;: ; 



SCIEXCE-GOSSIP. 



kind of fruit is here given very succinctly, and 

 cannot but prove very useful to those for whom it 



is intended 



Popular Astronomy : A General Description of the 

 Heavens. By Camille Flammariox. Translated 

 from the French, with the author's sanction, by 

 J. Ellard Gore, F.R.A.S., &c. With 3 plates and 

 288 illustrations. (London : Chatto and Windus.) 

 Price 16s. 



The study of astronomy has proceeded apace, 

 especially in recent years. The late R. A. Proctor 

 did much to foster it, and he has been supported by 

 a number of able men who have combined popular 

 exposition with scientific accuracy. 



It is generally agreed that M. Camille Flam- 

 marion is the most popular of living astronomers, 

 and, consequently, the translation of his magnifi- 

 cent work on *' Popular Astronomy" is more than 

 welcome. Englished, as it is, by Mr. J. E. Gore, it 

 comes before the British public with an added value, 

 and that not simply as the careful rendering of one 

 specialist by another ; for besides translating the 

 work, Mr. Gore has reduced the figures given by 

 the author to English measures, and has also 

 brought the book up to date, where recent researches 

 and discoveries have rendered it necessary. As 

 this portion of the book is given in square brackets, 

 the reader will be able to discern with what evident 

 care the work has been done. 



The volume is divided into six books, a brief 

 synopsis of which will give some idea of its scope. 

 The author first treats of the Earth in its various 

 phases, and the general view taken of it. He 

 sap- Mankind v.-== :-;::;;:/ deceived d^rtr^ 

 thousands of years with reference to the nature of 



:::":i::i::Tr ;:' rr. _ :h in: 

 its subject "The Sun, ml 

 measurement of the sun's 

 of the transit of Venus is g< 

 ing paragraph shows how 

 real :;: future The 



er _ ante 



able :: 

 ::' the 



who will take part in them." The Planetary Worlds 

 are dealt with in Book rv., whilst in Book v.. 

 Comets and Shooting Stars are treated of. " When 

 a comet suddenly appears in the sky, we often hear 

 excellent citizens accuse astronomers of having 

 failed in their duty in not announcing it. or they 

 make use of this pretext to express well-felt doubts 

 in the value :: astronomical theories; but comets 

 being strangers to our system, we can only predict 

 the return of those which go round the sun in a 

 closed orbit, of which the elements have been 

 calculated by the aid of one or several previous 

 passages within sight of the earth." Book vi. and 

 last, treats of The Stars of the Sidereal Universe, 

 and an extract from the opening chapter will give a 

 - to it: "The earth is forgotten with its small 

 and ephemeral history. The sun himself, with all 



bis immense system, has sunk in the infinite night. 

 On the wings of inter-sidereal comets we have 

 taken our flight towards the stars, the suns of space. 

 Have we exactly measured, have we worthily 

 realised, the road passed over by our thoughts ? 

 The nearest star to us reigns at a distance of about 

 twenty-five billions of miles. Out to that star an 

 immense desert surrounds us. the most profound, 

 the darkest and the most silent of solitudes." 



The book is a most fascinating one, and holds the 

 reader from start to finish. Few novels compare 

 with it from the point of view of the emotions that 

 it produces. 



The illustrations are many and various, and 

 they serve to increase the value of the work very 

 considerably. Many of them are additions and are 

 not included in the French edition. 



As a manual for those who wish to obtain a good 

 general knowledge of astronomy without going too 

 deeply into the science, this work will be found 

 unsurpassed. 



An idea of its success in France may be judged 

 by the fact that " no fewer than one hundred 

 thousand copies were sold in a few years." — TXJ.R.j 



The Nests and Eggs of Non-Indigenous British Birds, 

 or such species that do not breed within the British 

 Archipelago. By Charles Dixon. With coloured 

 frontispiece. (London: Chapman and Hall, 

 Limited.) Price 6s. 



This work is a welcome companion to the " Nests 

 and Eggs of British Birds," by the same author, 

 and should be in the hands of every student of 

 ornithology. Mr. Dixon has compiled a volume 

 which must have entailed enormous research, the 

 more so in that the nests and eggs of those 

 birds that do not breed in Britain are necessarily 

 more diflicult of access than those that do. The 

 author says : *' Of the birds that breed in civilized 

 areas our information is fairly complete, although 

 ever, here man;, derails are v.an-.ini' resr-tttr;; the 

 ts :: birds in the pairiup ar.d dreedtrr seastns 

 number of broods reared and the duration of 

 tertsds ::' :r;_dat:tr There ar-r ideas here 

 rto out and suggestions for good scientific work 

 the ornithologist will do well to follow, so that 

 japs in our knowledge of this subject may be 

 1 and tur ir_ftmra:icn ma.de the m:re rerfect 

 Perhaps 7:.t rr. :s: striking p :r:::r_ :: :ne :.c:l-t is 

 Appendix I., which contains a list of British species 

 utse nests and epps are a: present nnhncvm :; 

 science if these there are n; less than ftnrteer. 

 viz : Rnsric hunting \Em~'.-r : .zj. ■:,::.:.: Pallas 5 

 gray shrike>{Z.autits major), Siberian ground-thrush 

 G: ;:. ■' ..'.: :.'.-: ■::.: reedle-tatled s ::t J ':.-.::.■ .: ::. ::.:.- 

 ::.:.: - Ittar sardptper 7::/::.:;:.'.:.:-::.; Siberian 

 pectcral sardptper d^tp: :.::,.rr.;;a:i . curlew s.and- 

 r:rer 7 : 7.j/< ::.a::, , l:n;t 7 . ;.:>;:.;:.: , P.css s mil 

 F7>-.:i:r.r.~i7.a r:ui . preat shear., ater P:,-tr.; :.p: , 

 ttllared petrel 77\r- 7.:.::. ::;:... 2: ;. tapped petrel 

 77 '..?:.:.:.: , tape petrel 7 :y : :2c ■:■■::-: and -.vhdce- 

 billed diver (Colymbus adamsi). Mr. Dixon gives 

 ■whatever indermatitn he has deer adle tt tdtatr 

 about each one of these species, and urges the 

 necessity of further observation. Here are surely 

 opportunities enough for the enthusiasts and t: 

 sp are 



Arpend::: II is ar interrsttrr piete tt v .'trh It 

 contains a " list of species whose claim to rank as 

 British is doubtful." All the available evidence 

 has reer carefully sifted ard tbe result :s a . erv 

 useful one, although one is inclined to agree with 

 the author that he is *• more apt to err on the side 

 of inclusion than on that of omission." — [D.J.R.] 



