580 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. VII., No. \1l 



trate, and that the worst abuses of railroad wars 

 have their origin in the desire to force rival roads 

 to a combination. Against the first of these 

 points we may cite the testimony of Mr. Sterne, 

 — certainly no prejudiced witness, — that the 

 actual abuses have been lessened rather than in- 

 creased when the trunk-line pool was in opera- 

 tion. We may cite the uniform experience of 

 Europe, that only where pooling contracts were 

 made permanent has it been possible to bring 

 discrimination under control ; so that men as 

 widely distinct in their views as Gladstone and 

 Bismarck have both sanctioned the system by 

 their active countenance. With regard to the 

 motive for railroad wars, we may show that it is 

 regularly the weaker party who is the aggressor, 

 rather than the stronger party. And finally, as a 

 counter-argument against Mr. Hudson, it may be 

 shown that his scheme has been found impracti- 

 cable. It was tried and abandoned at the outset, 

 as he himself admits. Every subsequent change 

 in railroad administration has rendered the diffi- 

 culties of its application greater instead of less. 

 Both by theory and by experience, it may be shown 

 that the attempt to treat the railway as a public 

 highway has done some harm and no good in the 

 past, and must grow even less possible with the 

 increasing complication of railroad business. 



OPPOLZEKS TREATISE ON ORBITS. 



Oppolzer's treatise on the determination of the 

 orbits of planets and comets is so well and . r o 

 favorably known to students of astronomy, that, 

 in calling attention to the French translation of 

 the first volume (which will be found welcome by 

 those who do not read German with ease), we 

 might have confined ourselves to the briefest no- 

 tice, if the translator had reproduced the German 

 edition without modification. M. Pasquier has, 

 however, introduced, together with several minor 

 changes, the mode of counting longitude and time 

 recommended by the Washington international 

 meridian congress of 1884 : that is, longitudes east 

 from Greenwich are regarded as plus, and west as 

 minus ; and the astronomical day is made to begin 

 with mean midnight. This innovation is in accord 

 with the ideas of Dr. Oppolzer, who is known as 

 one of the strongest and most distinguished of the 

 advocates of the new plan. M. Pasquier says that 

 the change has been made in response, also, to the 

 wishes of the majority of astronomers and of gov- 

 ernments. It is difficult to see upon what ground 

 such a conclusion is drawn in regard to the wishes 



Traite de la determination den orbites des cometes et dcs 

 planHes. Par Theodore d'Oppolzer. Tr. by Ernest 

 Pasquier. Vol. i. Paris, Gauthier-Villars, 1886. 4°. 



of astronomers ; the opinions published during the 

 past year are far from indicating a majority in 

 favor of the change ; and diplomatic action, even 

 if ratified by the countries represented, can scarce- 

 ly be expected to influence astronomers in such an 

 important matter. The course adopted by M. Pas- 

 quier we are inclined to regard as somewhat pre- 

 mature, and it may interfere with the general 

 acceptance and usefulness of the translation as a 

 text-book ; but he has taken care to indicate in 

 his preface the corrections which must be made 

 in the text and tables, if one prefers to reckon the 

 astronomical day from mean noon (the present 

 custom) instead of using universal time. To quote 

 a recent comment, "a glance at these corrections 

 will show astronomers some of the troubles that 

 are in store for them, should they make the 

 change which the Washington conference has 

 recommended." 



The typography of the volume is good (we are 

 always sorry, though, to meet with the flat-topped 

 figure three ( 3 ), an abomination when it is found 

 on divided circles and micrometer heads, and 

 scarcely more legible in print), and especial pains 

 have been taken to insure accuracy in the tables 

 and formulae. The tables, we are told, were 

 revised three times while the work was going 

 through the press. 



The fourth volume of the 4 Publications of the 

 Washburn observatory,' which we have just re- 

 ceived, seems to bring to a close the work under- 

 taken at Madison by Professor Holden. The 

 greater part of the volume is taken up with the 

 work of the Repsold meridian circle for 1884 and 

 1885, — the observation of the 303 stars which are 

 to serve as reference-points for the southern zones 

 of the Astronomische gesellschaft. A casual glance 

 shows a satisfactory performance of the instru- 

 ment ; but we regret with Professor Holden, that, 

 under the circumstances, it has been possible to 

 give merely the " results of observation, instead of 

 accompanying them with the thorough discussion 

 they seem to deserve." We note particularly the 

 creditable part taken in both observations and re- 

 ductions by Miss Alice Lamb, who appears in the 

 personnel as one of the ' assistant astronomers.' A 

 valuable piece of astronomical bibliography will 

 be found in the seven pages devoted to a reference- 

 list of the original sources from which errata have 

 been taken in systematically correcting the star- 

 catalogues contained in the observatory library. 

 Some thirty pages are occupied with the results of 

 meteorological observations; and a brief discussion 

 is given of a longitude campaign undertaken, in 

 co-operation with a government surveying party, 

 to determine the western boundary of Dakota. 



