398 Notices of Books. [July, 
be regarded as an ably compiled summary of the astronomical 
knowledge of the day, drawn up in “ ordinary and popular lan- 
guage,” and divested, as far as the subjedt admits, of puzzling 
technicalities, and especially of that parade of mathematics 
which, above all things, deters the general reader. The present 
editor, working on the same general lines, has embodied in the 
book the results of more recent research. It is no empty boast 
when he declares in the Preface that “ to the student of the 
higher or mathematical branches of astronomy this work, how- 
ever, will also be found interesting and instructive, as he will 
find information of the most valuable kind in it, for much of 
which he may look in vain in works of higher pretensions.” 
Beginning with an account of astronomical methods of investi- 
gation and means of observation, the author passes to a descrip- 
tion of astronomical instruments and their mode of use. It will 
be interesting for the general reader to compare the gigantic and 
exquisitely finished instruments described and figured in this 
sedtion with the telescopes once used by the fathers of astrono- 
mical science, now on view in the Loan Collection of Scientific 
Apparatus at South Kensington. 
The next chapters treat of the general rotundity and dimen- 
sions of the earth, of its spheroidal form, mass, and density; of 
the apparent form and motion of the firmament ; of the earth’s 
diurnal and annual rotation ; of atmospheric refradion and 
parallax; of precession and mutation. The author next gives a 
description of the moon, noticing her effeCt upon the tides and 
trade-winds ; of the sun, and of the solar system in general. 
Next follows an account of the planets classified under three 
groups — the terrestrial, the planetoid, and the major or exterior. 
Eclipses, transits, and occultations are next explained. Thence 
we are led to a survey of the comets, and of the so-called fixed 
stars, — a department of astronomy which has been wonderfully 
enriched during the third quarter of the present century. The 
work is well illustrated, and is provided with a good index. 
We can do no other than pronounce this work a most valuable 
manual of astronomy, and we strongly recommend it to all who 
wish to acquire a general — but at the same time correCt — 
acquaintance with this sublime science. 
A Critical Examination of some of the Principal Arguments for 
and against Darwinism. By James Maclaren, Barrister- 
at-Law. London : E. Bumpus. 
It is a trite saying that there are three tasks which every man 
thinks it within his power to accomplish — to drive a gig, to 
manage a farm, and to edit a newspaper. To these the experience 
