A faint X-shaped marking distinguishes the northeastern quadrant of the floor at sunrise. The centre rapidly darkens as the sun rises upon it, and soon becomes intensely black. Three branches of the X successively fade away, leaving only the south-eastern one, which on the seventh day becomes very pronounced. A new branch or canal forms by gradual darkening on the east, while the canal on the north

inconspicuous, but that north and south of it lie two others, which with Mädler's eastern spot form a very striking isosceles triangle at full moon.

We will now direct our attention to the crater Eratosthenes, which has been more carefully studied than any other region presenting these phenomena, and which exhibits the changes on a sufficiently large scale to enable us to make use of photography. The four photographs here shown were taken in the Island of Jamaica in 1901, and are enlargements from some of the negatives used in printing the Harvard "Atlas of the Moon." Beneath each figure is given the date on which it was taken, the number of terrestrial days that had elapsed since the sun rose upon it, and the colongitude of the sun, taken from Crommelin's ephemeris. The photographs are all on the same scale of 1/2,000,000, or about thirty-two miles to the inch. Upon this scale the moon would be 68.5 inches in diameter.

When the sun rises upon this formation the whole of the floor is at first of a light grey tint, whatever detail there is being but faintly marked. This tint is

FIG. 4.-1901, March 5, 7'0 days, 97°.

east, which had disappeared, forms anew by a progressive growth downwards from the crater rim. This growth progresses for five days at a nearly uniform rate of 250 feet per hour, or about 4 feet a minute.

The

The south-eastern quadrant, while very light at first, soon surpasses all the others in darkness. dark area on the outer wall, which in the first figure is undoubtedly in part due to shadow, must very soon be partly due also to something else, for it still shows upon the third figure, which was taken but 0.8 day before full moon, when shadows are geometrically impossible. The last figure was taken 0.8 day after full moon, and the darker portion of the spot is seen to have rapidly increased in size and to have grown downwards with considerable velocity towards the central peaks.

Since this dark area cannot be shadow, our only alternative seems to be that we have here a real change in the character and brightness of the lunar surface. Since we do not know of any mineral which gradually darkens as the sun shines upon it, and later fades out again, our only alternative seems to be to call in the

aid of vegetation. At all events nobody has ever cared to propose any other explanation of the facts, so far as the writer is aware.

As the lunation progresses the western portion of this dark area slowly fades out, while the eastern is absorbed in the gathering shadows of the lunar night.

In various parts of the crater, but especially in the south-eastern and northern portions, numerous small canals and lakes present themselves. These markings are practically identical in appearance with those seen upon the planet Mars. They are too small to be well shown in the photographs, and seem to be of much more regular structure than the larger markings, which are here also called canals. It is possible that this difference is due merely to the fact that the larger markings are better seen. A more detailed account of the phenomena here described will be found in the Harvard Annals (liii.). WILLIAM H. PICKERING.

SIR

SIR LOWTHIAN BELL, BART., F.R.S. IR Lowthian Bell, whose death at the age of eighty-eight has already been announced, studied physical science at the University of Edinburgh and the Sorbonne at Paris, and at the age of twenty-four entered the Walker ironworks, near Newcastle. There, we learn from the obituary notice in the Times, he remained until 1850, when he became connected with the chemical works at Washington, in North Durham. He greatly enlarged the works and laid down extensive plant for the manufacture of an oxychloride of lead introduced as a substitute for white lead by his father-in-law, Mr. H. L. Pattinson, F.R.S., with whom he was associated in the business at Washington. There, too, was introduced in 1860 almost the first plant in England for the manufacture of aluminium by the Deville sodium process.

Soon after the discovery of the main bed of Cleveland ironstone near Middlesbrough, Sir Lowthian Bell, in conjunction with his brothers, Thomas and John, started ironworks in 1852 at Port Clarence, on the north bank of the Tees. The Clarence works was one of the earliest and is now one of the largest iron-smelting works on the Tees. About half a century ago the Tees then flooded ground where iron furnaces now stand. Sir Lowthian Bell and his brothers acquired their own ironstone mines, collieries, and limestone quarries, while they were always prompt to adopt any improvement in process or apparatus that seemed likely to be advantageous.

In the development of the Cleveland iron industry the Bell firm played a very important part, and what has been the extent of that development may be judged from the fact that whereas the district in 1850 produced less than 25,000 tons of pig iron, at the present time Middlesbrough produces about one-quarter of the total output of this country. The firm was active in prosecuting those technical studies by which processes have been devised enabling Cleveland ores to compete as raw material for the production of iron and steel with others possessing greater natural advantages. In regard to steel, the great trouble with those ores is the high percentage of phosphorus (1.8 to 2.0 per cent.) contained in the cast iron which they yield; yet Middlesbrough, largely as a result of experiments carried on under Sir Lowthian Bell's direction, at a cost, it is said, of between 40,000l. and 50,000l., produces steel rails in which this percentage is reduced to 0.07 or less.

