Chapter XXVIII: The End of Things (1)

We have been trying to picture the beginning of things. We will now try to picture the end.

In attempting this, we find that our theories must of necessity be limited to the earth, or at most to the solar system. The time-honoured expression "End of the World" really applies to very little beyond the end of our own earth. To the people of past ages it, of course, meant very much more. For them, as we have seen, the earth was the centre of everything; and the heavens and all around were merely a kind of minor accompaniment, created, as they no doubt thought, for their especial benefit. In the ancient view, therefore, the beginning of the earth meant the beginning of the universe, and the end of the earth the extinction of all things. The belief, too, was general that this end would be accomplished through fire. In the modern view, however, the birth and death of the earth, or indeed of the solar system, might pass as incidents almost unnoticed in space. They would be but mere links in the chain of cosmic happenings.

A number of theories have been forward from time to time prognosticating the end of the earth, and consequently of human life. We will conclude with a recital of a few of them, though which, if any, is the true one, the Last Men alone can know.

Just as a living creature may at any moment die in the fulness of strength through sudden malady or accident, or, on the other hand, may meet with death as a mere consequence of old age, so may our globe be destroyed by some sudden cataclysm, or end in slow processes of decay. Barring accidents, therefore, it would seem probable that the growing cold of the earth, or the gradual extinction of the sun, should after many millions of years close the chapter of life, as we know it. On the former of these suppositions, the decrease of temperature on our globe might perhaps be accelerated by the thinning of the atmosphere, through the slow escape into space of its constituent gases, or their gradual chemical combination with the materials of the earth. The subterranean heat entirely radiated away, there would no longer remain any of those volcanic elevating forces which so far have counteracted the slow wearing down of the land surface of our planet, and thus what water remained would in time wash over all. If this preceded the growing cold of the sun, certain strange evolutions of marine forms of life would be the last to endure, but these, too, would have to go in the end.

Should, however, the actual process be the reverse of this, and the sun cool down the quicker, then man would, as a consequence of his scientific knowledge, tend in all probability to outlive the other forms of terrestrial life. In such a vista we can picture the regions of the earth towards the north and south becoming gradually more and more uninhabitable through cold, and human beings withdrawing before the slow march of the icy boundary, until the only regions capable of habitation would lie within the tropics. In such a struggle between man and destiny science would be pressed to the uttermost, in the devising of means to counteract the slow diminution of the solar heat and the gradual disappearance of air and water. By that time the axial rotation of our globe might possibly have been slowed down to such an extent that one side alone of its surface would be turned ever towards the fast dying sun. And the mind's eye can picture the last survivors of the human race, huddled together for warmth in a glass-house somewhere on the equator, waiting for the end to come.

The mere idea of the decay and death of the solar system almost brings to one a cold shudder. All that sun's light and heat, which means so much to us, entirely a thing of the past. A dark, cold ball rushing along in space, accompanied by several dark, cold balls circling ceaselessly around it. One of these a mere cemetery, in which there would be no longer any recollection of the mighty empires, the loves and hates, and all that teeming play of life which we call History. Tombstones of men and of deeds, whirling along forgotten in the darkness and silence. _Sic transit gloria mundi._

In that brilliant flight of scientific fancy, the _Time Machine_, Mr. H.G. Wells has pictured the closing years of the earth in some such long-drawn agony as this. He has given us a vision of a desolate beach by a salt and almost motionless sea. Foul monsters of crab-like form crawl slowly about, beneath a huge hull of sun, red and fixed in the sky. The rocks around are partly coated with an intensely green vegetation, like the lichen in caves, or the plants which grow in a perpetual twilight. And the air is now of an exceeding thinness.

He dips still further into the future, and thus predicts the final form of life:--

"I saw again the moving thing upon the shoal--there was no mistake now that it was a moving thing--against the red water of the sea. It was a round thing, the size of a football perhaps, or it may be bigger, and tentacles trailed down from it; it seemed black against the weltering blood-red water, and it was hopping fitfully about."

What a description of the "Heir of all the Ages!"

To picture the end of our world as the result of a cataclysm of some kind, is, on the other hand, a form of speculation as intensely dramatic as that with which we have just been dealing is unutterably sad.

It is not so many years ago, for instance, that men feared a sudden catastrophe from the possible collision of a comet with our earth. The unreasoning terror with which the ancients were wont to regard these mysterious visitants to our skies had, indeed, been replaced by an apprehension of quite another kind. For instance, as we have seen, the announcement in 1832 that Biela's Comet, then visible, would cut through the orbit of the earth on a certain date threw many persons into a veritable panic. They did not stop to find out the real facts of the case, namely, that, at the time mentioned, the earth would be nearly a month's journey from the point indicated!

It is, indeed, very difficult to say what form of damage the earth would suffer from such a collision. In 1861 it passed, as we have seen, through the tail of the comet without any noticeable result. But the head of a comet, on the other hand, may, for aught we know, contain within it elements of peril for us. A collision with this part might, for instance, result in a violent bombardment of meteors. But these meteors could not be bodies of any great size, for the masses of comets are so very minute that one can hardly suppose them to contain any large or dense constituent portions.

The danger, however, from a comet's head might after all be a danger to our atmosphere. It might precipitate, into the air, gases which would asphyxiate us or cause a general conflagration. It is scarcely necessary to point out that dire results would follow upon any interference with the balance of our atmosphere. For instance, the well-known French astronomer, M. Camille Flammarion,[39] has imagined the absorption of the nitrogen of the air in this way; and has gone on to picture men and animals reduced to breathing only oxygen, first becoming excited, then mad, and finally ending in a perfect saturnalia of delirium.

Lastly, though we have no proof that stars eventually become dark and cold, for human time has so far been all too short to give us even the smallest evidence as to whether heat and light are diminishing in our own sun, yet it seems natural to suppose that such bodies must at last cease their functions, like everything else which we know of. We may, therefore, reasonably presume that there are dark bodies scattered in the depths of space. We have, indeed, a suspicion of at least one, though perhaps it partakes rather of a planetary nature, namely, that "dark" body which continually eclipses Algol, and so causes the temporary diminution of its light. As the sun rushes towards the constellation of Lyra such an extinguished sun may chance to find itself in his path; just as a derelict hulk may loom up out of the darkness right beneath the bows of a vessel sailing the great ocean.

Unfortunately a collision between the sun and a body of this kind could not occur with such merciful suddenness. A tedious warning of its approach would be given from that region of the heavens whither our system is known to be tending. As the dark object would become visible only when sufficiently near our sun to be in some degree illuminated by his rays, it might run the chance at first of being mistaken for a new planet. If such a body were as large, for instance, as our own sun, it should, according to Mr. Gore's calculations, reveal itself to the telescope some fifteen years before the great catastrophe. Steadily its disc would appear to enlarge, so that, about nine years after its discovery, it would become visible to the naked eye. At length the doomed inhabitants of the earth, paralysed with terror, would see their relentless enemy shining like a second moon in the northern skies. Rapidly increasing in apparent size, as the gravitational attractions of the solar orb and of itself interacted more powerfully with diminishing distance, it would at last draw quickly in towards the sun and disappear in the glare.

