278 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



win's 



subsidence theory. The following 

 chapters deal with the zoology of the islands, 

 consisting mainly of descriptions of the 

 species collected. Prof. Heilprin states that 

 " the Bernmdian fauna is essentially a wind- 

 drift and current-drift fauna, whose elements 

 have been received in principal part from 

 the United States and the West Indies," 

 while certain mollusca and Crustacea are of 

 a distinctively Pacific type. An appendix, 

 consisting of notes on the recent literature 

 of coral reefs, is added. The volume is 

 illustrated with seventeen full-page photo- 

 engravings and lithographic plates. 



Lectures on Russian Literature. By Ivan 

 Panin. New York and London : G. P. 

 Putnam's Sons. Pp. 220. Price, $1.50. 



The curious confession made in this vol- 

 ume that there is no originality in Russian 

 literature, but that it acts as " a sieve for 

 Western thought," or as "a wall against 

 Asiatic barbarism," would seem to condemn 

 it to the obscurity from which it has so late- 

 ly emerged. The author believes, however, 

 that the three virtues — intensity, moderation, 

 and sincerity — which pre-eminently distin- 

 guish Russian poets and novelists, will not 

 only rescue them from oblivion, but oblige 

 Western writers finally to seek in them mod- 

 els of expression. He finds four phases of 

 evolution in literature: First, the youthful 

 period of joyous song ; second, rebellion and 

 lament ; third, aggression and warfare ; 

 fourth, belief and inspiration. These are 

 exemplified in Russia by Pushkin, the bard ; 

 Gogol, the protester ; Turgenef, the warrior ; 

 and Tolstoi, the preacher. The Lectures are 

 entertaining, and give the reader an insight 

 into four typical Russian authors. 



Lessons in the Structure, Life, and Growth 

 of Plants. By Alphonso Wood. Re- 

 vised and edited by Oliver R. Willis. 

 New York : A. S. Barnes & Co. Pp. 220. 

 Price, $1. 



This text-book was written more than 

 twenty years ago, and is now recast and re- 

 vised to adapt it to new means and methods 

 of study, and to the advanced state of the 

 science. In its new form it is offered as a 

 suitable introduction and companion to any 

 of the manuals of the flora of North America. 

 Part I is devoted to structural, Part II to 

 physiological, and Part III to systematic 



botany, but it is not prescribed that the 

 subjects shall be taken up in this order. 

 The volume is clearly printed and copiously 

 illustrated, and is provided with a combined 

 index and glossary. 



A paper of nearly three hundred quarto 

 pages on The Geographical Distribution of 

 Fossil Plants has been prepared by Lester F. 

 Ward, to form a part of the report of the 

 United States Geological Survey for 1886-'8Y. 

 It is a continuation of the Sketch of Paleo- 

 botany which appeared in the Fifth Annual 

 Report, and will be followed by a paper on 

 Problems of Paleobotany, in which the au- 

 thor will discuss many subjects in this field 

 that he has not yet treated. The present 

 paper takes the form of a narrative of the 

 publication of discoveries of plant fossils. 

 The division of the earth first taken up is 

 Europe, and here the great number of small 

 beds that have been discovered and of mono- 

 graphs that have been written about them 

 precludes much more than a mention of each 

 one. The flora of the arctic regions has 

 been so magnificently treated by Prof. Os- 

 wald Heer that Mr. Ward has deemed it su- 

 perfluous to pick up what little collateral 

 matter has been brought out by other au- 

 thors. Nearly the same statement applies 

 to India, on account of Feistmantel's labors ; 

 and to Canada, where Dawson has done thor- 

 ough work. But, in treating the United 

 States, Mr. Ward has felt in duty bound to 

 make the geographical review as complete 

 as the data in his possession would permit. 

 Here more analysis of the separate finds is 

 made than in the case of the European 

 countries. This section is accompanied by 

 a map of the United States, on which the 

 chief localities in which fossil plants of va- 

 rious geological ages have been found are 

 indicated by different colored circles. Nu- 

 merous foot-notes on every page give exact 

 bibliographical information concerning the 

 works referred to in the text. The paper 

 has a full index. 



The second number of the Bulletin from 

 the Laboratories of Natural History of the 

 State University of Iowa contains papers on 

 the Anatomy of the Gorgonidae, by C. C. 

 Nutting — well illustrated ; and on the Na- 

 tive Fishes of Iowa, by Seth E. Meek. 



The Report of the Council of the Cana- 



