Spectroscopy of 12 nucleated dwarf elliptical (dE) galaxies has been performed using the Palomar 5 m and the " 2D-FRUITTI" detector. These spectra have a resolution of 2 A and cover the wavelength range 3500-4500 A. From these spectra we can derive radial velocities that are accurate to ~ 50 km s^-1^. The strengths of the Ca II K line in relation to Balmer line strength closely match that observed in metal-rich galactic globulars like 47 Tucanae, although the Balmer lines are slightly stronger. The typical Balmer line (Hδ) equivalent width is 1.8 A. These line strengths make it unlikely that the nuclei are either very metal-poor or the site of recent star formation (like the case of NGC 205), but it is possible that the Balmer lines represent an extended main sequence (e.g., late F stars) due to a younger mean age than is found for luminous Es or metal-rich Galactic globulars. The velocity distribution of the dEs does not resemble that of the luminous Es and S0s in Virgo. Instead, like all other low-luminosity galaxies in Virgo, this distribution is quite broad. In fact, our data set contains two dE galaxies with velocities less than -600 km s^-1^. Curiously, all the negative velocity dEs are concentrated in a small subgroup within the Virgo Cluster.
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Bothun et al. (1988) studied this question.