A. MATHEMATICS AND ASTRONOMY. 43 







the reign of Menoptab, about 1314 B.C. Sitzb. Acad, der 

 \Visse7ischaften^ Munich^ 1874, 84. 



LIST OF LOGARITHMIC TABLES. 



In the last volume of the memoirs of the Royal Academy 

 of Sciences of Amsterdam, Biereus de Haan gives a list of 

 published tables of logarithms, in continuation of a similar 

 list published by him in 1862. The latter contained 267 ti- 

 tles ; the present list, however, contains 553. Of these, 57 

 were published in the Netherlands, 144 in England, 178 in 

 Germany, 91 in France, 23 in Italy, 22 in Denmark, Sweden, 

 and Norway; 9 in Spain and Portugal, 9 in North America, 

 and others elsewhere : 47 of these were published between 

 1614 and 1649, inclusive; 51 from 1650 to 1699; 48 from 

 1700 to 1749; 73 from 1750 to 1799; 199 between 1800 and 

 1849. While most of the tables give the logarithms to 4, 5, 

 6, or 7 places, 13 give them to 10 places. One table gives 50 

 places; four give 60 or 70 places, and one gives 102 places. 

 This latter was published in 1871 at New York as a duodec- 

 imo, under the title of" Astronomical Tables," by II. M. Park- 

 hurst. Verhand. Kon. Akad. Wetenscha2:>2^en, Amsterdam, 

 1875, XV. 



CALCULATING MACHINES. 



Mr. GeorQ:e B. Grant, wliile a student of the Lawrence Sci- 

 entific School, invented a new and simple form of calculating 

 machine, which is now on exhibition in Machinery Hall, Phil- 

 adelphia. Two styles are now made, the first being for spe- 

 cial use, while the second is intended for use in counting- 

 houses, insurance offices, etc. 



The Difference Engine. This is a large machine built 

 for the University of Pennsylvania, and designed for the con- 

 struction of large mathematical tables, such as tables of log- 

 arithms, sines, tangents, reciprocals, square and cube roots, 

 etc. It computes the terms of any such table, and prepares 

 a mould of them stamped in wax, from which an electrotyped 

 plate is made, ready for the press. It stands five feet in 

 height by eight in length, weighs 2000 lbs., contains, when 

 in full working order, some 15,000 pieces, and is worth about 

 $10,000. 



The Calculating Machine is a smaller instrument for 



