632 BOOK BEriEWS. 



flamiDg out of a neAV star and its conversion into a nebula, as seems to have 

 been the case with the Schmidt star in Cygnus ; but the facts in that remark- 

 able case were probably not known to Prof. CroU at the time his essay was 

 written. — iV. Y. Tribune. 



WHAT HAS BECOME OF THE NEW STAR? 



A remarkable discovery has been made by the astronomers of Lord 

 Lindsay's observatory at Dunecht — a discovery the true meaning of which is 

 not as yet fully perceived. It may be remembered that some nine months 

 ago a new star, as it was called, made its appearance in the constellation 

 Cygnus. This object shone out where before no star had been known to 

 astronomers — not merely, be it noticed, where there was no visible star, but 

 where none was recorded even in lists like Argelander's "Durehmust^rung," 

 containing hundreds of thousands of telescopic stars. It was not, however, 

 altogether impossible that some small star within moderate telescopic range 

 had existed in the spot where the new star shone out, and that in some way 

 this small star had escaped observation. This seemed the more likely, be- 

 cause the new star had appeared in a pari of the heavens very rich indeed 

 in telescopic stars ; at any rate, astronomers had reason to believe that they 

 would be readily able to determine the question with a high degree of prob- 

 ability by watching the star as it gradually" faded out of view. For a "new 

 star" which had shone out in the constellation of the Korthern Crown in 

 May, 1866, and had been identified with a tenth -magnitude star in Arge- 

 lander's list, had t:radually faded out of view, and, growing yet fainter, had 

 sunk through one telescopic magnitude after another until it shone again 

 as a tenth-magnitude star only. Since that star had resumed its former lus- 

 tre, or rather its former faintness, it seemed not unreasonable to conclude 

 that so also would the star of Cygnus. We shall presently see how far this 

 expectation was from being fulfilled. — Prof. Proctor., In Popular Science 

 Monthly for December. 



BOOK REVIEWS. 



Contemporary Art in Europe, hj S. G. W. Benjamin ; with illustrations. 



New York: Harper & Brothers; 1877. pp. 165, octavo. For sale by 



Matt. Foster & Co. Price, $3.50. 



This book, which presents in its mechanical execution a choice specimen 

 of the highest style of the ''art preservative," is made up from a number of 

 articles entitled ''Contemporar}- Art in Europe,' which appeared in Harpefii 

 Monthly during the past year, where the}' attracted marked attention from 

 their graceful style, and at the same time, from the intimate acquaintance 



