Revieivs and Notices of Books. 



297 



do.is^ 192 monocotyledons^ and 43 ferns and their allies, making 

 in all 805 species. The Pteris aquilina ceases at a lower level 

 in the north of Ireland than it does in Scotland, and so does 

 Erica Tetralix. We want the true alpine flora in Ulster, as 

 none of the mountains attain a sufficient elevation. We have 

 only such sub-alpine plants as Saxifraga stellaris, Salix herbacea, 

 Carex rigida,Lycopodium Selago, Saxifraga umbrosa, Arbutus Uva- 

 Ursi, jRubus ChamcBmorus, Alchemilla alpina. 



With the Latin name of the species there is given the English 

 name, the time of flowering, and the range, with the various loca- 

 lities in Ulster in which it has been found. In a supplement, 

 lists are given of species doubtfully native, and of others which 

 are not strictly indigenous. 



We have great pleasure in recommending the book as being 

 well executed, and as being a most valuable pocket companion for 

 students who are examining the botany of the north of Ireland. 

 To botanical pupils in the College of Belfast, the work supplies a 

 long-felt desideratum; and to all who are examining the distribu- 

 tion of plants in Great Britain and Ireland, the facts in this volume 

 must prove highly useful. 



A Hand-Book of Descriptive and Practical Astronomy. 

 By George F. Chambers, F.E.G.S. Murray, London, 

 1861. 12mo, pp. 514. 



While we have abundance of manuals in various departments 

 of science in this country, there is undoubtedly a deficiency as 

 regards astronomy. Mr Chambers has produced a book which 

 fully supplies this want. The work is designed to occupy a 

 middle place between purely elementary works and advanced 

 treatises. He has rendered it attractive to the general reader, 

 useful to the amateur, and valuable to the professional astronomer 

 as an occasional book of reference. The author first gives a sketch 

 of the Solar System — the sun and the various planets, each of 

 which are discussed in separate chapters. He next considers 

 Eclipses and their associated phenomena, — eclipse of the sun and 

 moon, transits of the inferior planets, and occultations. The next 

 subject taken up is the Tides. Then follow miscellaneous astro- 

 nomical phenomena, as the Obliquity of the Ecliptic, Precession, 

 Nutation, Aberration, Parallax, Refraction, Twilight, Zodiacal light, 

 &c. The subject of Comets occupies the whole of the fifth book ; 

 and, after making some interesting general remarks, the author pro- 

 ceeds to treat of Periodic comets, remarkable comets as Donati's, the 

 comets of 1811, 1843, and 1860, cometary statistics and historical 



