SOME NEW BOOKS. 



The Visible Universe : Chapters on the Origin and Construction of the Heavens. 

 By J. EUard Gore, F.R.A.S. Demy 8vo. Pp. 346, with 6 stellar photographs 

 and 12 lithographic plates. London: Crosby Lockwocd & Son, 1892. 

 Price i6s. 



Mr. Gore is well known as an enthusiastic observer, an able com- 

 puter, an authority on variable stars, and the author of successful 

 works which appeal to the general reader and the amateur astronomer. 

 The present volume, like its predecessors, is well written, well printed, 

 and well illustrated. Its main object is to give an account of various 

 hypotheses as to the origin and construction of the heavens, and of 

 the arguments for and against them. In discussing various astro- 

 nomical fictions, as these hypotheses may be termed, many facts are 

 necessarily described and much interesting information is communi- 

 cated. Thus, in reviewing the " Meteoritic Hypothesis," the author 

 gives an account of the leading characteristics of stellar spectra and 

 of the recent work by Professor Lockyer, Dr. Huggins, and others, 

 on such subjects as the coincidence of the chief nebular line with the 

 brightest termination of the magnesium fluting. 



Mr. Gore has paid special attention to the distribution of stars 

 in space, and this subject is accordingly treated at considerable length. 

 The theories of Wright, Lambert, Herschel, Struve, Proctor, and 

 others, as to the construction of the visible universe and the laws 

 governing the distribution of stars, are described and critically 

 examined. There is a very interesting chapter on stellar parallax 

 and stellar motions in which the latest information on these important 

 subjects is given. Speaking of the sun's motion in space, the author 

 asks. What was the position of our system in past geologic time ? 

 If the motion has been rectilinear we must have come from that part 

 of space in which Sirius is at present situated. " Now, with a 

 parallax of 0-39" the distance of Sirius from the earth would be about 

 49 billions of miles. W^ith a velocity of 14 miles a second the sun's 

 annual motion would be nearly 442 millions of miles. Therefore in 

 200,000 years the distance traversed would be about 88 billions of 

 miles, which, carried back, would place it out in space far beyond 

 the distance of Sirius." It is thus safe to say that the Ichthyosauri 

 of the Lias must have looked vipon a system of stellar distribution 

 very different from that which we now see. 



The book appeals to many classes of readers. Those who like to 

 revel in metaphysical subtleties will find portions adapted to their 

 peculiar taste ; those who prefer to trace the work of individuals in 

 the present state of our knowledge will turn to the historical parts ; 

 while those who feel that such subjects as the above are apt to 

 become tedious, will find plenty to occupy their attention in the 

 descriptive portions of the volume. Too many tastes are catered for 

 to make the book uniformly palatable to any one individual. 



