p. BIBLIOGRAPHY. 547 



P. BIBLIOGRAPHY. 



SELECT WOKKS ON SCIENCE PUBLISHED DURING 1876. 



The following list of boots relating to the several depart- 

 ments of science contains only a small portion of those pub- 

 lished during the past year, but, it is believed, embraces 

 the most important. The limitations of the Jiecord preclude 

 an exhaustive bibliographical enumeration or plan ; nor, 

 indeed, is this required by readers. Works only have been 

 introduced that have features of general interest to com- 

 mend them, especially such as have been more or less fa- 

 vorably noticed in the principal journals devoted to general 

 science, and mention will be found of the places in the sev- 

 eral journals Avhere criticisms are contained. These refer- 

 ences will serve in lieu of the critical notices which were 

 proposed in a previous volume for the present Jkecord; ex- 

 perience having shown that, in order to do justice to the 

 several w^orks and to ourselves, more space would be re- 

 quired than could be well spared for the purpose. 



Whenever the volumes themselves were accessible, the 

 titles and collations have been taken directly from them. 

 In many cases, however, the compiler has been obliged to 

 depend solely on the titles contained in the journals in which 

 the volumes have been noticed, or upon booksellers' an- 

 nouncements. These are often, and indeed generally, de- 

 ficient in some point or other: e.f/.,the title may be imper- 

 fect or altered ; the date of publication may be omitted, and 

 then it can not be certain whether the volume has been pub- 

 lished during the current year or in a past one ; there is a 

 difference in the statements as to sizes; the collation is fre- 

 quently absent or erroneous, and the number of pages incor- 

 rectly given, and sometimes even the place of publication is 

 omitted. Wlierever the means of verification or correction 

 by referring to the volumes themselves have been possible, 

 they have been imjiroved ; unfortunately, however, in most 

 cases the volumes themselves could not be consulted; the 

 purchases for the public libraries of AVashington are gen- 

 erally very dilatory, and works may have been published 



