ESVIEWS. 
287 
omitted these rhapsodies very freely, though traces enough of them will he 
found here and there to betray the French origin of the work.” But even 
with this admission we should be doing Mr. Glaisher injustice did we not 
point out how successfully he has performed his editorial duties. Unfor- 
tunately it has not only occurred in the style of M. Flammarion that many 
of his phrases demanded an alteration, but it is also of considerable account 
in the matter with which he has furnished his readers. This, it mast be 
confessed, is but too frequently erroneous. And here the path of a learned 
and judicious editor was a difficult one, for he has had frequently to deny 
point blank the statements of his author. We must give Mr. Glaisher 
credit for unhesitatingly performing his duty when called upon to rectify the 
errors of M. Flammarion, and we must regret that his pen has been called 
upon so often. It occurs to us that it is possible that this might have been 
avoided, as good taste would surely suggest, but not knowing the circum- 
stances of the case we are bound to assume that Mr. Glaisher was left no 
other course than that of openly pointing out the errors into which M. 
Flammarion has been led. But assuredly it would have better pleased the 
requirements of the general reader, and we should fancy the amour propre 
of the French savant would also have been gratified by the adoption of a 
different course — such, for example, as the substitution of the correct for 
the inaccurate passages. 
The editor has, we imagine, done wisely in materially curtailing the 
present wbrk, for we imagine that a book of more than 800 pages would 
have been less acceptable to the English public, and we are also struck vdth 
the truth of his observation that the respiration and alimentation of 
plants are subjects which, though indirectly connected with the subject of 
the atmosphere, are really but incompletely united to the other questions 
dealt with by the author. The work is divided into six books, which all 
treat upon allied but different subjects, as they sufficiently show — thus the 
first has to do with our planet and its vital fluid, the second describes light 
and the optical phenomena of the air, the third is upon temperature, the 
fourth on the wind, the fifth upon water-clouds and air, and the sixth and 
last treats upon electricity, lightning, and thunderstorms. In this way we 
find all the subjects either directly or indirectly connected with the atmo- 
sphere fully and fairly dealt with. And perhaps, to many readers, as in- 
teresting a portion of the work as any other is that included in the end of 
the fifth chapter, and entitled Prodigies : Showers of blood, of earth, of 
sulphur, of plants, of frogs, of fish, and finally of various kinds of animals.” 
Criticism of a severe kind is entirely disarmed by the character of the 
work, which is peculiarly elementary, and, by the reputation of its 
editor, as eminently philosophic. We may, then, simply commend the 
volume to our readers’ notice, with the very highest commendations of its 
merit as a popular and withal accurate account of the various subjects con- 
nected with the atmosphere. The translator has effected his part of the 
duty with care and discretion. There are, to be sure, some passages which 
we fancy might be rendered in language less idiomatically French; but 
then, on the whole, the labour has been achieved satisfactorily and well. 
It but remains to say a word for the publishers, and this must be praise- 
worthy. In our long experience of the scientific publishing world we have 
