May 6. 1897] 



NATURE 



seen by the eye. It would be better if these were put in 

 as finely as possible, if included at all. The atlas is well 

 up-to-date ; and, owing to this fact, will probably be useful 

 to the professional as well as to the amateur. The star 

 places are marked for the epoch 1900, and the Harvard 

 photometry has been taken as the authority for the mag- 

 nitudes, the positions being derived chiefly from Arge- 

 lander's Uranometria Nova. For observers possessed of 

 instruments of moderate size, this atlas will probably 

 prove a useful companion. 



A Protest against the Modern Development of Unmusical 

 Tone. By Thomas C. Lewis. Pp. 46. (London : 

 Chiswick Press, 1897.J 

 The prevalent practice in organ-building of the present 

 day is to use for the middle C a pipe too large in scale, 

 and with mouths cut too high, the result being, according 

 to the author, that the Diapason tone, which rule? every 

 other stop in an organ, has deteriorated in quality. A 

 pipe which will give an ideal Diapason tone is specified, 

 and the defects in organs which do not conform to the 

 conditions laid down are criticised. The protest as re- 

 gards church bells is chiefly directed against excessive 

 thickness. In pianofortes the destruction of pure tone is 

 held to be due "to an increase of heaviness in the 

 hammers for the pounding of the strings, to an excess of 

 rigidity in the framework and setting, counteracting the 

 vibrating motion of the strings — to an excess of scale in 

 the length of strings — to the production of false harmonics, 

 and the absence of due proportion between the ground- 

 tone and the harmonics, and generally to the making of 

 more noise than music in the quality heard." The 

 brochure contains some interesting information on the 

 principles of the construction of organ-pipes, bells, and 

 pianofortes. 



Respiratory Proteids^ Researches in Biological Chemistry. 



By A. B. Grifiiths, Ph.D. Pp. v -I- 126. (London : L. 



Reeve and Co., 1897.) 

 Thk conclusion which the author of this book aims at 

 establishing is that there are several respiratory proteids 

 (both coloured and colourless) in the blood of animals. 

 The introductory chapter, occupying one-third of the 

 pages of the book, brings together some interesting 

 information on the constitution of the blood of echino- 

 dcrms, annelids, insects, arachnids, crustaceans, molluscs 

 and vertebrates. Following this are chapters on various 

 respiratory pigments found in the blood of certain 

 animals, and on colourless respiratory proteids. Chapters 

 on the nature and functions of chlorophyll and haemo- 

 globin conclude the text. An appendix is devoted to 

 brief descriptions of the chemical compositions of the 

 chief pigments which occur in the bodies of animals, and 

 the methods by which they may be extracted. 



The book should be serviceable in directing attention 

 to the comparatively neglected field of biological 

 chemistry, even if all the views it contains as to bio- 

 chemical processes are not accepted. 



Outlines of Psychology. By Wilhelm Wundt. Translated 

 by C. H. Judd. Pp. xviii -f- 342. (Leipzig: Wm. 

 Engelmann. London : Williams and Norgate, 1897.) 

 This book diflTers from the other works of Prof Wundt 

 in being more purely psychological, the physiological 

 aspect of the subject being kept as much as possible in 

 the background. Like the other works, it is an exposition 

 of the special attitude of the author rather than a critical 

 account of the present state of knowledge on the subject ; 

 but this is a feature common to most psychological text- 

 books. For those who wish to learn the views held by 

 the leader of one of the chief schools of modern psychology, 

 the present volume will serve excellently. The translation 

 is good, and Dr. Judd has added a useful glossary giving 

 the German equivalents of the chief psychological terms 

 used. 



NO. 1436, VOL. 56] 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



{The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions ex- 

 pressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake 

 to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected 

 manuscripts intended for this or any other part of Nature. 

 No notice is taken of anonymous communications. ] 



Organised or Sectional Work in Astronomy. 



The remark was recently made by Prof. S. C. Chandler that, 

 notwithstanding there had been no recent systematic arrange- 

 ment of work in connection with variable stars, the result was 

 most gratifying ; for the observations were fairly complete, few 

 interesting objects having been neglected. He says that " this 

 satisfactory result could hardly have been reached so effectively 

 by a formal organisation of work directed from headquarters, 

 prescribing and circumscribing the operations of each parti- 

 cipant, and destroying by its benumbing influence the enthusiasm 

 which springs from the individual initiative of the observers 

 themselves." 



This statement emanating, as it does, from a thoroughly 

 practical man, and being based on unequivocal facts, must 

 commend itself to the consideration of every one interested or 

 engaged in the sectional work of various societies. It is evidently 

 a point worth inquiry, as to whether Prof. Chandler's remark 

 applies with equal force to other departments of" astronomy 

 besides that of variable stars. Having had some little experience 

 in the sectional work of the Liverpool and other astronomical 

 associations, I may perhaps be allowed to express the opinion 

 that, while in some branches there is great utility in co-operation, 

 in others the material advantage is rather questionable. In 

 comet-seeking the division of labour seems eminently desirable, 

 because one observer cannot possibly examine all the available 

 sky at sufficiently short intervals. In meteoric researches, 

 also, concerted effort is most valuable for the purpose of securing 

 duplicate observations. Amateurs, by pre-arranging the hours 

 for simultaneously watching the heavens, and the particular 

 region for each one to observe, are enabled to secure a number 

 of observations of identical objects, and the real paths of these 

 may be derived from the materials gathered in this way. If left 

 to independent effort, the chances of success would be greatly 

 diminished, and the accuracy of the observations impaired ; for 

 a person when engaged in special combined work is apt to put 

 forth his best energies, and the appearance of a large meteor is 

 not likely to find him unprepared, unless it comes at a time not 

 included in the prescribed hours of work. 



But, in some other departments of observation, there does not 

 appear to exist the same necessity for organised effort. In fact, 

 I think that it can be shown from results— the best of all tests — 

 that it has been a comparative failure as far as it affects the 

 progress of astronomy. Of course a great deal depends upon 

 the director of a section. If he is a man of great resource and 

 skill, he will be pretty sure to have something tangible to show 

 for his work, and that of his colleagues. The worst of it is that, 

 in publishing collective results, the good, bad, and indifferent 

 are indiscriminately presented ; and there being, perhaps, no 

 criterion by which to distinguish them, the whole are virtually 

 rendered useless. Taking any band of unselected observers 

 those of moderate or poor capacity will greatly predominate. 

 Even in meteoric astronomy, I would not, for an instant, recom- 

 mend that the results of several observers should be combined 

 with the idea of accurately determining the positions of radiant 

 points. In such cases the bad or moderate observations swamp the 

 trustworthy ones, and we can get radiants anywhere or nowhere, 

 just as we like to interpret the evidence afforded by the materials 

 before us. It is a most important requirement that really precise 

 observations should be preserved from contact or collaboration 

 with others of inferior character. 



A little reflection will prove that all the best work has been 

 accomplished by individual and independent effort. A good 

 man will persevere in his labours, just the same, whether he 

 belongs to any combination or not ; and it is really much better 

 for such a person to be isolated, so that he may perform the work 

 of his choice in his own way, and publish it in his own style. If 

 a man has the ability to accomplish useful work, he will know 

 the best form in which it may be presented for the benefit of 

 science. Moreover, he needs no encouragement ; he proceeds 

 with his research because he is actuated by the love of it, and 

 sees the beacon of success shining invitingly in the foreground. 



Undoubtedly, cases could be cited where combined work has 

 been or will be mftst efficacious. In an object of exceptional.- 



