308 
ance of the reindeer, that is, with the end of the palzon- 
tological age, and with the commencement of the present 
epoch of geologists. It likewise coincides with a com- 
plete change in the social condition of man, with the 
domestication of the dog, with pastoral life, marked by 
the domestication of several herbivora, and soon after 
with agriculture. Along succession of ages then elapsed, 
until the appearance of bronze, which put an end to the 
Stone Age. The epoch of polished stone was therefore 
a very long one ; compared to this the whole period of 
historic time sinks into insignificance : nevertheless, this 
period of polished stone, however long it may appear to 
us, was infinitely shorter than any of those of which the 
epoch of hewn stone is composed. 
(To be continued.) 
THE ITALIAN REPORT UPON THE ECLIPSE 
OF 1870* 
HIS is a folio volume about an inch thick, in a yellow 
paper cover. It is a well-printed book, made of 
tolerably good foolscap, and as the title-page informs us, 
produced at the expense of the Italian Government, under 
the care of Prof. Sir G. Hunter, as we should call him, 
but in his native tongue, Il Cavaliere Professore G. 
Cacciatore +; and the first remark that occurs to one on 
looking through it is that whether the Government paid 
handsomely, or whether it gave with a grudging stingi- 
ness, its cash was at all events well laid out, alike without 
extravagance and without meanness, and that the result 
reflects honour upon Italy. 
On dipping into its contents here and there in a cur- 
sory way, the next thing you notice is the eager interest 
which the several contributors seem to take in their work, 
and the earnest simplicity with which they recount their 
experiences and achievements. 
Speaking generally, the volume is a picture-book ; the 
plates, some of them distributed through the letterpress, 
but accumulated in a considerable mass at the end, form 
an important feature of it, and will be found very inte- 
resting and suggestive even to those who are not so fortu- 
nate as to read the text. 
For the convenience of the latter class of persons, I 
propose now to give a slight sketch of the report, begin- 
ning at the preface, and describing the several papers in 
the order in which they occur; and if, whilst doing so, 
I should venture to make any comments, the reader must 
remember not to attach too much weight to them, because 
it is hardly possible for a foreigner to do justice to men 
whose words and ways must always bear from his point 
of view something of the interest proper to pictures by 
the old masters. I ought not to presume to review this 
book critically, because, in the first place, the chief per- 
formers concerned in it are in every way my superiors ; 
and in the second place, I am obliged to confess at once 
that they are personally so vividly present in my memory, 
that it seems almost a rudeness to analyse their writing 
for public uses. 
I find it impossible to eliminate the romantic charm of 
their manners, and my own recollections of the high 
courtesy they showed towards us when we were associated 
with them in Sicily. 
A slight reflection of this latter will be perceived by 
the reader the first time he opens the book. Fronting 
the title-page he will find a lithographed drawing of the 
Station at Augusta, purporting to show the several ob- 
servatories, in which those of the Italian astronomers are 
shown in the background ; whilst the rough shed of the 
English observers, and the tents in which they were en- 
* Raporti sulle osservazioni dell’Eclisse totale di Sole del 22 Dicembre, 
1870, eseguite in Sicilia dalla commissione Italiana. 
He always signs himself G, Cacciatore, but his first name is Gaetano. 
NATURE 
ee RM She 
[ Fed. 20,.1873 
camped, form the most prominent features of the picture. 
In passing from this first page of the volume, I must 
testify to the singular faithfulness of the drawing. 
After the title-page there occurs a short paragraph, con- 
sisting of Prof. Cacciatore’s apology for the delay in the 
production of the Report. (By the way, I wonder what 
our unfortunate editor will say in this respect when, after 
we are all dead and turned to dust, he produces at his 
own untold expense the English report of the same ~ 
eclipse as an astronomical curiosity! Is not that a 
rather pathetic and sugyestive reflection ?) 
Next follows the index, and then an address to the 
Minister of Public Instruction, from which it appears that 
a royal decree of July 5 of the year previous to the 
eclipse appointed a Commission consisting of Professors 
Cacciatore, De Gasparis, Donati, Santini, and Schiapa- 
relli “to draw up a programme of the observatories, and 
to appoint the persons, the instruments, and whatever 
might be considered necessary to the success of the 
enterprise” ; and of this Commission, Prof. Santini of 
Padua, was appointed president, and Prof. Cacciatore, of 
Palermo, vice-president. This address is signed by San- 
tini, and recounts further how the Commission assembled 
in Florence in September 1869, and added to its numbers 
Professors Padre Secchi and Pietro Blaserna, of which, 
and of all its other proceedings, the Minister had been 
kept informed. Santini goes on to say that his present 
duty is to express the thanks that Science owes to that 
official for the eagerness he showed in backing them up 
with a considerable augmentation of the fund originally 
appropriated, and getting placed at their disposal a Royal 
steamship, and so on, 
He then says that, owing to his advanced age, the chief 
burden of the work fell to the lot of Cacciatore, and that, 
thanks to his careful diligence, and so on, things were got 
ready nearly as intended; the “nearly” being a conse- 
quence of the extraordinary political changes of the pre- 
ceding year. Cacciatore however seems to have found 
it no joke, and the part confided to him, he says, was 
very arduous and rugged (“ben ardua e scabrosa”), 
Here follows Cacciatore’s account (ve/azione) of all that 
he did, and it forms, perhaps, the most interesting chap- 
ter of the whole book, The rest of the observers pass 
before the reader in single file, each relating what he saw 
and did, in his own words; but Cacciatore gives us a 
peep behind the scenes, and tells us what was done in the 
way of preliminary arrangement, and how he tried to aid 
every man in the manner best calculated to develope his 
own particular abilities ; and in these operations (if I 
may be allowed to pass a remark) he appears to have done 
his work in a masterly way ; and he relates the story with 
a graceful facility that makes it most attractive reading. 
He describes his preliminary canter over the course of 
the totality in search of a suitable site for the observa- 
tories ; tells how he first examined the neighbourhoods of 
Villa “Smunda and Terranova, as affording beyond all 
doubt the most favourable conditions, and how he after- 
wards reluctantly abandoned the former on account of its 
unhealthiness, and fell back on Augusta for his chief 
Station, the fortress of which he describes, and says he ~ 
found it admirably adapted for the purpose. Most truly 
it was so; and if I were to give an account of it, I should 
find Cacciatore’s allowance of adjectives very inadequate 
to convey my impression of its attractions, although De- 
cember was by no means the month in which they could 
be fairly appreciated. 
Leaving his colleague, Tacchini, there to make prepa- 
rations, he returned to his observatory at Palermo, which 
formed the base of operations. After this he gives a 
summary of the instruments, the observers, and the vole 
assigned to each, and tells how he marshalled them in two 
complete and independent divisions, one of them destined 
for Augusta and the other for Terranova. On November 
25 the steamer P/ebiscifo cast anchor at Palermo, having 
