Spectroscopy of Taurus cloud brown dwarf candidates

We have obtained low-dispersion optical spectra for six objects and infrared spectra for two objects originally proposed to be brown dwarf members of the Taurus cloud population. None of the brown dwarf candidates shows definite Hα emission, and only two objects display molecular absorption bands. In one case, the weak TiO bands and Hα emission indicate a spectral type of K7-M0e, but these features may be caused by contamination from the nearby, bright primary HBC 370. In the other object, the TiO bands are definitely present but relatively weak indicating a spectral type of about M1-M2. These characteristics are unlike those expected for brown dwarfs; thus it appears that the brown dwarf candidates identified by Forrest et al. are much more likely to be heavily reddened background G or K field stars.