LITERARY NOTICES. 



J 33 



forms of spinning-work treated in the fore, 

 going pages. The volume contains three 

 hundred and fifty-four illustrations, the au- 

 thor being convinced that a drawing is bet- 

 ter to communicate some facts than pages 

 of words. The pictures, moreover, are of 

 artistic quality, and the mechanical work of 

 the volume is of a high grade, making the 

 book a remarkably handsome one. In the 

 second volume of this work the author will 

 treat the habits and industry associated with 

 mating and maternal instincts, life of the 

 young, etc. The third volume will be a sys- 

 tematic presentation of the orb-weavers of 

 the United States, the descriptions being ac- 

 companied by a number of lithographic 

 plates colored by hand. The work, aside 

 from its scientific value and its popular in- 

 terest, will be a treasure to the library of 

 any one who secures a copy. The " author's 

 edition " is limited to two hundred and fifty 

 numbered copies, which are issued in cloth 

 with uncut edges. A large part of the edi- 

 tion had been subscribed for before publi- 

 cation. 



The Report of S. P. Langley, Secretary 

 of the Smithsonian Institution, for 1889, 

 states that the income of the Smithsonian 

 fund is becoming less and less adequate for 

 the work of the Institution with each year 

 of the country's growth. This fund is now 

 $703,000, of which only $1,500 have been 

 received in bequests since the original Smith- 

 son legacy. The secretary calls attention 

 to the Institution as a suitable trustee for 

 moneys intended for the advancement of 

 knowledge. Additional space is needed 

 for exhibition purposes for the National 

 Museum. The appropriation allowed for 

 making the foreign exchanges required 

 by Government does not cover what this 

 service costs the Institution, even though 

 free transportation is given by many steam- 

 ship companies. The library received 17,- 

 354 accessions in the course of the year, and 

 the collection is so large that much of it is 

 inaccessible from lack of room. The collec- 

 tion of living animals, which numbers over 

 three hundred, has outgrown its accommoda- 

 tions, and a scheme for creating a zoologi- 

 cal park on Rock Creek, in the District of 

 Columbia, is being agitated. The report in- 

 cludes statistics of publications of the Insti- 



tution during the year, of accessions to the 

 museum and to the library, and of interna- 

 tional exchanges. 



A great many facts which chemists con- 

 stantly need to refer to are put into handy 

 shape in the little pamphlet which Prof. 

 John H. Appleton has published now for 

 eight years, called the Laboratory Year-Book 

 (G. Roscoe and Co., Providence, 12 cents). 

 This publication contains a calendar, notes 

 on the chemical work done in the preceding 

 year, a list of new elements announced since 

 1877, a table based on the latest revision of 

 atomic and molecular weights, tables of 

 weights, measures, and thermometer scales 

 and equivalents, the C. G. S. system of units, 

 pronunciations of words used in chemistry, 

 logarithms, postal regulations, etc. 



The Meteorological Observations made on 

 the Summit of Pike's Peak, January, 187 4^ 

 to June, 1888, are published in the Annals 

 of Harvard College Observatory, Vol. XXII. 

 The observations were made and were pre- 

 pared for the press by the United States 

 Signal Service, and the expense of publica- 

 tion has been borne by the Boyden fund. 

 The observations occupy four hundred and 

 fifty-eight quarto pages, and are introduced 

 and supplemented by a few pages of text. 



The Observations of the Neio England 

 Meteorological Society for 1888, published in 

 the Annals of the Harvard College Observa- 

 tory, contains tables in which the work of 

 the society for the year is summarized. In 

 a general account of the weather of the year 

 it is stated that nine months were colder 

 and three warmer than the average in New 

 England. The total precipitation exceeded 

 the usual annual fall by twenty-five per cent. 



Among the papers that have appeared in 

 recent numbers of The Modern Science Es- 

 sayist (James H. West, Boston ; 10 cents a 

 number) is one on The Scope and Principles 

 of the Evolution Philosophy, by Lewis G. 

 Janes, the first lecture of the Brooklyn Ethi- 

 cal Association's second season. Dr. Janes 

 represents evolution as a universal method, 

 explaining the processes of all activity. He 

 states the agnostic position in regard to the 

 Unknowable Cause, and denies that the evo- 

 lutionist is a materialist. In his closing 

 paragraphs he points out the kind of aid 

 that evolutionary philosophy can give to the 

 solution of the problems of society. The 



