June 1, 1897.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



141 



and Prof. Kamsay read before the Royal Society their paper 

 in -which they described how they had isolated this con- 

 stituent, and had studied its properties. The last three 

 chapters of the book are devoted to a popular account of 

 the discovery and properties of the new element (argon), 

 and its position among the other elements. There should 

 be a large public for a volume in which so many interesting 

 phases of an interesting subject are described. 



Star Atlas. By Winslow Upton, A.M. (Ginn & Co., 

 Boston, U.S.A., and London. 1896.) We can commend 

 this neat star atlas for the use of students of astronomy 

 and the possessors of small telescopes. The entire sky is 

 represented in sis plates by the stereographic method of pro- 

 jection, showing all the stars visible to the naked eye with 

 considerable clearness. The explanatory text contains a list 

 of the constellations (accented, as a guide to pronunciation), 

 the names of the stars most frequently designated by a 

 special title, a list of magnitudes of some of the brighter 

 stars, lists of the most interesting star-clusters and 

 nebahie, prominent coloured stars, variable and double 

 stars, and some general directions for the use of the atlas. 

 These tables and directions are quite of an elementary 

 character, but are eminently suited to help and direct the 

 beginner in astronomy or those with but small instru- 

 mental means. A set of key-maps are given to the plates. 

 We wish — and this is the only criticism we have to make 

 — that the traditional constellation figures and the strongly 

 marked constellation boundaries had been placed in these 

 key-maps rather than in the plates themselves. Their 

 omission from the latter would have greatly increased 

 their distinctness. 



A Study of the SL-y. By Herbert A. Howe, Professor of 

 Astronomy, University of Denver. (London: Matmilhn 

 it Co. 1897. ) 6s. Books on general astronomy are 

 Euificiently numerous, and it might be thought that there 

 was but little room for a new one, but Prof. Howe has 

 succeeded in giving a distinctly original flavour to the work 

 before us. This is partly owing to the occasional intro- 

 duction of quaint simile or humorous quotation or remark. 

 The feature, however, which most marks it off from ordinary 

 books of the same class is the space devoted not to the 

 " study of the sky," but to the study of the making of the 

 ideal astronomer and of his instruments. This section is 

 illustrated by a number of portraits (many of them exceed- 

 ingly good) of the leading astronomers of the United States, 

 and by representations not only of a finished telescope, but 

 of an object-glass in its progress from the rough lump of 

 glass to the finished lens. And that Mr. Howe is no mere 

 "carpet" astronomer is abundantly evidenced by his 

 chapter on " The Astronomer's Workshop," where he 

 describes in detail the " mass of imperfections '' which go 

 to make up '• the instrument which is to the eye a thing 

 of beauty.'' In this country an astronomer is bound to 

 devote himself and his work to the nation as a whole, 

 rather than to that very small section of it which may 

 evince a legitimate curiosity, and the observing hours in 

 our National Observatory are held rigidly sacred from the 

 intrusion of the sightseer or even the student. That such 

 is not the case across the Atlantic, and how deeply the 

 iron of it enters into the soul of the American astronomer, 

 may be jadged from Mr. Howe's quotation from one of the 

 archives of an American observatory : " Visitors who come 

 on working nights and interrupt a series of observations 

 are undoubtedly parietosplanchnic Lamellibranchiates, 

 afflicted severely with psittaceous psychopannychism." 

 Chapters IH. to VI. are occupied with a description of the 

 constellations, and give both a diagram of their principal 

 stars and a short history of the origin of the names of 



the groups and of the remarkable stars within them. 

 " Conceit" is scarcely the term, however, to apply to the 

 name " chariot " for the " Great Bear," seeing that it is 

 by far the more ancient designation of the two. Neither 

 is it called in England " A7»;/ Charles' Wain," having no 

 connection whatever with the monarchs either martyred 

 or merry of that name, " Charles " being a corruption of 

 "carl" or "churl," signifying a peasant. The chapters 

 on the sun, moon, and planets are extremely lucid. Mr. 