When the British Association met at Newcastle in 1863, Sir Lowthian Bell contributed a paper on the manufacture of iron in connection with the Northumberland and Durham coalfields. In 1870 he

wrote a paper on the sanitary condition of Newcastle, and more recently he compiled an elaborate account of the iron trade of the United Kingdom, compared with that of the other chief iron-making countries. On the chemistry of iron he was a high authority The establishment of a chemical laboratory in connection with the Clarence works shows how fully he realised the importance of the scientific study of industrial processes, and his own researches on the chemistry of iron and steel have become classic. Many of these appeared first in the form of papers read before the Iron and Steel Institute, and a number of them were subsequently collected and published in a volume entitled "The Chemical Phenomena of Iron Smelting. Sir Lowthian was also the author of a book on the Principles of the Manufacture of Iron and Steel," as well as of many papers contributed to other scientific societies.

He was one of the original founders, in 1869, of the Iron and Steel Institute, and filled the office of president from 1873 to 1875, and in 1874 became the first recipient of the gold medal instituted by Sir Henry Bessemer the year before. He was a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers and of the Chemical Society, and a past president of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. In 1874 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society. In recognition of his services as juror and at Paris in 1878, he was elected an honorary of the international exhibitions at Philadelphia in 1876. member of the American Philosophical Institution, and an Officer of the Legion of Honour. He was elected 1895 was awarded the Albert medal of the society on the council of the Society of Arts in 1876, and in "in recognition of the services he has rendered to arts. manufactures, and commerce by his metallurgical researches, and the resulting development of the iron and steel industries." The honour of a baronetcy was conferred on him in 1885, and in 1893 he received the degree of LL.D. from Edinburgh University.

NOTES.

A SELECTION from the specimens recently presented to the British (Natural History) Museum by His Majesty the King of Portugal has recently been placed on public exhibition in the north hall.

THE annual meetings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and of the American Physical Society were held in Philadelphia, Pa., in "Convocation Week," from December 26, 1904, to January 2.

THE International Botanical Congress will meet at Vienna in June next, when a discussion will take place on the important question of uniformity of nomenclature, regarded both from a scientific point of view and in connection with international reports.

UNDER the title "Lichtenstein Prize," the Montpellier Academy of Sciences offers a prize for the best essay dealing with any question of zoology not referring to man. The last day is November 1, 1905. Printed memoirs more than three years old, or papers which have gained previous prizes, are excluded.

THE third International Congress of Philosophy will be held at Heidelberg in 1908. Among the English speaking members of the organising commission the name has been added of Prof. Strong, of Columbia University. A detailed account of the congress held this year at Geneva is given in a special number of the Revue de Métaphysique et de Morale for November, 1904.

THE Postmaster-General has made provisional arrangements with the Marconi International Marine Communication Company for the acceptance and prepayment at telegraph offices in the United Kingdom of telegrams for transmission from wireless stations on the coast to ships at sea. The arrangement came into operation on January 1.

PROF. R. S. WOODWARD, dean of the faculty of pure science, Columbia University, has been elected president of the Carnegie Institution. Prof. C. A. Young, who has held the chair of astronomy at Princeton University since 1877, will retire at the close of the present academic year.

CAPTAIN R. F. SCOTT, leader of the National Antarctic Expedition, has been awarded a gold medal by the Royal Danish Geographical Society.

WE learn through Science that Mr. Andrew Carnegie has given 108,000l. for the establishment in Boston of an instifute similar to Cooper Institute, which is to be added to a fund of 54,000l., which has grown from 1000l. left one hundred years ago by Benjamin Franklin.

THE twenty-second annual dinner of the old students of the Royal School of Mines will be held on Thursday, February 9. The chair will be taken by Mr. T. A. Rickard. Applications for tickets should be made to Mr. D. A. Louis, Shirland Gardens, London, W.

A CORRESPONDENT of the Times states that Frédéric Mistral, the Provençal poet recently awarded 2000l. as half share of the Nobel prize for literature, intends to devote this sum to the development and adequate installation of the ethnographical museum-Le Musée Arletan-founded by him some years ago at Arles. For this purpose the municipal authorities agree to make over an old palace, now used as a college, the restoration and adaptation of which will cost 10,000l. An American resident at Avignon, Mr. Edward Leon, has offered 2000l. as a subscription, and will arrange for five lectures in the United States to help on the fund thus inaugurated.

