LITERARY NOTICES. 



421 



the brain with an earnestness which it is 

 safe to call extreme. lie assails with con- 

 troversial ardor the logic of Dr. Hammond's 

 views, and endeavors to show that they are 

 inconsistent with themselves, and are not 

 supported by the facts whence they are 

 drawn, or by the authors from whose works 

 Dr. Hammond has endeavored to substan- 

 tiate particular points of his theory. 



The Solution of the Pyramid Problem, 

 or Pyramid Discoveries, with a New 

 Theory as to their Ancient Use. By 

 Robert Ballard, of Queensland. New 

 York: John Wiley & Sons. 1882. Pp. 

 109. 



Mr. Ballard is not the first who has ad- 

 vanced a theory as to the purpose for which 

 the pyramids were built, nor even the first 

 to conjecture that they were of use in resur- 

 veying the land after the annual inundations 

 of the Nile. "Built by scientific men, well 

 versed in geometry, these great stone monu- 

 ments are so suited in shape for the pur- 

 poses of land-surveying, that the practical 

 engineer or surveyor must, after considera- 

 tion, admit that they may have been built 

 mainly for this purpose." The author also 

 thinks that he has discovered the unit of 

 measure used in their construction, and to 

 which he gives the name of Royal Babylonian 

 cubit. This cubit he makes equal to 20 - 22 

 British inches, and as there are 77,Y60,OOD 

 royal Babylonian cubits to the polar circum- 

 ference of the earth, the cubit represents the 

 -(/a of a second. This he claims is the most 

 perfect ancient measure yet discovered. It 

 is a perfect, natural, and convenient measure 

 which fits the plan of the pyramids and fits 

 the circumference of the earth. The author 

 also states that the pyramid of Cheops is 

 situated on one acute angle of a right-angled 

 triangle, and the pyramid called Mycerinus 

 is on the other acute angle, the other two 

 sides of which run respectively east and 

 south from these pyramids. The sides of 

 this triangle are respectively 3, 4, and 5. 

 The pyramids of Cheops and Cephren are 

 situated on the acute angles of a still more 

 remarkable triangle, the sides of which are 

 to each other as 20, 21, and 29. Many other 

 curious facts are mentioned regarding the 

 dimensions, position, and slope of the pyra- 

 mids, and a description of the method in 

 which the author supposes them to have 



been used as the " theodolites of the Egyp- 

 tians." Many of the obelisks, he thinks, were 

 probably marks on pyramid lines of survey, 

 and the pyramid may have been a develop- 

 ment of the obelisk for this purpose. 



A Guide to Collodio-Etching. By Ben- 

 jamin Hartley. Illustrated by the au- 

 thor. New York : The Industrial Pub- 

 lication Company. Pp. 48, with Six 

 Plates. 



This little work is for the benefit of 

 amateurs, who feel the need of some simple 

 and inexpensive method of duplicating their 

 sketches and studies for the benefit of their 

 friends. The various methods by lithog- 

 raphy, photography, and the photo-engrav- 

 ing of pen-and-ink drawings which have 

 been suggested by different persons, have 

 been found by the author to be inconven- 

 ient, expensive, and troublesome. He de- 

 scribes, as more nearly realizing than any 

 other one the conditions required by the 

 amateur, a process for drawing the sketch 

 with a needle upon the glass plate, as pre- 

 pared by the photographer for the camera, 

 and printing from the etching as an ordi- 

 nary photograph is printed. He undertakes 

 to give all the practical information neces- 

 sary on the subject, so that persons who 

 know nothing about photography may be 

 able to carry into effect all the details of 

 his system. 



United States Commission of Fish and 

 Fisheries. Report of the Commission- 

 er for 1879. Washington: Government 

 Printing-Office. Pp. 846. 



The report embraces an inquiry into the 

 history and statistics of food-fishes, and a 

 summary of what has been accomplished in 

 the matter of their propagation in the 

 waters of the United States. Among the 

 collateral subjects of attention by the com- 

 mission have been an investigation into 

 the chemical composition of fish under the 

 varying circumstances of age, sex, and the 

 condition of the reproductive apparatus ; re- 

 searches into the temperature of fishes, ex- 

 periments in the production of cold for the 

 preservation of fish, and the preparation 

 of a series of casts in plaster and papier- 

 mache of the larger species. The pole- 

 flounder, which was discovered off the coast 

 of New England in 1877, proves to be one 



