1878.] 
Notices of Books. 
265 
gical map and seCtion of the district. The history of one single 
river-basin leads to a more general account of the distribution of 
land and water over the surface of the globe (Chapter XVIII.) 
The penultimate chapter treats of the figure of the earth and 
the construction of maps, and the final chapter of the sun. 
It will be seen from the above that no formal sequence of 
subjeCt-matter has been attempted by the author. A book which 
commences with “ The Thames ” and ends with “ The Sun,” 
and discusses midway geology, palaeontology, and physical 
geography, interlaced with chemistry and physics, cannot be re- 
garded as an example of great continuity of structure and 
design. Only a most comprehensive and original mind, such as 
that of Prof. Huxley, could make such a work at once intensely 
interesting and highly instructive. The book will be welcomed 
alike by the general reader, the teacher, and the student. For 
the upper forms in our modern school divisions it is admirably 
suited. Its great value to every class of reader depends not only 
on the matter which it contains, but upon its suggestiveness 
and upon its excellent literary style. 
An Elementary Treatise on Physics , Experimental and Applied . 
Translated from Ganot’s “ Elements de Physique,” by E. 
Atkinson, Ph.D., F.C.S. Eighth Edition, Revised and 
Enlarged. London : Longmans. 1877. 
This is a new edition of a very well-known work which has been 
reviewed at length in our columns. It is not often that a scien- 
tific book of this magnitude reaches an eighth edition in this 
country, and the faCt speaks for itself without any further com- 
ment. The present edition contains sixty pages of new matter 
and sixty-two illustrations. All the most recent discoveries in 
Science have been introduced, and the work is a complete 
exponent of the present state of general elementary physics. 
A Star Atlas for Students and Observers. Showing 6000 Stars 
and 1500 Double Stars, Nebulas, &c., in Twelve Maps on 
the Equidistant Projection ; with Index Maps on the Stereo- 
graphic Projection. By Richard A. Proctor. Fourth 
Edition. London : Longmans. 1877. 
Three editions of this work having been sold rather rapidly, the 
author determined to bring out a cheaper edition, and this is the 
result. The maps are constructed in reference to the year 1880, 
and they will continue to be more and more correct than in the 
