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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

from eight annas to one rupee apiece. In this case, the tigers were the first aggressors by carrying off cattle. But it seems evident that there exists no a priori reason, founded in natural antipathy, why man and animals, if we could reconstruct a "state of nature" in which we could put civilized, not savage man, should not dwell together in profound peace, or at least in such peace as obtains between accidental neighbors. The only ground for quarrel that seems inevitable is the everlasting one between the shepherd and the wolf; and that, after all, is a question not of prejudice, but of property.—The Spectator.

SKETCH OF WILLIAM HUGGINS.

DOCTOR HUGGINS is one of the leaders in the modern methods of astronomical research, and his name is associated with a considerable proportion of the discoveries that have been made respecting the constitution of the sun, stars, and nebulae, and with the results in general of the application of physical investigations and of spectroscopic observation in particular to the heavenly bodies.

William Huggins was born in London, February 7, 1824. He received his early education in the City of London School, and continued his studies in mathematics, the classics, and modern languages under private tutors. He devoted much time to experiments in natural philosophy, and by the aid of the apparatus which he collected he gained practical knowledge of the elements of the chief branches of physical science, including chemistry, electricity, and magnetism. He also studied, using the microscope, animal and vegetable physiology, and became in 1852 a member of the Microscopic Society. He developed a particular interest in astronomy, and, "under great difficulties," says one of the earlier biographies in Men of the Time, while still residing in the metropolis with his parents, "observed the planets and some of the double stars between the chimneys of London." The erection of an observatory in 1855, at his residence at Upper Tulse Hill, which he supplied with good instruments, gave him better opportunities for observation; and in 1858 he had an Alvan Clark telescope of eight inches aperture, mounted equatorially. He occupied himself here for some time with observation of double stars, and with careful drawings of the planets Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. In the light of the knowledge gained in his physical studies he was not satisfied to follow in the beaten track of observation, but sought to broaden the field of study, and inquire as far as possible into the physical qualities of the sun and stars. A