LITERARY NOTICES. 



555 



and connect this history with the general his- 

 tory of the time. The next remarkable epi- 

 demic was the sweating-sickness, of which 

 five outbreaks occurred between 1485 and 

 1551. The record of plague in the Tudor 

 period is a story of frequent outbreaks, one 

 of the most serious being the London plague 

 of 1563. Jail-fevers, influenzas, etc., during 

 the same period furnish material for another 

 chapter. The " French pox " has a chapter 

 by itself, another is devoted to small-pox and 

 measles, and another to scurvy and other 

 sicknesses attendant upon early voyages. 

 The plagues of the seventeenth century down 

 to 1665 are duly recorded, and then comes 

 the " Great Plague," to which over twenty 

 per cent of the population of London suc- 

 cumbed. The extinction of the plague in 

 England, in 1666 or 1667, brings this history 

 to a close. The work gives evidence of much 

 thoroughness and great ability on the part 

 of its author, and deserves to rank high in 

 medical literature. 



The Last Words of Thomas Carltle. 

 New York : D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 383. 

 Price, $1.75. 



This volume contains Wotton Reinfred, 

 a romance; and An Excursion (futile 

 enough) to Paris, which were left among 

 the author's papers at his death ; and a num- 

 ber of letters written by Carlyle to Varn- 

 hagen von Ense in the years 1837 to 1857; 

 together with two notes of Yarnhagen 

 about Carlyle's first visit to Berlin in 1852; 

 and letters of Jane Welch Carlyle to Ami- 

 ly Bolte, 1843 to 1849. The romance, Wot- 

 ton Reinfred, is Carlyle's only essay in fic- 

 tion, and therefore possesses a distinctive 

 interest. It was probably written soon after 

 the author's marriage, and represents the 

 earlier period of his literary development. 

 In it the editor of the volume finds the first 

 expression of ideas and doctrines afterward 

 set forth with more formality in Sartor 

 Resartus. Mr. Froude regards it as of con- 

 siderable interest, from the sketches which 

 it contains of particular men and women, 

 who being now dead, and the incidents for- 

 gotten, any objection which may have exist- 

 ed to publication is now removed. Among 

 these characters, according to Mr. Leslie Ste- 

 phen, is " a curious portrait of Coleridge, 

 thinly veiled." The Excursion to Paris is 



the unreserved daily record of a journey in 

 company with the Brownings, when Carlyle 

 paid a visit to Lord Ashburton. It presents 

 a singularly vivid picture of the author's 

 personality, and one which adds something 

 to our knowledge of Carlyle the man. 



Annual Report of the Board of Regents 

 of the Smithsonian Institution, to July, 

 1890. Pp. 808. Report of the Na- 

 tional Museum, for the Year ending 

 June 30, 1889. Pp.933. Washington: 

 Government Printing-Office. 



The permanent funds of the Smithsonian 

 Institution, bearing interest at six per cent, 

 amount to $703,000. The inadequacy and 

 insecurity of the buildings continue to be 

 subjects of complaint. The Institution was 

 able during the year covered by the report 

 to do rather more for the encouragement of 

 original research than it had done for sev- 

 eral years past. The project for securing 

 an astro-physical observatory and general 

 laboratory had assumed definite shape. 

 Solid foundation piers had been built under 

 the temporary shed, and a number of instru- 

 ments had been procured, of which the 

 siderostat is probably the largest and most 

 powerful instrument of its class ever con- 

 structed. The work of exploration was 

 carried on through the Bureau of Ethnology 

 and the National Museum ; and some rare 

 and valuable collections were obtained. A 

 few small grants from the Smithsonian fund, 

 " commensurate rather with the abilities of 

 the Institution than with its wishes," were 

 made to aid in physical science in addition 

 to the aid largely given to biological and 

 ethnological science through the Museum, 

 Bureau of Ethnology, and Zoological Park. 

 One of the important features of the year's 

 history of the Institution was the passing of 

 the National Zoological Park under its control. 

 A complete description of the park is given. 

 The general appendix, which constitutes 

 the larger part of the volume, contains a 

 miscellaneous selection of papers, some of 

 them original, embracing a considerable 

 range of scientific investigation and discus- 

 sion. The National Museum now contains 

 not far from three million specimens. The 

 increase during the year covered by the re- 

 port is much smaller than in any previous 

 year since the completion of the Museum 

 building. The difference is accounted for to 



