November 2, 1896.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



253 



Malta ; and when compared with the preceding twelve 

 years we asrain find the lowest temperature registered was 

 34-2°, on February 19th, 1895. 



Anjun 'Did Newton: a Realisation. By Lieut. -Colonel 

 W. Sedgwick. (W. B. Whittingham I'i. Co.) " The universe 

 is a building put together with materials shaped for 

 building purposes, so as to tit together in certain positions, 

 and in certain positions only : but, at the same time, so hard 

 and solid as to be unbreakable and unalterable under any 

 conditions which obtain now." The purport of this may 

 not be quite clear, but that is our misfortune, as Lieut. - 

 Colonel Sedgwick's intentions are good, and his style is 

 pecuharly original. 



The isolation of argon and the identification of terres- 

 trial helium were important, but Lord Kayleigh and Prof. 

 Ramsay little suspected that their discoveries were just 

 W'hat Lieut. -Colonel Sedgwick needed to substantiate the 

 conclusions arrived at in his epoch-making work, " Force 

 as an Entity." Yet Lieut. -Colonel Sedgwick says they 

 were, and who would venture to oppose his view ? 



We learn that the atom is a sphere with flat places — 

 the form of the monovalent atom being a chipped sphere 

 with one flat place, two for a divalent atom, and so 

 on. Argon and helium probably have spherical atoms ; 

 but the inner meaning of this latter characteristic is 

 only clear to Lieut. -Colonel Sedgwick, and we suppress 

 our desire to explain their part in the universe m order 

 to let the words of wisdom appeal directly to our 

 readers. " We build, indeed, nothing upon argon and 

 helium," the gallant author writes, " or with them. In 

 truth, it is their general unsuitability for employment in 

 any kind of building whatever which makes their support 

 of so much importance ; though at the same time we 

 recognize that such unsuitability does not go to the length 

 of complete inability to form part of any structure what- 

 ever. . . . Though marked unsuitability for building 

 purposes is their characteristic feature, it is, from our 

 point of view, quite possible that they may in some cases 

 be worked into buildings." To prevent possible miscon- 

 ception, we have the temerity to add that Lieut. -Colonel 

 Sedgwick's remarks refer, not to the construction of 

 merely mundane edifices, but to the building of the 

 universe. Before the discovery of argon and helium, all 

 materials were regarded by Lieut.-Colonel Sedgwick as 

 suitable for his purpose ; but this was not altogether satis- 

 factory, for his theory called for the existence of materials 

 " unsuited for building operations," and the two new 

 elements met this requirement. 



Only one thing more remains to be said. The reader 

 may ask what Newton has to do with the matter '.' Well, 

 Newton's views on the nature of atoms are practically the 

 same as Lieut.-Colonel Sedgwick's, but he was not able to 

 develop them into a proof of the " first cause" ; and it 

 was left to Lieut.-Colonel Sedgwick to accomplish the 

 task which Newton assigned to science. " Force as an 

 Entity," according to Lieut.-Colonel Sedgwick — and who 

 should know better "? — is " perhaps unique." " Argon and 

 Newton " is its sequel, and is just as wonderful. 



Rowls and Pavements in t'rancf. J5y Alfred Perkins 

 Rockwell, A.M., Ph. B. (New York: Wiley ^: Sons. London: 

 Chapman .v; Hall.) Illustrated. This account of the 

 mode of construction and maintenance of stone roads in 

 France, where are to be found the most highly educated 

 and able road engineers in the world, should do something 

 towards the improvement of our highways. The methods 

 and practice in one country are not necessarily applicable 

 to another, but tliere is always something to be learned 

 from the results of experience ; therefore contractors and 



civil engineers will find this contribution to the literature 

 of road making handy and serviceable. 



Moorland Idylls. By Grant Allen. (Chatto c^- WLndus.) 

