274 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



of Connecticut Wethersfield, Hartford, and 

 Windsor by Charles M. Andrews. As in 

 the other monographs of this series, the ori- 

 gin, growth, and development of these towns, 

 with the various phases of social, political, 

 and other life which they have passed 

 through, are reviewed from the historical 

 and philosophical point. The agrarian and 

 civil life of the sturdy people who consti- 

 tuted their population, the author observes 

 near the end of his story, " was not essen- 

 tially different from that existent among the 

 other New England towns ; such life was in 

 its general features everywhere the same. 

 On close examination, however, we find that 

 the machinery of town and court administra- 

 tion can be classified as to whether it is pure 

 or mixed, simple or complicated, natural or 

 artificial. To Connecticut belongs the best 

 of these conditions. Her town life was pure, 

 simple, and natural ; the law which guided 

 her political relations was nearer to the 

 law which governs to-day than anywhere 

 else on the American continent. We are 

 apt to think of her settlement as an artifi- 

 cial importation, as one ready-made through 

 the influence of pre-existent conditions. Be- 

 ginning with the commercial stage, when 

 trade was the motive power, it soon entered 

 the agricultural stage, when the adventure 

 lands were occupied by planters. With the 

 development of this phase of its growth the 

 military stage begins, when it became neces- 

 sary to systematically arm against the In- 

 dians, and to turn the agricultural settle- 

 ments into armed camps, with the people a 

 body of trained soldiers. At this stage the 

 ordinary religious life begins, when system- 

 atic church life arises with the infusion of 

 new settlers ; and last of all is reached the 

 civil or political stage, when for the first 

 time the settlements may be fairly called 

 organized towns." 



The Batrachia of North America, by 

 Prof. E. J). Cope, is the forty-fifth of the 

 series of papers illustrating the collections 

 of the United States National Museum. The 

 work embraces the results of a study of the 

 character of the species, with their varia- 

 tions, for which the museum furnished lib- 

 eral material, and studies of the osteology of 

 the class, based on the material contained in 

 various museums of the United States and 

 Europe. The manuscript prepared several 



years ago by Prof. Baird and Dr. Girard has 

 also been used, and ninety-one descriptions 

 of species have been taken from it. The re- 

 sults have been expressed largely in system- 

 atic form, under the belief that descriptive 

 zoology will never be complete until the 

 structure is exhausted in furnishing defini- 

 tions. Reference is made, wherever prac- 

 ticable, to the relations between the extinct 

 and living forms. The general characters of 

 the Batrachia, their general anatomy, larval 

 characters, classification, affinities, and phy- 

 logeny, are considered, and terms and nomen- 

 clature explained, in the chapter introduc- 

 tory to the descriptions. 



The Annual Report of the State Geolo- 

 gist of New Jersey for 18S8 announces the 

 completion of the magnetic and topographic 

 surveys. The results have already been 

 published and distributed in the first volume 

 of the final report, recently noticed in the 

 " Monthly." The second volume will con- 

 tain full catalogues of the minerals, plants, 

 and vertebrate and invertebrate animals, 

 their occurrence and localities and some 

 practical and economic particulars regard- 

 ing them. The work still to be done in the 

 matter of the geological structure of the 

 rocks of the State consists mainly in combin- 

 ing and systematically arranging the mate- 

 rials which have been collected. A few 

 points remain to be cleared up, and when 

 this is done the volume on structural geol- 

 ogy can be prepared, to be followed by one 

 on economical geology. Among the mate- 

 rial returns that have accrued to the State 

 from the distribution of the reports are the 

 system of artesian well-boring, which was 

 started at the direct suggestion of the sur- 

 vey ; increased attention to the development 

 of the fire and potter's clay properties; 

 drawing attention through the maps to many 

 peculiar advantages of New Jersey ; invest- 

 ments induced by the notices of mines, quar- 

 ries, lime, marls, drained lands, and water 

 supplies ; and benefits to agricultural inter- 

 ests. The present report is brief, and in- 

 cludes " Geological Studies of the Triassic or 

 Red Sandstone and Trap Rocks," with pa- 

 pers on drainage of the Pequcst meadows 

 and the low lands of the Passaic, water sup- 

 ply and artesian wells, and statistics of iron 

 ores, zinc ores, fire clays, stoneware clays, 

 and bricks. 



