Al'KIL 19, I906J 



NA TURE 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 

 Our Stellar Universe. By Thomas Edward Heath. 



Pp. vi + 26; with 20 star-charts and stereograms. 

 (London: King, Sell and Olding, 1905.) Price 



105. net. 

 WHILST most students of astronomy arc able to talk 

 gliblj "I "stellar parallax" and "light-years," few 

 ol us are wont to form any persistent, concrete idea 

 of the figures we employ, nor do the usual -.tar-charts 

 assisl us in this matter. For this reason we extend a 

 hearty welcome to Mr. Heath's latest effort to portray, 

 as truthfully as the meagre data available will allow, 

 the actual three-dimension character of space. 



In his " Road Book to the Stars," which we re- 

 viewed in these columns on September 28, [905, Mr. 

 Heath explained how he had discovered a simple scale 

 mi which concrete comparisons of stellar depths could 

 be based, and from that had been led to the construc- 

 tion ol stereograms which would give a visual con- 

 ception of the relative distances. 



In the present volume he publishes twenty-six of 

 these stereograms, including the whole of the sky, 

 each one taking in fifty degrees square as seen from 

 the earth. Twenty-six key-map- -how the-,- areas 

 without distortion, and near each star disc are placed 

 symbols denoting the magnitude, the spectral type, 

 and the measured, or hypothetical, parallax. The 

 hypothetical diameter of the star in miles, based on 

 the assumption that the light-giving power of the star 

 per unit ana i- equal to that of the sun, appears in 

 an index, which also gives the data from which the 

 kev-maps were plotted and form- a hand} and valu- 

 able reference table of the 1520 stars included. 



In order to render their difference- visible on the 

 stereograms, all the parallaxes have been multiplied 

 b\ [9,000, and where the actual values are unknown 

 Mr. Heath has taken, a- a theoretical quantity, the 

 average parallax of the spectral type to which any 

 one belongs. 



Even if tin stereoscopic appearance does not in- 

 dicate the actual facts, these stereograms are of great 

 interest and beauty, and should certainly find a place 

 in everj school or institution where astronomy is 

 studied. They will, at least, counteract the natural 

 assumption, made when ordinary star-charts, or even 

 the sky it-elf, an- consulted, that the heavens are 

 simply -ttidded with objects which are all in one plane. 



For example, looking at No. 7 — which shows the 

 area facing xvh R.A. and 45 N. dec. — we see 

 7} Herculis standing out in the near foreground and 

 Arcturus far removed, whilst the Northern Crown i-. 

 at first sight, hardly recognisable owing to the un- 

 familiar appearance produced by the separation of its 

 stars in the third dimension. \Y. E. Rolston. 



Chapters on Paper-making. Vol. ii. By Clayton 



Beadle. Pp. vii+174. (London, 17 The Borough, 



London Bridge: H. H. G. Grattan, 1906.) Price 



55. net. 

 The object of this volume is "educational " ; it is 

 a contribution to paper-making technology, mainly 

 .1- an aid to the student worker in his work of self- 

 instruction. The author devotes himself to the task 

 of popularising the work of the City and Guilds of 

 London Institute by reproducing the examination 

 paper- -ei in the subject of paper-making in the 

 years 1901-5, and, putting himself in the position of 

 examinee, giving full answers to these questions. 



This task i- prefaced by the confession that the 

 answer- givi 1. may be in many cases open to criticism, 

 as it i- evident that certain of the subjects formu- 

 lated as examination questions are in effect " leading 

 questions " in the industry. This, however, i- .1 

 tribute to the method of the institute, which, if it 



NO. IQO3, VOL. 73] 



i- io be really "educational," must keep the student 

 mindful of difficulty, that i-. ol the objective realities 

 of technical work. It is clear to us that the author 

 has exactly appreciated the aim- of the examiners in 

 challenging the original faculties ol students, and in 

 suggesting, in the form of examination problem-. 

 some ot tlie leading lines of progress. 



In addition to this, which is the main subject- 

 matter of the volume, the author has included a 

 chapter dealing generally with the much controverted 

 subjects of technical education and industrial re- 

 search, and a section upon gelatine sizing embodying 

 the results of original investigations. 



'file book contains a large number of special 

 dissertations which will interest technologists and 

 practical men, and its appeal, therefore, i- 10 a wide 

 1 irele el reader-. 



Anales del Mitseo Nacional de Buenos Aires. Ser. 3, 

 vol. v. Pp. 574; 289 text-figure-. I Buenos Aires. 

 0,05.) 



The size of this volume is a sufficient proof of the 

 energy with which the study of biology and the related 

 science- i- carried on in the capital of the Argentine 

 Republic, more especially by the professors and 

 officials ot the national museum. Two papers in the 

 present issue by Dr. F. Ameghino, the director of the 

 museum, both dealing with the presence of a perfora- 

 tion in the astragalus of certain recent and extinct 

 mammals, have been already mentioned in these 

 columns. The bulk of the volume is, however, occu- 

 pied bv an article bv Dr. E. L. Holmberg on the 

 Amyrilidaceas indigenous to and cultivated in Argen- 

 tina, and a second, by Mr. I-". F. Outes, on the Stone 

 age in Patagonia. In the latter the author describes 

 stone implements of all descriptions, from rude flint 

 flukes and scrapers to beautifully chipped arrow-heads 

 and perfectly spherical " bolas. " The Pakeolithic, or 

 Pleistocene, implements are all referred to a single 

 epoch. The resemblance of these implements to the-, 

 found in Europe, North Africa, and North America is 

 very close, although, as might have been expected, 

 the close-t similarity is found in the case of the North 

 American types. In the Neolithic epoch, on the other 

 hand, three period- are distinguishable, each indicat- 

 ing a distinct step in advance of it- predecessor. 

 Throughout the Neolithic epoch Patagonia presents 

 characteristics in the mailer of flint implements dis- 

 tinguishing it from the rest of Argentine territory. 

 The similarity between the Patagonian neoliths 

 and those of the southern and south-eastern United 

 States i- surprisingly close, hut between the former 

 and those of the western United Stat,- a less marked 

 resemblance exists. Apparently some ol these stoni 

 arrow-heads were used until a very recent date by 

 certain of the Indian tribes. 



R. L. 



The Natural History 0) Selbome. By the Rev. Cilber. 

 White. M.A. Re-arranged and classified under 

 subjects bv Charles Mosley. (London: Elliot Stock, 

 10,05.) Price 6s. net. 

 The distinctive feature of this edition of the famous 

 natural history classic i- the re-arrangement of the 

 work according to the subjects dealt with. First, 

 there are descriptions of the localitv and ii- physical 

 characteristics, and these are followed by thirteen 

 sections, respectively concerned with meteorology, 

 geology, ethnology, mammals, birds, reptiles, fishes. 

 insects, spiders and mites, worms, botany, super- 

 stitions, and a miscellany of subjects. This con- 

 venient arrangement will greatly assisl naturalists 

 and other students in referring to While's master- 

 piece. 



