LITERARY NOTICES. 



413 



rences go on together or synchronously ; 

 and in each line there is a chain of succes- 

 sion in the parts, which proceed in the order 

 of cause and effect. Nations and empires 

 run their careers as it were side by side, ris- 

 ing, flourishing, decaying, and giving place 

 to others ; while each nation has its epo- 

 chal changes of dynasty, revolution, or con- 

 quest. These relations of events are capable 

 of being mapped, and they are so skillfully 

 represented in Adams's chart that we get, 

 as it were, a bird's-eye view of the proces- 

 sion of great terrestrial affairs. The chart 

 is twenty-five feet long by three deep, and 

 mounted on rollers, so that, if there is not 

 room to fully display it, its parts may be 

 brought successively into view. Vertical 

 lines show contemporaneous events, and 

 horizontal bars of color represent succes- 

 sion, the stream of time, and the progress of 

 civilization. The march of fifty-nine cen- 

 turies is delineated, and the great transac- 

 tions of the world national, civil, military, 

 religious, maritime, architectural, inventive, 

 and literary with the advent of great men, 

 are all pictorially represented in their time- 

 relations, so that an accurate outline of his- 

 tory may be rapidly and easily acquired. 



It would take a book to describe the 

 chart, and so we shall not attempt it, but 

 will only say that for introducing the young 

 to the study of history, and for common 

 reference in reading general history, it will 

 have great usefulness. Much pains has 

 been bestowed upon its preparation, and 

 a good deal of information crowded into 

 limited space. The Hebrew cosmology and 

 Usher's chronology are adopted, and more 

 supernatural events are located than science 

 might perhaps approve ; but this does not 

 impair the general utility of the work, which 

 is conformed, if not to the latest, at any 

 rate to the prevailing, state of knowledge. 



Mexican Paper : an Article of Tribute. 

 Its Manufacture, Varieties, Employment, 

 and Uses, compiled from Pictorial and 

 Written Records. By Philipp J. Valen- 

 tini, Ph. D. Worcester, Massachusetts : 

 Charles Hamilton. Pp. 26. 

 An interesting study of a single feature 

 of ancient Mexican civilization. The paint- 

 ed records of the "Codex Mcndoza" show 

 that certain towns had to furnish enormous 

 quantities of paper to the city of Mexico. 



The fact suggests an examination into the 

 Nahuatl name for paper, and its occurrence 

 in combination in the names of some towns, 

 the symbols by which it is represented in 

 the pietographs, the method of manufactur- 

 ing it, and the uses that were made of it, 

 which were very diversified. Especially were 

 large quantities of paper employed on occa- 

 sions of ceremonial and dress. 



Tenth Report of the State Entomologist 

 on the Noxious and Beneficial Insects 

 of the State of Illinois. Fifth Annual 

 Report, by Cyrus Thomas, Ph. D., State 



Entomologist. Springfield, Illinois: State 

 Board, of Agriculture. Pp. 214. 



The demand for the entomological re- 

 ports is steadily increasing within and with- 

 out the State, and even in Europe. In 

 order to make the work as useful as pos- 

 sible to farmers, who most frequently meet 

 the insects and can most readily recognize 

 them as larvae, predominance is given to 

 descriptions of the larval state. The plan 

 has been adopted of making a specialty 

 each year of some particular class of in- 

 sects. Thus Dr. Thomas's second report 

 gave considerable space to the chinch-bug; 

 his third report was devoted to plant-lice ; 

 the fourth report largely to the European 

 cabbage-worm ; and the present volume con- 

 siders at some length the history and habits 

 of the army-worm, with a view of arriving 

 at the best practical remedy. It also gives 

 a paper, by Dr. A. S. Packard, on the Hes- 

 sian fly, and accounts of many other insects. 



The Landa Alphabet a Spanish Fabrica- 

 tion. By Philipp J. Valentini, Ph. 

 D. Worcester, Massachusetts: Charles 

 Hamilton. Pp. 35. 



Generally, the ancient 'Mexicans were 

 supposed to have no alphabet, and their 

 writing to be pictorial, but an alphabet as- 

 cribed by Bishop Diego Landa, of Yucatan, 

 to the Maya people was regarded as an 

 exception. The author advances the opin- 

 ion that this was not a genuine alphabet, 

 but was compiled by the bishop from se- 

 lections of ideographs whose sounds most 

 nearly approached the sounds of the letters, 

 for the purpose of assisting the Yucatccans 

 in learning their pater noxfers. In support 

 of this position, an analysis of each charac- 

 ter is presented. 



