306  Notices  respecting  New  Books, 
in  the  award  of  its  Gold  Medal,  to  the  remarkable  connexion  which 
subsists  between  comets  and  meteors ;  and  it  is  gratifying  to  find  that 
the  recipient  is  an  astronomer  (Signor  Schiaparelli)  who  has  been 
successful  in  establishing  this  connexion.  There  is,  however,  some- 
thing of  a  still  higher  character  to  which  these  researches  lead  us. 
The  late  President  of  the  Royal  Astronomical  Society  in  his  resume 
of  Sig.  Schiaparelli's  labours  alludes  to  the  classes  of  celestial  matter 
as  follows  : — "  1st.  Fixed  stars.  2nd.  Agglomerations  of  small  stars 
(resolvable  nebube).  3rd.  Smaller  bodies,  invisible,  except  when 
approaching  the  sun.  4th.  Small  particles  composing  a  cosmical 
cloud." 
"  Whatever  may  have  been  the  original  form  of  the  cloud,  it  cannot 
penetrate  far  into  our  system  without  assuming  the  form  of  an  elon- 
gated cylinder  passing  gradually  into  a  stream  of  particles.  The 
number  of  such  streams  seems  to  be  very  great."  Such  are  the 
views  of  the  medallist;  and  of  these  views  the  late  President  ex- 
presses his  opinion  in  the  following  words :— "  Granting  that  his 
hypotheses  are  correct,  of  which,  indeed,  there  seems  to  be  a  very 
high  probability,  some  of  the  most  difficult  questions  in  the  contem- 
plation of  the  constitution  of  the  universe  seem  at  once,  and,  as  it 
were,  per  saltum,  to  be  solved.  To  have  placed  before  our  view  so 
clear  a  history  of  these  mysterious  bodies  (nebulae,  comets  and  aero- 
lites), and  their  several  and  intimate  relations  pointed  out,  is  an  ad- 
vancement of  astronomical  science  I  at  least,  individually,  had  not 
ventured  to  anticipate ;  and  a  collateral  advantage  resulting  from 
this  splendid  discovery  is  the  encouragement  given  to  the  careful  and 
diligent  observation  of  phenomena  even  when  the  prospect  of  a 
fruitful  result  is  by  no  means  apparent ;  had  it  not  been  for  the 
patient,  systematic,  and  intelligent  observations  of  Professor  Heis, 
M.  Coulvier-Gravier,  Mr.  Greg,  and  Professor  Herschel,  Signor 
Schiaparelli  would  have  wanted  many  valuable  data  required  in  his 
investigations." 
In  connexion  with  the  splendid  discovery  of  Schiaparelli,  Mr. 
Williams's  book  must  become  very  valuable.  The  arrangement  of 
the  catalogue  of  comets  is  so  methodical,  so  clear,  and  the  dates 
given  with  such  precision,  that  the  identification  of  future  comets 
with  ancient  ones  will  be  greatly  facilitated.  Although  the  work  is 
necessarily  destitute  of  computed  orbits,  the  paths  of  many  of  the 
comets  amongst  the  stars  are  fully  described  and  capable  of  being 
easily  ascertained  by  the  aid  of  the  Chinese  celestial  atlas  with  which 
it  is  accompanied.  Our  limits  preclude  further  remarks,  except  that 
Mr.  Williams  has  introduced  a  most  interesting  description  of  ancient 
Chinese  astronomy,  as  well  as  an  important  exposition  of  Chinese 
chronology. 
Weather  Charts  issued  daily  by  the  Meteorological  Office. 
These  charts,  which  are  admirably  arranged,  exhibit  at  a  glance 
the  general  elements  of  weather  at  8  a.m.  each  day  ;  these  elements 
consist  of  barometric  and  thermometric  readings  depicted  as  isobars 
and  isotherms,  the  general  direction  of  the  wind/the  state  of  the 
