Miscellaneous Intelligence. 669 



thus completing the Artiodactyla. A fifth and final volume, 

 embracing the Perissodactyla, the Hydracoidea and the Probo- 

 scidea has been planned, but it is uncertain when this can be accom- 

 plished. Unfortunately, the gifted author, Dr. Lyddeker, was 

 stricken by illness when the fourth volume, now noticed, was 

 nearly completed. He was able to finish the revision of the 

 proofs, but finally died on April 16. 



The Louse and its relation to Disease ; by Bruce F. Cummings. 

 Pp. 16 ; 4 figs. — This pamphlet presents a subject which has 

 recently come into prominence by the conditions brought about 

 by the war. The life history of the louse, its habits, and the 

 method of combating it are the topics particularly discussed. 



5. Contributions from the Princeton Observatory, No. 3. A 

 Study of the Orbits of Eclipsing Binaries; by Harlow 

 Shapley. Pp. xiv, 176. Princeton, 1915 (published by the 

 Observatory). — The method of computing the orbit of eclipsing 

 binaries from data furnished by the light-curve obtained from 

 photometric measures of the light of the star is the most recent 

 striking development in astronomy. When the work recorded 

 in this volume from the Princeton Observatory was begun, 

 in October 1911, there were scarcely 10 eclipsing binaries whose 

 orbits had been even approximately determined by any method. 

 Now the number is a round 100, which is equal to the number of 

 computed orbits of visual doubles ; 90 of these orbits, all deter- 

 mined with much accuracy, are recorded in this volume, which 

 was completed early in 1914. 



The author has made these orbits the basis of much valuable 

 investigation, such as that on the polar compression of the stars 

 in various of these pairs, the ty]>es of spectra represented among 

 them, and the distribution of eclipsing binaries in space. The 

 whole volume is an admirable example of thorough-going, con- 

 sistent, reliable scientific work, and practically exhausts the 

 subject. w. b. 



6. Publications of the Cincinnati Observatory; Jermain G. 

 Porter, Director. No. 18. Part I. Catalogue of Proper Mo- 

 tion Stars. Pp. 70. Cincinnati, 1815. — In this new catalogue of 

 proper motion stars, it is proposed to include all those stars hav- 

 ing a motion of ten seconds a century or greater, excluding, how- 

 ever, the fundamental stars of the Berlin Jahrbuch and the 

 American Ephemeris, and further those contained in the recent 

 Boss Preliminary Catalogue. 



7. Nature and Science on the Pacific Coast. — Pp. xii, 302; 19 

 text figs., 21 pis., 14 maps. San Francisco, 1915 (Paul Elder & 

 Co.). — This is a guide-book for scientific travelers in the west, 

 prepared under the auspices of the Pacific Coast Committee of 

 the American Association. Although planned to fill a local need, 

 it has also a permanent value. The chapters, upward of thirty 

 in number, are written by men of well-known reputation and 

 cover every part of the field; they are admirably illustrated. 



Am. Jour, Sci. — Fourth Series, Yol. XL, No. 240. — December, 1915. 

 45 