It is impossible for us to conceive anything more terrible than these closing days, for no menace of catastrophe which we can picture could bear within it such a certainty of fulfilment. It appears, therefore, useless to speculate on the probable actions of men in their now terrestrial prison. Hope, which so far had buoyed them up in the direst calamities, would here have no place. Humanity, in the fulness of its strength, would await a wholesale execution from which there could be no chance at all of a reprieve. Observations of the approaching body would have enabled astronomers to calculate its path with great exactness, and to predict the instant and character of the impact. Eight minutes after the moment allotted for the collision the resulting tide of flame would surge across the earth's orbit, and our globe would quickly pass away in vapour.

And what then?

A nebula, no doubt; and after untold ages the formation possibly from it of a new system, rising phoenix-like from the vast crematorium and filling the place of the old one. A new central sun, perhaps, with its attendant retinue of planets and satellites. And teeming life, perchance, appearing once more in the fulness of time, when temperature in one or other of these bodies had fallen within certain limits, and other predisposing conditions had supervened.

"The world's great age begins anew,
The golden years return,
The earth doth like a snake renew
Her winter weeds outworn:
Heaven smiles, and faiths and empires gleam
Like wrecks of a dissolving dream.

A brighter Hellas rears its mountains
From waves serener far;
A new Peneus rolls his fountains
Against the morning star;
Where fairer Tempes bloom, there sleep
Young Cyclads on a sunnier deep.

A loftier Argo cleaves the main,
Fraught with a later prize;
Another Orpheus sings again,
And loves, and weeps, and dies;
A new Ulysses leaves once more
Calypso for his native shore.

* * * * *

Oh cease! must hate and death return? Cease! must men kill and die? Cease! drain not to its dregs the urn Of bitter prophecy! The world is weary of the past,-- Oh might it die or rest at last!"

[39] See his work, _La Fin du Monde_, wherein the various ways by which our world may come to an end are dealt with at length, and in a profoundly interesting manner.

INDEX

Achromatic telescope, 115, 116

Adams, 24, 236, 243

Aerial telescopes, 110, 111

Agathocles, Eclipse of, 85

Agrippa, Camillus, 44

Ahaz, dial of, 85

Air, 166

Airy, Sir G.B., 92

Al gûl, 307

Al Sufi, 284, 290, 296, 315

Alcor, 294

Alcyone, 284

Aldebaran, 103, 288, 290, 297

Algol, 307, 309-310, 312, 323, 347

Alpha, Centauri, 52-53, 280, 298-299, 304, 320

Alpha Crucis, 298

Alps, Lunar, 200

Altair, 295

Altitude of objects in sky, 196

Aluminium, 145

Amos viii. 9, 85

Anderson, T.D., 311-312

Andromeda (constellation), 279, 314;
Great Nebula in, 314, 316

Andromedid meteors, 272

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 87-88

Anighito meteorite, 277

Annular eclipse, 65-68, 80, 92, 99

Annular Nebula in Lyra, 315-316

Annulus, 68

Ansæ, 242-243

Anticipation in discovery, 236-237

Apennines, Lunar, 200

Aphelion, 274

Apparent enlargement of celestial objects, 192-196

Apparent size of celestial objects deceptive, 196, 294

Apparent sizes of sun and moon, variations in, 67, 80, 178

Aquila (constellation), 295

Arabian astronomers, 107, 307

Arago, 92, 257

Arc, degrees minutes and seconds of, 60

Arcturus, 280, 282, 290, 295

Argelander, 290

Argo (constellation), 298

Aristarchus of Samos, 171

Aristarchus (lunar crater), 205

Aristophanes, 101

Aristotle, 161, 173, 185

Arrhenius 222, 253-254

Assyrian tablet, 84

Asteroidal zone, analogy of, to Saturn's rings, 238

Asteroids (or minor planets), 30-31, 225-228, 336;
discovery of the, 23, 244;
Wolf's method of discovering, 226-227

Astrology, 56

_Astronomical Essays_, 63, 337

Astronomical Society, Royal, 144

_Astronomy, Manual of_, 166

Atlantic Ocean, parallelism of opposite shores, 340-341

Atlas, the Titan, 18

Atmosphere, absorption by earth's, 129-130;
ascertainment of, by spectroscope, 124-125, 212;
height of earth's, 167, 267;
of asteroids, 226;
of earth, 129, 130, 166-169, 218, 222, 267, 346;
of Mars, 156, 212, 216;
of Mercury, 156;
of moon, 70-71, 156, 201-203;
of Jupiter, 231;
of planets, 125;
of Saturn's rings, 239

