LITERARY NOTICES. 



33 



Synopsis of the Fresh-Water Rhizopods. 

 A Condensed Account of the Genera and 

 Species, founded upon Professor Joseph 

 Leidy's " Fresh - Water Rhizopods of 

 North America." Compiled by Romyn 

 Hitchcock, F. R. M. S. New York : Ro- 

 myn Hitchcock, 51 and 53 Maiden Lane. 

 Pp. 56. 



Rhizopods form a division of the Pro- 

 tozoa, and consist, essentially, of a soft 

 mass of clear or granular protoplasm, usu- 

 ally colorless, with one or more nuclei and 

 contractile vesicles. They are mostly mi- 

 croscopic, are quite common, and may be 

 found in the settlings of still water, in the 

 slime of submerged rocks, stems, and leaves, 

 and in similar situations. The author hopes, 

 by means of this work, which is devoted to 

 the description of genera and species, to fa- 

 cilitate the study of these interesting organ- 

 isms. 



The Mineral Resources of the Hocking 

 Valley ; being an Account of its 

 Coals, Iron-Ores, Blast-Furnaces, and 

 Railroads. By T. Sterry Hunt, LL. D. 

 With a Map. Boston : S. E. Cassino. 

 Pp. 152. 



The Hocking Valley coal-field of Ohio 

 occupies an area of about two hundred and 

 fifty square miles, in the region drained by 

 the Hocking River, and is characterized by 

 the exceptional thickness and value of its 

 coal-beds. It contains, also, extensive beds 

 of good iron-ores and quarries of limestone, 

 and thus combines rare advantages to en- 

 courage the establishment of iron-works. 

 It is well supplied with railroads connecting 

 it with important commercial centers which 

 can be supplied with coal more conveniently 

 from it than from any more distant source. 

 All of these points are set forth clearly and 

 in detail in the present report. 



Butterflies : Their Structure, Changes, 

 and Life-Histories, with Special Refer- 

 ence to American Forms. Being an Ap- 

 plication of the " Doctrine of Descent " 

 to the Study of Butterflies, with an 

 Appendix of Practical Instructions. By 

 Samuel H. Scudder. New York : Henry 

 Holt & Co. Pp. 322. Price, $3. 



A book intended to awaken interest in 

 the study of butterflies, and to assist in in- 

 telligent observation. It begins with the 

 life-history of the insect, from the egg 

 through the stages of the caterpillar, the 



chrysalis, and the perfect insect ; describes 

 its internal organs, with careful illustrations 

 of its anatomy, its habits in all its stages, its 

 seasonal changes and histories, and its col- 

 oring, " with further histories," and discuss- 

 es the diversity of the sexes in coloring and 

 structure, the origin and development of 

 ornamentation, the ancestry and classifica- 

 tion and geographical distribution of but- 

 terflies, and suggests a theory of the way in 

 which New England was colonized with the 

 insects. In the appendix are given instruc- 

 tions for collecting, rearing, preserving, and 

 studying butterflies, the bibliography of the 

 subject, and a systematic list of butterflies 

 mentioned in the text. The whole is fully 

 illustrated, generally from American speci- 

 mens. 



Primitive Industry ; or, Illustrations of 

 the Hand-work, in Stone, Bone, and 

 Clay, of the Native Races of the 

 Northern Atlantic Seaboard of Amer- 

 ica. By Charles C. Abbott, M. D. 

 Salem, Massachusetts : George A. Bates. 

 1881. Illustrated. Pp.560. Price, $3. 



The title of this book describes in the 

 fullest manner its contents. Dr. Abbott 

 has wisely chosen to limit his work to that 

 portion of the continent in which he has 

 collected and studied, and to which he has 

 added so many valuable contributions. In 

 the preface he expresses the hope that the 

 book will "induce others to explore such 

 localities as they have opportunity of do- 

 ing, and to preserve such traces of early 

 man as they may find by placing them in 

 public museums.'''' Dr. Abbott has strictly 

 adhered to this advice. He has no private 

 collection. The immense mass of material 

 he has gathered in his State now enriches 

 the museums of Cambridge and Salem, 

 where at all times it is open to inspection. 

 In the light of the author's exhaustive study 

 of the Trenton gravels, and the various beds 

 superimposed upon them, we think he is 

 justified in taking exception to the views 

 expressed by Professor Whitney that " it is 

 evident that there has been no unfolding of 

 the intellectual faculties of the human race 

 on this continent which can be parallelized 

 with that which has taken place in Central 

 Europe. We can recognize no pala2olithic, 

 neolithic, bronze, or iron ages." Dr. Abbott 

 shows conclusively that the evidences of a 



