LITERARY NOTICES. 



123 



as ilr. Farrer has done his, it will be a val- 

 uable one. The present volume is devoted 

 to an exposition of the "Theory of the 

 Moral Sentiments," in which the great ec'on- 

 omist endeavors to find for morals a secure 

 foundation in the sympathetic nature of 

 man. The work was in its time a notable 

 one, and remains one of the most valuable 

 contributions of English thought to the sub- 

 ject. Mr. Farrer writes clearly and appre- 

 ciatively, and has invested his subject with 

 an interest that will make the book attrac- 

 tive to a large number of readers. The ex- 

 position closes with an examination of some 

 of the objections urged by writers at the 

 time of the publication of the "Theory," 

 and is preceded by a brief biographical 

 sketch of Smith. 



The Devovian Insects of New Brunswick. 

 By Samuel H. Scudder. Boston : Bos- 

 ton Society of Natural History. 1880. 

 Pp. 41, with Plate. 



Careful descriptions are given in this 

 essay of six specimens of broken wings which 

 were discovered in 1862 by Professor C. F. 

 Hartt, in the Devonian shales of Carleton, 

 near St. John, New Brunswick, and are now 

 preserved in the museums of the Natural Eis- 

 tory Society of St. John and of the Boston 

 Society of Natural History. The descriptions 

 and the author's conclusions are supplement- 

 ed by a review of the character and age of the 

 formation in which the remains were found, 

 by Principal Dawson, in which the evidence 

 that it is Devonian is carefully collated. The 

 wings are all of Neuroptera, and of species 

 to which are ascribed special relations with 

 the modern May-flies. From his detailed 

 examinations, Mr. Scudder reaches the con- 

 clusion that nothing appears to interfere 

 with the view he has formerly expressed, 

 that tlie general type of wing-structure has 

 remained unaltered from the earliest times ; 

 that the fossils are nearly all of synthetic 

 tvpes of a comparatively narrow range, 

 being about equally divided in structural 

 features betweea Neiiroptera proper and 

 T^%Q\x&o-]Sfeuroptera; that they bear marks of 

 affinity to the Carboniferous PalcBodidyop- 

 tera^ while they are often of more compli- 

 cated structure than most of them, but with 

 this exception bear little special relation to 

 Carboniferous forms ; that they were of great 

 size, had membranous wings, and were prob- 



ably aquatic in early life ; that some of 

 them were plainly precursors of existing 

 forms, ^v'hile others seem to have left no 

 trace ; that they show a remarkable variety 

 of structure, indicating an abundance of 

 insect-life at that epoch ; that they differ 

 remarkably from all other known types, an- 

 cient or modern, and some of them appear 

 to be even more complicated than their near- 

 est living allies ; that we appear to be, so 

 far as either greater unity or simplicity of 

 structure is concerned, no nearer the begin- 

 ning of things in the Devonian epoch than 

 in the Carboniferous ; and that " while there 

 are some forms which, to some degree, bear 

 out expectations based on the general deriv- 

 ative hypothesis of structural development, 

 there are quite as many which are altogether 

 unexpected, and can not be explained on 

 that theory, without involving suppositions 

 for which no facts can at present be ad- 

 duced." We observe that some of the views 

 of the author are questioned by other natu- 

 ralists. 



Orange Insects: A Treatise on the In- 

 jurious AND Beneficial Insects found 

 ON the Orange-Trees of Florida. By 

 "William H. Ashmead. Jacksonville, 

 Florida : Ashmead Brothers. Paper. 

 Pp. 78. 



The author has been engaged in special 

 studies of the insects of the orange since 

 1876, and publishes this volume in answer 

 to numerous inquiries for information re- 

 specting them from cultivators. He gives 

 systematic descriptions of numerous species, 

 with illustrations of the most of them, and 

 notes on the character of their relations 

 whether beneficial or injurious to the trees. 



Circulars of Information of the Bureau 

 of Education: No. 4, Rural School 

 Architecture. With Illustrations. Pp. 

 106. No. 5, English Rural Schools. 

 Pp.26. Washington: Government Print- 

 ing-Office. 1880. 



The former work has been prepared by 

 Mr. T. M. Clark, an architect of Boston, 

 with the design of giving principles and di- 

 rections suggestive of the plans best to be 

 adopted under a variety of circumstances 

 rather than of laying down rules to be in- 

 considerately followed. It is intended to 

 cover the whole subject of school architect- 

 ure, with especial attention to the proper 