"Atmosphere" of the stars, 331

Atmospheric layer and "glass-house" compared, 167, 203

August Meteors (Perseids), 270

Auriga (constellation), 294-296, 306, 311;
New Star in, 311

Aurigæ, [b] (Beta), 294, 297, 304

Aurora Borealis, 141, 143, 259

Australia, suggested origin of, 340

Axis, 29-30;
of earth, 163, 180;
small movement of earth's, 180-181

Babylonian tablet, 84

Babylonian idea of the moon, 185

Bacon, Roger, 108

Bacubirito meteorite, 277

Bagdad, 107

Baily, Francis, 92

"Baily's Beads," 69, 70, 91-92, 154

Bailly (lunar crater), 199

Ball, Sir Robert, 271

Barnard, E.E., 31, 224, 232-234, 237, 258

"Bay of Rainbows," 197

Bayer's classification of stars, 289, 291-292

Bayeux Tapestry, 263

Bear, Great (constellation). _See_ Ursa Major;
Little, _see_ Ursa Minor

Beehive (Præsepe), 307

Beer, 206

Belopolsky, 304

"Belt" of Orion, 297

Belt theory of Milky Way, 321

Belts of Jupiter, 230

Bergstrand, 314

Berlin star chart, 244

Bessel, 173, 280, 305

Beta ([b]) Lyræ, 307

Beta ([b]) Persei. _See_ Algol

Betelgeux, 297

Bible, eclipses in, 85

Biela's Comet, 256-257, 272-273, 345

Bielids, 270, 272-273

Billion, 51-52

Binary stars, spectroscopic, 301-306, 309;
visual, 300, 303-306

"Black Drop," 152-154

"Black Hour," 89

"Black Saturday," 89

Blood, moon in eclipse like, 102

Blue (rays of light), 121, 130

Bode's Law, 22-23, 244-245

Bolometer, 127

Bond, G.P., 236, 257

Bonpland, 270

Boötes (constellation), 295, 314

Bradley, 111

Brahe, Tycho, 290, 311

Brédikhine's theory of comets' tails, 253-254, 256

Bright eclipses of moon, 65, 102

British Association for the Advancement of Science, 318

_British Astronomical Association, Journal of_, 194

British Museum, 84

Bull (constellation). _See_ Taurus;
"Eye" of the, 297;
"Head" of the, 297

Burgos, 98

Busch, 93

Cæsar, Julius, 85, 110, 180, 259, 262, 291, 293

Calcium, 138, 145

Callisto, 233-234

Cambridge, 24, 91, 119, 243

Campbell, 305

Canali, 214

"Canals" of Mars, 214-222, 224-225

Cancer (constellation), 307

Canes Venatici (constellation), 306, 314

Canis Major (constellation), 289, 296-297;
Minor, 296-297

Canopus, 285, 298-299, 320

Capella, 280, 282, 290, 294, 297, 303, 313

Carbon, 145

Carbon dioxide. _See_ Carbonic acid gas

Carbonic acid gas, 166, 213, 221-222

Carnegie Institution, Solar Observatory of, 118

Cassegrainian telescope, 114, 118

Cassini, J.D., 236, 240

"Cassini's Division" in Saturn's ring, 236, 238

Cassiopeia (constellation), 279, 294, 311, 314

Cassiopeiæ, [ê] (Eta), 303

Cassiopeia's Chair, 294

Cassius, Dion, 86

Castor, 282, 297, 304

Catalogues of stars, 106, 290-291, 311

Centaur. _See_ Centaurus

Centaurus (constellation), 298, 306

Centre of gravity, 42, 283-284, 324

Ceres, diameter of, 30, 225

Ceti, Omicron (or Mira), 307-308

Cetus, or the Whale (constellation), 307

Chaldean astronomers, 74, 76

Challis, 243-244

Chamberlin, 337

"Chambers of the South," 299

Chandler, 308

Charles V., 261

"Charles' Wain," 291

Chemical rays, 127

Chinese and eclipses, 83

Chloride of sodium, 122

Chlorine, 122, 145

Christ, Birth of, 102

Christian Era, first recorded solar eclipse in, 85

Chromatic aberration, 110

Chromosphere, 71-72, 93-94, 130-132, 138-139

Circle, 171-173

Clark, Alvan, & Sons, 117-118, 303

Claudius, Emperor, 86

Clavius (lunar crater), 199

Clerk Maxwell, 237

"Clouds" (of Aristophanes), 101

Clustering power, 325

Clusters of stars, 300, 306, 314, 328

Coal Sacks. _See_ Holes in Milky Way

Coelostat, 119

Coggia's Comet, 254

Colour, production of, in telescopes, 109-111, 115, 121

Collision of comet with earth, 345-346;
of dark star with sun, 346-348;
of stars, 285, 312

Columbus, 103

Coma Berenices (constellation), 307, 316

Comet, first discovery of by photography, 258;
first orbit calculated, 255;
first photograph of, 257-258;
furthest distance seen, 258;
passage of among satellites of Jupiter, 250;
passage of earth and moon through tail of, 257, 346

Comet of 1000 A.D., 262;
1066, 262-264;
1680, 255, 265;
1811, 254-255;
1861, 254, 257, 346;
1881, 257-258;
1882, 251, 258, 291;
1889, 258;
1907, 258

Comets, 27-28, 58, Chaps. XIX. and XX., 345-346;
ancient view of, 259-261;
captured, 251-253;
Chinese records of, 83-84;
composition of, 252;
contrasted with planets, 247;
families of, 251-252, 256;
meteor swarms and, 274;
revealed by solar eclipses, 95-96;
tails of, 141, 182, 248, 252-254

Common, telescopes of Dr. A.A., 118

Conjunction, 209

Constellations, 105, 278-279, 285, 289

Contraction theory of sun's heat, 128-129, 335

Cook, Captain, 154

Cooke, 118

Copernican system, 20, 107, 149, 170-173, 279, 280

Copernicus, 20, 108, 149, 158, 170-172, 236

Copernicus (lunar crater), 200, 204

Copper, 145

Corder, H., 144

Corona, 70-72, 90, 92-97, 132, 140-141, 270;
earliest drawing of, 91;
earliest employment of term, 90;
earliest mention of, 86;
earliest photograph of, 93;
illumination given by, 71;
possible change in shape of during eclipse, 96-98;
structure of, 142-143;
variations in shape of, 141

Corona Borealis (constellation), 295

Coronal matter, 142;
streamers, 95-96, 141-143

Coronium, 133, 142, 317

Cotes, 91

Coudé, equatorial, 119

Cowell, P.H., 255, 264

Crabtree, 152

Crape ring of Saturn, 236-237

Craterlets on Mars, 220

Craters (ring-mountains) on moon, 197-205, 214, 340;
suggested origin of, 203-204, 214

Crawford, Earl of, 94

Crecy, supposed eclipse at battle of, 88-89

Crescent moon, 183, 185

Crommelin, A.C.D., 255, 264

Crossley Reflector, 118, 315-316

Crown glass, 115

Crucifixion, darkness of, 86

Crucis, [a] (Alpha), 298

Crux, or "Southern Cross" (constellation), 298-299, 323

Cycle, sunspot, 136-137, 141, 143-144

Cygni, 61, 173, 280

Cygnus, or the Swan (constellation), 295, 325

Daniel's Comet of 1897, 258

Danzig, 111

Dark Ages, 102, 107, 260

Dark eclipses of moon, 65, 102-103

Dark matter in space, 323

Dark meteors, 275-276

Dark stars, 309-310, 312, 323, 346-347

"Darkness behind the stars," 325

Darwin, Sir G.H., 339

Davis, 94

Dawes, 236

Dearborn Observatory, 303

Death from fright at eclipse, 73

Debonnaire, Louis le, 88, 261

Deimos, 223

Deity, symbol of the, 87

"Demon star." _See_ Algol

Denebola, 296

Denning, W.F., 269

Densities of sun and planets, 39

Density, 38

Deslandres, 140

Diameters of sun and planets, 31

Disappearance of moon in lunar eclipse, 65, 102-103

Disc, 60

"Disc" theory. _See_ "Grindstone" theory

Discoveries, independent, 236

Discovery, anticipation in, 236-237;
indirect methods of, 120

"Dipper," the, 291;
the "Little," 294

Distance of a celestial body, how ascertained, 56-58;
of sun from earth, how determined, 151, 211

Distances of planets from sun, 47

Distances of sun and moon, relative, 68

Dog, the Greater. _See_ Canis Major;
the Lesser, _see_ Canis Minor

"Dog Star," 289, 297

Dollond, John, 115-116

Donati's Comet, 254, 257

Doppler's method, 125, 136, 282, 301-302

Dorpat, 117

Double canals of Mars, 214-215, 218-220

Double planet, earth and moon a, 189

Double stars, 300

Douglass, 233

"Dreams, Lake of," 197

Dumb-bell Nebula, 316

Earth, 20, 22, 31, 39, 48, 64, Chap. XV., 267;
cooling of, 343;
diameter of, 31;
interior of, 166;
mean distance of from sun, 47;
rigidity of, 181;
rotation of, 30, 33, 161-165, 170;
shape of, 165;
"tail" to, 182

"Earthlight," or "Earthshine," 186

Earth's axis, Precessional movement of, 175-177, 295, 298-299

Earth's shadow, circular shape of, 64, 160

Eclipse, 61

Eclipse knowledge, delay of, 74

Eclipse party, work of, 73

Eclipse of sun, advance of shadow in total, 69;
animal and plant life during, 71;
earliest record of total, 84;
description of total, 69-73;
duration of total, 69, 72;
importance of total, 68

