218 Notices respecting New Boohs. 



1881," and two maps showing the extent of the floods around the 

 town of "Windsor in 1867, with contours of the district. 



Arundinaria faleata, Nees, and A. spathiflora, Trinius, of the 

 Himalayas, as suitable for cultivation in New South Wales, are 

 treated of by Dr. Brandis ; and a note on the Adelong Gold-Beef, 

 with a sketch-plan, is given by Mr. S. H. Cox. 



Microscopy is represented by Mr. "William Morris, who has 

 devoted twelve pages to the various methods employed in mounting 

 the rare diatom Amphipleura pellucida. 



" A Contribution to the Study of Heredity " by an inquiry into 

 the family- and life-history of the idiotic and imbecile, by Dr. F. 

 Norton Manning, — " A system of Accurate Measurement by means 

 of long Steel Bibands," instead of the one-chain tapes, in rugged and 

 undulating districts, by Mr. G. H. Knibbs, — and some " Notes on 

 Flying-Machines," by Mr. L. Hargrave, complete the volume. 



Hours ivith a Three-Inch Telescope. By Capt. ¥m. Noble, F.R.A.S., 

 F.M.M.S., Honorary Associate of the Liverpool Astronomical /Society . 

 London : Longmans, Green, and Co., 1886. 

 " This little book," the author tells us at the outset, " is written 

 to furnish the very beginner in observational Astronomy with such 

 directions as shall enable him to employ, to the greatest possible 

 advantage, the kind of instrument with which he will, in all 

 probability, at first provide himself." He therefore only pre- 

 supposes the possession, on the part of the reader, of a small 

 telescope mounted on the ordinary pillar-and-claw stand, of some 

 such work as the ' Stars in their Seasons,' and of an ardent desire 

 to become familiar with the beauties and glories of the celestial 

 vaults. To such beginners — for whose guidance there has been 

 hitherto no perfectly suitable book — Capt. Noble will be a true 

 friend. He thoroughly understands the needs of those for whom 

 he writes, and he gives them the information they require in 

 a simple and straightforward manner, free from perplexing techni- 

 calities. No pains, too, have been spared to make the book 

 accurate ; the descriptions and drawings were all made at the eye- 

 end of a telescope of three inches' aperture, and are not taken at 

 secondhand from any other work, however trustworthy. There 

 are twelve chapters : the first treating of the instrument (the three- 

 inch telescope) itself, and here Lord Crawford's device for giving 

 an approximately equatoreal motion to an altazimuthly mounted 

 instrument is described. The sun and moon form the subjects of the 

 two next chapters ; the latter is one of the most interesting and 

 important in the book ; the principal lunar formations being 

 passed in review during seven nights' work. A short chapter on 

 the observation of occultations follows. Then come the planets, 

 Jupiter naturally receiving most attention ; whilst the eleventh 

 chapter gives some useful hints on drawing the planets. The last 

 chapter is devoted to the fixed stars and nebulae, and the w 7 ork of 

 nine nights is described in detail. Here, we fear, the student 

 will find Capt. Noble's help least effective, for there are no star- 

 maps given. It is true he supposes his readers to possess some 



