42 



HA RD WICKE' S SCIENCE- G OS SI P. 



his reputation in this respect. It brings up to date a 

 revision of the two orders of fungi above mentioned, 

 and forms a capital handbook and guide for students 

 desirous of pursuing further researches in this, as yet, 

 only partly-worked department of botanical study. 



The Plant World, by George Massee (London : 

 Whittaker & Co.). This is a popular work on 

 botany, very properly considered from the stand- 

 point the editor of this journal has always advocated, 

 viz., that of plants as Living Organisms, subject to 

 similar vicissitudes to those which affect animals. It 

 is a highly readable and instructive little book. 



Annals of British Geology, 1890, by J. F. Blake 

 (London : Dulau & Co.). Professor Blake is to be 

 congratulated on the patience and industry which 

 have made this highly useful volume a success. If any 

 evidence were required to indicate the intellectual 

 activity of British geologists, this summary of one 

 year's work would be sufficient. It is a most useful 

 handbook to geological literature, inasmuch as it is not 

 only a catalogue of all the books published, papers 

 read and printed, etc., but a critical digest of the same 

 by perhaps the best geological critic in England. 



The Physical Geology and Geography of Ireland, by 

 Edward Hull, F.R.S., etc. (London : Edward Stan- 

 ford). We had much pleasure in drawing attention 

 to this highly valuable work when it first appeared, 

 and we congratulate the author that a second edition 

 has been so soon called for. Professor Hull has 

 taken the opportunity to revise and improve this use- 

 ful handbook, which we thoroughly commend to all 

 students of Irish Geology. 



Handbook to the Geology of Derbyshire, by J. 

 Magens Mello (London : Bemrose & Sons). This 

 is a second and vastly improved edition in every 

 respect of Mr. Mello's " Geology of Derbyshire." 

 The latter is the most interesting county in England 

 for geology, and no other man is so capable of 

 writing a guide to it as Mr. Mello. Our readers, 

 therefore, will take this straightforward hint. 



Geodesy, by J. Howard Gore (London : Heine- 

 mann). This small but attractively got-up manual 

 is the best we could recommend to all geodetic 

 students. It is full and clear, thoroughly accurate, 

 and up to date in all matters relating to earth-mea- 

 surements. The author possesses the gift which 

 Burns desired, of seeing as others see us — or rather, 

 he enables his readers to see geodetic science as he 

 sees it himself. 



Colour- Blindness and Colour-Perception, by F. W. 

 Edridge-Green, M.D. (London : Kegan Paul & Co.). 

 This vol. is one of the well-known and highly-prized 

 " International Scientific Library " series. It cannot 

 be'doubted that the subject is one of supreme interest. 

 The present vol. is illustrated by three coloured 

 plates. Dr. Green tells us he wrote his book for the 

 benefit of those who may have to test for colour-blind- 

 ness. He also advances an ingenious theory of his 

 own, worth considering, of colour-perception. Never- 



theless, Dr. Green does not seem to have grasped the 

 theories of Helmholtz and Young. Dr. Green's book 

 is a very practical one, although there are strange 

 omissions in it of works and workers in this depart- 

 ment of physics. 



A Cyclopcedia of Nature Teachings (London : Elliot 

 Stock). A very tastefully got-up volume, but one 

 cannot help wondering why a book like this is got up. 

 Nobody wants it ; it teaches nothing. It is simply 

 a very pleasant hash from "goody" scientific 

 books, many of which we never heard of before, and 

 which are preserved in these pages from obscurity. 

 The few really good books quoted makes this remark 

 all the more annoying. 



Moral Teachings of Science, by Arabella B. Buckley 

 (London: Edward Stanford). This pretty little 

 volume is quite of a different class. Whatever Miss 

 Buckley has to say on natural history subjects is sure 

 to be said well, and will be listened to. So now that 

 she occupies the pulpit, we are prepared for a good 

 sermon ; and a better we have not read for some time 

 than that now before us. 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



In view of the failure, by experiments, of an old- 

 world notion (our readers will find it in Dr. Dick's 

 " Christian Philosopher ") that atmospheric explosions 

 would cause rain, it is necessary to point out that no 

 rain could possibly fall unless there was sufficient 

 watery vapour present in the atmosphere. Also, as an 

 American Professor (Blake) has recently shown, there 

 must also be sufficient dust present in the air. This 

 agrees with the current idea of the origin of fogs. 



THE doyen of British Science, Sir George B. Airy, 

 late Astronomer-Royal, has died at the ripe age of 

 91 years, intellectually, robustly, and humourously 

 alive till a short time before his death. 



We are glad to welcome and recommend Mr. F. 

 V. Theobald's Part 3 of " An Account of British Flies," 

 well printed and illustrated. Parts, one shilling each 

 (London : Elliot Stock). ' 



THE small snow-ball and the painted dome of the 

 Lick Observatory, Mount Hamilton^ California, con- 

 tains the largest telescope in the world. It is no less 

 than sixty feet long, with a thirty-six inch lens. The 

 huge instrument is so skilfully adjusted that it can be 

 moved at will with one hand. It is supported on a 

 lofty stand, which is ascended by a splendid spiral 

 staircase. From the upper platform the astronomers, 

 at the end of every two hours during observations, 

 wind the huge weight— 600 pounds— of the driving 

 clock with 320 turns of the handle, so that the lens of 

 the telescope may cover the star with mathematical 

 accuracy as it moves through space, and enable the 

 worker to make observations with rigid exactitude. 