 6s. Whatever Mr. Grant AUen writes about natural objects 

 and scenes is worth reading. He is a pleasant philosopher, 

 who walks through the beautiful woodlands of Surrey with 

 his eyes wide open, appreciative of everything that lives 

 upon them, and with the breadth of mind required to build 

 up impressions into word pictures which shall be attractive 

 to all nature lovers. This score of essays may seem trifling 

 to the student fall of knowledge of idioblasts, epigenesis, 

 and similar profoimd problems, and critics may take 

 exception to the anthropomorphism which forms the basis 

 of most of the observations ; but naturalists who understand 

 the poetry of nature will find their hearts in unison with 

 everything in the book. 



The Studio. October. Is. monthly. To the stadent 

 treading the maze of modern art, this publication is at 

 once an inspiration and a guide. An outcome of decadent 

 ffistheticism, it gives us the best of the new in art. This 

 month, the article on " -Japanese Floral Arrangements ' 

 is extremely interesting and useful to all desirous of adding 

 new beauties to their surroundings. The observations on 

 the work of C. J. Watson, and the first notice on the 

 " Arts and Crafts," are sincerely written and well 

 illustrated. In fact, all the reproductions are as good as 

 they could possibly be. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



Jii ArcJiteological Surcei/ of the United Kingdom. By David 

 Mtirray, LL.D., F.S.A. (Glasgow : James Maclehose <t Sons.) 



Index to the Genera and Species of the Foraminifera. By Cliarles 

 Davies Slierborn. Part II. (Smithsonian Institution.) 



Elements of Astronomy. By Sir Robert Stawell Ball, LL.D., F.R.S. 

 (Text Books of Science.) (Longmans, Green, & Co.) Xew edition. 

 6s. 6d. 



Thirteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnologi/ to the 

 Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. By J. W. Powell, 

 Director. (Washington : Government Printing Ollice.) 



Sumphri) Dan/, Poet and Philosopher. Bt T. E. Thorpe, 

 LL.D., F.R.S. (Ci-ntury Science .Series.) (CasseU& Co., Ld.) 



The Vnsoleed Riddle. By Victoria AVoodhull. (Blades, Easit, & 

 Blades.) 



A Baltic Cruise to (he Capitals of Sortheru Europe. By "Red 

 Cross." (Phipps & Connor, Ld., TothUl Street, S."W.) Is. Third 

 Edition. 



Rocks and Minerals. By J. W. Tutt, F.E.S. (Gill's Practical 

 Series of Object Lesson Books.) (George Gill & Sons.) Is. 



Insects and Spiders. By J. W. Tutt, F.E.S. (In same Series.) Is. 



Model of a Horizontal Steam Engine, »iM Description of the 

 Parts. (George Philip & Sou.) 2s. 6d. 



Art/on and Newton : a Realization. Bv Lieut. -Col. W. Sedgwick. 

 (W. ii. Whittingham & Co., Ld.) 7s. 6d. 



Satural History of Australia. By Frederick G. Aflalo, F.R.G.S , 

 etc. (Macmillan A Co.) 6s. 



Elementary Oeologi/. Bv G. S. Boulger. (William Collins, Sons, ' 

 & Co., Ld.) Is. 6d. 



Practical Work i« Physics. — Part III., Light and Sofnd. Bv 

 W. G. Woolhombe, M.A. (Clarendon Press.) 3s. 



Ei'il and Eeolution. By tlie Author of "Ihe Social Horizon." 

 (Macmillan & Co.) 3s. 6d. 



Edinburgh Reriew for October. (Longmans.) fis. 



2'he Relinuary and Illustrated Archaeologist. Vol. II. New 

 Series. (Bemrose <t Sons.) 123. 



Everybody's Medical Guide. (Saxon & Co., London.) 6d. 



The Wonders of Modern Mechanism. By Charles Henry Cochrane. 

 (J. B. Lippincott Co.) 7s. 6d. 



The October Number of Science Progress commences a new series, 

 having been converted from a monthly magazine to a quarterly, of a 

 hundred or more pages. Ihe contents of tlu* present number are 

 decidedly technical, but the subjects are varied and soundly dealt 

 with. The most prominent articles in the number are " The Natural 

 History of Igneous Rocks," by Alfred llarker, Jf.V., and "The 

 Nervous System of Coelcntcra,'' by Prof. Uickson. 



