i88 3 .] 
45 
Analyses oj Books . 
It would be idle to question if Mr. Froude really feels what he 
here says, but how he or anyone can feel thus is to us an inso- 
luble problem. The modern enthusiasm for landscape seems to 
us perfectly natural, and rather a sun-rise than an eclipse. That 
in these days man has ceased to touch the imagination is because 
we live in an age of great dingy cities, — an age of over-popula- 
tion, of worry and bustle, from which solitude — broken only by 
the presence of intelligent friends — is a heavenly relief. 
“ The Ghost ” and the “ Lady’s Walk ” are striking proofs of 
a change in public taste. Forty years ago such productions 
would have been laughed out of countenance. 
Hydro statics , or Practical Mechanics. Part II. By J. T. Bot- 
tomley, F.R.S.E., F.C.S., &c, London and Glasgow : W. 
Collins, Sons, and Co., Limited. 
The work before us forms one volume of “ Collins’s Science 
Series,” and is intended as a sequel to the “ Elementary Dyna- 
mics,” by the same author. It is observed in the Preface that 
the two books follow closely the programme prescribed by the 
Science and Art Department for the subject of elementary theo- 
retical mechanics, in which they form a complete course. Mr. 
Bottomley, however, has not absolutely confined himself to the 
subjects specified in the Directory of the Science and Art De- 
partment. He has included a consideration of Thermometry, 
and has given explanations on the height of the heterogeneous 
atmosphere, and an investigation of barometric formulas. Finally 
come a body of questions, a considerable number of which, we 
are told, are “ taken from recent Examination Papers of the 
Science and Art Department.” 
The author expresses himself with great clearness, and has 
given numerous well-executed cuts in illustration. 
In making use of Chapter IX., which treats of the “ height of 
the homogeneous atmosphere,” the student may possibly be dis- 
posed to ask if the atmosphere at the height of 26,217 feet ceases 
to be homogeneous, and, if so, what is its composition at greater 
altitude ? As far as we have been able to discover he will not 
find any reply to his question. 
The author advocates the metric system of weights and mea- 
sures in contrast to the British standards. But if, instead of the 
cubic inch, he would take the grain measure as a unit of volume, 
he would surely find the inconveniences of which he complains 
much reduced. 
As exceptions to the rule that bodies expand uniformly as their 
temperature rises, and contract as it falls, Mr. Bottomley men- 
