504 Miscellaneous Intelligence. 



5. J. A. Berhfs Universal Electrical Directory and Adver- 

 tiser. — The electrician's vade meeum, containing a complete record 

 of all the industries directly or indirectly connected with elec- 

 tricity and magnetism, and the names and addresses of manufac- 

 turers in Great Britain, America, the Continent, etc. 437 pp. Svo. 

 London, 1889 : Wm. Dawson & Sons. — This is the eighth annual 

 issue of this valuable directory. Its comprehensive character can 

 be inferred from the title. 



6. Stellar Evolution and its relations to Geological Time, by 

 James Croll, LL.D., F.R.S., author of " Climate and Time," 

 "Climate and Cosmology," "Philosophy of Thesim," etc. 118 pp. 

 12mo. 1889. London (E. Stanford). — The subjects of this volume 

 by Dr. Croll, are: the probable origin of meteorites, comets and 

 nebula?, and the source from which the sun derived his energy ; 

 secondly, the evidence in support of the theory advocated derived 

 from the testimony of geology and biology as to the age of the 

 sun's heat ; and thirdly questions relating to the pre-nebular con- 

 dition of the universe, and the bearing which these have on theories 

 of stellar evolution. Other related subjects will be considered, 

 the Preface states, " in a future volume, ' Determinism, not force, 

 the Foundation Stone of Evolution,' a work of a more general and 

 abstract character, which was commenced many years ago." 



7. Graphics, or the art of Calculation by drawing lines, 

 applied especially to Mechanical Engineering: with Atlas of 

 Diagrams • by Robert H. Smith. Part I, 8° and 4°, Longmans. 

 London, 1889. — The method of representing forces and other 

 directed quantities by lines is familiarly used in every elementary 

 text-book in statics. The determining of the magnitude of 

 unknown quantities by geometrical constructions is older than 

 what we know as arithmetic. But the full application of graph- 

 ical methods to problems in which the quantities need be known 

 only to two or three significant figures, particularly to engineering 

 problems, has greatly increased since the publication of Cul- 

 maun's Graphische Statik in 1875. That work beautifully exhib- 

 ited the power which graphical construction possesses for the 

 investigation of practical problems. A list of the more impor- 

 tant subjects treated by Mr. Smith in this first part will show the 

 scope of his work. He treats of Graph-Arithmetic, Graph- 

 Algebra, Grapho-Trigonometry, Vector and Rotor addition, the 

 Kinematics of Mechanism, flat linkages without and with beam 

 links, and solid static structures. A second part is promised in 

 case this volume meets with a favorable reception. It will deal 

 mainly with synthetic problems, and with the design of structures 

 and machines. 



OBITUARY. 



Frederick A. P. Barnard, President of Columbia College, 

 New York, for twenty-five years, died on the 27th of April, at 

 the age of eighty. 



