XIV NOTES BY THE EDITOR 



culture throughout the country. Many of the publications relating to 

 agricultural science, at present circulating, some, even, of an official char- 

 acter, are edited by persons ignorant of the principles of chemistry, and 

 abound in the most extravagant and fallacious statements. It is foreign to 

 our purpose in this connection to point out the errors in any particular 

 work ; the task, however, could be easily accomplished. The researches 

 made during the past year, in regard to the volatility of phosphoric acid in 

 acid solutions, and the well-known difficulty of quantitatively determining 

 this body, throw a doubt over the correctness of almost all ordinary soil 

 analyses in this particular. It is, moreover, the opinion of some of our 

 most eminent chemists, that very few complete soil analyses have been made 

 in this country which can present any claims to accuracy or reliability. 



A. valuable report on the system of agricultural education, as pursued in 

 the different countries of Europe, has been made, during the past year, by 

 President Hitchcock, to the Massachusetts Board of Commissioners on the 

 establishment of an Agricultural School, and published by the Legislature 

 of the State. This report, the result of personal examination, embraces 

 much information never before presented to the American public. 



The report of the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution exhibits its affairs 

 in a prosperous condition. By a judicious management, the accrued inter- 

 est on the amount originally left by Smithson has proved sufficient, not 

 only to construct the building and defray all other necessary expenses, but 

 to allow the sum of $'150,000 to be added to the principal, thus consider- 

 ably increasing the yearly income. The works published under the aus- 

 pices of the Institution the past year, have been, a " Report on Recent Im- 

 provements in the Chemical Arts," by Booth and Morfit ; " An Ephemeris 

 of Neptune, for 1852," by Sears C. Walker, and " Occultations visible in 

 the United States for 1852," computed by John Downes, Esq. The Insti- 

 tution has also in press the "Plantse Fremontianse, or Descriptions of 

 Plants collected in California by Col. Fremont," by Prof. Torrey ; "A 

 Monograph of the Fresh Water Cottoids of the United States," by Charles 

 Girard ; "Plants of New Mexico and Texas, collected by Wright," by 

 Prof. Gray ; " A Catalogue of the Coleoptera of the United States," by 

 Dr. Melscheimer, and a " Monograph of the Marine Algoe of North Amer- 

 ica," by Prof. Harvey, of Dublin, Ireland. This last memoir consists of a 

 description of the marine plants which are found along the eastern and 

 southern coasts of the United States, and which are worthy of attention, not 

 only on account of their beauty, variety, and the illustrations they present 

 of the growth of vegetable forms, but also on account of their economical 

 value with reference to agriculture and the chemical arts. The work is ac- 

 companied by many beautiful drawings, executed by Prof. Harvey, and is 

 gratuitously offered by the author. The preparation of the whole work, 

 besides the time occupied in collecting the specimens, will occupy more 



