336 



KNOWLEDGE 



Alpine Winter in its Medical Aspects. By A. Tdckeu 

 Wise, M.D., L.R.C.P., <tc. Second Eclitiou. (London : 

 J. & A. Churchill. 1885.)— This is the second edition of 

 Dr. Wise's "Alpine Winter Cure," of which we were able 

 to speak favourably on p. 346 of Vol. VI. A considtv- 

 able amount of additional information will be found in 

 it, and its perusal may be commended to all who suffer 

 from incipient phthisis or " a weak chest." 



Practical Chemistry, ivilh Notes and Questions on Theo- 

 retical Chemistry. By William Ripper. Second Edition. 

 (London: Wm. Isbister. 1885.)— Professedly " adapted 

 to the revised syllabus of the Science and Art Depart- 

 ment for the elementary stage of Inorganic Chemistry," 

 Mr. Ripper's work is worthy of more attention than that 

 generally accorded to a mere cram book. Both the 

 practical and theoretical portion of it seem well and 



French Course, by G. H. Williams, M.A. IIow to Teach 

 Beading, by _T. J. Livesey. The Art Student's Second 

 Grade Practical Geometry, by John Lowees, revised by 

 George Brown. Poetry for Eecitation. Parts I., II., 

 III., and IV. (London : Moffat & Paige).— These edu- 

 cational books are all good of their kind. The " Practical 

 Geometry," in particular, seems well adapted to its 

 purpose. 



What is a Lady? (London : Griffith, Farran, Okeden, 

 & Welsh. 1885.)— In days when we may see advertise- 

 ments that "A yoiing lady wishes a situation in a 

 baker's shop," the question put in the title of this 

 brochure may seem not to admit of any very immedia' e 

 or definite reply; but it will be safe to say that the 

 woman who will fulfil the requirements, and obey the 

 precepts of its anonymous authoress, cannot fail to be 

 recognised as a lady in the best and truest sense of that 

 much-abused word. 



Heart or Brain ?—Bj the author of " Before I Began 

 to Speak." (London : Fleet Printing Works.) — Forty 

 mortal pages does this anonymous author devote to show- 

 ing that it is the brain and not the heart which is the 

 seat of affections and desires ! It would pay him hand- 

 somely to show at, say, a shilling a head, educated people 

 now-a-days who really think that their mental impulses 

 come from a muscular force-pump. 



As it was Written.— Bj Sidney Luska. (London: 

 Cassell & Co.)— Mr. Luska's astonishing novel suggests 

 the idea that it is the hurriedly-written morning's record 

 of a nightmare incident on a heavy supper of underdone 

 pork-chops. 



Sheet of Maps to Illustrate the Caroline Islands dis- 

 pute between Germany and Spain. (London and Edin- 

 burgh : W. & A. K. Johnston. 1885.) Engraved with 

 admirable clearness, this capital sheet of maps should 

 be obtained by everybody interested in the question of 

 the sovereignty of the Caroline Islands. Its value is 

 greatly in excess of its moderate price. 



We have also on our table, The Ka7isas City Review, 

 At Home Among the Atoms, The Child's Pictorial, Pro- 

 gress. From the Messrs. Cassell: Gassell's Household 

 Guide, CasseU's Popular Gardening, Library of English 

 Literature, The Countries of the World, Our Own Country, 

 The Book of Health, and European Butterflies (as beau- 

 tiful as ever). The Seventh Annual Beport of the Bulwich 

 College Scientific Society, India's Interest in the British 

 Ballot-box, Howard Association Beport, Oct. 1, 1885, 

 The Sanitary News, Electricite, Le FranUin, Naiuren, 

 Beligious Opinion, and the American Druggist. 



THE FACE OF TUE SKY. 



fpHE Sun i,i;:> . 



