7o6 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



plete, for many chapters found in other 

 copies are not contained in it. Of the trans- 

 lations, Dr. Samuel Birch's, made thirty years 

 ago from the Turin papyrus, is literally cor- 

 rect, but nonsense. A more intelligible trans- 

 lation of it has been made by M. Pierret, and 

 an exact and scholarly translation is in prep- 

 aration by Dr. Le Page Renouf ; while care- 

 ful studies of it have been made by Lepsius, 

 M. Edouard Naville, and M. Renouf. The 

 translation of Mr. Davis is made, with that 

 author's permission, from M. Pierret's ver- 

 sion in Fi-ench, and is purposely rather exact 

 than graceful ; and it has been revised in 

 the light of the additional knowledge that 

 has been gained since Pierret's work was 

 published, in 1882. Excellent and valuable 

 preliminary chapters are given on The My- 

 thology and Religion of Primitive Peoples; 

 The Egyptian Pantheon, with illustrations of 

 some of the more important deities ; The My- 

 thology of the Ancient Eygptians ; and a his- 

 torical and critical introduction to the book. 



A Text-Book of Inorganic Chemistry. By 

 G. S. Newth, F. I. C, F. C. S. London 

 and New York : Longmans, Green & Co. 

 Pp. 667. 



The periodic classification has been taken 

 as the basis for the arrangement of the mat- 

 ter in this fully detailed treatise. Defini- 

 tions and principles are placed in the fore 

 part of the book, but the student without a 

 teacher (suggestions to teachers being deli- 

 cately withheld) is advised to study only 

 four of the fifteen chapters of such material 

 before taking up the descriptions of the four 

 typical elements hydrogen, oxygen, nitro- 

 gen, and carbon and their compounds, which 

 constitute the second division of the work. 

 The other elements are taken up by subdi- 

 visions of the periodic system, beginning 

 with " Group VII, family B," and ending 

 with the " transitional elements of the sec- 

 ond and fourth long period." The four ele- 

 ments first named are taken up out of their 

 order so as to bring well forward such sub- 

 jects as water, the atmosphere, and combus- 

 tion, to which the student should be in- 

 troduced ^t an early stage. Only general 

 descriptions of the rare elements and their 

 compounds are given, and technological de- 

 tails of metallurgical processes are dispensed 

 with. While the performance of experi- 



ments by the student is strongly urged, an- 

 other book by the same author is referred to 

 for the necessary directions. 



Radiant Sdns. A Sequel to Sun, Moon, and 

 Stars. By Agnes Giberne, with a Pref- 

 ace by Mrs. Hdggins. New York : Mac- 

 millan & Co. Pp. 328. Price, $1.75. 



In this work the author has tried to 

 avoid treading in the same grooves, and to 

 make a book entirely supplementary to Sun 

 Moon, and Stars, in which subjects which 

 could there be merely glanced at should be 

 entered more closely into, and difficulties 

 explained which could not there be dealt 

 with, and which should give a large amount 

 of fresh information. The book falls into 

 three divisions a history of astronomy, in 

 which short outlines are given of the lives 

 of the greater astronomers of the past; a 

 discussion of spectrum analysis, what it 

 means and what it teaches ; and a view of 

 the stellar universe as it is now known, 

 with references to some great theories which 

 may in future gradually take their places as 

 proved truths. Mrs. Huggins finds value in 

 this book and its predecessor, not only in 

 their describing well the facts of astronomy, 

 but also in their appealing constantly and 

 wisely to the imagination in a way that can 

 not fail to give mental training to their 

 readers. " Indeed," she says, " there are 

 few pages in the present work in which, be- 

 yond the scientific information directly given, 

 there is not also enforced indirectly some 

 lesson of high practical value." 



The Life of Richard Owen. By his Grand- 

 son, the Rev. Richard Owen, M. A. Also 

 an Essay on Owen's Position in the His- 

 tory of Anatomical Science, bv the Right 

 Hon. T. H. Huxley, F. R. S. 'With Por- 

 traits and Illustrations. New York: D. 

 Appleton & Co. Two Volumes. Price, 

 $7.50. 



A life extending over all but the first 

 four and last eight years of the present cen- 

 tury, and devoted to biology in connection 

 with several of the leading scientific institu- 

 tions of Great Britain, could not fail to have 

 strong features of interest. When sixteen 

 years of age Richard Owen was apprenticed 

 to a "surgeon and apothecary." Later he 

 attended lectures at Edinburgh, whence he 

 went to London and studied under Aber- 



