OCTCIRHK, 1012. 



KXCnVLEDGE. 



407 



mapping of a single region of the sky may require 

 consultation of several constellations in widely different 

 parts of the book ; arrangement by Right Ascension in 

 the usual manner of star catalogues would have been more 

 convenient. 



Very full details about the stars' nomenclature and magnitude 

 are given ; seven different columns are taken up with the 

 Greek or Roman letters, and the numbers in various catalogues. 

 Then twelve columns contain the estimates of magnitude by 

 different authorities, and the finally adopted magnitude, using 

 the Harvard scale. This is given to the nearest tenth of a 

 magnitude. The positions for 1900 are given to the nearest 

 tenth of a minute of time in R..\., and the nearest minute of 

 Declination. This is near enough for identification, but 

 necessitates reference to some other catalogue if an accurate 

 position is required. 



A column of remarks gives notes about variability, and large 

 discordances in the magnitude by some authorities. One 

 obvious use of the catalogue is to rapidly construct a chart 

 of the region round some Nova or Variable, with definitive 

 magnitudes of the stars included. I used it in this way for 

 Nova Geminorum last spring, and found it very convenient. 

 A series of maps is promised containing all the objects in the 

 catalogue. I have not yet seen these, but from the description 

 given I have no doubt that the combined work will be of great 

 service to a wide circle of astronomers, and will do much to 

 stimulate the study of the brighter stars. 



A. C. D. Ckommelin. 



Obscrvatoire Royal de Belgique ; Aiinuaire Astronoinique 



pour 1913. — By G. Lecointe. 516 pages. 6 illustrations. 



7-ins. X 5-ins. 



(Brussels: Hayez.) 



This forms a serviceable handbook of general astronomical 

 information. It has copious extracts from the Nautical 

 Almanac, giving positions of Sun, Moon, planets, satellites, 

 stars, eclipses, and so on, also refraction and tide tables, 

 elements of planets, comets, and so on ; an essay on the 

 measure and determination of time, others on recent progress 

 in astronomy, the eclipse of last April, variable stars, 

 terrestrial magnetism. There are reproductions of photo- 

 graphs of Comet 1910 I and of the spiral nebula in Canes 

 Venatici. Altogether a convenient work of reference. 



A. C. D. C. 



BIOGRAPHY. 



The Early Naturalists. Their Lives and Work. {1330- 



1789).— By L. C. Miall, D.Sc. F.R.S. 396 pages. 



9-in.X6-in. 



(Macmilian & Co. Price 10, - net.) 



There is always a tendency more or less to neglect the 

 ladder up which one has climbed ; but it is surely part of the 

 education of a scientific man to know something of the steps 

 by which his subject has progressed, something of the men, 

 whose labours formed the foundation and indeed built the 

 edifice of his science. There is so much to do at present, 

 however, that there is little time to give to thought even of the 

 future, let alone to the past, and it is diflficult for busy people 

 to study in full detail the life of the great workers who have 

 gone before. For biologists, however, something has been 

 done, for Professor Miall' has spent his leisure in surveying 

 the lives of the early naturalists ; from Otto Brunfels, who 

 was born in 1484, down to Buffon, who died in 1788, and not 

 only has he written an account of their work, but also in most 

 cases given a carefully considered estimate of their character 

 and of the part which they have played in the building up of 

 biology. 



Quite as interesting as the discoveries which were made 

 are the records of mistakes, and there are hosts of interesting 

 notes which illuminate the book as one goes along, dealing 

 with such facts as that the early naturalists could only get 

 their training in the medical school, and that many also found 

 the easiest way to earn a living was to practice medicine. 

 Professor Miall has laid all naturalists under a deep obligation. 

 Wilfred Mark Webb. 



BIOLOGY. 



British Plant Galls. — By E. W. Swa.N'TON. 287 pages. 



32 plates (16 being coloured), 7}-in. X Sj-in. 



(Methuen & Co. Price 7 6 net.) 



Very much interest is aroused by galls ; very little of a 

 popular character has been written upon them : the result is 

 that the ordinary lover of nature knows practically nothing 

 about them, and the naturalist's ideas are more hazy than they 

 otherwise would be. 



Mr. Swanton's efforts to bring together what is known 

 about our British galls are worthy of the highest commenda- 

 tion, and the book which is the result will prove exceedingly 

 useful. It may also lead to more attention being paid by 

 amateurs, who often have the most time to give to such matters, 

 to the study of galls. There is a variety about the subject 

 which it is difficult to eijual ; the growths are vegetable 

 and arise from the stinuili supplied by animals. Sometimes 

 the species of the latter is only to be determined by the 

 appearance of the galls. The " causers," as Mr. Swanlon calls 

 them, may belong to many orders of insects, to the mites, to 

 the eel worms, to fungi, and those to whom the continuous study 

 of a single order or group does not appeal will have the 

 satisfaction of jumping first to one and then to another in 

 dealing with galls. 



The alternation of generations which is seen in some of the 

 gall causers is a fascinating subject, and we foresee for Mr. 

 Swanton's book a wide circulation. 



From a scientific point of view the classified and descriptive 

 catalogue of British Galls is a most valuable addition to works 

 of reference and the basis of classification is a botanical one, 

 as the majority of British naturalists have some knowledge of 

 our native plants. The first catalogue of British plant galls, 

 published in 1872, contained ninety-one galls; in 1898, Mr. 

 Connold described four hundred and twenty-five, and in the 

 present catalogue more than eight hundred arc dealt with. 

 Mr. Swanton appeals for criticisms and specimens with a view 

 to making a second edition of the book more perfect. There 

 is an abundance of coloured and other illustrations ; the 

 preface written by Sir Jonathan Hutchinson is another point 

 of interest. The position of the so-called "crown galls" is 

 discussed in this. Sir Jonathan being of opinion that they 

 should be di\'ided from the rest and placed with diseases 

 known in England under the name of "canker." 



Wilfred Makk Webb. 



CHEMISTRY. 



Oil Finding. — By E. H. CUNNINGHAM Ckaig, B.A., F.G.S. 



With an introduction by SiR Boverton Redwood, Bart. 



195 pages. 13 plates. 18 figures. 9-in. X5^-in. 



(Edward Arnold. Price 8/6 net.) 



This book will appeal to several classes of readers, for the 

 geologist will here find an able description of the structure of 

 the formations in which petroleum deposits occur, while the 

 chemist will be interested in the chapters discussing the origin 

 and mode of formation of petroleum. 



The author's descriptions are not merely impersonal outlines, 

 but are also clever criticisms of the different theories that have 

 been brought forward. He himself strongly favours the view 

 that " every hypothesis but that of the origin from terrestrial 

 vegetation fails when tested by an appeal to the facts to be 

 observed at the present day." 



The book is well illustrated, and has a preface by Sir 

 Boverton Redwood, in which attention is called to the value of 

 the book as a means of assigning the true value to the flowery 

 estimates of the oil company promoters. ^ . ^j 



METAPHYSICS. 



Studies in Jacob Boehnie. — By A. J. Penny. 475 pages. 



2 plates. 9i-ins. X 6-ins. 



ijohn M. Watkins. Price 6'- net.) 



One of the marked characteristics of the present century, 



distinguishing it from that immediately preceding, is to be 



