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NA TURE 



[July 



■a: 



IQ08 



knitting, basket-making, mat-making and brush- 

 nialcing. Special maps and even pictures are now 

 made for the blind. There are numerous illustrations 

 of these in the volume. The blind children are taught 

 to take part in plays, some of which are complicated 

 enough to tax the powers of those having vision, and, 

 of course, in music of all kinds, many of the blind 

 attain to remarl^ablc proficiency. 



The second part of the work deals with the various 

 congresses. These were largely attended, and papers 

 were read which opened discussions on the best 

 methods of teaching the blind. Each congress had 

 its own speciality. Thus at Kiel, 1891, the subject 

 was the modelling of animal forms; and at Berlin, 

 1898, it was the teaching of music and grammar. 

 Even comparative grammar was taught to advanced 

 pupils, and those interested in the relationships of 

 languages will find much that is suggestive in the 

 record of the Berlin conference (pp. 130-145). At the 

 Paris conference in igoo, the important question was 

 discussed whether blind children should be taught by 

 blind teachers, and, if so, to what extent? There 

 appear to have been considerable differences of opinion 

 upon this point. The French, Belgians, and Italians 

 made great use of blind teachers, but in Germany and 

 other northern countries the greater part of the teach- 

 ing was done by those who see, and the blind teachers 

 •.vera only helpers. Prof. Kunz has an important 

 article on this question, and he has arrived sub- 

 stantially at the conclusion that the proportion of seeing 

 to blind teachers should be about two to one. Many 

 bHnd teachers have, however, attained wonderful skill 

 in imparting knowledge to their unfortunate brethren, 

 and a feeling of sympathy and subtle intuitions, related 

 to personal experience, may to some extent account for 

 their success. 



One of the most interesting chapters in the volume 

 is that entitled Zur Blindenphysiologie, das sogen- 

 annte " Sinnenvikariat " (p. 186). It might be called 

 the " psycho-physik " of the blind. The results of 

 various experimental inquiries are given, and it is 

 shown that in the blind, taking the average of a large 

 number above puberty, all the other senses are capable 

 of more delicate perceptions than in those who can see. 

 .As might be expected, the sense of touch is highly de- 

 veloped. This is of great importance, as it enables 

 the blind to use with accuracy the Braille method of 

 designating letters by various patterns of points, which 

 are sometimes sharp and of varying size, sometimes 

 wedge-shaped, and sometimes the marks consist of 

 thin vertical and horizontal lines, either single or meet- 

 ing at various angles. Kn address bv Prof. Kuntz 

 at Halle, in 1904, gives much information as to the 

 spread over the world of the methods of teaching the 

 blind. This is followed by an interesting description, 

 with numerous illustrations, of the many forms of 

 type suitable for reading, for arithmetic, and for 

 music, and nothing could show more clearly the 

 delicacy of the sense of touch acquired by the blind 

 during their education than an inspection of these 

 curious patterns. Dr. Javal, the eminent Parisian 

 ophthalmologist, contributes an interesting chapter 

 on some physiological features of the blind. 



There is an elaborate paper bearing on the perception 

 of the direction of sound by the blind, and the acute- 

 ness with which they perceive the nearness and often 

 the nature of objects by reflection of sound-waves. 

 The whole subject has been investigated with the 

 greatest care. It is interesting to find a translation 

 into modern Greek by Fraulein Irene Lascaridi (a 

 teacher in the .Asylum for the Blind in Athens) of 

 Prof. Kunz's paper on the physiology of the blind, 

 tifpi T^r •tuo-ioXo'yiar rav Tu^Xmi'. Several examples 

 of rai.sed t)'pe and maps are shown at the end of the 



NO. 2021, VOL. 78] 



volume. The book is not only worthy as a 

 "Festschrift," as it contains all that can at present be 

 written upon the subject of the education of the blind, 

 but it will be an enduring monument to the zeal, devo- 

 tion, and learning of Prof. M. Kunz, who has devoted 

 his life to the interests of those who are deprived of 

 one of the most important of the senses. 



John G. McKendrick. 



CATALOGVE OF DOUBLE STARS.' 



PROF. G. W. HOUGH, director of the Dearborn 

 Observatory, while observing with the 185-inch 

 refractor, discovered 648 double stars. These stars 

 consist of close pairs and of pairs where the com- 

 panion is very faint; they arc, therefore, difficult to 

 measure, and may be regarded as of the same class 

 as those discovered by Prof. Burnham. But whereas 

 the Burnham stars have been fairly well observed and 

 yield a good percentage of binaries, the Hough stars 

 have been very little observed, and they yield few 

 interesting pairs. 



Prof. Doolittle, of the Flower Observatory, has 

 done good work in collecting these 648 stars in one 

 catalogue, and arranging this catalogue in a form 

 which leaves nothing to be desired. The stars are 

 not entered according to the Hough number, but in 

 order of right ascension, and the meridian catalogue 

 name is added; but to facilitate reference, a list of 

 the stars is given in order of the Hough number, with 

 the page in the catalogue on which the star appears. 



In addition to his own measures, made at the Flower 

 Observatory of the L'niversit)' of Pennsylvania, Prof. 

 Doolittle gives measures by other observers, which 

 unfortunately are few. From the .Astronomer Royal's 

 report and from the Greenwich results published in 

 the Monthly Notices of the R..A.S., we gather that 

 the Greenwich observers have been at work 

 on the Hough stars, and it seems a pity 

 that more of these measures could not be included. 

 It may be that Prof. Doolittle experienced difficulties 

 in publication which retarded the appearance of his 

 catalogue. This would malce it seem of later date 

 than it really is, and would also explain the phrase 

 in the introduction — " Mr. Burnham's new general 

 catalogue, when it is published," &c. The general 

 catalogue has been with us since .August last. 



The right ascensions and declinations are given 

 for 1880. This, in a catalogue of 1908, means that 

 the right ascensions are practically li m. wrong to 

 start with, and the declinations sometimes 8' or 9' 

 out, tlius necessitating the application of precession 

 corrections by everyone using the work, whereas if 

 the places had been given for 19:0 they would have 

 been useful for many 3'ears. 



Prof. Doolittle began .systematic work in 1901, and 

 the catalogue he has produced is an important piece 

 of work well carried out, and the printing is very 

 good, the few errors being easily rectified. But owing 

 somewhat to the uninteresting character of the Hough 

 stars, he has had little beyond the actual catalogue 

 itself to repay him for his labour. With the exception 

 of Hough 212, and possibly two others, there is no 

 object in the whole catalogue of any remarkable in- 

 terest at present ; and the paragraph on p. 10 of Prof. 

 Doolittle's introduction must evidently be read in the 

 light of the well-known characteristics of the Hough 

 stars. In this paragraph he gives thirty pairs as being 

 clearlv hinarv systems in ratlier rapid motion. 



Astonishment at the large number was increased 

 on an analysis of the thirty. From the notes in the 



1 " Catalogue and Re-measurement of the 648 "Double .Stars discovered by 

 Prof. G. W. Hough." Publications of the University of Pennsylvania, 

 Astronomical Series, vol. iii., part iii. Pp. 176. (Pennsylvania, 1907.) 