 Howe is very much up-to-date in giving a drawing illus- 

 trative of the " markings on Venus." The printing and 

 illustrations are, on the whole, very good. We remark, 

 however, on page 177, the word " know-ledge" divided as 

 " knowl-edge.' 



SHORT NOTICES. 



Light as the luterpretalion of the Law of Graviti/. By Alexander 

 M. Cameron. (Angus & Eobertson, Sydney.) Mr. Cameron is 

 apparently one of those original thinkers who have ideas but find it 

 difficult to obtain a hearing. The subject-matter of this little book 

 was originally submitted to the Koyal Society of Xew South Wales, 

 and the Coujieil rejected it as unsuitable for the purposes of the 

 Society. The author, therefore, " in humble and respectful deference 

 to all men — lovers of science, upholders of truth, abhorers of hum- 

 bu" " — sends out his theory to the world at large. He has ascertained 

 that Newton, and the goodly number of other great scientific men 

 who hare contributed to our knowledge of the planet on which we 

 live, are all wrong \ To remedy this state of things, Mr. Cameron 

 presents us with a new cosmogony all his own, in which, among other 

 interesting news, he tells us that "comets of more than one tail 

 evidence a once planet system with as many satellites as there are 

 tails." 



The Storg of the Chemical Elements. By M. M. Pattison Muir. 

 (Xewnes.) Is. On first opening this book two pictures attracted 

 our attention — the one illustrating alchemical operations, which 

 reminds us of the time when men studied chemistry almost entirely 

 with the object of finding the so-called philosophers stone and the 

 elixir of life ; and the other showing a modem chemical laboratory 

 such as the latter-day chemists use, and in which they have done so 

 much, in an indirect way, towards realizing the ideal of the misguided 

 devotees of the black art. Prof. Muir tells an enthralling story of 

 the wonderful transformations of matter imdsr the chemist's magic 

 wand. Ignoring formulae, he appeals in homely phrase to the imagi- 

 nation of the reader. 



The Sfori/ of the JTeather. By Gr. F. Chambers. (Xewnes.) Is. 

 At the present time, when cricket and lawn-tennis are coming in for 

 their turn among English pastimes, a reliable weather prophet would 

 be handy. It would appear from this little book that the lower 

 animals are " cognizant of approaching changes in the state of the air 

 Ion" before we know of their coming by other signs." When asses 

 bray more frequently than usual, when pigs are restless, and so on, 

 rain, wind, and bad weather generally may be expected. In short, 

 Mr. Chambers has not only indicated to us the modes of scientific 

 forecisting of the weather, but he has also brought together all sorts 

 of old-time notions which are certainly interesting and no doubt 

 useful. 



Fniii Culture for Amateurs. By S. T. Wright. (Upcott Gill.) 

 3s. 6d. It is a well-known fact that many amateurs grow fruit of 

 various kinds that would do credit even to the professional gardener, 

 but the amateur in general falls far short of this high level. Mr. 

 Wright, in order to assist those who wish to cultivate fruit, both under 

 "lass and in the open, has here indicated what to grow under given 

 conditions and how to grow it. In Section I., apples, pears plums, 

 apricots, cherries, etc., are dealt with as fruits for outdoor culture ; 

 and in Section II., grapes, peaches, figs, melons, etc., for culture 

 under glass. Section III. contains instructions for grafting, budding, 

 storing, packing, manuring, etc. ; and in an appendix the methods of 

 attacking insects and other foes which the gardener has to contend 

 with are described. The volume is beautifully illustrated throughout. 



The History of Mankind. By F. Eatzel. (Macmillan.) Monthly 

 Parts. Is. each. Already serenteen parts of this work have 

 appeared, and it will conclude with the thirtieth. The aim of the 

 writer is to give the broadest possible view of humanity as a whole, 

 acquainting us not only with what man is, but with the means by 

 which he has become what he is ; hence, all nationalities, civilized 

 and uncivilized, are included. An effort has been made to assign to 

 the proper place in the species any given race which is not always 

 determined by the difference of civilization between any two groups, 

 for this may bear no kind of relation to the difference of their 

 endowments. A coloured frontispiece accompanies each part, the 