XL of "TheSiai- u: i 

 on October 25 ut ;ii. .im. 

 in uo legitimate scu»u \ . 

 to Venus with his tremei 

 red gibbous disc, may 1" 

 midnight, but as his dian 

 no detail can be made lu 

 Kegulus and/1 Leoni iti i 

 ■ if Regulus li> 



ual for spots and facula;. The 

 )iind delineated on Maps X. and 



;• Jlininiacf Algol will eccuv 



Urat 



itill ii 



lOh. 5m. p.m., at a vertical angle of 11.")°; to reappear at her 

 dark limb at 10 h. 26 m. at an angle of 164^ from her vertex. When 

 these notes begin the Jloon is in Pisces, but at -1 o'clock this after- 



for Aries at 5 a.m. to-ni.:in',., Mi'l iiiM:i;,,.in \;,- ii.i il s a tn. un 

 the 25th, when she cru> I i' > hi. I ~ h.Mliiiii,' 



through the last-named ■' - :"i', I'in. 



on the 27th on the coniit ..!;!■ ' -ii. ■ i • : a | i-i- - ting 



region of Orion. At 8 a.m. on the :.'Stli .slie ciiicins fmm the other 

 side of this in Gemini; whence, at 11 p.m. on the 2'Jth, she passe.s 

 into Cancer. At 11 a.m. on the 31st she quits Cancer for Leo, in 

 her passage through which she descends at 9 p.m. on November 1st 

 into Sextans ; emerging however in Leo again at 1 o'clock the next 

 morning. She finally leaves Leo for Virgo at 1 a.m. on the 3rd, and 

 occupies until 3 h. 30 m. a.m. on the 6th in crossing the last-named 

 constellation. Then she enters Libra, where we leave her. 



i¥li5rrllanfa. 



A COPT of the new Library Map of the Colony of Victoria has 

 been forwarded by the publisher, Mr. A. Johnston, of 6, Paternoster- 

 buildings, E.G., to the Queen who has been pleased, we may reason- 

 ably assume, to accept the present. 



Messrs. Bolckow, Vaughan, & Co., have come upon a thick 

 bed of salt at their bore-hole near Eston Jetty, to the east of Mid- 

 dlesbrough. The salt was reached at a depth of 1,550 ft., and 

 already 62 ft. have been pierced through without reaching the 

 bottom of the bed. 



E.XTENSIVE fires have been wasting ■! . ;,m'- ' :a^rps of wheat 

 lands in Dakota. On many large fa- 1:, n-s have been 



destroyed. These fires have ragcil '!■ a n.r hundreds 



of miles along the Northern Pacilia liaa.ia;,. i,. ai I irainard west- 

 ward beyond Bismarck. 



The Diamond Fields.— It appears that the production of the 

 South African diamond fields in July was, in round figures, 170,000 

 8s. 5d. per cf ' "" " 



■hich realised £156,000, or 18s. 5d. per carat. In October, 

 1882, the production was 211,746 carats, which realised £355,315, 

 or 33s. 7d. per carat. The reduction in the monthly production 

 and the selling price has not, upon the whole, been so great as 

 appears from this comparison, as the output has fluctuated a good 

 deal from month to month : nevertheless, the general tendency of 

 the selling price appears tn In- d.nvnwaids, and the production has 

 also been effected by stiina- fall- df icf. It took the various 

 diamond mines of the woili i\'. ■> ai m ari. s, prior to 1870, to produce 

 less diamonds than the Kiialu 1 1. \ -li.-tiiat has placed upon the 

 markets during the last fifteen yeais. In view of this fact, and in 

 view also of the gradual decline in the selling price, the conviction 

 is forced upon us that the South African diamond fields have been 

 permitted to produce too rapidly. The existing state of affairs is 

 forcing amalgamation upon _ the various South African diamond 

 mining companies; this may have the effect of decreasing the 

 output, but it is believed that the diamond trade will ultimately be 

 brought into a healthier condition by it.— En/fineerhig. 



