Feb. 16, 1882] 
NATURE 
359 
accomplish this end as smoothly and intelligibly as pos- 
sible. Nomanhas been more successful in this under- 
taking than Mr. Proctor, whose atlases for telescopic work 
are well known to observers ; and he has now applied the 
same method to the production of a popular work, the 
object of which is to give full instruction for the naked 
eye (if for the eye of childhood, so much the better) as to 
the position of every constellation, with all its leading 
stars, in every quarter of the sky, for every month and 
practically every night in the year: and adapted not only 
to our own country, but to a corresponding and more 
extensive zone in North America also. This is a step in 
the right direction. It will not only offer material aid in 
removing the stigma of general ignorance, but prepare 
the youthful mind by familiar knowledge of what may be 
reached by the naked eye, for a more easy and unhesitating 
employment of the telescope in future years. Because we 
wish so well to Mr. Proctor’s undertaking, we shall ven- 
ture to point out some changes that, in our view at 
least, would be improvements. We can quite under- 
stand his desire of rendering his maps as full as pos- 
sible; and his own eye would not be in the least 
embarrassed by that crowding of detail which we fear 
might perplex or even dishearten a beginner. But it 
would certainly be an advantage if there were more open 
space. The names of the constellations might be ren- 
dered less prominent, or abridged, or indicated by letters 
or symbols, and those of the principal stars might be 
transferred to the separate diagrams; much would be 
gained by an increase in the size of the stars, and greater 
clearness by the adoption of the easily-explained word 
“zenith” in place of “the point overhead.” In matters 
of detail, a transposition may be pointed out in the dia- 
gram on p. 12; and the “sickle,” on p. go, and the 
“dumb-bell,” on p. 176, require improvement. The text 
contains a great deal of interesting and amusing as well 
as instructive matter; but tastes may differ as to the de- 
sirableness of introducing so many remarks, however 
ingenious, on other ways of arranging stars in constella- 
tions, when the beginner may have enough to do in com- 
prehending and recollecting them as they are, and will 
always remain. We are inclined to think that the name 
of the ‘Great Bear” is as common in England as the 
“ Plough,” and had better have been more frequently em- 
ployed. On p. 108, y and e Cassiopeiz stand instead of 
y and 6, as pointers to the great cluster in the sword- 
hand of Perseus—described again, by the way, on p. 125— 
which most eyes, we believe, with Argelander and Heis, 
would see double. We have failed to find any notice in 
the text of the conspicuous nebula in Andromeda’s 
girdle ; and the Dumb-bell, invisible without a telescope, 
is not fortunately chosen as an instance of spectroscopic 
results, its light, according to Huggins, exhibiting only a 
single line. A little haste is probably traceable in these 
defects, which we hope the author may have an oppor- 
tunity of rectifying. 
OUR BOOK SHELF 
Die Pflanze. Vortrige aus dem Gebiete der Botantk. 
Von Dr. Ferdinand Cohn. 8vo. pp. 512. (Breslau: 
Kern, 1881.) 
THIS book may be placed by the side of Schleiden’s 
“Die Pflanze und ihr Leben,” which was published 
in 1847, and ran to at least six editions in German, 
besides being translated into English, French, and 
Dutch. The English edition was translated by Henfrey, 
and was published in 1848 ; and it soon became a popular ~ 
book, as it dealt with various aspects of plant-life in 
language intelligible to every one, without any loss of 
scientific accuracy and without any mixture of fable and 
fiction. 
Taking date for date, the present work does not 
suffer by comparison with its evident prototype; and, 
although there is no attempt to traverse the whole region 
of botany, this covers a much wider field. It is intended, 
as the author informs us in his preface, to be a guide to 
those who wish to participate in the intellectual life that 
pervades modern botany. Like Schleiden’s work, it is 
based upon a number of lectures, delivered, in this case, 
in different parts of Germany during the last twenty 
years, and published in their original form in various 
journals. With few exceptions, however, they have been 
remodelled and revised, partly with the object of bringing 
the subjects therein treated up to the present state of 
knowledge, and partly with the object of eliminating 
repetitions and correcting inequalities of style. Each 
lecture is complete in itself, yet naturally a connecting 
thread runs through all. The opening lecture in the 
present arrangement, which is not a chronological one, is 
entitled “ Botanical Problems” (noticed in NATURE, vol. 
xi. p. 261); and it appropriately takes precedence, 
because it is an historical sketch of the progress of 
botanical discovery. Altogether there are sixteen lectures 
bearing such descriptive titles as: “‘ From the Pole to the 
Equator,” ‘ Life in a Drop of Water,” “ Invisible Foes in 
the Air,” “Insectivorous Plants,’ “ From the Sea Level 
to Eternal Snow,” and so on. There is also one on 
Bacteria—of which organisms the author has made a 
special study; one on the Rose; one on the Grape Vine; 
and the last is on Ancient and Modern Gardens. Syste- 
matic botany, however, seems to be regarded by the 
writer as the particular branch to avoid teaching, for he 
has no lecture on the classification of plants. Perhaps he 
found it less easy to treat this in a popular style, or 
perhaps he fears that a knowledge of classification 
encourages the craze for collecting and learning the 
technical names of plants that is still far too prevalent? 
Anything that tends to discourage the mere collector is 
praiseworthy. Nevertheless, we think the principles of 
classification are at least of equal importance with the 
subjects treated. Yet in this case we are hardly justified 
in complaining because the author has not given more, 
especially as he has not promised to; and he has done so 
very well what he has done. There is no doubt that 
these lectures will be widely read, and they deserve to be, 
for they contain much interesting information, and they 
are written in an easy graceful style without superabun- 
dance of adornment. They are almost devoid of techni- 
cal terms, and in all cases where they exist popular 
names are used in preference, though the Latin ones are 
given with other annotations at the end of each lecture. 
The book is well printed on good paper and embellished 
with some original and appropriate head and tail-pieces. 
W. BoTTING HEMSLEY 
La Lumiétre Electrique, son Histoire,sa Production, et son 
Emploi. Par Em. Alglave et J. Boulard. (Paris: 
Firmin-Didot et Cie., 1882.) 
THE great success of the Electric Exhibition at Paris of 
1881 has not failed to produce an effect upon the demand 
for books dealing with electrical science, and particularly 
with the practical applications of electricity. The wide 
extension of electric lighting, and the continued growth 
of popular interest in the subject are producing a percep- 
tible effect also on the book market of this country. 
Text-books of electricity were never so greatly in demand 
as to-day, and we were recently informed that one of the 
