Sept. 19, 1884.] 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



243 



It is with sincere regret that I learn, through a cor- 

 respondeot, of the death of that well-known amateur 

 astronomer, Mr. John Birmingham, of Tuam, which hap- 

 pened on the 7th instunt. INlr. Birmingham's name first 

 came before the scientific world aa the discoverer, on May 

 12, 1866, of the wonderful temporary star which blazed 

 up in the constellation Corona. Subsequently we hear of 

 him as an observer of meteor .showers. He would then 

 seem to have devoted much attention to the subject of red 

 star.s, examining many of the objects in Sohjellerup's 

 catalogue for variability. He was also an excellent sele- 

 nographer, and did good service to science by accurate 

 comparisons of portions of the lunar surface with Schmidt's 

 Great Map, and those of Lohrmann. The work, however, 

 with which his name will be most imperishably connected 

 is his " Catalogue of Bed Stars," published in the year 

 1877, in the " Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy." 

 Avowedly compiled from materials supplied by Sclijellerup, 

 Secchi, lluggins, Schmidt, Vogel, Webb, ic, this has ever 

 since been regarded as the standard work on the subject on 

 which it treats. It was but too tardily rewarded by the 

 presentation to Mr. Birmingham of the Cunningham 

 medal of the Royal Irish Academy in January last. He 

 was engaged in his observations of red stars and in the 

 revision and supplementing of his lists up to a very recent 

 period. His lamented death creates a real void among the 

 few workers in his special department of astronomical 

 research. 



The compositor has made a violent assault on my 

 English in the first paragraph of the "Editorial Gossip" 

 on p. 221, where the words in parentheses should read : 

 " (and, according to the Irishman's addendum in the 

 venerable 'Joe Miller')." 



The result of an enormous mass of work lies before me 

 in the shape of the " Bombay Magnetical and Meteoro- 

 logical Observations, 1879-1882." The voluminous tables 

 it contains are supplemented by diagrams showing the 

 variations of magnetic declination, horizontal force, &c., 

 graphically ; and hence in an impressive manner. Mr. 

 Chambers may well be congratulated upon the results of 

 the excellent observations taken under his supervision at 

 ColSba. 



Another illustration of the wisdom of the aphorism, 

 " Never prophesy unless you know," reaches me in the 

 shape of the announcement of the dismal failure of the (so- 

 called) steering balloon of Captains Renard and Krebs, on 

 I he occasion of its second trial on the 12th inst. Instead 

 of the "presque calme" weather in which the first experi- 

 ment was conducted, a stiffish breeze seems to have been 

 blowing on this occasion, and the balloon — after the fashion 

 of other balloons — simply drifted with it, and bad to be 

 towed back to Meudon ! Try again, JIM. les aeronauts. 



JlfbieliiS. 



Dynamo - Electric Machinery. By S. P. Thompson, 

 B.A., D.Sc. (London : E. & F. N. Spon.) With the 

 best efforts of Kempe, Sprague, Prescott, Hoskian-, and 

 now that of Prof. Thompson, Messrs. Spon are going the 

 right way to get unto themselves the best reputation in 

 electrical circles. Prof. Thompson is perhaps the highest 

 authority we have on dynamos, in practice as well as in 



principle, and therefore his latest work is sure to be well 

 read. One would almost think that with the flood of books 

 already publishtd on this portion of electrical science, 

 together with the stagnation apparently existing in the 

 electric lighting industry, the demand for another volume 

 would be insufficient to warrant the venture, were it not 

 that the author has chosen a line for himself far and away 

 superior to any other previously adopted. He is not 

 satisfied with general descriptions prefaced by a voluminous 

 dissertation on the history of dynamical electricity, but 

 plunges almost immediately into the subject and carries 

 the reader well through it, embracing all that is at present 

 known of the principle, construction, and government of 

 dynamos and motors. The result is the best work that has 

 yet appeared on the subject. 



A Cataloyne of Known Variable Stars, with Notes and 

 Observations. By J. E Gore, M.R.LA., F.R.A.S., &c. 

 Reprinted from the Vol. IV., Ser. 2, of the " Proceedings " 

 of the Royal Irish Academy. (Dublin : University Press, 

 1884.) — So far as we have been able to test Mr. Gore's 

 Catalogue, it is an absolutely exhaustive one of all the 

 stars at present certainly known to be variable. The 

 Catalogue proper contains a list and description (in their 

 order of Right Ascension) of 191 stars. In eleven sequent 

 columns it gives the Catalogue number, the star's right 

 ascension, its declination, its change of magnitude, its mean 

 period in days, the epoch of its maximum, the epoch of its 

 minimum, the name of its discoverer and year of its dis- 

 covery, and finally, in certain cases, remarks on individual 

 peculiaritiee. This is followed by notes on various objects 

 in the Catalogue, which are both valuable and interesting ; 

 in fact, the work summarises our entire existing knowledge 

 of the variable stars in a way upon which it would be 

 difficult to improve. Considering the number of amateurs 

 willing and competent to pursue the observation of the 

 mysterious bodies of which Mr. Gore's volume treats, we 

 think it a pity that so valuable an aid to such observation 

 as he has supplied should be locked up in the archives of a 

 learned society. Astronomers ought to be afforded an < 

 opportunity of purchasing such a Catalogue as this. 



Sanitary Arrangements of DweUing-houses. By Mark 

 H. Judge, A.R.I.B.A. (London : Sanitary Assurance 

 Association. 1884.) — Anyone and everyone who con- 

 templates a visit to the Health Exhibition, with a view to 

 obtaining information on the mechanical details of sani- 

 tation, may lay out a shilling on Mr. Judge's book very 

 profitably indeed. For what he has done is simply to give 

 a short description of all the various kinds of house drains, 

 closets, soil-pipes, baths, lavatories, waste pipes, sinks, 

 cisterns, et id genus omne, which possess any special merit, 

 in the Exhibition at present open at South Kensington. 

 Just as the "Academy Notes" are confined to the chief 

 pictures of the year, so our author's pamphlet points out all 

 that is best worth seeing in connection with sanitary 

 appliances ; with, though, an occasional reference to some 

 contrivance conspicuous for its faulty principle, as a foil 

 to more scientifically devised ones. To those who merely 

 go to the Show to eat and drink and hear the bands play, 

 this pamphlet will possess but small interest. To those who 

 visit it as a Health Exhibition, Mr. Judge will be found 

 a trustworthy guide. 



The number of visitors to the International Health Exhibition on 

 Monday was 55,071, raising the total since the opening to 2,753,027, 

 and thus passinfr the total number of visitors to the Fisheries Exhi- 

 bition last year, which was 2,703,051. The Health Exhibition has 

 been open 112 days ; the Fisheries was open for 147 days. The 

 daily average up to the present of the former is 2-i,5S0, that of the 

 latter during its entire term was 18,388. 



