248 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



ly scattered, and therefore not readily ac- 

 cessible, we do not remember to have seen 

 any thing recent that would help the stu- 

 dent in the preparation and mounting of 

 specimens. Yet this is by far the most dif- 

 ficult part of microscopic work, and, after 

 the management of the instrument has been 

 learned, the beginner not unfrequently 

 breaks down, or becomes sorely discour- 

 aged in his attempts to prepare and mount 

 his objects. But, if he fails to master this 

 department, all opportunity for original re- 

 search is precluded, and he is compelled to 

 rely on the use of purchased slides, which, 

 often got up merely " to sell," are not al- 

 ways to be depended on. His need is a set 

 of clear and explicit directions in regard to 

 all the important details of this part of the 

 work, and this the book before us appears 

 well designed to fill. 



Beginning with the illustrated descrip- 

 tions of all the necessary apparatus, and 

 minute directions for its use, there follow 

 very complete explanations of the various 

 methods of mounting, with careful direc- 

 tions how to proceed in each; and after 

 this the manner of preparing specimens for 

 the purpose of mounting is very fully treat- 

 ed. How to collect, label, and temporarily 

 preserve all sorts of objects intended for 

 mounting is next considered ; and then we 

 come to the seventh and last chapter, which 

 gives instructions how to proceed in the 

 examination of organic and inorganic sub- 

 stances, with test3 for adulterations a 

 branch of microscopic work of much prac- 

 tical importance. 



The book closes with an appendix, con- 

 taining some seventy-five receipts for prep- 

 arations useful to the microscopist, and a 

 short explanation of how to convert and 

 correct microscopic measurements. It is 

 also provided with a good index. 



Thoughts for the Times. Sermons by the 

 Rev. H. R. Haweis, M. A., Incumbent 

 of St. James's, Westmoreland Street, 

 Marylebone, London, Author of " Music 

 and Morals," etc. 



We have read Mr. Haweis's " Thoughts 

 for the Times " with much interest, and be- 

 lieve it is destined to' make a deep and 

 wholesome impression upon many minds. 

 Books of sermons are getting to be very dif- 

 ferent things from what they were formerly, 



and this is one of the improved kind a 

 book of broad, liberal, and decisive views, 

 applied to practical questions. It is a work 

 of the type of " Robertson's Sermons," fresh 

 and breezy with the stir of living thought, 

 strong in criticism, and thoroughly hospi- 

 table to modern ideas. Mr. Haweis does 

 justice to those whom sermonizers general- 

 ly delight to denounce, and in his search for 

 truth he does not neglect its latest forms. 

 Instead of sounding the alarm-bell, and pro- 

 claiming the peril of religion at every step in 

 the onward course of Science, he*denies the 

 antagonism, and is in no dread that faith will 

 be destroyed by any discoveries that can 

 be made concerning the order of Nature. 

 While the whole book is pervaded by inde- 

 pendent thought, and by a devotional and 

 reverent spirit, the sermons upon the " Idea 

 of God " and the' " Law of Progress " are 

 especially significant and instructive. 



A Compendious Manual of Qualitative 

 Chemical Analysis, by Charles W. 

 Eliot and Frank H. Storer. Revised, 

 with the Cooperation of the Authors, by 

 Wm. Ripley Nichols. New York ; D. 

 Van Nostrand, Publisher, 18Y2. 



No field of literature has been more 

 cultivated, and yet with so little apparent 

 success, as that of elementary text-books, 

 and particularly is this the case in the de- 

 partment -of science and technics. Every 

 new effort in this direction is therefore fully 

 deserving of all the encouragement which 

 can conscientiously be extended to it. And 

 we are sure that the little book on Qualita- 

 tive Chemical Analysis by Messrs. Eliot and 

 Storer deserves as full a measure of recom- 

 mendation as the success of its first edition 

 implies. It is a book especially adapted to 

 the necessities of the beginner in this branch 

 of chemical technics, and will leave him, if 

 not inclined to pursue the subject into the 

 higher details of analytical practice, with 

 sufficient knowledge of the subject for the 

 man of culture, or, if so inclined, will fit nira 

 to erect the edifice of his chemical educa- 

 tion on a firm foundation of elementary 

 knowledge. 



The Gardener's Monthly. The ama- 

 teur in need of practical directions as to 

 the laying out and tending of a garden, and 

 the choice of plants, shrubs, etc., cannot do 



