So8 



NA TURE 



[March 30, 1899 



I 



purpose" for their construction, seeing in them a mys- 

 terious type or symbol of the religious beliefs and 

 aspirations of their builders, and he sets to work to prove 

 his theory by tracing a correspondence between their 

 internal arrangements and the various chapters of the 

 Book of the Dead. With regard to his theory it will 

 suffice to point out the fact that Mr. .Adams employs the 

 Turin Papyrus of the " Book of the Dead," which dates 

 from a period not earlier than the twenty-sixth dynasty, 

 to e.xplain the arrangements of a structure erected at 

 least 3000 years earlier. This connection between the 

 Great Pyramid and the Turin Papyrus is not the only 

 "revelation" Mr. Adams has given us, for he is con- 

 vinced that the Deluge was merely a phenomenal 

 inundation of the Nile valley, that Eden was situated 

 in Central .Africa, and Paradise itself in the eastern basin 

 of the Congo. He holds views of his own, also, in com- 

 parative philology, in accordance with which he derives 

 the response " .Amen " of the Book of Common Prayer, 

 not from the Hebrew dmcn, " verily,' but from the name 

 of the Egyptian god Amen-Ra. So, too, the British 

 cheer, " Hip, hip, hurrah !" is, according to Mr. Adams, 

 merely hieroglyphic for " On, on, to plunder 1 " 



The form of problem, however, which appears to have 

 most attraction for Mr. Adams is to take a building and 

 some object with which it is apparently unconnected, 

 and to trace wonderful and mystical connections between 

 the two. As he formerly connected up the Great 

 Pyramid and the Turin Papyrus, so now in his new book 

 he traces connections between the temple of Hathor and 

 the famous planisphere at Denderah. " To effect a 

 comparison between the chambers of the building and 

 the different parts of the planisphere," he writes, " and 

 through them with the constellations of the heavens, is 

 not a difficult task." And for Mr. .Adams it certainly is 

 not, for he proceeds to do it with the greatest ease and 

 fluency. In fact we are convinced that Mr. Adams 

 would find little difficulty in tracing any number of 

 mystical relations between, let us say, the " Ingoldsby 

 Legends " and St. Paul's Cathedral. We make a present 

 of this suggestion to Mr. .Adams, and hope that he may 

 find time to develop it, even though he should be 

 compelled to cease for a time from his revelations of 

 Egyptian mysteries. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 

 A Laboratory Manual in Astronomy. By Mary E. 



Byrd, A.B. Pp. 273 -I- i.\. (Boston: Ginn and Co., 



1899-) 

 Owing to uncertainty of weather and the variety of times 

 required for observations, the teaching of practical as- 

 tronomy presents peculiar difficulties, and we therefore 

 welcome a book which gives us the benefit of a teacher's 

 extended experience. The course includes both indoor 

 and outdoor studies, but excludes the use of instruments 

 with the exception of a small telescope and other simple 

 pieces of home-made apparatus. 



The first four chapters consist chiefly of indoor exer- 

 cises on the use of almanacs, maps and globes, and the 

 solution of problems relating to time. These prepare 

 the way for the outdoor observations, with which the 

 remainder of the book is chiefly concerned. Each of the 

 later chapters commences with a series of questions to 



NO. 1535. VOL. 59] 



be answered either by direct observation or from the 

 data obtained by observation, and following these are 

 explanations elucidating the more important points, as 

 well as numerous examples giving results actually ob- 

 tained by the students of Smith College Observatory. 

 As examples of the class of observations to be made, 

 we may mention meridian altitudes, and amplitudes at 

 rising or setting, of sun, moon, and stars, the determin- 

 ation of time, longitude, and latitude, the identification 

 of planets, and the observation of variable stars. Simple 

 computations, furnishing checks on the observations, are 

 introduced whenever possible, and throughout the whole 

 course the student learns to enter his results methodi- 

 cally. One cannot help but marvel at the accuracy 

 frequently obtained by the rough means employed. 



Generally speaking, the explanatory matter is clear 

 and complete, but we may note that no instructions are 

 given as to placing the sun's equator in Fig. 34, and that 

 some of the problems in Chapter iv. would be more 

 intelligible to readers on this side of the Atlantic if a 

 description of the apparatus called the "heliotellus" were 

 included. For the benefit of those who live in an un- 

 favourable climate, the use of artificial stars, as in the 

 course at -South Kensington, might be introduced with 

 advantage. These are easily adapted to the transit 

 instrument, wire micrometer, &c., and are always avail- 

 able. .A useful piece of additional apparatus also would 

 be a model sextant, such as that described in " Demon- 

 strations and Practical Work in .Astronomical Physics at 

 the Royal College of Science, London." 



The book has many novel features, and will be very 

 helpful to teachers and students alike ; while it will not 

 relieve either from the trouble of adapting exercises to 

 the occasion, it will greatly facilitate the preparation of 

 working programmes. 



Two classes of students may especially profit by 

 follo«ving the course of instruction laid down, namely, 

 those who study spherical astronomy as a branch of 

 applied mathematics, and star-gazers who make their 

 observations with little or no regard for mathematical 

 considerations. 



The Tutorial Algebra. Part ii. Advanced Course. 



("The University Tutorial Series.") By William 



Briggs and G. H. Bryan, F.R.S. Pp. viii -h 596. 



(London : W. B. Clive, 1898.) 

 In these 596 pages we have a treatise based on the 

 " Algebra ' of Prof. Radhakrishnan. The reason for 

 this is that the latter book is known to be the result of a 

 careful study of the best English authorities ; while, as we 

 read in the preface, " recent writers have shirked the 

 task of educing what is intelligible to the average student 

 from the work of the greatest masters of the subject. ..." 

 The authors have, nevertheless, taken great pains to 

 present the student with an excellent advanced course, 

 a more elementary course in a separate volume being 

 promised at an early date. 



It is natural that certain modifications and additions 

 to the treatise mentioned above should find a place in 

 the volume intended for English readers, and those 

 included here, arc, among others, logarithms, interest, 

 convergency and limiting values. 



Chapter xxvi., on the graphic representation or 

 functions, by Mr. J. H. Grace, gives the reader a 

 good insight into the method of discussing equations 

 graphically ; and this should serve as a useful intro- 

 duction to other branches of mathematics, such as conic 

 sections. 



Throughout the book the exposition is clear, and 

 numerous examples are inserted in the text. As a 

 school treatise it should serve its purpose well, and 

 those who are reading the subject by themselves will 

 need little, if any, outside aid. 



