LITERARY NOTICES. 



271 



esting, and as important as the perfect stage, 

 descriptions are given of these under the 

 guidance of the same principle." The work 

 opens with a short introduction to the gen- 

 eral study of butterflies, which is followed 

 by keys to the various groups, based respect- 

 ively on the perfect butterfly, the caterpillar, 

 and the chrysalis. The body of the work 

 consists of concise descriptions arranged 

 systematically, each comprising first a de- 

 scription of the butterfly, the caterpillar, 

 and the chrysalis, then some account of the 

 eggs and habits of the species. An ap- 

 pendix furnishes instructions for collecting, 

 rearing, preserving, and studying, with cuts 

 of apparatus. 



In The Life of a Butterfly, Mr. Scudder 

 has described one of the most conspicuous 

 American butterflies the large orange and 

 black milkweed butterfly and at the same 

 time he has, by introducing comparisons, 

 given some account of the lives of the other 

 members of its tribe. The several habits of 

 the chosen type are also used to illustrate 

 such general scientific topics as the struggle 

 for existence, mimicry, distribution, classifi- 

 cation, etc. Four plates, showing the type 

 insect and its important parts, are given. 



General Greene. By Francis Vinton 

 Greene. Great Commanders Series. New 

 York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 332. 

 Price, $1.50. 



Some splendid fighters have come of 

 Quaker stock, and Nathanael Greene was a 

 notable one of these. His comparatively 

 short life was a most valuable one to this 

 country, and to-day his statue stands with 

 that of Roger Williams to represent Rhode 

 Island in the Capitol at Washington. His 

 life up to thirty-three years of age was un- 

 eventful. Then the Revolution broke out, 

 and the Assembly of his colony elected him 

 brigadier general to command the Rhode 

 Island militia. The choice was amply justi- 

 fied by Greene's career, first as a thorough 

 organizer in camp near Boston, then as the 

 friend and trusted subordinate of Washing- 

 ton in the operations about New York and 

 Philadelphia, as quartermaster general, and 

 most of all as the strategist, ever active and 

 vigilant, who manceuvred the British out of 

 the Carolinas. The volume before us gives 

 a vivid and detailed account of his part in 



the struggle for independence. The descrip- 

 tions of battles are clear and precise and all 

 important ones are illustrated with maps. 

 An engraving from the portrait of Greene 

 by Charles Wilson Peale forms the frontis- 

 piece of the volume. 



Geologt. By A. J. Jukes-Browne. New 

 York : Macmillan & Co. Pp. 248. Price, 

 $1. 



This is one of the volumes of Whittaker's 

 Library of Popular Science, and its simple 

 style amply justifies its appearance in such 

 a series. It is a small book, containing only 

 the information that would be desired by 

 an intelligent person who did not care to 

 make a study of the subject. Its twenty- 

 one short chapters are divided into three 

 groups : the first telling how rocks are 

 made, and what they are made of ; the sec- 

 ond telling how the rocks were brought into 

 the positions they now occupy ; and the last 

 describing the rocks of different ages, and 

 the fossils which serve to identify them 

 There are ninety-four illustrations. 



A History of Ireland in the Eighteenth 

 Century. By W. E. H. Lecky. New 

 York: D. Appleton & Co. Five vol- 

 umes. Price, $5. 



In this work Mr. Lecky develops a pro- 

 foundly interesting chronicle. Not only does 

 it present much that is novel to those whose 

 ideas of the subject have filtered through 

 English media, but it reveals the forces 

 which have aided in the evolution of Irish 

 character. 



The typical traits of the Irish are often 

 carelessly ascribed to racial differences. The 

 influence of the Celtic element is not easily 

 traced and is apt to be overestimated. What 

 are termed distinctively Irish evils character- 

 ize chiefly the counties settled by English- 

 men. Religion has been a more potent factor 

 in modification, while the climate and situa- 

 tion of the country have had an important 

 share in the formative process. 



The suppression of her industries con- 

 tributed largely to the downfall of the na- 

 tion. The policy of England, however, was 

 essentially the same toward Scotland and 

 America, but Ireland was for various causes 

 more completely in her grasp. It is difficult 

 to read unmoved the struggles of this unfor- 



