LITERARY NOTICES. 



711 



carnivores, insectivores, rodents, and small 

 marsupials ; remains of a new order of 

 mammals, the Tillodonls, quite unlike any 

 now living. Crocodiles, tortoises, lizards, 

 and serpents swarmed in and about the 

 waters of the lake, while around its borders 

 grew palms and other tropical vegetation. 

 The picture is finished with the conception 

 of the Dinoce?-ata, or terrible horned, gigan- 

 tic beasts, which nearly equaled the ele- 

 phant in size, and roamed in great numbers 

 on the shores of the lake. They form a well- 

 marked order in great groups of the Ungu- 

 lata, or hoofed animals. In some of their 

 characters they resemble the Artiodactyls 

 (Paraxonia) ; in others they are like the 

 Perissodactyls (Mcsaxonia) ; and, in others 

 still, they agree with the Proboscidians. 

 The points of similarity, however, Professor 

 Marsh adds, are in most cases general char- 

 acters, which point back to an earlier, primi- 

 tive ungulate, rather than indicate a near 

 affinity with existing forms of these groups. 

 The number of species is difficult to deter- 

 mine. About thirty forms, more or less 

 distinct, are recognized in the synopsis at 

 the end of the volume ; but the number 

 might be increased, if fragmentary speci- 

 mens were used as the basis for specific 

 names. The specimens which are now in 

 the museum at Yale College represent more 

 than two hundred individuals of Dinoccraia. 

 Of these, not less than seventy-five have 

 portions of the skull more or less preserved, 

 and in more than twenty it is in good con- 

 dition. The author has endeavored in his 

 plates, and nearly two hundred woodcuts in 

 addition, to give accurate illustrations of 

 type specimens ; and all the important speci- 

 mens now known are represented, and at 

 least one figure is given of every species. 



The New Crisis. By George W. Bell. Des 

 Moines, Iowa : Moses Hull & Co. 1887. 

 Pp. 350. 



The object of this book, as the preface 

 declares, is "to prove the existence of a 

 class conspiracy, the design of which is to 

 subvert the principles of our Government 

 by a monopoly of wealth." In other words, 

 it is an anti-monopoly polemic, and has the 

 usual characteristics of such works in a 

 somewhat extreme form, but with little in 

 it that is specially new. 



I Infants, their Chronological Progress. 

 By Professor Stanford E. Chaille, M.D. 

 Pp. 20. 



Believing that the inquiry is useful 

 with reference to many points, Dr. Chaille 

 has collated in this pamphlet, as nearly in 

 their order as may be, the various mani- 

 festations of infant life, activity, conscious- 

 ness, and disposition, from birth up to the 

 age of three years. This record is followed 

 by notes on the color of the eyes and hair, 

 and on growth as shown by height, weight, 

 and chest-girth. 



Results of the Observations made at the 

 Blue Hill Meteorological Observa- 

 tory, Massachusetts, in 1886. By A. 



Lawrence Rotch. Pp. 45, with Plates. 



The Blue Hill Observatory is a private 

 establishment, which is claimed to be one 

 of the best-equipped meteorological stations 

 in the United States. It is situated on Great 

 Blue Hill, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, 

 at an elevation of six hundred and thirty- 

 five feet, making it the highest point within 

 ten miles of the Atlantic coast from Maine 

 to Florida. The present report gives a full 

 account of the equipment of the observatory, 

 and records of " general results," prevalence 

 of winds, velocity of winds, and atmospheric 

 pressure, for every day of the year, with an- 

 nual summaries under each head, and sev- 

 eral plates of tracings. 



Elementary Microscopical Technology. 

 Part I. The Technical History of a 

 Slide. By Frank L. James. St. Louis : 

 Medical and Surgical Journal Company. 

 Pp. 107. Price, 75 cents. 



The present number is a part of a work 

 on general microscopic technology, the other 

 parts of which will appear in time. It is 

 intended to teach in detail the processes 

 and manipulations for preparing the mate- 

 rials for a microscopic mount. For this 

 purpose it takes the crude materials the 

 object to be mounted, the chemicals, gums, 

 bits of glass, etc., entering into the struct- 

 ure of a slide and carries them by minute 

 descriptions through the processes of hard- 

 ening (or softening), imbedding, section- 

 cutting, staining, etc., up to the final mount- 

 ing for the cabinet. It is purposed thus to 

 give the student a general outline idea of 

 the work, and a knowledge of the names, 



