LITERARY NOTICES. 



127 



forts of a philosopher, and is not one of those 

 " who keep their fame as scientific hiero- 

 phants unsullied by attempts at least of the 

 successful sort to be understanded of the 

 people " ; but has found that the task of put- 

 ting the truths learned in the field, the labo- 

 ratory, and the museum, into language which, 

 " without bating a jot of scientific accuracy," 

 shall be generally intelligible, taxed such sci- 

 entific and literary faculty as he possessed to 

 the uttermost. Yet the popularization of sci- 

 ence has its drawbacks, and success in it has 

 its perils for those who succeed. " The ' peo- 

 ple who fail ' take their revenge, ... by ig- 

 noring all the rest of a man's work and glib- 

 ly labeling him a mere popularizer. If the 

 falsehood were not too glaring, they would 

 say the same of Faraday and Helmholtz and 

 Kelvm." The volume contains eleven lec- 

 tures, among which are some considering the 

 origin and beginnings of life and the date of 

 the beginnings, and involving the questions 

 concerning which the biologists and the physi- 

 cists are at odds. In literary style these es- 

 says are fit to rank among the most vigorous 

 and idiomatic examples of English expres- 

 sion. 



A Treatise on Astronomical Spectroscopy. 

 Being a Translation of Die Spectralanalyse 

 der Gestirne. By Prof. Dr. J. Scheixer. 

 Translated, revised, and enlarged by Ed- 

 win Brant Frost. Boston : Ginn & Co. 

 Pp. 482, with Plates. Price, $5. 



This book was prepared in the original 

 German because, although the astronomical 

 was one of the most important applications 

 of spectrum analysis, no suitable text-book 

 was found especially devoted to it; the popu- 

 lar works, like Schellen's, admirable as they 

 were within their range, were not suitable for 

 the serious study of the subject, nor adapted 

 as handbooks to scientific investigators ; and 

 while Kayser's Lehrbuch treated the sub- 

 ject in a more scientific way, it dealt with ce- 

 lestial spectroscopy in too brief and incident- 

 al a manner. The author felt, therefore, as 

 the domain of astronomical spectroscopy was 

 widening constantly, an increasing need of a 

 work presenting an exhaustive account of all 

 the modern methods and results of research 

 in this branch of science. For like reasons, 

 and because of the welcome that was given 

 to the book, the translator regarded it as de- 

 sirable that it should be made more available 



for instruction in the higher institutions, and 

 more accessible to English-speaking persons 

 interested in astrophysics. The author has 

 endeavored to satisfy the requirements of 

 both practice and theory, while at the same 

 time giving a record of the results thus far 

 accomplished ; and, to make it more useful 

 for practical work, has added a number of 

 spectroscopic tables and an ample bibliogra- 

 phy. The translator has found the advances 

 in the science during the three years since 

 the original was published so great that much 

 had to be added giving the results of recent 

 observations. As a rule, the portions so add- 

 ed are not distinguished from the original, all 

 that is attempted having been to make the 

 work thoroughly homogeneous and to present 

 the facts and theories as impartially as pos- 

 sible. While this has been done with Prof. 

 Scheiuer's consent, he has opinions of his own 

 on some of the points thus added, which he 

 expresses in the preface. The work is di- 

 vided into four parts, which relate severally 

 to Spectroscopic Apparatus, Spectroscopic 

 Theories, the Results of Spectroscopic Ob- 

 servations, and Spectroscopic Tables. 



Great Commanders. General Washington. 

 By General Bradley T. Johnson. New 

 York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 338. 

 Price, $1.50. 



The author approached the duty of pre- 

 paring this biography for the Great Com- 

 manders Series with much diffidence, because 

 of the multitude of lives of Washington, the 

 industrious authors and translators of which 

 had spared no effort to find all that could be 

 learned about him, so that "no new facts 

 could be adduced to throw light upon his 

 career or his character." Yet he believes 

 that his work is the first attempt to consider 

 the military character of Washington and to 

 write his life as a soldier. While we may 

 admit with General Johnson that the super- 

 human glamour with which a grateful child- 

 nation invested Washington in the years just 

 after the Revolution has fallen away and 

 given place to a more reasonable estimation 

 of him as simply a man of extraordinary 

 virtues, we can not agree with him that any 

 diminution in the general respect for the 

 abihties of the Father of his Country has 

 taken place ; and we can not conceive that 

 he has ever been regarded by the American 



