November 15, 1894J 



NATURE 



63 



betler take heed, as nothing has yet been done in this direction. 

 We are not told, however, how the apparatus behaves with a 

 side wind. 



We have received a catalogue of botanical works ofTered for 

 sale by Messrs. Dulau and Co. The books refer to the anatomy, 

 morphology, and physiology oi plants. 



The Journal of the Sanitary Institute, vol. xv. part iii., 

 contains the addresses delivered at the Congress held at Liver- 

 pool in September. Dr. J. F. J. Sykes contributes a report of 

 the proceedings of the International Congress of Hygiene, 

 Budapest. 



Messrs. Blackie and Son have published the seventh part 

 of Kerner and Oliver's " Natural History of Plants." The new 

 part, which is just .as admirable as the previous ones, concludes 

 the section on climbing plants ; and deals with erect foliage 

 stems; the resistance of foliage stems to strain, pressure, and 

 bending ; the floral stem. It also contains the beginning of the 

 section on the forms of roots. 



"Electric Lighting and Power Distribution," by Mr. W. 

 Perren Maycock, published by Messrs. Whittaker and Co., has 

 reached a second edition. The book is described as "an 

 elementary manual for students preparing for the preliminary 

 and ordinary grade examinations of the City and Guilds of 

 London Institute." It is profusely illustrated and clearly 

 written, and is altogether a good introductory text-book of 

 technical electricity. 



Dr. Oscar GRt;Licil has prepared a history of the founda- 

 tion and growth of the K. Leopoldinisch - Carolinischen 

 Akademie der Naturforsctier at Halle. The volume is dedi- 

 cated to Halle University, which celebrated its bi-centenary this 

 year. The first president of the Academy was J. J. Baier, who 

 held the office from 1731 to 1735. Many eminent investigators 

 have occupied the president's chair since then, and Prof. Dr. 

 Knoblauch h.-xs held it since 187S. Dr. Grulich's book chiefly 

 deals with the famous library and scientific collections of the 

 Academy. 



The third volume of Sir David Salomons' " Electric Light 

 Installations," dealing with the applications of electric energy, 

 has been published by Messrs. Whittaker and Co. It will be 

 remembered that the original work, " Electric Light In- 

 stallations and the Management of Accumulators," was in one 

 volume, and it was not until a seventh edition was demanded 

 that the division into three volumes took place. The present 

 volume is mainly concerned with the mechanical details which 

 interest the electrical engineer, and the workmen engaged in 

 electric installations, and to such we cordially recommend it. I 



Science Progress for November contains five articles of 

 technical interest and importance. Dr. A. D. Waller, F.R.S., 

 describes the state of knowledge of inhibitory phenomena ; 

 Mr. J. W. Rodger contributes the third of a series of articles on 

 the new theory of solutions. Recent researches in thermal 

 metamorphism are described by Mr. Alfred Harker. Mr. S. 

 H. Burbury, F. R.S., discusses Dr. H. W. Watson's " Treatise 

 on the Kinetic Theory of Gases" and a communication made 

 by Prof. Tait to the Royal Society of Edinburgh, " On the 

 Foundation of the Kinetic Theory of Gases." Finally, Prof. 

 A. C. Haddon gives a bibliography of the ethnography of 

 British New Guinea. 



The "Division of Microscopy" of the United States 

 Department of Agriculture is publishing a very useful series 

 of small manuals under the title " Food Products." The first 

 three numbers deal almost entirely with edible and poisonous 

 fungi, with directions for their identification, and for the culture , 



NO. 1307, VOL. 51] 



and preparation for the table of the edible species. They are 

 illustrated by excellent coloured and uncoloured plates. It is 

 a significent illustration of the wide distribution of the lower as 

 compared with the higher forms of vegetable life, that every 

 one of the twenty-four edible and twelve poisonous species of 

 fungus here described is a familiar European species. The 

 letterpress is written by Dr. Thomas Taylor, chief of the 

 Division of Microscopy. 



The Meteorological Council have just issued a volume con- 

 taining the meteorological observations made at stations of the 

 Second Order, for the year 1890. Such observations have been 

 published in a more or less complete form since 1866, and the 

 present volume contains returns from sixty-eight stations, part 

 of the information being obtained from the English and Scottish 

 Meteorological Societies. A map shows the distribution of the 

 stations, which are well distributed over the United Kingdom, 

 although in some districts, especially in the West of Ireland, 

 there appears to be difficulty in obtaining good observers. In 

 addition to daily observations at many stations, the work con- 

 tains carefully prepared monthly and yearly summaries, and a 

 table showing the number of hours of bright sunshine for each 

 month at those stations which are provided with sunshine 

 recorders. 



In 1815 there was published in Philadelphia the second 

 edition of a "Geographical, Historical, and Commercial 

 Grammar," by William Guthrie. This edition contained an 

 account of North American Zoology, by George Ord, which was 

 by far the most complete and accurate that had appeared. 

 Prof. Baird, in his work on the mammals of North America, 

 refers frequently to this contribution to Guthrie's Geography, 

 and his citations have helped to establish its importance. The 

 Academy of Natural -Sciences, Philadelphia, being desirous of 

 rescuing Ord's work from extinction, determined to reprint it. 

 After considerable difficulty, a copy of Guthrie's Geography 

 was found, containing marginal pencil notes by Ord, on the 

 zoological portion. This section of the book has now been re- 

 printed, with the notes, and to it Mr. S. N. Rhoads has added 

 an appendix on the more important scientific and historic 

 questions involved. The reprint will be heartily welcomed by 

 students of the systematic zoology of .\merica. 



Helmholtz remarked, in the autobiographical address de 

 livered on the occasion of his jubilee : " Many a time when the 

 class was reading Cicero or Virgil, both of which I found very 

 tedious, I was calculating under the desk the path of rays in a 

 telescope, and I discovered, even at that time, some optical 

 theorems, not ordinarily met with in text-books, but which I 

 afterwards found useful in the construction of the ophthalmo- 

 scope." The enquiring student of the present time has no 

 difficulty in finding optical theorems not referred to in the text- 

 books in common use, for in most elementary manuals on 

 optics, the sections appertaining to lenses and mirrors are 

 treated inadequately. It ought to be recognised, however, that 

 a thorough knowledge of lenses and mirrors is the all-important 

 point of optics. To supply the deficiency of text- books in this 

 respect. Prof. R. C. Bodkin has prepared a little pamphlet — 

 " On Lenses and Mirrors, and the -Vutomatic Image-Finder" 

 (John J. Griffin and Sons) — in which he simplifies the study of 

 lenses and mirrors, and deduces the construction of micro- 

 scopes, telescopes, &c., from first principles. The image- 

 finder referred to in the title is an ingenious piece of apparatus 

 for illustrating the directions of the rays forming the image of 

 an object. 



We do not often receive a catalogue of educational books, 

 scientific and technical treatises, and works of general know- 

 ledge prepared for use in Chinese schools. Therefore we have 



