12 MARCH 1887, Page 26

Astronomy. By Edmund Nelson. (Ward and Look.)—This volume contains a

reprint of some papers originally published in " The Universal Instructor." Their author, who is " Her Majesty's Astronomer for Natal" (we are glad to hear that science is so en- couraged in the Colonies), has revised and brought them up to date. The first part contains an historical introduction to the science of astronomy ; the second, a systematic account, given, of course, in outline only and in a popular style, of the present state of our astronomical knowledge. Illustratiorur are given in sufficient numbers, and will be found useful, though, as the author explains, necessarily wanting in some of the qualities which are demanded for adequate representations of celestial phenomena.