PKOGRESS OF ASTRONOMY FOR 1891 AND 1892. 



By William C. Winlock. 



A review of the i)rog:ross of iis^tronoiiiy for the years 1879 and 1880 

 was contributed by Prof. E. S. Holden to tlie Smithsonian Report for 

 1880. and reviews for each succeeding' year were continued by hini in 

 the annual reports of the Institution up to 1881:; the reviews for 1885 

 and 1886, and for 1887-'88 and 1889-'90 were prepared by the present 

 writer, the publication since 188(5 being biennial instead of annual. The 

 arrang^enieut of the review for 18yi-*9i; is essentially the same as in 

 previous years and, in its compilation as hitherto, notes in recent jour- 

 nals have been freely drawn upon without specific citation. 



It should be borne in mind that the review is intended for tiu)se having 

 a general interest iu astronomy rather than for the professional astron- 

 omer who has access to a large working library. To the latter the 

 bibliography ajjpended may be found convenient as a reference, and 

 will supi)lement the text in giving- a general idea of recent publications 

 on any special subject. Many very important papers are of such a 

 nature that they do not lend themselves readily to condensation for the 

 purposes of such a summary as the present. 



Within the last few years many new aids have been i)rovided to 

 facilitate reference to the constantly-increasing volume of the litera- 

 ture of the subject. The most comprehensive of these is to be found 

 in the Bulletin astronomiqiie, i)ublished under the auspices of the 

 Paris Observatory and the able editorship of M. Tisserand. In addi- 

 tion to extensive critical reviews of important memoirs, tliere is a brief 

 summary of the contributions to other astronomical i)eriodicals, and 

 the whole is made easy of reference by an admirable index (wherein 

 most journals are defective) at the close of the year, which, in fact, 

 to a large extent, sui)plies a bibliography of astronomy for the year. 

 The Journal of the British Astronomical Association contains a sum- 

 mary of current periodical literature, the value of which to the mem- 

 bers is abundantly vouched for. The rublications of the Astronomical 

 Society of the Parifc contains a great number ol' admirable reviews or 

 notes, and this department is receiving increased attention iu Astron- 

 omy awl Astro}) hysics. The Observatory has perhaps the most com- 

 plete notes, without an attempt at a systematic summary of current 



681 



