‘ 
dwell with too much emphasis, and the more so as our 
own slowness of perception may have added greatly to 
the difficulty. It is far more pleasant in concluding, to 
propose to hima hearty vote of thanks, and to express 
the earnest hope that he will soon place before us some 
other classical work once buried in Scepsis or elsewhere, 
in similar English dress and form. 
SS i BENJAMIN WARD RICHARDSON 
FLAMMARION’S “ASTRONOMY” 
Les FEtoiles et les Curiosités du Ciel. Par Camille 
Flammarion. (Paris: C. Marpon et E. Flammarion, 
Editeurs, 1881.) 
\ HATEVER may have been the cause of that deve- 
lopment of astronomical taste in England which 
would so greatly astonish our resuscitated forefathers, and 
is a puzzle to some plain-thinking people even at this day, 
the fact admits of no doubt; and a very cheering fact it 
is to those who value the intellectual and esthetic pro- 
gress of their fellow-countrymen. But it is perhaps not 
so generally known that a movement of the same nature 
has been in progress among our neighbours across the 
Channel. It originated later in point of time ; for France 
had entered into no such competition when the Herschels 
Lassell, Dawes, Smyth, and other non-professional ob- 
servers were attracting the notice of all Europe by their 
discoveries ; and we recollect, less than twenty years ago, 
having heard from M. Léon Foucault a candid admission 
of the inferiority of his own country in amateur observa- 
tion. But the Gallic mind is more rapid in its movements 
than our own; and though later in the field we are not 
sure that they are not shooting ahead of us in these 
matters in a way that we in general are perhaps hardly 
prepared to expect. At least, the fact mentioned in the 
volume before us, that during two years previous to last 
October, 300 telescopes had been sold to French pur- 
chasers, may be accepted as rather a startling proof : and 
not less so is the extraordinary circulation of the works 
of M. Flammarion, whom we may justly call the leader of 
the movement. As many as 50,000 copies in two years 
have been printed of his ‘ Astronomie Populaire,’’ 
which “Les Etoiles”’ is considered the supplement ; his 
*‘Merveilles Célestes’’ have reached 38,000; and his 
“‘Pluralité des Mondes” has come out in a 3oth edition; 
to say nothing of other works of remarkable acceptation. 
Nor is it probable that the success of this publication will 
fall below that of its predecessors, treating as it does of a 
most interesting subject in an especially agreeable and 
familiar way. It is certainly not a volume which an 
English publisher would like to risk—an octavo of the 
largest size, of nearly 800 pages, and thick and heavy in 
proportion ; anything in short but a handbook ; but this, 
which would discourage an English buyer, is evidently no 
objection in the eyes of a Parisian firm. And it must be 
owned that in many respects it may well command a wide 
circulation. The idea is that of exhausting all the wonders 
of the sidereal heavens that the naked eye can reach, and 
describing their telescopic aspect ; and it is excellently 
carried out for popular purposes; and we may add in 
certain respects for scientific ones also. The great value 
o* the work consists in the especial pains taken with the 
| has been so ingeniously adapted and so gracefully worn 
of | 
456 
another. On this detail, however, it were ungrateful to | probable changes of brightness ina multitude of naked-eye 4 
stars, not included in the ordinary enumeration of variables; _ . 
but it is interesting in many other respects ; and the close 4 
is enriched with a number of catalogues of telescopes, | 
double and coloured and variable stars, their spectra, — 
proper motions, parallaxes, and other data; together with © 
many descriptions of planets, comets, &c. In short, it is — 
a mine of information for those who do not care to dig — 
deep; and those who would desire more authenticated — 
and weighted details (observers will understand the word) 
may yet meet with much of interesting and valuable sug- 
gestion. The book has, however, some drawbacks which © 
ought to be noticed. 
Among many useful and some needless illustrations, 
there are a few (as that of the nebula in Andromeda, ~ 
where the canals are invisible) of a very inferior stamp ; 
and it is not free from carelessness in assertion, and even 
misleading statements ; for instance, where Hevel is re- 
presented (p. 403) as never having in his life used the 
telescope for purposes of observation. The author — 
should have said, as applied to divided instruments; or — 
we might think he had forgotten the “ Selenographia.”” 
Nor can we suppose that he made much inquiry as to the © 
classical meaning of “in diem” (p. 525) when he rohit 
it “pendant le jour.” The mythological part is ore 
amusing than valuable: more agreeable perhaps to 
French than English taste ; the theological—if it may be 
so called—is not only out of place, but worthless. 
However, on the whole, the work displays a vast 
amount of industry and a wonderful range of knowledge ; 
and the enthusiasin of the author for his subject is truly 
refreshing. Even when a process of unacknowledged - 
appropriation has been indulged in, the borrowed plumage 
7 
as almost to claim unmerited forgiveness; but whenceso- 
ever his materials may be drawn he manipulates them 
with accomplished dexterity. His facile and lively style 
carries us most pleasantly along, and if his passionate 
eloquence is occasionally rather turgid for our more mode- 
rate temperament, it is sometimes exceedingly powerful 
and impressive. A more thoroughgoing manual might be 
produced for close practical study ; but—allowing for the 
defects that we have mentioned—nothing that we know 
of as yet equals it for familiar use and attractive illus- — 
tration. 
OUR BOOK SHELF ‘4 
ee Astronomie von Sim. Newcomb, Astronom in” 
Vashington. Deutsche vermehrte Ausgabe, bearbeitet 
cane Rud. Engelman, Dr. Phil. (Leipzig : Engel- 
mann, 1881.) 
THIS is much more than a simple translation of News! 
comb’s “‘ Popular Astronomy,” reviewed in these pages at 
the time of its publication. The editor thinks that as the” 
original work was mainly written for American students, — 
it would only be fair to German students and astronomers — 
that the German edition should be adapted to a German 
standpoint. At the same time there is little trace of any 
special nationality in this edition, the aim of the editor | 
having been rather to make it as complete and compre-_ 
hensive as possible. Considerable additions have there-— 
fore been made both to the text and the illustrations, all 
of them we think improvements. In the second part, for 
example, much additional information has been added 
with reference to instruments and methods; additional 
