December 1, 1900.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



'270 



until most of it gets back by tbe way it aime. In a similar 

 mauuer, Mr. Wilson suggests." it may be that any part of tlio 

 solar atmosphere which Ts at high pies^suro and where eonvection 

 currents, or currents of liitferent kinds of n\aterials, are aetive, 

 would reflect hick to the sun any -.adiations coming front below, 

 and reflect to us only the feeble radiation coming from inter- 

 planetary space. This may serve to explain the darkness of 

 sunspots" wholly or in part," hut it also serves to emphasize our 

 powerlessness "to conceive the conditions existing below the 

 sun's photosphere : our jioweilessness to conceive why, in a 

 gaseous body, practically isolated and cut olT from disturbance 

 by any other, there should he local beats and pressures, quite 

 temporary in their character, to set up convection streams and 

 currents." As an appendix to his most valuable ' work, Jlr. 

 AVilson has added a few specimens of the stellar and nebular 

 photographs taken with his 'J-foot reflector. Thai they arc very 

 beautrful it is almost superfluous to say. From the point of 

 view of beauty, and perhaps, also, from the point of view of 

 scientific value, we prefer the uneulargod photographs to the 

 euliirged ones. As, for example, in the two photographs of the 

 "duinb-beH" nebula in Vulpecula — one ten times the scale of 

 the other — the larger copy loses completely the faint delicate 

 nebulosity that fills up the space between the bounding inter- 

 secting circles, and thereby changes entirely the actual form and 

 character of the nebula. 



Oldest Books ix thi: Woki.d. By Isaac Myer, il.ii. 



Illustrated. (Kegan Paul.) .HOs. net. The title page of this 



ponderous volume describes the contents as " An account of 



the religion, wisdom, philosophy, ethics, psychology, manners, 



proverbs, saj-ings, refinement, etc., of the ancient Egyptians : as 



set forth and inscribed upon some of the oldest existing 



monuments, papyri, and other records of that people, from the 



earliest historic times to a.d. (U ; together with facsimiles and 



translations of some of the oldest books in the world. Also a 



study upon the origin, antiquity, and elevated ethics of the 



book written long before the Hebrew Exodus, now called the 



CXXVth chapter of the Book of tlie Dea:l, with an analysis of 



the same based on a eomjiarison of numerous papyri copies ; 



also a description of the Psychostasia, or trial of the conscience 



of the dead ; with many illustrations of the same from the 



ancient monuments and papyri." The scope of the volume is 



thus snflSciently defined, and the main object seems to be to .show, 



by extracts from archaic Egyptian writings, that the maxims and 



moral code of the ancient people of Egypt compare favoui-ably 



with doctrines and ideas which have since been ado])ted. 



Thanks to the enlightened policy of the authorities of tlie 



British Museum, many people are now familiar with the chieC 



facts of Egyptology and the chief com|)ositions of the various 



dynasties. The '• Book of the Dead " referred to above is a 



collection of chapters or separate compositions of different 



lengths found in Egypt insciibed upon pyramids, upon the walls 



of tombs, upon sarcophagi, and coffins, and amulets that wei'c 



buried with the dead, and also found written upon long rolls of 



papyri which were placed in the tomb with tbe deceased. In 



the volume before us, fifteen writings are brought together, and 



different renderings are given of the original text. To students 



of religion, philosophy, ethics, and everyone else interested in 



the study of the thoughts and customs of men, the book is a 



desirable production, if only as an analysis of early beliefs and 



a reproduction of ancient writings. 



We have received from Mr. Murray the first two numbers of 

 the " Monthly Review " (2s. fid.), and we are pleased to 

 associate ourselves with the congratulatory chorus of our 

 contemporaries in welcoming so handsome an addition to the 

 monthl}- magazines. The turn-out of the book more than 

 realises the promises of its prospectus, and fully maintains the 

 high traditions of the Albemarle Street house : while its Editor 

 may be congratulated on the varied and interesting character of 

 its contents. So high a standard of literary excellence will 

 certainly command a distinguished future. 



The advent of the "Knowledge'' Di.\uy and Scientific 

 Handbook is announced in our advertisement columns. In 

 view of the ever increasing interest taken in the study of 

 Astronomy, the time has come when its votaries should ])0ssess 

 an Annual specially devoted to their needs and requirements, 

 and it is the intention of this new venture to meet that want. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



PiihUcations of the Lick OUenoloiy. \ol. IV. I'.IOO. 



