3io 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



NOTICES BY JOHN T. CARRINGTON. 



The Observer's Atlas of the Heavens. By William 

 Peck, F.R.A.S..F.R.S.E. 17J in. x 13! in. (Lon- 

 don: Gall and Inglis, 1898.) 21s.net. 



This fine stellar atlas contains thirty large maps 

 on scale of about 5 to the inch, showing 9,000 

 objects accurately placed. There are also dia- 

 grams of 1,020 double stars, with a catalogue of 

 them. Likewise catalogues of 580 stars down to 

 4*5' magnitude, 186 clusters and nebulae, and 159 

 variable stars. A chart of the moon extends to 

 eleven inches in diameter. It is explained by a 

 reference list of most of its objects with diameters 

 and areas. Additional charts are given, two con- 

 taining twelve diagrams for the northern and a like 

 number for the southern heavens, showing the 

 principal stars at any time visible. Much other 

 useful information will be found, including the 

 radiants of several of the meteor showers, marked 

 on the star charts. This atlas forms a good 

 addition to an observer's library. 



The Microscope : Its History, Construction and 

 Application. By Jabez Hogg, M.R.C.S., F.R.M.S. 

 xxiv. + 704 pp. 9 in. x 6J in., with 20 plates and 

 447 illustrations. (London and New York : George 

 Routledge & Sons, Ltd., 1898). 10s. 6d. 



The fifteenth edition of this, probably the most 

 popular of all books on the microscope, has just 

 been issued. It has been " reconstructed, re-written, 

 revised and enlarged throughout." The illustra- 

 tions, including those on the various coloured 

 and plain plates, now extend to no less than 

 upwards of 900. Originally published in 1854, this 

 remarkable work has held its place and its popu- 

 larity, and kept pace with the application of the 

 microscope to high science and research, with 

 consequent benefit to mankind. The historical 

 progress of this instrument forms a leading feature 

 of Mr. Hogg's manual, which is useful as well as 

 interesting to the curious. A new feature is the 

 enlargement of the pages. There is in this 

 edition an appendix introducing a selection of 

 " Formulae and Methods " of staining and mount- 

 ing ; also tables of the metric system of measure- 

 ments. Dr. Edgar Crookshank has dealt with 

 bacteriology, and economic botany is on the 

 authority of Prof. Marshall Ward, F.R.S. The 

 author is to be congratulated on sixty years' 

 faithful attachment to his early love — " The Mi- 

 croscope " — and on his new edition, which is 

 brought up to July of last year. 



An Atlas of Bacteriology. By Chas. Slater, M.A., 

 MB., M.R.C.S. Eng ,F.C.S., and Edmund J. 

 Spitta, L.R.C.P. Lond., F.R.A.S. xiv. 4- 120 pp. 

 9 in. x 6| in., with in illustrations. (London : 

 The Scientific Press, 1898.) 7s. 6d. net. 



This work consists of 111 splendidly-executed 

 and reproduced original micro-photographs of 

 bacteriological subjects, with explanatory text. It 

 is, we believe, the first book giving detailed life- 

 histories of the various disease-producing bacteria 

 that has yet been published at a price within the 

 reach of ordinary medical practitioners and students 



of the subject. Every care has been exercised in 

 the preparation of the illustrations; these, with 

 very few exceptions, have been taken from original 

 material in the laboratory of St. George's Hospital, 

 in London. A valuable feature of the book is a 

 practical introduction to photography of bacilli 

 and their allies. This is followed by a short 

 account of the science of bacteriology, that 

 renders easy the future study of these organisms. 

 Some of the species illustrated are the bacteria of 

 anthrax, tuberculosis, leprosy, glanders, typhus, 

 pneumonia, diphtheria, Asiatic cholera, bubonic 

 plague, tetanus, malarial fever, and many others. 



Applied Geology. By J. V. Elsden, B.Sc. Part i. 

 vii. + 96 pp. 8J in. x 5$ in., with 57 illustrations. 

 (The Quarry Publishing" Company, Ltd., 1898.) 5s. 



The chapters constituting this work are largely 

 of a technical character, and refer to obtaining 

 mineral materials which can be applied in the 

 service of man for building purposes. They have 

 already appeared in the " Quarry," a well-known 

 journal devoted to the interests of those connected 

 with quarrying. The reprint is only a part of the 

 series, and is to be followed by a further instal- 

 ment. This part deals chiefly with irregular 

 strata, and sets forth certain probabilities and rules 

 for action under specified circumstances. The 

 geologist will not find this work appeal to him 

 so directly as to the employer of capital and 

 labour in quarrying earthy minerals, where know- 

 ledge of strata and geology, applied in that 

 direction, means the economic use of his resources. 



An Introduction to Practical Physics. By D. 

 Rintoul, M.A. x. + 168 pp. 7 in. x 4I in., 

 with 81 illustrations. (London and New York : 

 Macmillan and Co., 1898.) 2s. 6d. 



This is quite an elementary work for use in 

 schools, and is based on laboratory work by the 

 author, whilst teaching the subject in Clifton 

 College. Part i. deals with Mensuration and 

 Hydrostatics, which are illustrated by forty 

 experiments. Part ii. is devoted to Heat, exem r 

 plified by thirty - six experiments. Part iii. is 

 occupied by Dynamics and thirty-eight experi- 

 ments. The demonstrations are simple, but 

 effective, and lead the young student on step by 

 step, until he can attain greater things. 



A Study in Philology. By Ernest Pearson, viii. 

 + 115 pp. 7| x 5 in. (London: Kegan Paul, 

 Trench, Triibner & Co., Ltd., 1S99.) 3s. 6d. 



Although the author claims as the only correct 

 solution of the origin of human languages the 

 Biblical story of a first single language, and then its 

 splitting into a confusion of tongues by the divine 

 miracle of Babel, the student of words will find much 

 of interest in Mr. Ernest Pearson's little book. 



Earth Sculpture, or the Origin of Land-Forms. By 

 James Geikie, LL D., D.C.L., F.R.S.; etc. vi. 4- 

 320 pp. 8£ in. x 6 in., with 2 plates and 89 sketches 

 in text. (London : John Murray, 1898.) 6s. 



Professor Geikie's contribution to "The Pro- 

 gressive Science Series," of which this book is one, 

 forms a valuable text-book on the causes that have 

 formed the surface of the earth into what we call 

 landscape. There has been much written on 

 this section of geology in latter times, and it is 

 one that has commanded public attention to a 

 greater extent than any other branch of that 

 science. Popular education having advanced in 

 latter years, people are no longer satisfied with a 

 mere passing remark to the effect that they 

 supposed the scenery around them was always 



