132 



SCIENCE. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



Sir William Herschel: His Life and Works. 

 By Edward S. Holden, of the United States Naval 

 Observatory, Washington. Charles Scribner's Sons, 

 743 Broadway, New York. 1881. 



There is a charm which attends the memory of some 

 representative men, and which endears even their his- 

 tory to posterity. 



Foremost among such men we recall the name of 

 Herschel, and we could hardly select a more pleasing 

 task than to touch lightly on a few salient points in his | 

 eventful career. 



In our opinion the great feature in Herchel's history 

 was, that he succeeded in reaching eminence as a scien- 

 tific man, notwithstanding the apparently insurmountable 

 difficulties that stood in his path to success. 



Consider for a moment the position of Herschel when 

 he made his first effort to become an Astronomer. He 

 was 34 years of age, residing in a foreign country where 

 he was unknown, and earning a bare existence as a 

 musician, with a younger brother on his hands, and a 

 sister who was not even acquainted with the language 

 of the country (England) in which they then resided. 



They were too poor to hire a servant, and what with 

 out-door performances and giving instruction at home, 

 there was little time for recreation, for even leisure mo- | 

 ments were occupied by copying music. So that it was 

 only at night, when he would retire wearily to bed, with a 

 basin of milk, and Smith's Optics and Ferguson's Astron- 

 omy, that he could devote the first thoughts to a science 

 which hereafter must ever be associated with his name. 



He would then rise in the morning with thoughts in- 

 tent on seeing for himself the celestial objects of which 

 he had been reading over night. 



To purchase an instrument was out of the question, 

 but with the indomitable energy of will which stamped 

 his career thereafter, he at once determined to make a 

 telescope with his own hands, and not content with striv- 

 ing to see what other observers had observed, he began 

 to contrive a telescope eighteen or twenty feet long. 



But to earn an existence by music now occupied 

 every moment, day and night and it was many months 

 before a telescope could be commenced ; but finally in 

 1744, when he was 36 years of age, he completed a Gre- 

 gorian telescope, and began to view the heavens under 

 circumstances that must have been depressing to a less 

 ardent mind ; for he had to contrive a few spare moments 

 as best he could, even running home between the acts at 

 the theatre to make a short observation, and then rush- 

 ing back to take his position in the band. 



And so, with mind divided between the oratorios of the 

 Messiah, Judas Maccabeus, &c, and the variable star 

 Mira Ceti, along with the music went the Astronomy, 

 until on the 13th of March, 1781, Herchel, this amateur 

 astronomical observer of Bath, made one of the most 

 striking discoveries since the invention of the telescope, 

 for in examining the small stars in the neighborhood 

 of H Geminorum perceived one which appeared visibly 

 larger than the rest, and this object proved to be the ma- 

 jor planet, now calledUranus. 



Naturally, this was the turning point of Herschel's 

 life, and his a ter career was a rapid rise to the highest 

 eminence as a scientific man and one of the most accom- 

 plished astronomers. 



The story of Herchel's life is now presented by Profes- 

 sor Edward S. Holden, in a charming little book which 

 may be read at a single sitting, and yet complete and 

 ample in all the details necessary to convey to the reader 

 a vivid picture of the great Astronomer. 



We admire Professor Holden's book for its simplicity 

 of diction ; not a superfluous word is given, and most of 

 the more interesting events are given in the very words 

 of his sister^as recorded by her. 



We desire to see this interesting work in the hands 

 of the youth of this country, for if a noble example 

 of a successful career will stimulate a young man to 

 exalted aspirations for a useful and honorable life, the 

 perusal of the present memoir should have such an in- 

 spiring effect. 



We acknowledge the receipt of the following important 

 works from the Government of New Zealand, being part 

 of a series prepared by the Colonial Museum and Geo- 

 logical Survey Department, of which James Hector, 

 M. D., C. M. G., F. R. S., is Director in Chief: 



A Manual of the New Zealand Mollusca. — A 

 systematic and descriptive catalogue of the marine and 

 land shells, and of the soft Mollusks and Polyzoa of 

 New Zealand and the adjacent islands, by Frederick 

 W. Hutton, F. G. S., C. M. Z. C, Professor of Biology, 

 Canterbury College, New Zealand University, Wel- 

 lington, 1880. 



A Manual of the New Zealand Coleoptera, by 

 Captain Thomas Brown, Wellington, 1880. 

 This Catalogue occupies 650 pages and contains 1050 

 species. It is a complete description of all the New Zea- 

 land Coleoptera known to Science, classified according to 

 the views of Lacordaire. This valuable work is spoken 

 of as a monument to the zeal and industry of an ardent 

 naturalist. 



Palaeontology of New Zealand.— Part IV. — 

 Corals and Bryozoa of the Neozoic period in New Zea- 

 land ; by the Rev. J. E. Tenison-woods, F. G. S., F. L. 

 S. Wellington, 1880. 



The author has a high reputation for his minute ac- 

 quaintance with the Marine Invertebrata of the tropical 

 and temperate parts of Australia, and during the last 

 twenty years has published many works on the subject, 

 so that the inferences drawn in this work may be receiv- 

 ed with much confidence. 



Manual of the Indigenous Grasses of New 

 Zealand, by John Buchanan, F. L. S., Land-Botanist 

 and Draughtsman of the Geological Survey. Welling- 

 ton, 1880. 



The general system of classification employed by the 

 author is that adopted from Sir Joseph Hooker's standard 

 works on the New Zealand Flora, but the methods upon 

 which the general and specific characters have been 

 arranged is from a more recent work on the British Flora 

 by the same distinguished botanist. Sixty full-page illus- 

 trations are given of specimens, nature-printed, each 

 having, in addition, from 10 to 25 drawings showing the 

 anatomical character of the inflorescence in each species, 

 from original microscopic dissections made by the author, 

 whose excellent botanical knowledge, combined with his 

 skill as a draughtsman, peculiarly fitted him for the work. 



Transactions and Proceedings of the New 

 Zealand Institute, i879.,Vol.VIL, edited by James 

 Hector, C. M. G., M. D., F. R. S.; issued May, 1880. 

 Wellington. 



In this volume is a valuable series of papers, 

 many of them well illustrated, and we congratulate the 

 colony on the valuable scientific work accomplished and 

 in progress. We find many of the papers in this volume 

 of the highest interest, and we shall shortly present our 

 readers with selections. 



Any of our readers residing in New York who desire 

 to examine these works can do so by calling at our office, 

 and it may be convenient to know that the Colonial Gov- 

 ernment has arranged a scale of moderate charges, at 

 which any of these publications can be purchased. 



