756 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



me to revert to this question, but they must be very strong. I would 

 only warn my readers against the assumption that, if I do not reply 

 to further attack, I am unable to reply to it. The present rejoinder 

 furnishes sufficient proof of the doubtfulness of such a conclusion. 

 There is one darkly-expressed passage in the " Life of Principal 

 Forbes " which may cover something requiring notice. "We are in- 

 formed that he preserved and carefully docketed all letters written to 

 him, and that he retained copies of all his own. It is with regard to 

 this correspondence that his biographer writes thus : " Many extracts, 

 and even entire letters, may be selected which are free from contro- 

 versy, yet in general these would give but an imperfect notion of the 

 import of the whole. Others again cannot be published at present, be- 

 cause the writers supply him with details of that mysterious wire- 

 pulling which seems to be inseparable from every transaction involving 

 honors (scientific, in common with all others, it is humiliating to con- 

 fess). The value of this unique series is, however, so great, and its 

 preservation so complete, that it is to be hoped it may be safely de- 

 posited (under seal) in the care of some scientific society or institution, 

 to be opened only when all the actors have passed from the scene." 



These undignified allusions to " wire-pulling " are perfectly dark 

 tome; but if the letter addressed to Mr. "Wills may be taken as a 

 specimen of the entire " series," here referred to, then I agree with the 

 biographer in pronouncing it " unique." "Would it not, however, be a 

 manlier course, and a fairer one to those who, writing without arrihre- 

 pens'ee^ retain no copies of what they write, to let them know, while 

 they are here to take care of themselves, how their reputations are 

 affected by these letters of Principal Forbes ? For my own personal 

 part I am prepared to challenge the production of this correspondence 

 now. Contemporary Review. 



THE MOOK 1 



OUR satellite holds a somewhat anomalous position in the liter, 

 ature of astronomy. The most beautiful object in the heavens, 

 the orb which telescopists study under the most favorable conditions, 

 and the planet for a planet she is which has afforded the most im- 

 portant information respecting the economy of the universe, she never- 

 theless has not received that attention from descriptive writers which 

 she really merits. The cause is, perhaps, not far to seek. The beauty 

 of the moon can scarcely be described in words, and cannot be pict- 



1 " The Moon : her Motions, Aspect, Scenery, and Physical Condition." By Richard 

 A. Pnoctor, B. A., Cambridge (England), Honorary Secretary of the Royal Astronomical 

 Society of London : author of the " Sun," " Saturn," " Other Worlds," etc. New York : 

 D. Appleton & Co. Price, $1.50. 



