NovEMBER 26, 1896] 
NA TORE 
Be 
Tel: 
the crust, gradually heaving it up into a dome which 
burst, allowed the gases to escape, and its fragments 
fell back, leaving a crater-basin like those on the moon. 
As the crust strengthened the blisters grew larger (all 
Asia was required for one), and their edges were higher 
after the collapse. The 
rain, and sediment being 
to such geological forms as the Paris or the London 
basin. Herr Habenicht shows immense ingenuity in 
fitting his hypothetical blisters to the morphological lines 
of the earth, and the maps in the book are most interest- 
ing. If the theory were put forward as an exercise in 
scientific imagination, it would be clever and admirable ; 
if it be, as we fear, a serious attempt to interpret existing 
geographical forms, it is valueless now De Morgan is 
dead, and might be mischievous. The theory is not 
tested ; it is built to fit a certain interpretation of facts, 
and the demonstration that it fits that interpretation is 
put forward as evidence of its truth. Some concluding 
remarks on Darwinism and evolution are of a type once 
common in this country, but now becoming rare enough 
to make it worth while to signalise the discovery of a 
belated specimen. H. R. M. 
OUR BOOK SHELF. 
A New Speculation on the Past and Future Temperature 
of the Sun and Earth, By W.H. Pp. 198. (London 
and Manchester: John Heywood.) 
_YET another book designed to show men of science the 
ee ——————ore,rci a 
imperfections in their theories, and to enlighten them as 
to the constitution of the universe. The main con- 
tention of the author is that the sun and earth are not 
cooling bodies, and that they have never formed part of 
the same nebulous mass. He considers that the sun is 
not really hot, but merely the cause of heat in sentient 
beings ; which seems to be a distinction without a real 
difference. The poorness of the argument becomes 
even more obvious by the comparison of the molecules 
of the sun with the molecules of a piece of iron beaten 
upon an anvil. Of course we know that the molecules 
of the iron only have their energy increased by the blows 
of the hammer, and of course we know that heat gud 
heat does not exist until it affects sentient organisms. 
But to argue from this that the sun is a cool body, and 
to say “that which we call heat in the sun is but 
molecular motion,” is as inconclusive as would be a state- 
ment that the sun is a dark body, and that which is called 
sunlight is but a motion of the ether. 
The author does not stop at this: he essays to prove 
that the sun is a hollow sphere or a system of spheres, 
and regards the proportions of oxygen and nitrogen in 
the earth’s atmosphere as nicely adjusted for the comfort- 
able existence of man; in which Jost hoc ergo propter 
hoc reasoning he follows the young curate who anim- 
adverted upon the beneficence of Providence in making 
rivers run near the towns. But enough has, perhaps, been 
said to reveal the character of the book. There is, how- 
ever, one other little point to be mentioned. The author's 
chief objection is to the nebular hypothesis, but he does 
not appear to have got beyond that stage of astronomical | 
knowledge when every nebula was regarded as a star 
cluster not yet resolved into its components. 
not think there are nebulz anywhere in the universe, 
and he completely ignores spectroscopic evidence as to 
their existence. “Can the astronomer ever say,” he 
remarks, “he has discovered a nebula that no power of 
the telescope can resolve? But suppose there was a 
nebula indeed, one undisputed and undisputable, what is 
NO. I413, VOL. 55] 
hollows gradually filled with | 
washed into them, gave rise | 
He does | 
that to me?” What indeed? all the known nebulz 
and all the astronomers, will not induce “WW. H-” to 
refrain from demolishing what he regards as scientific 
heresies. The occupation pleases him, and it does not 
hurt either fact or theory. R. A. 
Light. By W. T.A.Emtage, M.A. Pp. 352. With 231 
illustrations. (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 
1896.) 
THIS book is a new volume in the series of science 
manuals published by Messrs. Longmans to meet the 
requirements of the advanced stage of the science sub- 
jects of the Science and Art Department. It is one 
that should find favour with students in general, as the 
various parts of the subject dealt with are for the most 
part clearly and concisely explained. There is also no 
lack of illustrations, which is always a very important 
point in a book treating on optics, especially in the case 
where it may be read by students who are not all too 
familiar with the subject. The scope of the book will have 
already been gathered from the fact that it follows the 
Government Syllabus. We may mention, however, that 
the author has employed elementary mathematical 
treatment, having limited himself to little more than 
an advanced knowledge of trigonometry. Attention has 
been paid also to the experimental side of the subject, 
methods of making experiments and optical measure- 
ments being given. 
To those wishing to obtain a good general insight into 
the principles of optics and optical instruments, the 
book can be recommended. 
Tables for Iron Analysis. By John A. Allen. 
+ 85. (New York: John Wiley and Sons. 
Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1896.) 
CHEMISTS engaged in making analyses in connection 
with the manufacture of iron and steel, will find these 
tables very serviceable. The tables are of ten classes: 
one set “converts a weight of a definite chemical com- 
pound obtained when a certain quantity of substance is 
analysed into the percentage of an element or oxide 
contained in the substance,” and the other set “converts 
into one another, equivalent percentages of an element 
or oxide, and of a compound of which the element or 
oxide is a constituent.” The work of technical chemists 
will be greatly assisted by this practical collection of 
conversion numbers. 
Notes for Chemical Students. By Prof. Peter T. Austen, 
Ph.D., F.C.S. Pp. 111. (New York: John Wiley 
and Sons. London: Chapman and Hall, 1896.) 
THERE are certain knotty points which teachers of 
elementary chemistry know to be difficult for students to 
understand, and which are not sufficiently considered in 
small text-books. Such are the nascent state, absolute 
existence of masses and molecules, smoke rings and 
vortex atoms, modes of chemical action, affinity, substi- 
tution, &c. This book aims at filling the gap in the 
literature of chemical teaching, and though on some points 
it is not any fuller than several elementary text-books 
we could name, it contains a number of clear and concise 
descriptions of topics which present difficulties to the 
student. 
Notes of the Night, and other Outdoor Sketches. By 
Charles C. Abbott, M.D. Pp. 231. (London: F rederick 
Warne and Co., 1896.) 
THIS series of nine essays contain the author's reflections 
on outdoor life and scenes in New Jersey. There are 
thoughts on gurgling brooks, on “swelling buds, and 
frogs astir in the warm waters of the throbbing springs,” 
and similar subjects which move the spirit of poesy, and 
induce the mind to wander. Such lucubrations will not 
please the palate of students of science ; for they are, as 
a rule, too nebulous and unsubstantial, but dreamy 
naturalists will be interested in them. 
Pp. vil 
London : 
