6 JULY 1889, Page 31

Popular Lectures and Addresses. By Sir W. Thomson. Vol. I.

(Macmillan.)—Every one should be grateful for the suggestion made to Sir W. Thomson,—that he should publish a certain lecture, "On Capillarity," in an accessible form. The result is the volume before us, which contains also other addresses on "The Constitution of Matter." To say that the publication of Sir W. Thomson's lectures is a boon, would be only a commonplace truth, and would hardly express the real value of such popular and classical work. We hope soon to see the remaining two volumes which Sir W. Thomson promises us.