Abstract
THE chapters on the constellations, in this work, are of a very comprehensive character. That devoted to a description of instruments of observation contains a fair amount of useful information, whilst tables of parallaxes and proper motions, double and variable stars, and other interesting objects visible in our hemisphere, compiled from the British Association Catalogue, Connaissance des Temps, and L'Annuaire du Bureau des Longitudes, are plentifully and properly distributed throughout, and render the work what it purports to be, an “Astronomie Pratique.” The author is, however, evidently not at home when writing on spectroscopy, and is considerably behind the recent developments in that branch of astronomy. As an example of this deficiency we would cite his assertion that the spectrum of the Orion nebula consists of three bright lines, as discovered by Dr. Huggins in 1864, although recent observations have increased the number visible to nine, and the photographic spectrum shows many times this amount.
Le Soleil; les Etoiles.
By Gabriel Dallet. (Paris: Firmin-Didot et Cie., 1890.)
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[Book Reviews]. Nature 42, 221 (1890). https://doi.org/10.1038/042221a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/042221a0