8 4 



SCIENCE. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



Astronomy for Students and General Readers. 

 By Simon Newcomb, L. L. D., and Edward S. 

 Holden, M. A. Second Edition, Revised. Henry 

 Holt and Company. New York, 1880. $2.50. 



It may be supposed that the joint efforts of Dr. Simon 

 Newcomb and Professor Edward S. Holden to write a 

 work on Astronomy has resulted in the production of a 

 work which may be accepted by the public as a reliable 

 and able exposition of the subject. 



The attempt, however, to compose a text book in 

 Astronomy which should be equally applicable to the 

 class of a college, and to the general reader, was a task 

 which presented few elements of success ; we are not 

 therefore surprised to find that the authors candidly 

 state in their preface that in spite of the title selected for 

 the book that the work was principally designed for the 

 use of those who desire to pursue the study of Astronomy 

 as a branch of liberal education. 



Regarded in this light the work is a great success, for 

 the general leader will find by a careful perusal of this 

 manual that he has mastered all the leading points in the 

 study of Astronomy in sufficient detail, to enable him in 

 the future to fully comprehend whatever he may read on 

 this subject. The work in question may well serve as a 

 model for those desirous of writing scientific manuals ; 

 in simple, but forcible language,' the most complicated 

 explanations are presented in a form that may be com- 

 prehended by a reader of ordinary intelligence with- 

 out mental effort, while the interest of the student is 

 maintained throughout. 



The description of astronomical instruments and their 

 uses forms a valuable portion of the work, and all the 

 details of observatory work are explained by the aid of 

 good illustrations ; thus all the methods by which astron- 

 omical research is carried on at the present day are de- 

 scribed by one who was himselt at that time a member 

 of the corps having in charge one of the most completely 

 equipped observatories that has yet been organized. 



The three branches, into which Astronomy is now di- 

 vided, are all ably treated by the authors, and it is not 

 difficult to detect the plan adopted by the authors in di- 

 viding their work. 



We regret this manual was not considered worthy of 

 a good index, for on this account the book is valueless as 

 a work of reference. In future editions it would be well 

 to remedy this unnecessary defect. 



Circulars of Information of the Bureau of 

 Education. No. 4, 1880. Rural School Architec- 

 ture, with illustrations. 



No. 5. English Rural Schools. Washington, Government 

 Printing Office, 1880. 



The first paper (No. 4) presents a concise yet complete 

 treatise on the proper construction, hea'ing and ventila- 

 tion of school buildings, prepared by Mr. S. M. Clark, a 

 well-known architect of Boston. The aim of the paper 

 is not so much to lay down rules to be inconsiderately 

 followed, as to give principles and directions suggestive 

 o{ the plans best to be followed under a variety ol circum- 

 stances. 



This is a thoroughly prjctical paper, and the whole 

 subject has been well handled by Mr. Clark, and the 

 pamphlet cannot tail to be most useful to -School Boards 

 and Committees. The Commissioner of the Bureau of 

 Education deserves the thanks of all heads of families 

 for ordering the production of this timely publication, 

 which, however, merely applies to rural districts, and we 

 trust the manual treating on buildings for high schools, 

 academies and colleges will be published without delay, 



as it is a matter of common notoriety that the health of 

 children in many of the large cities, is sacrificed in con- 

 sequence of the school-rooms being constructed without 

 regard to hygienic principles. 



No. 5 — Is a description of the condition of rural schools 

 and the progress of elementary education in the rural 

 districts of England, written by Mr. Henry W. Hulbert, 

 late of Middleberry College, based on his personal infor- 

 mation. He does not attempt to enforce lessons from his 

 facts, but leaves these to the reflection of the reader. 



The facts presented by Mr. Hulbert are most interest- 

 ing, and would appear to indicate that the effort to edu- 

 cate the masses of the people is making slow but steady 

 progress against the opposition raised against it by certain 

 classes. 



We have the authority of Mr. Heller, of the National 

 Union, that there was a great cry at first, but advanced 

 education would increase the crime ot the land. Of 

 course the contrary has been the real result, and it is 

 stated that there is manifestly less coarseness of manners 

 among the lower classes. 



It is admitted, however, that a certain restlessness has 

 been crea'ed by advanced education, and "that it has 

 driven children into towns to seek what they consider 

 higher situations, and in some cases it has led to emigra- 

 tion." 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



[The Editor does not hold himself responsible /or opinions expressed 

 by his correspondents. No notice is taken of anonymous communi- 

 cations.] 



DR. FLEMING'S CLASSIFICATION OF SCIENCE. 



To the Editor of SCIENCE : 



There are numberless ways in which knowledge may 

 be classified, as the numerous systems of classification 

 put forward show, and it appears to be a very common 

 notion that all knowledge may be put in a serial order 

 showing the elements in logical dependence. However 

 this may be in metaphysical matters, it is certainly not 

 possible to do so in physical philosophy, for the various 

 manifestations of energy are mutually co-related, and 

 starting with any one of them it is possible to develop 

 almost any of the other forms. In the scheme of Dr. 

 Fleming this does not appear, but in the plan of it he 

 places the doctrine of the correlation of forces high up in 

 Physico Dynamic Science instead of making it almost the 

 first division of Physics. The latter as now understood is the 

 science of energy, and energy always involves two factors, 

 one a mass and the other a velocity. When motions are 

 considered in their geometrical relations, apart from mass, 

 the science is known as Kinnematics and as a branch of 

 pure mathematics, it has nothing more to do with phy- 

 sics proper than has geometry, though all problems in 

 physics are more or less mathematical problems, but 

 they become Dynamic when mass is involved. Inas- 

 much as masses of all dimensions, from an atom to the 

 sun, follow the same laws, it surely is not a scientific pro- 

 ceeding to make a grand division here of Astronomy as 

 distinct from the more general division of Mechanics. 

 Astronomy so far as pertains to the genesis of the Stel- 

 lar Universe is only a development or application of me- 

 chanics to large masses of matter. Again the author is 

 mistaken when he says, "Then Natural Philosophy mon- 

 opolizes the whole held. Now Chemical Philosophy has 

 taken the rank of a distinct department." Hie fact is 

 that since the discovery thatchemism is dependent upon 

 mass, the science has been swallowed up entirely in phy- 

 sics, and every so-called chemical problem is a pure phy- 

 sical problem. Chemism is one of the correlated forms 

 of energy and the logical importance is the same as that 

 of heat and electiicity. 



B. D. 