THE prizes for the year 1904 have been awarded, we learn from La Nature, by the Paris Society for the Encouragement of National Industry. The grand prix of the Marquis d'Argenteuil has been awarded to MM. Auguste and Louis Lumière for their discoveries in photography. The " chemical arts" gold medal has been awarded to M. Héroult for his works on electrometallurgy, and the "constructions and fine arts" medal to M. Arnodin. Gold

medals have also been awarded to M. Boulanger for his micrographic work, to M. Grey for a rolling-mill, to M. Guillet for his work in metallurgy, and to M. Schwærer for his system of superheated steam.

Ax optical convention will be held, under the presidency of Dr. R. T. Glazebrook, F.R.S., at a date toward the end of May next, at the Northampton Institute, Clerkenwell, London, E.C. The object of the convention is to bring into cooperation men interested in optical matters. A subcommittee has been appointed to consider the subjects of papers on optical questions which should be brought before the convention, and suggestions as to subjects for discussion will be welcomed. It has been decided to organise an exhibition, of a scientific character, of instruments manufactured in this country, with a view to show the progress recently made and to stimulate further efforts. In order that interest in the convention may be not conlined to London workers in optics, a subcommittee is being formed to secure the assistance of local representatives. The honorary secretary of the convention is Mr. F. J. Selby, Elm Lodge, Teddington.

WRITING on the subject of "Greek at Oxford," a correspondent of the Times again expressed the common belief that 46 Darwin regretted not having learnt Greek." A letter from Mr. Francis Darwin in the Times of December 29, 1904, shows that the statement is altogether opposed to Darwin's views. Darwin says of his education at Shrewsbury School :-" Nothing could have been worse for the development of my mind than Dr. Butler's school, as it was strictly classical, nothing else being taught, except a little ancient geography and history ("Life and Letters," i., 31). He was, in fact, a victim of that premature specialisation" which is generally referred to in a somewhat one-sided spirit, and from which the public schoolboy is not yet freed. Mr. Darwin adds :-" If the name of Charles Darwin is to be brought into this controversy it must not be used for compulsory Greek, but against it. In 1867 he wrote to Farrar, I am one of the root and branch men, and would leave classics to be learnt by those alone who have sufficient zeal and the high taste requisite for their appreciation' (More Letters of Charles Darwin,' ii., 441)."

THE Aero Club of Paris has asked permission from the municipal authorities to make experiments in aviation in the Galerie des Machines next February. Under the head of aviation, among other experiments will be some in mechanical aërial direction. The building is so large that the results will be almost the same as would be obtained in the open air, with the difference that the disturbing effect of wind need not be feared.

ST. Catherine's Lighthouse, situated on the south coast of the Isle of Wight, has just been provided with a new light of 15,000,000 candle-power, as against 3,000,000 obtained with the old apparatus. Seen from the land there are three distinct beams of light revolving in view, one just on the point of disappearing behind the "blank" or shield, while the others pass rapidly over the waters of the English Channel. The new lens is by Messrs. Chance Brothers, Birmingham; and the whole of the revolving part floats in a trough of mercury, instead of being on rollers, which has hitherto been usual, about 816 lb. of mercury being required to float it. Hitherto chain has been used in lighthouses for suspending the weights, but in this case a fine steel cable, about inch in diameter, has been adopted.

THE annual report of the Russian Geographical Society gives the full list of medals awarded by the society at its annual sitting. The following medals were awarded:the Constantine medal to the veteran geologist Friedrich Schmidt, the Count Lüthe medal to Sir John Murray, and the Semenoff gold medal to Prof. N. I. Kuznetsoff. Five small silver medals were awarded, to V. A. Vlasoff, Th. N. Panaeff, and W. M. Nedzwiedski for meteorological work, to M. M. Siazoff for the part he took in the expedition of Grum-Grzimailo, and to E. L. Byakoff for the support he gave to the same expedition.

ACCORDING to information communicated by the Meteorological Observatory of Irkutsk, the earthquake which took place in Transbaikalia on September 28 last covered an area of about 4500 square miles, representing an imperfect oval elongated from N.W. to S.E., its furthest points being Troitzkosavsk in the south-east and Balagansk in the northwest. The centre of this earthquake, which was undoubtedly of tectonic origin, was located in the neighbourhood of the station Pereyemnaya, on the south-east shore of Lake Baikal. No less than three earthquakes have had their origin at this centre during the past three years.