630 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY, 



aeters of the several orders of animals be- 

 longing to the class Amphibia. Wherever 

 the author had it in his power to study the 

 characters of the animals he describes, 

 either in living specimens or in natural his- 

 tory collections, he has done so ; in other 

 cases he has had recourse to the writings 

 of the best authors. The work is one of 

 solid merit, both for its original research 

 and for its concise presentation of the re- 

 sults of prior investigation. 



Principal Characters of the Cortphodon- 

 TID.E ; Characters op the Odontor- 

 NiTHES ; Notice of a New and Gigantic 

 Dinosaur. By Prof. 0. C. Marsh. Pp. 

 6. With Plates. (From American Jour- 

 nal of Science and Arts.) 



A special interest attaches to the genus 

 Corijphodon, inasmuch as it occurs in the 

 tertiary strata of both hemispheres. In the 

 second paper named above, Prof. Marsh 

 gives certain characters common to the 

 odontornithes with the ostrich. The third 

 paper contains measurements of portions of 

 a dinosaur which surpassed in magnitude 

 any land - animal hitherto discovered, its_ 

 length having been probably from fifty to 

 sixty feet ! 



Topographical Atlas Sheets. 



These "Atlas Sheets" are a portion of 

 a series of maps designed to embrace the 

 territory of the United States west of the 

 one-hundredth meridian. The present set, 

 seven in number, are devoted to the topog 

 raphy of portions of Colorado, Arizona, 

 and New Mexico. They are based on the 

 results obtained by Wheeler's Survey. 



Iron and Steel Constructions. By J. J 

 Weyrauch, Ph. D. Pp. 112, With 

 Plates. New York : Van Nostrand. 

 Price, $1. 



The problems discussed in this little vol- 

 ume, namely, the strength and calculation 

 of dimensions of iron and steel construc- 

 tions, have for some time engaged the at- 

 tention of engineers on both sides of the 

 Atlantic. The author presents a general 

 view of the results so far obtained, and 

 offers formulas of his own based on Woh- 

 ler's law. The calculations have special 

 reference to bridge and building construc- 

 tions. 



Gold and Debt. An American Hand-Book 

 of Finance. By W. L. Fawcett. Chi- 

 cago : S. C. Griggs & Co. Price, $1.'75. 



Considerable useful information, and a 

 number of tables convenient for reference, 

 have been gotten together in this book. The 

 money units of the world, paper, coin, sus- 

 pension of specie payments, etc., are the 

 subjects of a series of chapters which show 

 that the author has bestowed a good deal 

 of labor on them. He says, however, that 

 " the first object was the compilation iu 

 compact form, convenient for reference, of 

 trustworthy statements and figures regard- 

 ing the great factors in the financial prob- 

 lems of the day." There is certainly a need 

 for such a book, but this volume hardly 

 supplies it. The discussion of subjects too 

 large for his space, and of others that are 

 purely speculative, has taken up time and 

 room that should have been used in collect- 

 ing and arranging the material proper for a 

 hand-book. Thirty-one pages, for example, 

 are given to estimates of the amounts of gold 

 and silver in the world a sort of speculation 

 that is wholly worthless. There is a lack of 

 system in the arrangement of the tables ; there 

 are unnecessary repetitions and unaccount- 

 able omissions ; and, finally, there is no in- 

 dex, a negligence not to be forgiven in a 

 work of this kind. Still, it will be found con- 

 venient for the business-man and the stu- 

 dent until a better one is prepared, which, 

 as this is not a very remunerative field of 

 work, may be a long time. 



Ornithology of the Region about the 

 Sources of the Red River of Texas. 

 By Lieutenant C. A. IT. McCaulet. (From 

 Hayden's " Reports.") Pp. 40. Wash- 

 ington : Government Printing-Office. 



Lieutenant McCaulet, while on sick- 

 leave in Southern New Mexico, attached 

 himself as a volunteer to an exploring ex- 

 pedition conducted by Lieutenant Ruffner, 

 of the Engineers. His duties mainly related 

 to the survey proper, and he was able to 

 devote to the collection of ornithological 

 specimens only the leisure time left after 

 the day's work or the day's march was over. 

 Nevertheless, he has made a substantial 

 contribution to the avi-fauna of the region 

 explored. The report is edited and anno- 

 tated by Dr. Elliott Coues, United States 

 Army. 



