470 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. VII., No. 172 



something of an innovation in works of this kind. 

 Professor Payne's analyses of the various chapters 

 are concise and clear, though his criticisms of 

 Herbert Spencer's essay on education seem to 

 leave out of sight the great influence for good that 

 it has worked. The excellent index adds much to 

 the practical value of the book. 



Taken altogether, it is a valuable manual, and 

 may safely be recommended to teachers and read- 

 ing-circles. And for the use of the general public 

 who are not teachers, we know no book at once so 

 complete, and so free from technicalities. 



THE STAR-GUIDE. 



This is described in the preface as an introduc- 

 tion to Webb's 1 Celestial objects for common 

 telescopes,' though we should be more inclined 

 to call it a conveniently arranged abstract of that 

 well-known work. The compilers have tabulated 

 in some twenty -four pages, six hundred celestial 

 objects arranged in order of right ascension, com- 

 prising nearly every thing that can profitably be 

 examined in our latitude with an instrument of 

 two or three inches aperture (planets are not in- 

 eluded). The right ascension and decimation of 

 each object is given for Jan. 1, 1886, and the mean 

 time of passing the Greenwich meridian for every 

 tenth day throughout the year. The introduc- 

 tion explains how to make allowance for a differ- 

 ent longitude and for the change of the stars' 

 positions by precession. Distances, position an- 

 gles, magnitudes, and colors are given for double 

 stars, and inanj' interesting notes on the various 

 other objects catalogued. Following this list for 

 very small telescopes are about two hundred ob- 

 jects which can be seen with refractors of from 

 four to seven inches aperture. 



Perhaps the most useful part of the book is the 

 list of two hundred and fifty test objects, divided 

 into eight groups suitable for testing the perform- 

 ance of refractors varying from two to seven 

 inches in aperture. Each of these groups con- 

 tains three classes; viz., 'dividing tests, defining 

 tests, and space penetrating tests,' — all most con- 

 veniently arranged. Several pages serve as a 

 guide for lunar excursions, and a small table gives 

 the positions of a dozen meteor radiants : an ap- 

 pendix contains information on variable stars and 

 on the comets of 1886. 



We think the book will be found useful by 

 amateurs, and it is not to be entirely despised by 

 the professional astronomer who is often called 



The star-guide : a lint of the most remarkable celestial 

 objects visible nith small telescopes, nith their positions for 

 every tenth day in the year and other astronomical infor- 

 mation. By Latimkr Clark and Hkhbkkt Sadlkh. Lon- 

 don, Alacinillan, 1H86. 8°. 



upon to act as celestial showman. If a chart of 

 the moon and a small star-map (even no larger 

 than that in Engelmann's translation of New- 

 comb's astronomy) had been added, it would save 

 the trouble of frequent reference to other vol- 

 umes. The price of the ' Star-guide,' we under- 

 stand, is five shillings. 



The opening of the Euphrates valley between 

 the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf is one of 

 the questions of the day, and may be regarded as 

 complementary to the Suez Canal. If, as M. 

 Dumont has recently pointed out to the French 

 academy of sciences, the 1,400 kilometres w ? hich 

 separate the Gulf of Alexandria and the Bay of 

 Antioch from the Persian Gulf w T ere traversed by 

 a railway, six days would be gained in the voyage 

 from Marseilles, Brindisi, or Salonica, to Bombay, 

 and the hot passage of the Red Sea would be 

 avoided. Many travellers, and also some of the 

 more precious freight, would go by the railway. 

 The tonnage of the Suez Canal will soon attain to 

 8,000,000 or 9,000,000 tons per annum ; and 

 200,000 passengers may be expected to traverse it 

 in the same time. Allowing that only a quarter 

 of the passengers and one-twentieth of the ton- 

 nage goes by the new railway, M. Dumont re- 

 marks that this proportion would justifiy the mak- 

 ing of the new line. The local traffic would also 

 be considerable between Bagdad and the Gulf and 

 other places. The nature of the ground presents 

 no great engineering difficulties. The line would 

 rise from the mouth of the Orontes near the 

 ancient port of Salcuces, ascend the Alep to a 

 height of four hundred and eighty metres, and 

 descend towards the Gulf by way of Bagdad. M. 

 Dumont estimates the total expense of construc- 

 tion at 250,000,000 francs. The scheme of M. 

 Dumont is very interesting, especially after the 

 report of Colonel Chesney to the English govern- 

 ment ; and the railway would doubtless be at- 

 tended by the opening-up of the plains of Meso- 

 potamia, which, by irrigation and cultivation, 

 might be made to recover their ancient fertility. 

 Some 2,000,000 acres of land would thus be re- 

 covered to civilization. 



— The housekeeper, Minneapolis, Minn., was 

 burned out for the second time in six years, April 

 12, and a part of its large subscription lisl de- 

 stroyed, several of the ladies employed barely 

 escaping with their lives. Such of our readers as 

 do not receive the May number promptly, should 

 write to the publishers, giving full address, time 

 when subscription was made, and length of time 

 paid for. The May number will then be fowarded, 

 and the name restored to the list. 



