564 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



ASTROXOMY WITH AN OpERA-GlASS. Bj GaR- 



RETT P. Serviss. Illustrated. New York : 

 D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 154. Price, 

 $1.50. 



Under the above title a series of five 

 articles recently appeared in " The Popular 

 Science Monthly," describing the aspect of 

 the starry heavens as seen through that 

 most available variety of the telescope — the 

 opera-glass. These descriptions included di- 

 rections for recognizing the constellations 

 and the principal stars, and were illustrated 

 with numerous star-maps and views of the 

 sun and moon, while many allusions to the 

 history and mythology of the subject added 

 to the interest of the text. The articles 

 called forth many lively expressions of pleas- 

 ure, both from the newspaper press and 

 from individual correspondents, which is not 

 surprising, for the " Monthly " has seldom if 

 ever published a series of papers whose sci- 

 entific accuracy and fascinating style made 

 them more deserving of the name of popular 

 science than these. The series, rearranged 

 and enlarged, is now published in book form. 

 The volmne contains an introduction, com- 

 posed of matter recast from the articles in 

 the "Monthly," devoted to telling what a 

 good opera-glass is. This is followed by 

 four chapters, devoted respectively to the 

 stars of spring, summer, autumn, and winter, 

 and a chapter on " The Moon, the Planets, 

 and the Sun," the accounts of the planets 

 bcdng new. Throughout the work, and in 

 some parts on almost every page, new mat- 

 ter has been introduced, intended to make 

 the subject clearer and more interesting to 

 the reader, and to render the book enjoyable 

 and useful reading to those who may not 

 care to follow out, opera-glass in hand, the 

 directions and descriptions contained in it. 

 Accounts of additional stars, star-groups, and 

 other objects have been inserted, also fresh 

 references to star-lore, as well as to advances 

 in our knowledge of the heavens made since 

 the series appeared in the magazine. The 

 radiant points of some of the principal me- 

 teor-showers have been indicated ; also the 

 places in the heavens of the points known 

 as the solstices and equinoxes. Additional 

 descriptions have also been introduced of 

 the revolution of the heavens and its effect 

 upon the places of the constellations at dif- 

 ferent seasons and different hours. New 



matter has been added on the history of the 

 Pleiades ; about Sirius and Procyon, and 

 their strange companion - stars ; and about 

 star-clusters. All the illustrations of the 

 article on " The Stars of Spring " were re- 

 drawn and re-engraved for the book, and sev- 

 eral new ones have been added in this chapter 

 and in that on " The Moon, the Planets, and 

 the Sun." The volume is printed in large, 

 clear type, on fine paper, and is bound in a 

 notably tasteful and appropriate style. 



Microscopical Physiography of the Rock- 

 making Minerals. By H. Rosenbusch. 

 Translated and abridged by Joseph P. 

 Iddings. New York: John Wiley & 

 Sons. Pp. 333, Price, $5. 

 This work is described by the translator 

 as containing all that is necessary for an ac- 

 curate and complete determination of the 

 rock-making minerals. In the first part of 

 the volume the optical properties of min- 

 erals are described, with some account of 

 their morphological characters, their phe- 

 nomena of cohesion and chemical properties. 

 In the second or descriptive part the miner- 

 als treated are arranged according to their 

 system of crystallization, being divided into 

 two groups, isotropic and anisotropic miner- 

 als. The former group comprises amorphous 

 substances and those belonging to the iso- 

 metric system; the latter group is subdi- 

 vided into minerals with one optic axis 

 (tetragonal and hexagonal systems), and 

 those with two optic axes (orthorhombic, 

 monoclinic, and triclinic systems). There 

 are, besides these, a few crypto-crystalline 

 substances, which are placed under the head 

 of aggregates. Each section in the first 

 part, and each species in the second, is pre- 

 ceded by a list of the literature of the sub- 

 ject. Twenty-six plates of photo-micro- 

 graphs and one hundred and twenty-one 

 woodcuts illustrate the text. 



Town and Country School Buildings. By 

 E. C. Gardner. New York and Chicago : 

 E. L. Kellogg k Co. Pp. 129. Price, 

 $2.50, 



The aim of this work is to aid improve- 

 ment in a department where improvement 

 has been sadly needed. School-houses have 

 been like barns in the country, and like 

 warehouses in the city, rather than fit places 

 for children to exist and study in. The book 



