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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW. 
since the period at which his various essays were published ; Mr. Walton 
has therefore been engaged in bringing Dr. Lardner’s works up to the present 
condition of scientific knowledge. In one of our late numbers we called 
attention to a new edition of Dr. Lardner’s Natural Philosophy, and we have 
now the pleasure of bringing another of Dr. Lardner’s books under our readers’ 
notice. The work before us, even in its first edition, was an excellent general 
treatise, and the present edition is as fully in accordance with modem dis- 
covery as its predecessor was with the science of its time. Those who are 
acquainted with the second edition will not find many novelties in the 
present work. There are some new features, however, which are of interest 
and importance. One of the chief points in which this differs from the second 
edition relates to the horizontal parallax of the sun, which in conformity 
with the opinions of the leading astronomers has been increased from 8"-5776 
to an alteration which necessarily involved other important numerical 
corrections. Among other points referred to for the first time in this volume 
are notices of the discovery of thirty-three minor planets. The illustrations 
are of an excellent character, the woodcuts intercalated with the text, being 
clearly executed and simple, and the plates, especially those of the comets 
and nebulae, being carefully and skilfully executed. The work commends 
itself especially to junior students, schools and families, and deserves an 
extensive circulation. 
Natural History Transactions of Northumberland and Durham , Yol. I. 
Part II. Dodsworth, Newcastle-on-Tyne. — This the second part of this 
well-conducted publication is full of important contributions and contains a 
series of illustrations which would do credit to a London publisher. All the 
articles deserve to be read, but there is one which is worthy of careful 
attention, that “On an Ancient British Burial at Ilderton, Northumberland, 
with notes on the Skull.” In this the writers, the Bev. W. Greenwell and 
Dr. Embleton, give a minute account of the interesting archaeological 
district of old Berwick, and of an ancient British skull found therein. The 
drawing of this latter, which accompanies the paper, is certainly a master- 
piece of artistic skill. We doubt whether we have ever seen a better 
anatomical illustration than this. The zygomatic processes stand out with 
an almost stereoscopic effect. The following description of this skull shows 
it to have belonged to a man of about forty-five years of age, and who must 
have possessed (so far as we can judge) a more than average degree of 
intelligence. The skull is robust, well-arched and symmetrical, its supra- 
ciliary arches are very prominent, and its external angular processes well 
developed. The forehead slightly recedes. The occipito-parietal region is 
large and rounded. The mouth is rather large and well-formed, and con- 
tained a full set of fine teeth. The lower jaw has a strong square and some- 
what projecting chin, the angle is not far from being a right angle, and the 
distance across from angle to angle is considerable. The frontal sinuses 
appear to join together and form a projection over the root of the nose. The 
temporal fossae are wide and large. The coronal saggital and lambdoidal 
sutures are partially obliterated. — The other papers in this number are full 
of interest. 
