LITERARY NOTICES. 



423 



Manual of assaying Gold, Silver, Cop- 

 ter, and Lead Ores. By Walter Lee 

 Brown, B. Sc. Chicago : Janscn, Mo 

 Clung & Co. Pp. 318. With Illustra- 

 tions. Price, $1.75. 



The author of this manual has aimed to 

 produce a guide for those who, having had 

 no previous training in chemical work, wish 

 to learn assaying. Hence, he gives first full 

 descriptions of the apparatus required, gen- 

 erally with illustrations, names of makers, 

 and prices. The reagents are as fully de- 

 scribed, and, wherever necessary, methods 

 of preparing and testing them are given. 

 The processes of assaying are detailed with 

 great clearness, from the crushing of the 

 ore to the estimation of its value per ton, 

 and in the appendix are given various 

 special methods of assay, lists of minerals 

 likely to contain gold, silver, copper, or lead, 

 a list of books on assaying, various depart- 

 ments of chemistry, mineralogy, mining law, 

 etc., and useful tables. The volume is got 

 up in much better style than is usual with 

 scientific and technical manuals. 



Reports of Experiments, chiefly -with 

 Kerosene, upon the Insects injuriously 

 affkcting the orange-tree and the 

 Cotton- Plant. Made under the Direc- 

 tion of the United States Entomologist. 

 Washington: Government Printing-Of- 

 fice. Pp. 62. 



The expediency of using kerosene has 

 been disputed, chiefly on account of the 

 danger of its injuring the plants. The ob- 

 jection is applicable to pure kerosene, and 

 with greater force as regards some species 

 than others. Professor Riley advises that 

 kerosene be used with caution where its ef- 

 fects are not already known, and never be 

 employed pure. With this reservation, his 

 own experience and that of his assistants 

 shows that neither lye nor whale-oil soap, 

 the other substances recommended, " bears 

 comparison with an effectual kerosene emul- 

 sion as an effectual destroyer of scale-in- 

 sects and their eees." 



Shade-Trees, Indigenous Shrubs, and 

 Vines. By J. T. Stewart, M. D. Second 

 edition, revised and improved. Peoria, 

 111.: Transcript Publishing Companv' 

 Pp. 37. J 



This paper was prepared with particular 

 reference to the city of Peoria, and was 



read by request, in December last, before the 

 Scientific Association of that place. It is 

 the fruit of many years of observation and 

 much careful study, and consists chiefly of 

 notes on native species and their adapta- 

 bility to the soil, climate, and situation of 

 Peoria, with directions for their cultivation 

 and care. Much of it is applicable to other 

 places than Peoria. 



Professional Papers of the Corps of 

 Engineers, United States Army. No. 

 24. Report upon the Primary Triangu- 

 lation of the United States Lake Sur- 

 vey. With 30 Plates. By Lieutenant- 

 Colonel C. B. Comstock. Washington : 

 Government Printing-Office. Pp. 922. 



This is the final report of the survey, be- 

 gun in 1841, of the Northern and Northwest- 

 ern lakes. The work is described under the 

 headings, " Standards of Length, Bases, and 

 Base Apparatus." " Primary Triangulation," 

 " Astronomical Determinations," and " Prin- 

 cipal Results of the Geodetic Work." A 

 short history of the survey is prefixed to 

 the volume. 



Astronomical Papers, prepared for the Use 

 of the American Ephemeris and Nautical 

 Almanac, under the Direction of Simon 

 Newcomb, Ph.D., LL. D. Vol. I. 

 Washington : Bureau of Navigation, 

 Navy Department. Pp. 4S7. 



In this volume is begun the publication 

 of a series of papers whose objects are " a 

 systematic determination of the constants of 

 astronomy from the best existing data, a 

 reinvestigation of the theories of the celes- 

 tial motions, and the preparation of tables, 

 formulae, and precepts for the construction 

 of ephemerides, and for other applications 

 of the results." The present volume con- 

 tains papers on the " Recurrence of Solar 

 Eclipses," "Hansen's Lunar Theory," "A 

 Determination of the Velocity of Light," 

 " A Catalogue of 1,098 Standard Clock and 

 Zodiacal Stars," on "Gauss's Method of 

 computing Secular Perturbations," and a 

 " Discussion of Transits of Mercury from 

 1677 to 1881." 



The Bacteria. By T. J. Burrill, Ph. D. 

 Springfield, 111. : H. W. Rorker, State 

 Printer. Pp. 65, with Illustrations. 

 Everybody wants to know all about the 



bacteria which have been found to play so 



