416 
POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW. 
ASTRONOMICAL TABLES.* 
G ENEILAL SIIORTREDE’S tables enable the seaman to find the azimuth 
at sea by means of the hour augle^ in all navigable latitudes at every 
two degrees of declination between the limits of the zodiac, whenever any 
of the heavenly bodies is observed at a. convenient distance from the zenith. 
Navigators will find these tables economise time materially. Astronomers 
will also, we think, find them useful. 
The author of “ How to Keep the Clock Right ” shows us the disadvantages 
of the sextant method and the expense of good transit instruments, and lastly 
the errors of the “meridian lines,” “dipleidoscopes,” &c., due to the sun’s 
action on the pillars, «S:c., to which they are attached. He then describes 
his own metliod by observations of the fixed stars, and gives an account of 
a pillar which is not likely to be affected by the sun. Amateur astronomers 
will be interested in trying the experiment. 
THE FERTILIZATION OF ORCHHDS.t 
T his is a reprint of a most impoi-tant paper published by Mr. Darwin in 
the Annals of Natural History for last month (September). The paper 
is a translation of a series of notes prepared by Mr. Darwin for a French 
edition of his work on the Fertilization of Orchids. It contains, on the one 
hand, coiTections of some serious errors into which the author had fallen, 
and, on the other hand, confirmations of many of his statements. It also 
contains new facts of interest from the author’s observations, and those of 
other observers. We have not space to abstract the paper, having only 
received it a few days before “ going to press,” but we heartily commend 
it to the attention of all philosophic botanists. 
Natural History Transactions of Northumberland and Durham. Part I. 
Vol. HI. Here is a thick honest-looking 8vo. volume, in close tjy)e, and 
with first- cla.s8 plates. It indicates part of a year’s work done up in the 
North, and it is, like all its predecessors, full of able memoirs, which take 
equal rank with those of the Linnean and other societies. The Rev. R. F. 
Wheeler contributes the opening and the final papere, the one being a long 
report of the meteorology of 18G7, and the other a similar record for 18G8. 
The three most valuable articles are those (two) by Messrs. Hancock and 
♦ “Azimuth and Hour Angle for Latitude and Declination.” By Major- 
General Hhortrede, F.R.A.8. London : Strahan, 18GG. 
“ Howto Keep the Clock Right by obser\'ations of tlie Fixed Stars with a 
small fixed Telescope.” By T. Warner. Williams and Norgate : 1861). 
t “ Notes on the Fertilization of Orchids.” By Charles Darwin, M.A., 
F.It.S. Reprinted from the “Annals of Natural History,” September, 
1869. 
