1871.] Notices of Booh. 381 



the solar attraction varying according to the law of inverse 

 squares. It does not appear strange that the meteoric theory 

 has met with but few adherents amongst scientific men, when 

 it is considered that the rings have been revealed by modern 

 science alone. The fact that the god Nisroch, associated with 

 Saturn, should be represented as a man encircled with a belt, 

 does not go far towards an argument that the rings were known 

 before the time of Galileo. The surprise would be why so few 

 sound theories have been propounded to explain so unusual an 

 attendance. But in this book, including, as it does, an epitome 

 of the theories gone before, there is not much left to be desired. 

 The meteoric theory can now most certainly boast of a clearly 

 written manual, in which the argument is aided by sound 

 analytical expressions and remarks drawn from the works of 

 Sir W. Thomson, Herschel, Lyell, Arago, and Proctor. Appended 

 is a paper on the Meteoric Theory of the Sun, in which the solar 

 centre is considered to consist of a central globe, hollow or con- 

 tinuous, surrounded by a liquid envelope of molten metals. On 

 this ocean rests an atmosphere of flaming gas, and this atmo- 

 sphere is composed of volatilised substances from the liquid 

 surface and the smaller meteors. In it the meteoric flights first 

 become visible to us, in part, adding to its temperature by the 

 resistance it offers to their motion, and showering down their 

 substance in it. The pains taken to impart clear ideas certainly 

 inspire the hope that the theory will be well accepted. 



Select Methods in Chemical Analysis (Chiefly Inorganic). By 

 William Crookes, F.R.S., &c. London : Longmans, 

 Green, and Co., 1871. 



It will be perceived from the title of this work that the author 

 has not intended to provide the student with a complete text- 

 book of analysis, but rather with a laboratory companion, con- 

 taining information not usually found in ordinary works on 

 Analysis. The book is essentially a reprint of the important 

 articles on inorganic chemistry in the first twenty volumes of the 

 " Chemical News," verified, condensed, and arranged in proper 

 order ; and as some of these have proved to be of great value, it 

 was thought that a service would be rendered to analytical 

 chemistry if these trustworthy methods of analysis were syste- 

 matically arranged in a convenient form for laboratory use. In 

 some instances the descriptions are given in the language of the 

 original writer, but in all cases where the author has improved 

 the processes, the necessary modifications have been introduced. 

 It is strange that modern works on analysis should ignore 

 about twenty of the elements. Even Fresenius gives only a 

 separate form for their detection. Were investigators more in 

 the habit of looking for the "rare" elements, they would no 