Eclipses, ascertainment of dates of past, 74;
experience a necessity in solar, 73-74;
of moon, 63-65, Chap. IX., 203;
photography in, 93;
prediction of future, 74;
recurrence of, 74-80

Eclipses of sun, 25, 65-74, Chap. VIII., 201-202, 234;
1612 A.D., 90;
1715, 88, 91;
1724, 88, 91;
1836, 92;
1842, 92-93;
1851, 81, 93;
1868, 93;
1870, 94;
1871, 94;
1878, 95;
1882, 95;
1883, 95-96;
1893, 95-96;
1896, 96, 99;
1898, 96, 98;
1900, 97;
1905, 75-76, 80-81, 97-98;
1907, 98;
1908, 98;
1914, 99;
1927, 92, 99-100

_Eclipses, Past and Future_, 340

Egenitis, 272

Electric furnace, 128

Electric light, spectrum of, 122

Elements composing sun, 144-145

Ellipses, 32, 66, 172-173, 177-178

Elliptic orbit, 66, 177

Ellipticity, 32

Elongation, Eastern, 147, 149;
Western, 147, 149

Encke's Comet, 253, 256

"End of the World," 342

England, solar eclipses visible in, 87-88, 91-92

Epsilon, ([e]) Lyræ, 302

Equator, 48

Equatorial telescope, 226

Equinoxes. _See_ Precession of

Eros, 210-211, 223, 226-227;
discovery of, 24, 210, 227;
importance of, 211;
orbit of, 32, 37, 210, 336

Eruptive prominences, 139

_Esclistre_, 89

Ether, 322-323, 331-332

Europa, 233, 235

Evans, J.E., 219

Evening star, 149-150, 241

Everest, Mount, 200

Evershed, 182

Eye-piece, 110

Fabricius, 307

Faculæ, 136, 143

Fauth, 205

Faye, 335

_Fin du Monde_, 346

First quarter, 183

"Fixed stars," 280

Flagstaff, 215-216, 220

Flammarion, Camille, 346

Flamsteed, 90

"Flash spectrum," 137

"Flat," 112

Flint glass, 115

Focus, 66, 177

"Forty-foot Telescope," 115

Foster, 102

Fraunhofer, 117

French Academy of Sciences, 115

Froissart, 89

"Full moon" of Laplace, 190

Galaxy. _See_ Milky Way.

Galilean telescope, 109

Galileo, 55, 109, 172, 197, 206, 232-235, 242

Galle, 24, 211, 244

Ganymede, 233-234

Gas light, spectrum of, 122

Gegenschein, 181-182

"Gem" of meteor ring, 271

Gemini, or the Twins (constellation), 22, 296-297

Geminorum, [z] (Zeta), 304

Geometrical groupings of stars, 292

"Giant" planet, 230, 238-239

Gibbous, 183, 185

Gill, Sir David, 211, 258, 291, 317-318

Gold, 145

Goodricke, 307

Gore, J.E., 63, 285, 303, 307-308, 310, 323-324, 331, 337, 347

Granulated structure of photosphere, 134

Gravitation (or gravity), 39, 41-45, 128, 306

Greek ideas, 18, 158, 161-162, 171, 186, 197

Green (rays of light), 121

Greenwich Observatory, 143-144, 232, 255, 303

Gregorian telescope, 113-114

Grimaldi (lunar crater), 199

"Grindstone" theory, 319-322

"Groombridge, 1830," 281-282, 326, 330

Groups of stars, 306-307

Grubb, Sir Howard, 118

_Gulliver's Travels_, 224

Hale, G.E., 119, 140

Half moon, 183, 185

Hall, Asaph, 223

Hall, Chester Moor, 115

Halley, Edmund, 91, 255, 264-265, 306

Halley's Comet, 255, 264-265

Haraden Hill, 91

Harvard, 118, 302

Harvest moon, 190-192

Hawaii, 221

Heat rays, 127

Heidelberg, 226, 232

Height of lunar mountains, how determined, 201

Height of objects in sky, estimation of, 196

Helium, 138, 145, 182

Helmholtz, 128, 335

Hercules (constellation), 295

Herod the Great, 101-102

Herodotus, 84

Herschel, A.S., 269

Herschel, Sir John, 92, 322

Herschel, Sir William, 22, 36, 114-115, 204, 213, 235, 283, 292, 308,
319-320, 326-328

Herschelian telescope, 114, 119

Hesper, 109

Hesperus, 150

Hevelius, 111

Hezekiah, 85

Hi, 83

Hindoos, 18

Hipparchus, 106, 177, 290, 311

Ho, 83

Holes in Milky Way, 321-323

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 213

Homer, 223

Horace, Odes of, 106

Horizon, 159

Horizontal eclipse, 169

Horrox, 44, 151-152

Hour Glass Sea, 212

Huggins, Sir William, 94, 125, 317

Humboldt, 270

"Hunter's moon," 192

Huyghens, 111-112, 240, 242-243

Hyades, 296-297, 307

Hydrocarbon gas, 254

Hydrogen, 94, 131, 138, 140, 144, 156, 182, 254

Ibrahim ben Ahmed, 270

Ice-layer theory:
Mars, 219;
moon, 205, 219

Illusion theory of Martian canals, 219

Imbrium, Mare, 197

Inclination of orbits, 36-37

Indigo (rays of light), 121

Inferior conjunction, 147, 149

Inferior planets, 20, 22, Chap. XIV., 229

Instruments, pre-telescopic, 106-107, 172

International photographic survey of sky, 290-291

Intra-Mercurial planet, 25-26

_Introduction to Astronomy_, 31

Inverted view in astronomical telescope, 116-117

Io, 233-234

Iridum, Sinus, 197

Iron, 145, 254

_Is Mars Habitable?_ 221

Jansen, 108

Janssen, 94, 236, 258

Japetus, 240

Jessenius, 89

Job, Book of, 299

Johnson, S.J., 103, 340

Josephus, 101, 262

Juno, 225

Jupiter, 20, 22-23, 31, 34, 37, 42, 227-228, 230-236, 241, 272, 311;
comet family of, 251-253, 256;
discovery of eighth satellite, 26, 232;
eclipse of, by satellite, 234;
without satellites, 234-235

Jupiter, satellites of, 26, 62, 108, 189, 232-235;
their eclipses, 234-235;
their occultations, 62, 234;
their transits, 62, 234

Kant, 334

Kapteyn, 284, 313

Keeler, 315, 337

Kelvin, Lord, 129

Kepler, 44, 152, 172, 237, 242, 245, 253, 311

Kinetic theory, 156, 202, 212, 226, 231, 239, 336

King, L.W., 84

_Knowledge_, 87

Labrador, 97

Lacus Somniorum, 197

"Lake of Dreams," 197

Lalande, 244, 283

Lampland, 215, 219

Langley, 95, 127

Laplace, 190, 333

Laputa, 224

Le Maire, 115

Le Verrier, 24, 236, 243-244, 275

Lead, 145

Leibnitz Mountains (lunar), 200

Leo (constellation), 270, 295-296

Leonids, 270-272, 274-275

Lescarbault, 25

Lewis, T., 303

Lexell's Comet, 250

Lick Observatory, 31, 98, 117-118, 215, 232, 303, 305, 315;
Great Telescope of, 117, 215, 237

