Life and Character of Nathaniel Bowditch. 21 
idea of undertaking a translation of the whole ‘Mécanique Cé- 
leste,’ accompanied throughout with a copious running commen- 
tary, is one which savors, at first sight, of the gigantesque, and 
is certainly one which, from what we have hitherto had reason to 
conceive of the popularity and diffusion of mathematical knowl- 
edge on the opposite shores of the Atlantic, we should never have 
expected to have found originated—or, at least, carried into exe- 
cution; in that quarter. ‘The first volume only has as yet reached 
us; anid when we consider the great difficulty of printing works 
of this nature, to say nothing of the heavy and ly unre- 
munerated ‘expense, we are not surprised at the del: the sec- 
ond. Meanwhile the part actually completed (which contains 
the first two books of La Place’s work) is, with few and slight 
exceptions, just what we could have wished to see—an exact and 
careful translation into very good English—exceedingly well 
printed, and accompanied with notes appended to each page, 
which leave no step in the text of moment unsupplied, and hardly 
ahy material difficulty either of conception or reasoning uneluci- 
dated. To the student of ‘Celestial Mechanism,’ such a work 
must be invaluable, and we sincerely hope that the success of this 
volume, which seems thrown out to try the feeling of the public, 
both American and British, will be such as to induce the speedy 
appearance of the sequel. Should this unfortunately not be the 
case, we shall deeply lament that the liberal offer of the Ameri- 
can Academy of Arts and Sciences, to print the whole at their 
expense, was not accepted. Be that as it may, it is impossible to 
regard the appearance of such a work, even in its present incom- 
plete state, asotherwise than highly creditable to American sci- 
ence, and as the harbinger of —_ sabe nenese in the loftiest 
fields of intellectual prowess.” 
“i, The first volume of the Reba wong hes pom 1829, 
the second in 1832, and the third in 1834, each volume contain- 
ing about a thousand quarto pages. © The fourth volume was near- 
ly completed at the time of his decease. He persevered to the 
last in his labors upon it, preparing the copy and reading the proof- 
sheets in the intervals when he was free from pain. The last 
time I saw “him, a few days. previous to his death, a proof-sheet 
was lying on his — which he said he hoped to be able to read 
over and correct. 
