HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



63 



read. A photograph of the nebulce in the Pleiades, 

 which was shown, was enlarged four diameters from 

 the negative, which was exposed four hours, and was 

 taken on the 8th of December, in which the structure 

 Avithin the nebula is well defined. An admirable 

 photograph of the nebula in Andromeda had also 

 four hours' exposure, and shows that the nebula is a 

 bright central mass, which is surrounded by a stream 

 of nebulous matter, spiral in form at a considerable 

 inclination to the line of sight. These photographs 

 were taken with a reflecting telescope of 20 inches 

 aperture, and they agree with those taken with a 

 13-inch refractor by the brothers Henry. 



Mr. Taylor, at Sir H. Thompson's observatory at 

 Hurstside, has observed nine lines in the spectrum 

 of the nebula in Orion, and two faint lines in the 

 green in the nebula in Andromeda, also one faint line 

 in the green in the nebula in Lyra. 



In March, Mercury is a morning star in Capri- 

 cornus. 



Venus is an evening star, shining brilliantly in the 

 aiorth-west after sunset. 



Mars is an evening star. 



Jupiter is a morning star. 



Saturn is a morning star. 



March 5th, Venus will l)e at the least distance 

 from the sun at 8 hrs. aft. 



March i8th, Mercury will be at the greatest 

 •distance from the sun. 



March 25th, Venus will be at her greatest bril- 

 liancy. 



There will be no occultations of interest during 

 ]\Iarch. 



Rising, So2ithiiig, and Scfiing of the Principal Planets 

 in March. 



NOTES ON NEW BOOKS. 



/t Monograph of the British Uredinece and Ustila- 

 -/x giiiccv, by Charles B. Plowright, F.L.S. 

 (London : Kegan Paul). Mr. Plowright is well 

 known to the readers of this Journal, many of whom 

 will remember with pleasure his numerous contribu- 

 tions on a subject to which he has ardently devoted 

 many years of patient investigation. He has now 

 laid students under a debt of gratitude by the publi- 

 cation of this handsomely got-up volume. The two 

 natural orders of fungi here treated upon are perhaps 

 the most interesting and common of any groups of 

 fungi. Mr. Plowright deals very fully with their 

 biology and life-history, also with the methods of 

 observing the germination of their spores and of their 

 experimental culture. To agriculturists particularly 

 this work will prove invaluable, for the special sub- 

 jects the author describes are those under which so 

 many of their crops suffer. There are thirteen 

 chapters, the last two of which, on " Spore Culture," 

 and the "Artificial Infection of Plants," are deeply 

 interesting. Then follow long and technical de- 

 scriptions of the British species of these two orders. 

 The work is illustrated with eight plates, containing 

 a large number of exquisitely drawn figures illus- 

 trating the points of Mr. Plowright's work. We 

 heartily recommend those of our readers interested in 

 the subject to procure it for themselves. 



Rock-Forming Minerals, by Frank Rutley, F.G.S. 

 (London : Thomas Murby). Mr. Rutley is well and 

 widely known as one of the best mineralogists and 

 petrologists of the day. He has been equally suc- 

 cessful both as a lecturer and a writer on these 

 subjects. We are often requested by readers to 

 recommend a work of this kind, and the notice of 

 Mr. Rutley's book, therefore, will be a sufficient 

 answer. It is admirably adapted to the wants of 

 practical students, and the fact that it has been issued 

 in a cheap form will make it none the less welcome 

 to them. The author deals with the necessary appa- 

 ratus, methods of preparation and examination, in- 

 cluding examination by polarized light, optical axes, 

 single and double refraction, reflection, and general 

 microscopic determination. After having fully ex- 

 plained these methods of investigation, Mr. Rutley 

 next leads the student on to learning the leading 

 characters which distinguish the common rock-form- 

 ing minerals from one another, and he gives such a 

 detailed description of the various kinds, accompanied 

 by illustrations, that no reader can fail to identify 

 them by the aid of this book. It is illustrated by 

 126 woodcuts. 



In and About Ancient Ipswich, by Dr. J. E. Taylor, 

 F.L.S., &c. (Norwich : Jarrold .and Sons). The 

 Editor's position with regard to this handsomely got- 

 up work precludes criticism ; he may be allowed to 

 state, however, that in it he has endeavoured to 

 describe the origin and growth of an old English 



