104 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



no idea before there was a tenth part of them), and 

 also a guide to young workmen, from the author's 

 rich fund of information. Moreover, it is a brief 

 biography of great watchmakers and horologists. 

 The illustrations are both good and numerous. Every 

 intelligent young watchmaker ought to have this 

 book within his reach. 



Universal Attraction : Its Relation to the Chemical 

 Elements, by W. H. Sharp (Edinburgh : E. & S. 

 Livingstone). A small and puzzling book, occupying 

 only 53 pages, of which ii are devoted to the 

 preface. The author thinks that gravitation is 

 propagated by wave motion, and that not only does 

 the earth move, but that its atoms also move, and 

 he seems to imply that these atomic movements 

 are the most significant. 



The Seven Sagas of Pre-historic Man, by James 

 H. Stoddart (London: Chatto & Windus). At 

 length Milton has found a competitor ! He dealt 

 with the "First Pair," and all their paradisaical 

 arrangements in language which will never die. 

 But science has not proved such a strict defender of 

 the " letter " of sacred myths as Milton was. Con- 

 sequently the " first pair" of human beings has been 

 pushed farther back in time, and we fear strict 

 anthropology does not allow paradisaical conditions 

 to the environment of the latter ! The semi-simian 

 Palaeolithic man was undoubtedly ancestor to us of 

 the " Steel Age." What a -strange line of descent ! 

 It includes the cave-dwellers of Kent's Cavern, the 

 Neolithic men, the Lake-dwellers, and the skin-clad 

 hordes who nearly repelled Caesar. Mr. Stoddart 

 has undertaken the role of bard to all these types 

 of humanity. And his "Seven Sagas" is a scienti- 

 fically accurate and pithy statement of the progress of 

 mankind, from its dim dawn to its modern day. 

 Will any one say this does not afford poetic scope ? 

 Mr. Stoddart's rhymes are easy, and thoroughly suited 

 to his subject. He shows the power of a true poet 

 in thoroughly identifying himself with his work, and 

 accordingly we have a terse poetical history of the 

 progress of Humanity, including " The Earliest 

 Man," " The Cave Man," " The Neolithic Farmer," 

 " The Early Man of America," " The Aryan 

 Migration," "The Burning of the Crannog," and 

 "The Last Sacrifice." We anticipate a general 

 all-round consensus of opinion in favour of the high 

 poetical (and we may also add scientific) merit of this 

 attractively got up little book. 



London J>ircis and London Insects, by T. Digby 

 Piggott (London : Harrison & Sons, Pall Mall). 

 This is a two shilling, parchment-clad Ijrochure, 

 artistically got up in every way, both as regards 

 type and illustrations, and, in addition to the very 

 jjleasant, but somewhat irregularly arranged chapters, 

 it gives a list of London birds, &c. The author tells 

 us this little book has been strung together for 

 holiday amusements. It is the holiday characteristic 

 which gives it its chief charm. 



Facts around us, by C. Lloyd Morgan, F.G.S. 

 (London : Edward Stanford). A nice little book, 

 giving simple readings in inorganic science, with 

 description of experiments to corroborate thenr. 

 It contains 40 short chapters, but they relate 

 mostly to chemistry. The information conveyed is 

 as clear as it is full and terse, and is altogether such 

 as we should have expected from the author of 

 " Water and its Teachings." 



Mitieralogy, by J. H. Collins, F.G.S. (London : W. 

 Collins & Co.). This is one of the extraordinarily 

 cheap volumes of Collins' " Advanced Series." The 

 author's name is known as one of the best minera- 

 logists of the day, and only lately he was hon. 

 secretary to the Mineralogical Society of Great 

 Britain. It is written for the use of practical working 

 miners, quarrymen, and field geologists (and will be 

 especially useful to the latter class), and at the same 

 time it has been compiled with a view to being used 

 as a text-book by those who select mineralogy as a 

 subject for examination under the department of 

 Science and Art. Perhaps its scope would be better 

 indicated by calling it a " Dictionary of Minerals ; " 

 and its usefulness would at the same time be pointed 

 out to geological readers, who want a cheap, handy, 

 and accurate book of reference. To all such, we 

 cordially recommend this little volume. It is abun- 

 dantly illustrated. 



The Student's Handbook to Physical Geology, by 

 A. J. Jukes-Browne, F.G.S., &c. (London : George 

 Bell & Sons). Such a manual as the present has long 

 been needed, for there was a great scarcity of good 

 and trustworthy books intermediate between merely 

 elementary treatises and the advanced but expensive 

 works fit chiefly for specialists. Of Mr. Jukes- 

 Browne's ability to undertake this task there can be 

 no doubt. His elementary work on geology, written 

 many years ago, has well held its place among a throng 

 of competitors ; and we feel that this more elaborate 

 handbook will gain a position at once in geological 

 literature. The book is divided into three parts ; the 

 first part deals with " Dynamical Geology " (including 

 volcanic, meteorological, &c., action, and the mode 

 in which various deposits are formed) ; the second 

 part takes up Lithology and Petrology (a most valuable 

 and ably worked out helper to the student) ; and the 

 third part deals with Physiographical Geology, such as 

 the origin of mountain chains and continents, " Earth- 

 Sculpture," &c. 



Mr. Muirhead, of Port Kil, Kilcreggan, recently 

 sent to Sir William Thomson some meteoric dust he 

 noticed to be discolouring the snow on the ist of 

 March. It was noticed over an area of 810 square 

 miles, and Mr. Muirhead found the percentage to be 

 about four grains to the square foot. This would 

 give a shower of meteoric dust over the above area 

 weighing no less than 5, 760 tons. 