"Life" of an eclipse of the moon, 80;
of the sun, 77-78

Life on Mars, Lowell's views, 217-218;
Pickering's, 221;
Wallace's, 221-223

Light, no extinction of, 322-324;
rays of, 127;
velocity of, 52, 235-236;
white, 121

"Light year," 53, 280

Lindsay, Lord, 94

Linné (lunar crater), 205

Liouville, 190

Lippershey, 108

Liquid-filled lenses, 116

_Locksley Hall_, 296;
_Sixty Years After_, 109

Lockyer, Sir Norman, 73, 94, 236, 335

Loewy, 119, 206

London, eclipses visible at, 87-88, 91-92

Longfellow, 88

Lowell Observatory, 215, 219, 233-234

Lowell, Percival, 155, 212-213, 215-221

Lucifer, 150

Lynn, W.T., 219, 263

Lyra (constellation), 177, 283, 294-295, 307, 315, 347

Mädler, 206, 284

Magellanic Clouds, 317

Magnetism, disturbances of terrestrial, 143, 283

Magnitudes of stars, 287-289

Major planets, 229-230

"Man in the Moon," 197

_Manual of Astronomy_, 166

Maps of the moon, 206

Mare Imbrium, 197

Mare Serenitatis, 205

Mars, 20, 22-23, 31-32, 34, 37, 109, 155, 210-225, 234;
compared with earth and moon, 221, 225;
polar caps of, 212-214, 216;
satellites of, 26, 223-224;
temperature of, 213, 216, 221-222

Mass, 38;
of a star, how determined, 305

Masses of celestial bodies, how ascertained, 42;
of earth and moon compared, 42;
of sun and planets compared, 39

Maunder, E.W., 87, 143, 219

Maunder, Mrs., E.W., 96, 144

Maxwell, Clerk, 237

Mayer, Tobias, 206, 283

McClean, F.K., 98

Mean distance, 46

"Medicean Stars," 232

Mediterranean, eclipse tracks across, 94, 97

Melbourne telescope, 118

Melotte, P., 232

Mercator's Projection, 80-81

Mercury (the metal), 145

Mercury (the planet), 20, 22, 25-26, 31-32, 34, 37, Chap. XIV.;
markings on, 156;
possible planets within orbit of, 25-26;
transit of, 62, 151, 154

Metals in sun, 145

Meteor swarms, 268-269, 271, 274-275

Meteors, 28, 56, 167, 259, Chap. XXI.

Meteors beyond earth's atmosphere, 275-276

Meteorites, 276-277

Meteoritic Hypothesis, 335

Metius, Jacob, 108

Michell, 283, 305

Middle Ages, 102, 260, 264

Middleburgh, 108

Milky Way (or Galaxy), 285, 299, 311, 317, 319-327;
penetration of, by photography, 325

Million, 47, 51-52

Minor planets. _See_ Asteroids.

Mira Ceti, 307-308

"Mirk Monday," 89

Mirror (speculum), 111, 116

Mizar, 294, 302

Monck, W.H.S., 275

Mongol Emperors of India, 107

Moon, 26, Chap. XVI.;
appearance of, in lunar eclipse, 65, 102-103;
diameter of, 189;
distance of, how ascertained, 58;
distance of, from earth, 48;
full, 63, 86, 149, 184, 189, 190, 206;
mass of, 200, 202;
mountains on, 197-205;
how their height is determined, 201;
movement of, 40-42;
new, 86, 149, 183, 185;
origin of, 339-341;
plane of orbit of, 63;
possible changes on, 204-205, 221;
"seas" of, 197, 206;
smallest detail visible on, 207;
volume of, 200

Morning star, 149-150, 241

Moulton, F.R., 31, 118, 128, 302, 335, 337

Moye, 154

Multiple stars, 300

Musa-ben-Shakir, 44

Mythology, 105

Neap-tides, 179

Nebulæ, 314-318, 328, 335, 345;
evolution of stars from, 317-318

Nebular Hypothesis of Laplace, 333-338

Nebular hypotheses, Chap. XXVII.

Nebulium, 317

Neison, 206

Neptune, 20, 25, 31, 34, 37, 243-246, 249, 252, 274, 304;
discovery of, 23-24, 94, 210, 236, 243-244;
Lalande and, 244;
possible planets beyond, 25, 252;
satellite of, 26, 245;
"year" in, 35-36

"New" (or temporary), stars, 310-314

Newcomb, Simon, 181, 267, 281, 324, 326-327, 329

Newton, Sir Isaac, 40, 44, 91, 111-113, 115, 165, 172, 237, 255

Newtonian telescope, 112, 114, 116, 119

Nineveh Eclipse, 84-85

Nitrogen, 145, 156, 166, 346

Northern Crown, 295

Nova Aurigæ, 311

Nova Persei, 312-314

Novæ. _See_ New (or temporary) stars

Nubeculæ, 317

"Oases" of Mars, 216, 220

Object-glass, 109

Oblate spheroid, 165

Occultation, 61-62, 202, 296

_Olaf, Saga of King_, 88

Olbers, 227, 253, 256, 271

"Old moon in new moon's arms," 185

Olmsted, 271

Omicron (or "Mira") Ceti, 307-308

Opposition, 209

"Optick tube," 108-109, 232

Orange (rays of light), 121

Orbit of moon, plane of, 63

Orbits, 32, 36-37, 66, 150, 157

Oriental astronomy, 107

Orion (constellation), 195, 279, 296-297, 316;
Great Nebula in, 316, 328

Oxford, 139

Oxygen, 145, 156, 166, 346

Pacific Ocean, origin of moon in, 339

Palitzch, 255

Pallas, 225, 227

Parallax, 57, 173, 280, 305, 320, 326

Paré, Ambrose, 264-265

Peal, S.E., 205

Peary, 277

Pegasus (constellation), 306

Penumbra of sunspot, 135

Perennial full moon of Laplace, 190

Pericles, 84

Perrine, C.D., 232-233, 315

Perseids, 270, 273-275

Perseus (constellation), 273, 279, 307, 312

Phases of an inferior planet, 149, 160;
of the moon, 149, 160, 183-185

Phlegon, Eclipse of, 85-86

Phobos, 223

Phoebe, retrograde motion of, 240, 250, 336

Phosphorescent glow in sky, 323

Phosphorus (Venus), 150

Photographic survey of sky, international, 290-291

Photosphere, 130-131, 134

Piazzi, 23

Pickering, E.C., 302

Pickering, W.H., 199, 205-206, 220-221, 240, 339-341

Pictor, "runaway star" in constellation of, 281-282, 320, 330

Plane of orbit, 36, 150

Planetary nebulæ, 245, 315

_Planetary and Stellar Studies_, 331

Planetesimal hypothesis, 337-338

Planetoids. _See_ Asteroids

Planets, classification of, 229;
contrasted with comets, 247;
in Ptolemaic scheme, 171;
relative distances of, from sun, 31-32

