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Riley, C. V., and Howard, L. O., Editors. Insect 

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School Management, A Primer of. Syracuse, 

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Sensenig, David M. Numbers TJniversahzed. 

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Shufeldt, R. W., M. D. Osteology of Arctic and 

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Southwick Nurseries, Massachusetts. Gillett& 

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Spencer, David E. Local Government in Wis- 

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Thorpe, T. E. A Dictionary of Applied Chem- 

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Tubs with Bottoms and Tubs without. (Anony- 

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Walcott, Charles D. Inarticulate Brachiopod 

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Ward, Lester F. The Geographical Distribution 

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Wendel, F. C. H. History of Egypt. New York : 

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POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



Jacob EnniSt — This able but retiring man 

 was born in Essex County, N. J., in 1807. He 

 came of sturdy Scotch-Irish stock on his fa- 

 ther's side, and was of Dutch extraction (the 

 Doremuses) on his mother's side. After grad- 

 uating at Rutgers College, and when yet quite 

 a young man, he connected himself with the 

 Dutch Reformed Church, and was by that or- 

 ganization sent to the islands of Java and 

 Sumatra as a missionary, where he remained 

 four years. Here his powers of observation 

 and his love for the study of nature had an 

 early development. Returning to his native 

 country, he soon engaged in educational work, 

 and was elected Professor of Natural Sciences 

 in the National Military College of Bristol, 

 Pa. Afterward he became principal and pro- 

 prietor of the Scientific and Classical Insti- 

 tute of Philadelphia, where he spent the best 



part of his life. He also occupied for some 

 years the chair of Physical Sciences in the 

 State Normal School at Shippenburg, Pa. In 

 his career as an educator, he from the start 

 laid great stress on the importance of the 

 study of nature, and was indeed a bold and 

 fearless innovator in this respect, anticipat- 

 ing by perhaps a quarter of a century the 

 recognition that scientific studies have sub- 

 sequently had in all the highest institutions 

 of learning. His life was quiet, simple, dig- 

 nified, but laborious. He was a member of 

 the chief scientific bodies both in this coun- 

 try and abroad, and his contributions in the 

 shape of addresses before learned societies, 

 pamphlets, and articles in scientific periodi- 

 cals were many and varied, always strikingly 

 original, often profound, and sometimes pro- 

 phetic. Among these contributions, chiefly 

 on astronomical problems, "was one entitled 

 The Two Great Works to be done on our Si- 

 dereal Systems. In this publication two ques- 

 tions are asked — First : Which way round 

 does the great ring of the milky way revolve ? 

 Second : In which direction must we look for 

 the center of our sidereal systems, and how 

 far is it distant? These two questions he 

 attempted to answer himself in an unpub- 

 lished work, upon which he expended all the 

 time and thought that he could command 

 during the latter days of his life. He con- 

 sidered this the most important and certain- 

 ly the most original and far-reaching of his 

 works on astronomy, and it will no doubt be 

 published in due time. In his book on The 

 Origin of the Stars, published over twenty 

 years ago, some of the most transcendental 

 problems of physical astronomy were at- 

 tacked and solved with a keen analysis, an 

 abundance of facts, and a wealth of illus- 

 tration worthy of a master of the science. 

 Prof. Ennis's intellectual scope and sympa- 

 thies were not narrow or one-sided ; he was 

 familiar with the entire range of English and 

 classical literature, and was an excellent lin- 

 guist. His literary style was simple, direct, 

 and lucid ; he had a great dislike for " big 

 words," and always succeeded in making his 

 ideas clear by the use of plain and untechnical 

 language even when handling the most ab- 

 struse problems. His habits and tastes were 

 simple, his wants few, his disposition kindly 

 and gentle, and the attitude of his mind was 

 distinctly reverent. He was so quiet, mod- 



