216 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIV. No. 345. 



servatory, and Las been occupied partly 

 with equatorial work. Only a month ago 

 he was assigned to the 26-inch equatorial, 

 and had entered upon researches of great 

 promise. 



On account of his extreme modesty, and 

 the arrearages of our publications, his sci- 

 entific reputation at the time of his death 

 was in no way commensurate with his 

 merits. Yet he was already a member of 

 the American Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science, and last year participated 

 in the meeting of the Astronomical and As- 

 trophysical Society of America. 



His mind was developed in admirable 

 symmetry and harmony, and his scholarship 

 was almost as good in Latin and Greek and 

 general literature as in modern science. 

 He had that happy faculty of cool, quiet 

 judgment, combined with good nature, 

 which made him adequate to any occasion. 

 Besides possessing scientific and literary 

 talents of a high order, he was of a very 

 high-minded and noble disposition, univer- 

 sally beloved by his associates. Unseen by 

 men he continually did many acts of benev- 

 olence, and bestowed gracious remem- 

 brances which add to the charm of life and 

 make us realize that the high types written 

 of long ago have not wholly passed away. 

 He was an active member of St. Thomas's 

 Church in this city and of the Brotherhood 

 of St. Andrew and of the Alumni Associa- 

 tion of the University of Michigan. Dur- 

 ing his residence here of five j^ears, he 

 became fairly well known in the city, more 

 bj^ the reputation of his high character than 

 by any very extensive mingling with the 

 people. When the writer had to send the 

 saddest of messages to his grief- stricken 

 family, the telegraph operator who knew 

 him only by reputation was nearly over- 

 come, and said,' That good man is not long 

 for this world.' In all my experience I 

 have never met quite so modest, so noble, 

 and so lovely a character. 



The sudden death of Mr. Lawton, almost 

 at the very beginning of what promised to 

 be a brilliant career, has cast a deep gloom 

 over the entire Observatory. He was in- 

 deed the noblest of the noble, and his place 

 can never be filled. 



T. J. J. See. 

 Washington, D. C, 

 July 27, 1901. 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

 Astronomischer Jahresbericht. Mit Unterstilt- 



zung der Astronomischen (xesellschaft her- 



ausgegeben von Walter P. Wislicenus. 



II. Band, enthaltend die Litteratur des 



Jahres 1900. Berlin, Georg Eeimer. 8vo. 



Pp. XXV + 631. Price, M. 19. 



This series of annual volumes, whose some- 

 what cumbx'ous title is oflQcially abbreviated to 

 the symbol AJB, owes its inception to its 

 editor. Professor Wislicenus, who in Septem- 

 ber, 1898, submitted to the Astrouomische 

 Gesellschaft a well-elaborated plan for a year- 

 book that should serve both as an annual sum- 

 mary of current astronomical literature and as 

 a bibliography sufficiently complete for the use 

 of students and other investigators. The pro- 

 posal was favorably received by the Society, 

 which not only gave its official sanction and 

 pecuniary support to the undertaking, but also 

 appointed a committee, consisting of Professors 

 Seeliger, Bruus and Miiller, to confer with the 

 editor as to the contents of the future volumes 

 and the manner of their arrangement. 



The plans thus agreed upon and incorporated 

 in the first volume, that for 1899, have been 

 closely followed in principle in the present 

 volume, although with greater completeness of 

 detail, as is shown by the addition of nearl3' a 

 hundred pages to its size. That so few modi- 

 fications should be found necessary iu the 

 second year of publication is sufficient indica- 

 tion that future volumes may be expected to 

 appear in substantially the same form and 

 character as the two already issued. 



Premising that in its entire scope the AJB is 

 to be purely expository and not critical in its 

 summaries, the editor indicates it to be his pur- 

 pose to treat with all possible completeness the 

 purely scientific and technical literature of 