Plato (lunar crater), 198

Pleiades, 284, 296-297, 307

Pliny, 169, 260

Plough, 284, 291-296, 302

Plutarch, 86, 89, 169, 181

"Pointers," 292

Polaris. _See_ Pole Star

Pole of earth, Precessional movement of, 176-177, 295, 298-299

Pole Star, 33, 163, 177, 292-296, 300-301

Poles, 30, 163-164;
of earth, speed of point at, 164

Pollux, 282, 297

Posidonius, 186

Powell, Sir George Baden, 96

Præsepe (the Beehive), 307

Precession of the Equinoxes, 177, 295, 298-299

Pre-telescopic notions, 55

Primaries, 26

_Princess, The_ (Tennyson), 334

Princeton Observatory, 258

Prism, 121

Prismatic colours, 111, 121

Procyon, 284, 290, 297, 303

Prominences, Solar, 72, 93, 131, 139-140, 143;
first observation of, with spectroscope, 94, 140, 236

Proper motions of stars, 126, 281-285, 326, 329-330

Ptolemæus (lunar crater), 198-199, 204

Ptolemaic idea, 319;
system, 18, 19, 158, 171-172

Ptolemy, 18, 101, 171, 290, 296

Puiseux, P., 206

Pulkowa telescope, 117

Puppis, V., 310

Quiescent prominences, 139

Radcliffe Observer, 139

"Radiant," or radiant point, 269

Radiation from sun, 130, 134

Radium, 129, 138

Rainbow, 121

"Rainbows, Bay of," 197

Rambaut, A., 139

Ramsay, Sir William, 138

Rays (on moon), 204

Recurrence of eclipses, 74-80

Red (rays of light), 121, 125, 127, 130

Red Spot, the Great, 230

Reflecting telescope, 111-116;
future of, 119

Reflector. _See_ Reflecting telescope

Refracting and reflecting telescopes contrasted, 118

Refracting telescope, 109-111, 115-117;
limits to size of, 119-120

Refraction, 121, 168-169

Refractor, _See_ Refracting telescope

Regulus, 290, 296

Retrograde motion of Phoebe, 240, 250, 336

"Reversing Layer," 94, 130, 132, 137-138

Revival of learning, 107

Revolution, 30;
of earth around sun, 170-173;
periods of sun and planets, 35

Riccioli, 198

Rice-grain structure of photosphere, 134

Rigel, 285, 297

Rills (on moon), 204

Ring-mountains of moon. _See_ Craters

"Ring" nebulæ, 315, 337

"Ring with wings," 87

Rings of Saturn, 108, 236-239, 241-243, 334

Ritchey, G.W., 118

Roberts, A.W., 308, 310

Roberts, Isaac, 325

"Roche's limit," 238

Roemer, 235

Roman history, eclipses in, 85-86

Romulus, 85

Röntgen, 120

Rosse, great telescope of Lord, 117, 314

Rotation, 30;
of earth, 33, 161-165, 170;
of sun, 34, 125, 135-136, 231;
periods of sun and planets, 35

Royal Society of London, 90-91, 111

Rubicon, Passage of the, 85

"Runaway" stars, 281, 326, 330

Sagittarius (constellation), 316

Salt, spectrum of table, 122

Samarcand, 107

"Saros," Chaldean, 76-78, 84

Satellites, 26-27, 37

Saturn, 20, 22, 34, 37, 108, 236-243, 258;
comet family of, 252;
a puzzle to the early telescope observers, 241-243;
retrograde motion of satellite Phoebe, 240, 250, 336;
ring system of, 241;
satellites of, 36, 239-240;
shadows of planet on rings and of rings on planet, 237

Schaeberle, 95-96, 303, 316

Schiaparelli, 155, 214, 223

Schickhard (lunar crater), 199

Schmidt, 206

Schönfeld, 290

Schuster, 95

Schwabe, 136

Scotland, solar eclipses visible in, 89-90, 92

Sea of Serenity, 205

"Sea of Showers," 197

"Seas" of moon, 197, 206

Seasons on earth, 174-175;
on Mars, 211

Secondary bodies, 26

Seneca, 95, 260

_Septentriones_, 291

Serenitatis, Mare, 205

"Seven Stars," 291

"Shadow Bands," 69

Shadow of earth, circular shape of, 62-64

Shadows on moon, inky blackness of, 202

Shakespeare, 259, 293

Sheepshanks Telescope, 119

"Shining fluid" of Sir W. Herschel, 328

"Shooting Stars." _See_ Meteors

Short (of Edinburgh), 114

"Showers, Sea of," 197

Sickle of Leo, 270-271, 296

Siderostat, 118

Silver, 145

Silvered mirrors for reflecting telescopes, 116

Sinus Iridum, 197

Sirius, 280, 282, 284-285, 288-290, 297, 303-304, 320;
companion of, 303;
stellar magnitude of, 289

Size of celestial bodies, how ascertained, 59

Skeleton telescopes, 110

Sky, international photographic survey of, 290-291;
light of the, 323

Slipher, E.C., 213, 222

Smithsonian Institution of Washington, 98

Snow on Mars, 213

Sodium, 122, 124, 254

Sohag, 95

Solar system, 20-21, 29-31;
centre of gravity of, 42;
decay and death of, 344

Somniorum, Lacus, 197

Sound, 125, 166, 331

South pole of heavens, 163, 285, 298-299

Southern constellations, 298-299

Southern Cross. _See_ Crux

Space, 328

Spain, early astronomy in, 107;
eclipse tracks across 93, 97-98

Spectroheliograph, 140

Spectroscope, 120, 122, 124-125, 144-145, 212, 231;
prominences first observed with, 94, 140, 236

Spectrum of chromosphere, 132-133;
of corona, 133;
of photosphere, 132;
of reversing layer, 132, 137;
solar, 122-123, 127, 132

Speculum, 111, 116;
metal, 112

Spherical bodies, 29

Spherical shape of earth, proofs of, 158-161

Spherical shapes of sun, planets, and satellites, 160

Spiral nebulæ, 314-316, 337-338

Spring balance, 166

Spring tides, 192

Spy-glass, 108

"Square of the distance," 43-44

Stannyan, Captain, 90

Star, mass of, how determined, 305;
parallax of, first ascertained, 173, 280

Stars, the, 20, 124, 126, 278 _et seq._;
brightness of, 287, 320;
distances between, 326-327;
distances of some, 173, 280, 320;
diminution of, below twelfth magnitude, 324;
evolution of, from nebulæ, 317-318;
faintest magnitude of, 288;
number of those visible altogether, 324;
number of those visible to naked eye, 288

"Steam cracks," 221

Steinheil, 118

Stellar system, estimated extent of, 325-327;
an organised whole, 327;
limited extent of, 322-328, 330;
possible disintegration of, 329

