The Orbs Around Us. By Richard A. Proctor. (Longmans.)—The interest
of astronomy is endlessly varied, and Mr. Proctor, who has the art of writing very clearly, knows how to make good use of it. The volume before us contains a number of essays, which have been published from time to time in sundry magazines. &c. Among the most interest- ing are "Other Habitable Worlds" and "Other Inhabited Worlds," in which he discusses with much acuteness the problem—which is not the less interesting because it is seemingly incapable of solution —whether there are inhabitants elsewhere as well as on the earth. The argument founded on the information which the spectroscope supplies about the constitution of the fixed stars is especially noteworthy. We may inform Mr. Proctor that the idea of attracting the attention of the "lunarian philosophers" by a vast figure constructed on the earth has been seri- ously proposed. Dr. Dick, if we remember right, was anxious that a huge triangle should be drawn on the Steppes of Siberia, in hopes of attracting tho attention of the moon people. Unhappily there are no moon people.
Previous page