Reporl of the Boanl of Edtini/ion, l!^99-1900. 



A Vear ii-ilh Nalure. liy \V. I'orriviil Westell. (11. J. Dnino : 

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I'rohlems of JCrolii/ioii. B.v F. W. lloaiUry. (Diulvworlli.) 8s. 

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T/ic Child: A S/iidi/ ia the Efoi„lioii of 3Iau. By Dr. A. F. 

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Binleria. 2iid F.diliou. Uy George Xewman, r.n.s. (M\irray.) 



Optical Tallies and Data for Opticiniis. By Prof. S.P. Thompson. 

 (Spoil.) Gs. net. 



ntiiian's tShorthand Year-Sooh and Dian/, I'JOl. Is. 



Mechanical irorld Pocket JJian/, 1901. '(iil. 



llandhook for Literari/ and Behalinii Societies. (llodder & 

 Stouglitoii.) Is. Gd. 



A Hero of Rumance. By Ricliard Marsh. (Ward, LocU & Co.) (is. 



Williams 4' Norjate's Book Circular, 1899-1900. 



Studies : Scientific and Social. 2 Vols, By A. R. Wallace. 

 Maeiiiillaii.) Illustrated. 18s. 



Contents — Suliject Index to General and Periodical Literature. 

 By A. Cotgrtave. (Kdiot Stoc'<.) 7s. 6d. 



P/iofof/raphic Optics. By Otio Lunuiier. Translated by rrof. 

 S. i'. 'J'lioiiipson. (.Mac'Tiiillan.) Cs. net. 



Chemistry for ^Examinations. By 11. W. Hill. (Allmau.) 2s. Cd. 



Sonijs and Li/rics. By Charles WlulworUi Wynne. (Qraiil 

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The Cape as I found it. By Beatrice M. Hicks. (Elliot Stock.) Ss. 



A Brief HlHorii of Mai hemaiics. By Dr. Karl Fink. Translated 

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The Science of the Emotions. By Bliagavan Das, MA. (Tlieo. 

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The Proce.is Year-Book, 1900. (Penrose.) 



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Living llace.s of Mankind. Part III. (LIuteliinsoii.) 7il. net. 



Crowhurst's ''Chess Board" Astigmatic Test Chart. By If. A. 

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 Published by Newbold & Bulford, 4(i, tlosweU Roa'd. 



The Scie'nti/ic Boll. Bacteria. \o\. f., No. 1. Coudueled by 

 Alexaiidei' Ramsay. Is. (R. L. Sharland, :«, Churclifield Eoad, 

 .U-tou.) 



THOMAS HENRY HUXLEY.* 



A THOUSAND pages of biography sounds moiisfcrous for an 

 individual share in the story of mankind. But every 

 now and then an actor passes across tlie stage of human 

 society with so much quicksilver versatility, responsive 

 to so many calls, exciting so much hostility and adniira.- 

 tion, taking so large a part in the work, and tlie thinking, 

 and the lighting, of liis time, that every step in his 

 career enchains the interost of a wide circle of readers. 

 When humour and pathos, courage and sagacity, self- 

 denying industry and domestic tenderness, gradually 

 become conspicuous as characteristics of the man s 

 sayings and doings, the long-drawn history of his pilgrim- 

 age assumes a dramatic fascination. He may still be, 

 as sketched by rumour or by prejudice, tho intellectual 

 prize-fighter, the overbearing champion of revolutionary 

 causes. Only, the harsh or rugged outlines of his 

 temperament "and activity arc no longer repellent in 

 the elaborated portrait. Premature distaste is bound to 

 vanisli b-jfore the presentment of a man bearing himself 

 with uprightness, fortitude, and delicate sympa,thy in 

 the everyday romance and tho ordinary sufferings of 

 mortal existence; still more, when it is found that his 

 position of nutliority, at first extorted by a masterful 

 intellect, is in tho "end conceded without grudging to 

 a stedfast character; and, beyond all this, that his whole 

 course was encompassed and comforted by what is hard 



* " Life and Lettci's of Thomas Henry Huxley," by his son, Leonard 

 Huxley. In tiro volumes. (Loudon: Maemillau ci. Co., Limitel.) 1900. 



