525 Notices of Books. (October, 
We know of no book, save the admirable ‘‘ Experimental 
Researches” and ‘‘ Chemical Manipulation” of Faraday, which 
we could more recommend, both to the general reader of Science 
and to the young student, than this: clear and elegant in style, 
powerful in grasp, close and precise in reasoning, eminently 
suggestive, and very comprehensive, the book will continue to 
be a standard scientific work, and will always find a welcome 
place among the archives of the History of Scientific Ideas. 
The Universe and the Coming Transits. Presenting Researches 
into, and New Views respecting, the Constitution of the 
Heavens; together with an Investigation of the Conditions 
of the Coming Transits of Venus. Recently confirmed by 
a Unanimous Vote of the Chief Astronomers of Great 
Britain. By Ricuarp A. Proctor, B.A. (Camb.). London: 
Longmans, Green, and Co. 1874. 
Mr. Procror is certainly the most prolific scientific writer of the 
age; he is a very Lope de Vega among scientists: book after 
book appears from his pen; his thoughts fly out as the sparks 
fly upwards. Sun, moon, and stars have alike received detail 
treatment at his hands; and here we have a new theory of the 
universe, and a collection of all the matter relating to the transit 
of Venus which he has published in the ‘Journal of the Royal 
Astronomical Society,” and elsewhere. The book, in common 
with all his works, is very profusely illustrated ; maps, charts, 
plans, woodcuts, are scattered throughout the volume,—for Mr. 
Proctor is a good draughtsman as well as a learned astronomer. 
The first Essay, ‘‘ On Star-Streams,” treats of the Milky Way, 
which is now believed to consist of myriads of suns, around 
which no doubt there are attendant planets, which latter may 
contain countless numbers of living creatures. A very interesting 
account is given of the changes in the appearance and position 
of the Milky Way at the same hour, in different seasons of the 
year. By a simple illustration of the appearance that the lights 
of a large town would present to anyone looking from a height, 
we are shown that we must not necessarily suppose that the 
brilliancy of a star is positive evidence of proximity, but rather 
must bear in mind that we are dealing with a sphere full of stars, 
distributed through space, some at much greater distances from 
us than others, and not with a spherical surface covered with 
stars, as represented by a globe or map. For aught we know 
the whole stellar region may be occupied, more or less richly, by 
a variety of forms of matter other than stars or suns, and 
nothing but the most patient and systematic analysis can ever 
lead to the solution of the great problem of star-depths. 
The article entitled ““A New Theory of the Universe” is at 