Stiklastad, eclipse of, 88

Stone Age, 285

Stoney, G.J., 202, 222

Stonyhurst Observatory, 100

_Story of the Heavens_, 271

Streams of stars, Kapteyn's two, 284

Stroobant, 196

Stukeley, 91

Sulphur, 145

Summer, 175, 178

Sun, Chaps XII. and XIII.;
as a star, 124, 278, 289;
as seen from Neptune, 246, 304;
chemical composition of, 144-145;
distance of, how ascertained, 151, 211;
equator of, 135-136, 139;
gravitation at surface of, 129, 138-139;
growing cold of, 343-344;
mean distance of, from earth, 47, 211;
motion of, through space, 282-286, 326;
not a solid body, 136;
poles of, 136;
radiations from, 130;
revolution of earth around, 170-173;
stellar magnitude of, 288-289;
variation in distance of, 66, 178

Sunspots, 34, 125, 134-137, 140-141, 143-144, 308;
influence of earth on, 144

Suns and possible systems, 50, 286

Superior conjunction, 147-149

Superior planets, 22, 146, 209-210, 229

Swan (constellation). _See_ Cygnus

Swift, Dean, 224

"Sword" of Orion, 297, 316

Syrtis Major. _See_ Hour Glass Sea

"_Systematic_ Parallax," 326

Systems, other possible, 50, 286

Tails of comets, 182

Tamerlane, 107

Taurus (constellation), 103, 296-297, 307

"Tears of St. Lawrence," 273

Tebbutt's Comet, 257-258

Telescope, 33, 55, 107-108, 149;
first eclipse of moon seen through, 104;
of sun, 90

Telescopes, direct view reflecting, 114;
gigantic, 111;
great constructors of, 117-118;
great modern, 117-118

Tempel's Comet, 274

Temperature on moon, 203;
of sun, 128

Temporary (or new) stars, 310-314

Tennyson, Lord, 109, 296, 334

Terrestrial planets, 229-230

Terrestrial telescope, 117

Thales, Eclipse of, 84

Themis, 240

"Tidal drag," 180, 188, 208, 344

Tide areas, 179-180

Tides, 178-180, 338-339

_Time Machine_, 344

Tin, 145

Titan, 240

Titius, 245

Total phase, 71-72

Totality, 72;
track of, 66

Trail of a minor planet, 226-227

Transit, 62, 150-154;
of Mercury, 62, 151, 154;
of Venus, 62, 151-152, 154, 211

Trifid Nebula, 316

Triple stars, 300

Tubeless telescopes, 110-111, 243

Tubes used by ancients, 110

Tuttle's Comet, 274

Twilight, 167, 202

Twinkling of stars, 168

Twins (constellation). _See_ Gemini

Tycho Brahe, 290, 311

Tycho (lunar crater), 204

Ulugh Beigh, 107

Umbra of sunspot, 134-135

Universe, early ideas concerning, 17-18, 158, 177, 342

Universes, possibility of other, 330-331

Uranus, 22-24, 31, 210, 243, 245, 275;
comet family of, 252;
discovery of, 22, 210, 243;
rotation period of 34, 245;
satellites of, 26, 245;
"year" in, 35-36

Ursa Major (constellation), 279, 281, 291, 295, 314;
minor, 177, 279, 293-294

Ursæ Majoris, ([z]) Zeta. _See_ Mizar

Variable stars, 307-310

Variations in apparent sizes of sun and moon, 67, 80, 178

Vault, shape of the celestial, 194-196

Vega, 177, 278, 280, 282-283, 285, 290, 294, 302, 307, 323

Vegetation on Mars, 221, 217-218;
on moon, 205

Venus, 20, 22, 31, 71, 90, 108-109, 111, Chap. XIV., 246, 311;
rotation period of, 34, 155

Very, F.W., 314

Vesta, 225, 227

Violet (rays of light), 121-122, 125

Virgil, 19

Volcanic theory of lunar craters, 203-204, 214

Volume, 38

Volumes of sun and planets compared, 38-39

"Vulcan," 25

Wallace, A.R., on Mars, 220-223

Water, lack of, on moon, 201-202

Water vapour, 202, 213, 222

Wargentin, 103

Warner and Swasey Co., 117

Weather, moon and, 206-207

Weathering, 202

Webb, Rev. T.W., 204

Weight, 43, 165-166

Wells, H.G., 344

Whale (constellation). _See_ Cetus

Whewell, 190

Willamette meteorite, 277

Wilson, Mount, 118

Wilson, W.E., 313

"Winged circle" (or "disc"), 87

Winter, 175, 178

Witt, 227

Wolf, Max, 226-227, 232

Wright, Thomas, 319, 334

Wybord, 89

Xenophon, 101

Year, 35

"Year" in Uranus and Neptune, 35-36

Year, number of eclipses in a, 68

"Year of the Stars," 270

Yellow (rays of light), 121-122, 124

Yerkes Telescope Great, 117, 303

Young, 94, 137, 166

Zenith, 174

Zinc, 145

Zodiacal light, 181

Zone of asteroids, 30-31, 227

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BY PROF. G.F. SCOTT ELLIOT, M.A., B.SC., &C.

_With Thirty Illustrations._ _Extra Crown 8vo._ 5_s._

"Mr. Scott Elliot has hit upon a good idea in this attempt to set
forth the life of the primitive savage. On the whole, too, he has
carried it out well and faithfully.... We can recommend the book as
filling a gap."--_Athenæum._

"A readable contribution to the excellent series of which it forms
a part. Mr. Scott Elliot writes pleasantly ... he possesses a
sufficiently vivid imagination to grasp the relation of a savage to
his environment."--_Nature._

"There are things of remarkable interest in this volume, and it
makes excellent reading and represents much
research."--_Spectator._

THE ROMANCE OF PLANT LIFE

DESCRIBING THE CURIOUS AND INTERESTING IN THE PLANT WORLD

BY PROF. G.F. SCOTT ELLIOT, M.A., B.SC., &C.

_With Thirty-four Illustrations._ _Extra Crown 8vo._ 5_s._

"The author has worked skilfully into his book details of the facts
and inferences which form the groundwork of modern Botany. The
illustrations are striking, and cover a wide field of interest, and
the style is lively."--_Athenæum._

"In twenty-nine fascinating, well-printed, and well-illustrated
chapters, Prof. Scott Elliot describes a few of the wonders of
plant life. A very charming and interesting volume."--_Daily
Telegraph._

"Mr. Scott Elliot is of course a well-known authority on all that
concerns plants, and the number of facts he has brought together
will not only surprise but fascinate all his
readers."--_Westminster Gazette._

SEELEY & CO., LTD., 38 GREAT RUSSELL STREET.

THE ROMANCE OF INSECT LIFE

DESCRIBING THE CURIOUS & INTERESTING IN THE INSECT WORLD

BY EDMUND SELOUS

AUTHOR OF "THE ROMANCE OF THE ANIMAL WORLD," ETC.

