SOME NEW BOOKS. 
THE VISIBLE UNIVERSE: Chapters on the Origin and Construction of the Heavens. 
By J. Ellard Gore, F.R.A.S. Demy 8vo. Pp. 346, with 6 stellar photographs 
and 12 lithographic plates. London: Crosby Lockwood & Son, 1892 
Price 16s. 
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. With 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 upon 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. 
