Jxs. 26, 1883.] 



- KNOWLEDGE • 



57 



on Uranus. Mr. Ledger does throw in a parenthetical 

 remark to the effect that the real action is considerably 

 more complicated ; but this is not sufficient, especially as 

 in a footnote he claims that the figure indicates " the 

 direct or tangential effect of Neptune upon the velocity of 

 Uranus." So far is this from being the case, that whereas 

 the figure indicates accelerative action in 1781, the real 

 action of Neptune at that time was retardative. Nor can 

 I see that there is anything so very complicated in the 

 determination of the real direction and magnitude of the 

 perturbing force (for any simultaneous positions of the two 

 planets), that a correct explanation should not be given, 

 instead of one which is very simple indeed, but entirely 

 wrong. However, this is a not very important matter. 

 Speaking of Mr. Ledger's lxK>k generally, we may say that 

 it is a thoroughly sound and useful treatise, well conceived 

 and admirably illustrated. Printers, binders, and pulv 

 lishers, also, have done justice to the author. The book 

 deserves success, and I have no douVit will have its deserts. 

 Main's " Rudimentary Astronomy," forming one of 

 Weale's series, has long been known as a capital work for 

 beginners ; not that it is popular, but that it deals clearly 

 and succinctly with the elementary principles of astronomy. 

 The edition before us (the third) has been carefully re^•ised 

 and brought up to date by Mr. Lynn, formerly of the 

 < Jovemment Observatorj- at Greenwich. There are a few 

 errors still remaining. Thus the solar parallax is not, as 

 represented at p. S3, the tangent, but the sine of the angle 

 which the earth's semi-diameter would present at the sun's 

 distance ; and it is rather odd at this day to hear the size 

 and mass of the earth adduced as evidence of special 

 design for the adaptation of the globe we live on to its 

 inhabitants. But the book may fairly be described as a 

 sound and simple treatise on elementary astronomy, very 

 carefully edited. 



SYDNEY AND SUNDAY LECTURING. 



I NOTICED in my iMt, among recent lecture experi- 

 ence:?, an unwilling and luckily unsuccessful attempt 

 to ufs -t a Mayor. Some Australian papers, commenting 

 on Sir Henry Parkes' recent rejection by his constituents, 

 ascribe to me his nearly successful attempt to upset himself 

 over one of my lectures. Misled by the " unco guid," Sir 

 H. Parkes promulgated his decree against a Sunday lecture. 

 Of the two who urged him to this course, one had known 

 the interior of a gaol for watch stealing, which led to my 

 remarking to the audience of some 2,000 persons who 

 assembled at the Theatre Royal, Sydney, a few days later, 

 how good it was of Parkes' adviser to keep a watch for me 

 as well as for himself. The other was a zealot, who 

 probably attributed to wicked science the sparseness of 

 his own congregations. Be this as it may, it was gene- 

 rally agreed that Sir Henry hoped to increase the 

 majority at his next election, which had been but fairly 

 good at his last. It was supposed by manv that my lecture 

 was actually stopped by him. But so far as anything he 

 could have done or said was concerned, that lecture — on 

 the evil subject, "The Vastness of God's L'niverse " — would 

 unquestionably have been delivered. The platform was 

 ready; the theatre was open; the manager (Mr. Gamer, 

 the well-known actor) had agreed ; my energetic agent, Mr. 

 R. S. Smythe, had, like a Napoleon, marshalled ail his 

 forces ; and at six, the lecturer (who needed rest after 

 travel) was sleeping the sleep of the just tired out, in pre- 

 paration for the lecture. That Sir Henry Parkes's police, 

 if he had dared to send any to the theatre door, would have 

 done more than advise us not to oppose his unlawful inter- 



ference, no one who remembers the crowd that was assembled 

 will for one moment believe. (I certainly addressed not fewer 

 than five (many said ten) thousand from my hotel window 

 soon after, and if I had chosen to excite further, instead of 

 doing my best to allay their just wrath, they would have 

 l)een ready to do something more than merely resist a few, 

 or even a few hundred, policemen. Why, then, was the 

 lecture not given 1 Simply because it was shown to my 

 satisfaction that not I, but another, would have suffered, 

 had 1 delivered it. The lessee, Mr. Lazar, was warned 

 that whether the law was with us or against us, his 

 theatre could be closed (if the lecture were given) till the 

 question was settled, — that is for months. I should not 

 have lost a penny by this, nor would the London Comedy 

 Company have lost much, as they could have gone 

 elsewhere, and perhaps had their remedy for loss of 

 time. But Mr. Lazar would have lost a great deal, and 

 the people of Sydney would have lost much good 

 acting. While the lessee appealed to Mr. Sm\"the, and 

 Mr. Smythe (waking me from sweet sleep for the purpose) 

 appealed to me, I had no choice (unless 1 had had as little 

 conscience as Sir H. Parkes in the matter) but to accept, 

 as I then thought, loss myself, rather than bring a much 

 greater loss on another. So late was Mr. Lazar's appeal 

 made, and my decision taken, that there was no time to 

 give the necessary notice, and we narrowly escaped an 

 awful row in consequence. It will be judged how much 

 our decision was brought about by Parkes, who had been 

 all the pre^^ous week threatening Mr. Smythe and myself. 

 His people had alarmed Garner, but Garner had come 

 round most manfully. On us — who knew how illegal his 

 whole course was, and that he knew it too, for the Attorney- 

 General had told him — he had produced simply no effect 

 at all. 



He barely scraped through at the next election, and I see 

 several colonial papers ascribe the loss of votes to his 

 interference with me. It is likely enough. All the papers 

 took my side, and at the enormous gathering on the 

 Thursday following at the Theatre Royal, a very strong 

 feeling of contempt for him and his advisers was mani- 

 fested in an unmistakable fashion. Then, too, the 

 first fruits of his action were noticed as they affected 

 myself. What I had supposed a loss turned out a 

 very great gain. Elsewhere, as well as at Sydney, the 

 papers took my part most warmly and generously. While 

 I cannot say I hear with regret that Sir Henry Parkes has 

 been rejected — for one who breaks, or at least fails to 

 recognise, the law, is not fit to be among those who ad- 

 minister it — I must admit his being Secretary of State 

 when I visited Sydney was a most lucky thing for myself, 

 as matters turned out for me. As in the case of my 

 criticisms on Sir George Airy's inexact first papers on the 

 transit of Venus, so here, — what I did as a duty, by which 

 I should probably lose, turned out very much to my ad- 

 vantage in the end. I owe all my pleasant experiences in 

 America and Australasia, indirectly, to the one — the very 

 pleasantest and brightest of those experiences directly to 

 the other. — Richard A. Proctor. 



The Turkish railroads have some peculiar freights. The 

 Roumelian line from Constantinople north-westward, in its 

 la.st fiscal year, carried .5,741 tons of essence of roses, valued 

 at about .'iio.OOO dollars. It also carried 1,.")00,000 melons 

 to Constantinople, but probably, says the Railroad Gazette, 

 some of our Southern roads can match that. On the line in 

 Asia Minor, leading articles of freight are Angora goat- 

 hair and meerschaum. 