_With Sixteen Illustrations._ _Extra Crown 8vo._ 5_s._

"An entertaining volume, one more of a series which seeks with much
success to describe the wonders of nature and science in simple,
attractive form."--_Graphic._

"Offers most interesting descriptions of the strange and curious
inhabitants of the insect world, sure to excite inquiry and to
foster observation. There are ants white and yellow, locusts and
cicadas, bees and butterflies, spiders and beetles, scorpions and
cockroaches--and especially ants--with a really scientific
investigation of their wonderful habits not in dry detail, but in
free and charming exposition and narrative. An admirable book to
put in the hands of a boy or girl with a turn for natural
science--and whether or not."--_Educational Times._

"Both interesting and instructive. Such a work as this is genuinely
educative. There are numerous illustrations."--_Liverpool Courier._

"With beautiful original drawings by Carton Moore Park and Lancelot
Speed, and effectively bound in dark blue cloth, blazoned with
scarlet and gold."--_Lady._

"Admirably written and handsomely produced. Mr. Selous's volume
shows careful research, and the illustrations of insects and the
results of their powers are well done."--_World._

THE ROMANCE OF MODERN MECHANISM

INTERESTING DESCRIPTIONS IN NON-TECHNICAL LANGUAGE OF WONDERFUL MACHINERY, MECHANICAL. DEVICES, & MARVELLOUSLY DELICATE SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS

BY ARCHIBALD WILLIAMS, B.A., F.R.G.S.

AUTHOR OF "THE ROMANCE OF MODERN EXPLORATION," ETC.

_With Twenty-six Illustrations._ _Extra Crown 8vo._ 5_s._

"No boy will be able to resist the delights of this book, full to
the brim of instructive and wonderful matter."--_British Weekly._

"This book has kept your reviewer awake when he reasonably expected
to be otherwise engaged. We do not remember coming across a more
fascinating volume, even to a somewhat blasé reader whose business
it is to read all that comes in his way. The marvels miracles they
should be called, of the modern workshop are here exploited by Mr.
Williams for the benefit of readers who have not the opportunity of
seeing these wonders or the necessary mathematical knowledge to
understand a scientific treatise on their working. Only the
simplest language is used and every effort is made, by illustration
or by analogy, to make sufficiently clear to the non-scientific
reader how the particular bit of machinery works and what its work
really is. Delicate instruments, calculating machines, workshop
machinery, portable tools, the pedrail, motors ashore and afloat,
fire engines, automatic machines, sculpturing machines--these are a
few of the chapters which crowd this splendid
volume."--_Educational News._

"It is difficult to make descriptions of machinery and mechanism
interesting, but Mr. Williams has the enviable knack of doing so,
and it is hardly possible to open this book at any page without
turning up something which you feel you must read; and then you
cannot stop till you come to the end of the
chapter."--_Electricity._

"This book is full of interest and instruction, and is a welcome
addition to Messrs. Seeley and Company's Romance Series."--_Leeds
Mercury._

"A book of absorbing interest for the boy with a mechanical turn,
and indeed for the general reader."--_Educational Times._

"An instructive and well-written volume."--_Hobbies._

SEELEY & CO., LTD., 88 GREAT RUSSELL STREET.

A Catalogue of Books on Art, History, and General Literature Published by Seeley, Service & Co Ltd. 38 Great Russell St. London

_Some of the Contents_

Crown Library, The 4

Elzevir Library, The 5

Events of Our Own Times Series 6

Illuminated Series, The 8

Miniature Library of Devotion, The 9

Miniature Portfolio Monographs, The 9

Missions, The Library of 10

New Art Library, The 11

Portfolio Monographs 11

Science of To-Day Series, The 14

Seeley's Illustrated Pocket Library 14

Seeley's Standard Library 15

Story Series, The 15

"Things Seen" Series, The 16

_The Publishers will be pleased to post their complete Catalogue or their Illustrated Miniature Catalogue on receipt of a post-card_

CATALOGUE OF BOOKS

_Arranged alphabetically under the names of Authors and Series_

ABBOTT, Rev. E.A., D.D.

How to Parse. An English Grammar. Fcap. 8vo, 3s. 6d.

How to Tell the Parts of Speech. An Introduction to English
Grammar. Fcap. 8vo, 2s.

How to Write Clearly. Rules and Exercises on English Composition.
1s. 6d.

Latin Gate, The. A First Latin Translation Book. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d.

Via Latina. A First Latin Grammar. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d.

ABBOTT, Rev. E.A., and Sir J.R. SEELEY.

English Lessons for English People. Crown 8vo, 4s. 6d.

ADY, Mrs. _See_ CARTWRIGHT, JULIA.

À KEMPIS, THOMAS.

Of the Imitation of Christ. With Illuminated Frontispiece and Title
Page, and Illuminated Sub-Titles to each book. In white or blue
cloth, with inset miniatures. Gilt top; crown 8vo, 6s. nett; also
bound in same manner in real classic vellum. Each copy in a box,
10s. 6d. nett; Antique leather with clasps, 10s. 6d. nett.

"It may well be questioned whether the great work of Thomas à
Kempis has ever been presented to better advantage."--_The
Guardian._

ANDERSON, Prof. W.

Japanese Wood Engravings. Coloured Illustrations. Super-royal 8vo,
sewed, 2s. 6d. nett; half-linen, 3s. 6d. nett; also small 4to,
cloth, 2s. nett; lambskin, 3s. nett.

ARMSTRONG, Sir WALTER.

The Art of Velazquez. Illustrated. Super-royal 8vo, 3s. 6d. nett.

The Life of Velazquez. Illustrated. Super-royal 8vo, 3s. 6d. nett.

Velazquez. A Study of his Life and Art. With Eight Copper Plates
and many minor Illustrations. Super-royal 8vo, cloth, 9s. nett.

Thomas Gainsborough. Illustrated. Super-royal 8vo, half-linen, 3s.
6d. nett. Also new edition small 4to, cloth, 2s. nett; leather, 3s.
nett and 5s. nett.

The Peel Collection and the Dutch School of Painting. With
Illustrations in Photogravure and Half-tone. Super-royal 8vo,
sewed, 5s. nett; cloth, 7s. nett.

W.Q. Orchardson. Super-royal 8vo, sewed, 2s. 6d.; half-linen, 3s.
6d. nett.

AUGUSTINE, S.

Confessions of S. Augustine. With Illuminated pages. In white or
blue cloth, gilt top, crown 8vo, 6s. nett; also in vellum, 10s. 6d.
nett.

BAKER, Captain B. GRANVILLE

The Passing of the Turkish Empire in Europe. With Thirty-two
Illustrations. Demy 8vo, 16s. nett.

BARING-GOULD, Rev. S.

Family Names and their Story. Demy 8vo, 7s. 6d. nett. 5s. nett.

BEDFORD, Rev. W.K.R.

Malta and the Knights Hospitallers. Super-royal 8vo, sewed, 2s. 6d.
nett; half-linen, 3s. 6d. nett.

BENHAM, Rev. Canon D.D., F.S.A.

The Tower of London. With Four Plates in Colours and many other
Illustrations. Super-royal 8vo, sewed, 5s. nett; cloth, 7s. nett.