n8 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



societies, or to cities ; and, finally, 80 pages 

 are concerned with the observatories of 

 private gentlemen. 



It will be seen that this is a very full 

 account, and we may say that, besides being 

 a book of great interest to the astronomer, 

 it will be highly interesting to the general 

 reader who is anxious to be informed about 

 this important subject. 



We notice very few omissions : the most 

 striking one, however, is the absence of any 

 account of the Bedford Observatory, of Ad- 

 miral Smyth, which should be notable if only 

 as the birthplace of the " Bedford Cata- 

 logue," one of the most curious of astro- 

 nomical publications. 



Perhaps the omission of the celebrated 

 catalogue of " Double Stars " from among 

 the works of Mr. Dawes, the noted observer 

 of double stars, might also be mentioned. 



But these are minor points, and do not 

 prevent the book from being a perfect suc- 

 cess, creditable to its authors, and a valuable 

 contribution to the literature of astronomy. 



We look forward with eagerness to the 

 appearance of the remaining two volumes. 



It is to be hoped that the book, or at 

 least that part of it which refers to the ob- 

 servatories in the United States, may be 

 translated into English, for the use and in- 

 formation of many Americans who will not 

 see the original French edition. 



Since Loomis's " Recent Progress of As- 

 tronomy in the United States," nothing of 

 importance has been published here, on this 

 subject, if we except two papers on obser- 

 vatories in the United States, which have 

 recently appeared in Harper s Magazine. 



There undoubtedly exists among Ameri- 

 cans a very strong interest in astronomy 

 generally and in the doings of observatories, 

 and a greater knowledge of the many insti- 

 tutions of this kind in the United States 

 would undoubtedly lead to more intelligent 

 and concerted action on the part of the 

 private gentlemen who own them. 



For example, if a person who has a 

 fine meridian instrument knows that the 

 Harvard-College Observatory is observing 

 a certain zone of stars, he will not commit 

 the folly of wasting his time and his labor 

 by doing the same work, but will rather 

 turn his attention to something which is yet 

 undone. To know what is yet undone is 



often the cpiestion, and this book supplies 

 in a measure the want, for it tells us what 

 is doing. 



Perhaps this is as good a place as any 

 to call the attention of amateur astronomers 

 to the important work which they may do, 

 if they will only choose seme special sub- 

 ject, make themselves familiar with what 

 has been done in it, and then devote even 

 a small portion of time to its regular and 

 systematic pursuit. 



Numerous examples of such valuable 

 work done by amateurs are to be found 

 in the book before us : and in many cases 

 this work was done by gentlemen who were 

 not able to devote their whole time, or any 

 thing like it, to astronomy. 



Dawes, the great double-star observer ; 

 Carrington, the assiduous observer of cir- 

 cumpolar stars, and of solar spots ; Lassell, 

 the great physical astronomer ; with De La 

 Rue, Huggins, Lockyer, and others, have 

 done permanent good to science, and have 

 acquired great reputation, while most of 

 them followed other pursuits. 



And we may hope that such knowledge 

 as is attainable from this book will induce 

 American amateurs to limit themselves to 

 some useful but special inquiry in which 

 they may gain credit, and render useful 

 service to astronomy. E. A. H. 



The Journal of Speculative Philosophy, 

 July, 1874. Quarterly, whole numbei 

 31. Price 50 cts. a number, or $2 o 

 year. Edited and published by Wil- 

 liam T. Harris, St. Louis, Mo. 



This periodical, which has come to be 

 recognized as the organ of speculative 

 thought in this country, has now reached 

 its eighth volume, and the series forms a 

 philosophical library of great value to meta- 

 physical students who keep up their interest 

 in abstract and abstruse inquiries. It is the 

 policy of the editor to make his periodical 

 not so much a vehicle of contemporary spec- 

 ulation as a summary of the docti-ines and 

 expositions of the greatest philosophical 

 thinkers of past times. Accordingly, the 

 published volumes will be found largely oc- 

 cupied by essays and discussions from the 

 writings of such men as Leibnitz, Descartes, 

 Kant, Fichte, Schelling, Hegel, Goethe, Ro- 

 senkrantz, Schopenhauer, Hartmann, Her- 

 der, Trendelenburg, and others. From such 



