﻿492 
  Scientific 
  Intelligence, 
  

  

  'researches 
  in 
  cosmogony 
  beyond 
  the 
  present 
  stage 
  of 
  surmise 
  and 
  

   unverified 
  speculation 
  seems 
  hopeless. 
  The 
  clearest 
  line 
  of 
  pro- 
  

   gress 
  for 
  the 
  immediate 
  future 
  appears 
  to 
  be 
  among 
  the 
  binaries. 
  

   The 
  forty 
  definite 
  orbits, 
  which 
  represent 
  the 
  work 
  of 
  a 
  century 
  

   since 
  Herschel, 
  furnish 
  the 
  basis 
  for 
  considerable 
  safe 
  generaliza- 
  

   tion, 
  and 
  their 
  number 
  is 
  likely 
  soon 
  to 
  be 
  materially 
  increased 
  

   from 
  the 
  long 
  list 
  of 
  close 
  doubles 
  discovered 
  by 
  Burnham 
  and 
  

   others, 
  among 
  which 
  there 
  should 
  be 
  many 
  cases 
  of 
  rapid 
  motion. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  See 
  develops 
  very 
  simply 
  a 
  method, 
  based 
  on 
  the 
  hodo- 
  

   graph, 
  whereby 
  motion 
  in 
  the 
  line 
  of 
  sight 
  can 
  be 
  very 
  effectively 
  

   employed 
  to 
  determine 
  the 
  linear 
  dimensions, 
  mass 
  and 
  distance 
  

   of 
  a 
  binary 
  independent 
  of 
  parallax. 
  The 
  range 
  of 
  this 
  method 
  

   is 
  limited 
  only 
  by 
  the 
  resolvability 
  of 
  the 
  pair. 
  Parallax 
  reaches 
  

   to 
  about 
  20 
  light 
  years, 
  the 
  latter 
  method 
  to 
  2000. 
  

  

  The 
  best 
  example 
  of 
  Mr. 
  See's 
  ability 
  to 
  make 
  statistics 
  fruit- 
  

   ful 
  is 
  seen 
  in 
  his 
  discussion 
  of 
  the 
  eccentricity 
  of 
  binary 
  orbits. 
  

   That 
  this 
  is 
  usually 
  large, 
  every 
  astronomer 
  knows. 
  (The 
  average 
  

   for 
  40 
  orbits 
  is 
  0*48) 
  but 
  no 
  one 
  has 
  hitherto 
  emphasized 
  the 
  

   fact 
  that 
  this 
  corresponds 
  to 
  a 
  physical 
  cause 
  necessarily 
  of 
  prime 
  

   importance. 
  A 
  suggestion 
  by 
  the 
  late 
  Professor 
  Kirkwood 
  made 
  

   in 
  this 
  Journal 
  as 
  early 
  as 
  1864 
  is, 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  the 
  present 
  writer 
  is 
  

   aware, 
  the 
  only 
  word 
  previously 
  spoken 
  on 
  the 
  subject. 
  Mr. 
  See's 
  

   explanation 
  is, 
  briefly, 
  that 
  the 
  primitive 
  orbit 
  was 
  of 
  small 
  eccen- 
  

   tricity, 
  as 
  under 
  the 
  controlling 
  influence 
  of 
  a 
  centrifugal 
  tendency 
  

   in 
  a 
  tolerably 
  homogeneous 
  mass 
  it 
  might 
  be 
  expected 
  to 
  be, 
  but 
  

   that 
  the 
  enormous 
  tidal 
  friction 
  which 
  must 
  arise 
  in 
  a 
  binary 
  sys- 
  

   tem 
  would 
  produce 
  perturbations 
  so 
  great 
  as 
  to 
  push 
  the 
  eccen- 
  

   tricity 
  even 
  to 
  the 
  limit 
  of 
  unstable 
  equilibrium. 
  Tides 
  of 
  such 
  

   efficiency 
  require 
  that 
  the 
  component 
  masses 
  should 
  be 
  of 
  the 
  

   same 
  order 
  of 
  magnitude. 
  This 
  is 
  true 
  without 
  exception 
  in 
  all 
  

   known 
  orbits. 
  The 
  next 
  volume 
  will 
  perhaps 
  deal 
  more 
  particu- 
  

   larly 
  with 
  the 
  effects 
  of 
  tidal 
  disturbances 
  acting 
  under 
  these 
  

   conditions. 
  w. 
  b. 
  

  

  2. 
  Annals 
  of 
  the 
  Astronomical 
  Observatory 
  of 
  Harvard 
  Col- 
  

   lege. 
  — 
  Recent 
  publications 
  are 
  the 
  following 
  : 
  Vol. 
  xxxvi. 
  Journal 
  

   of 
  the 
  Zone 
  Observations 
  of 
  Stars 
  between 
  49° 
  50' 
  and 
  55° 
  10' 
  

   of 
  North 
  Declination 
  in 
  1855.0 
  and 
  observed 
  with 
  the 
  Meridian 
  

   Circle 
  during 
  the 
  years 
  1875 
  to 
  1885, 
  under 
  the 
  direction 
  of 
  

   Joseph 
  Winlock 
  and 
  Edward 
  C. 
  Pickering, 
  Successive 
  Directors 
  

   of 
  the 
  Observatory 
  ; 
  by 
  William 
  A. 
  Rogers, 
  1896. 
  

  

  Also 
  vol. 
  xxviii, 
  Part 
  I., 
  Spectra 
  of 
  Bright 
  Stars 
  photographed 
  

   with 
  the 
  11-inch 
  Draper 
  Telescope 
  as 
  a 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  Ifenry 
  Draper 
  

   Memorial 
  and 
  discussed 
  by 
  Antonia 
  C. 
  Maury 
  under 
  the 
  direction 
  

   of 
  Edward 
  C. 
  Pickering, 
  Director 
  of 
  the 
  Observatory. 
  

  

  3. 
  Geographische 
  Abhandlungen. 
  Herausgegeben 
  von 
  Prof. 
  

   Dr. 
  Albrecht 
  Penck 
  in 
  Wien. 
  — 
  To 
  the 
  geographical 
  memoirs 
  

   edited 
  by 
  Prof. 
  Penck 
  in 
  Vienna 
  have 
  been 
  added 
  the 
  following 
  : 
  

   Volume 
  v, 
  No. 
  5, 
  is 
  devoted 
  to 
  a 
  paper 
  on 
  the 
  precipitation 
  in 
  

   Bohemia 
  by 
  Dr. 
  Vasa 
  Ruvarac, 
  and 
  one 
  on 
  the 
  evaporation 
  and 
  

   flow 
  from 
  large 
  surfaces 
  of 
  land, 
  by 
  Prof. 
  Penck. 
  Volume 
  vi, 
  

  

  