LITERARY NOTICES. 



ll 5 



to say that this volume is, in a high degree, 

 both interesting and useful. It presents in 

 a pleasant form, and with pointed applica- 

 tions, the sort of information that should 

 be most widely distributed, and abounds in 

 facta and suggestions of importance that 

 cannot be readily obtained elsewhere. 



Floral Decorations for the Dwelling- 

 House. A Practical Guide to the Home 

 Arrangement of Plants and Flowers. 

 By Annie Hassard. American edition, 

 revised. With many Illustrations. Pp. 

 166. New York : Maeiuillan & Co. 

 Price, 1.50. 



This little book, written by a person 

 who evidently understands fully the art of 

 floral decoration, will be found helpfully 

 suggestive to all those who wish to make 

 flowers accessory to the attractiveness of 

 their homes. 



The author aims, by both illustration 

 and statement, to render the principles un- 

 derlying her art so plain that any woman 

 may tastefully and successfully decorate her 

 table, adorn her drawing-room, and in some 

 sense, by the use of plants around her win- 

 dows and balconies, bring to the interior of 

 home not only the beauty but the simple 

 delights of the external garden. The whole 

 subject of table-decoration, including forms 

 of stands and vases, the arrangement of 

 fruit and flowers, the adjustment of these 

 to the light, materials and means for keep- 

 ing flowers fresh, as well as window-gar- 

 dening, hanging baskets, grouping of plants, 

 wreaths, crosses, and even button-hole bou- 

 quets, find very instructive treatment in this 

 little volume. It is shown how the simplest 

 available materials ferns, grasses, autumn 

 leaves no less than the richest products of 

 the florist's art, may serve, in the hands of 

 the skillful manipulator, to produce most 

 graceful effects. 



The chromatic principles of grouping 

 are indicated in the following extract : 



"In producing harmonious contrasts of col- 

 ors, it should be remembered that there are only 

 three primary colors red, blue, and yellow. 

 From these arise what are called the binary or 

 secondary colors, namely, orange, composed of 

 yellow and red ; purple, composed of blue and 

 red; and green, composed of yellow and blue. 

 These form contrasting colors to the primary 

 three with which they are in harmonious oppo- 

 sition, as the orange with blue, purple with yel- 

 low, and green with red. From the combina- 



tion with these secondary colors arise three 

 tertiary colors olive, from purple and green; 

 citron, from green and orange; and russet, 

 from orange and purple. These tertiary colors 

 harmonize with the primaries, as they stand in 

 the relation of neutral tints to them, but are in 

 harmonious opposition to the secondaries from 

 which they are combined. Red, blue, and yel- 

 low, harmonize with each other, and they may 

 be placed in juxtaposition, but purple should 

 not be near red or blue, as it is composed of 

 these two colors, the rule being that no primary 

 color should be brought into contact with a 

 secondary of which itself is a component part ; 

 nor any secondary color brought into contact 

 with a tertiary color of which it is a component 

 part." 



Memoir and Correspondence of Caroline 

 Herschel. By Mrs. John Herschel. 

 With Portraits. Pp.355. New York: 

 D. Appleton & Co. Price, $1.75. 



This is one of the most fresh and charm- 

 ing volumes that has come from the press 

 in many a day. It is of such unique and 

 special attraction that we have drawn upon 

 it for the materials of two articles in the 

 Monthly, which cannot fail to incite the 

 reader to desire the perusal of the whole 

 book. And it will amply repay the most 

 careful reading. Aside from the interest 

 at every step in the life of the remarkable 

 woman who tells her own story in such a 

 vivid and racy way, this biography will 

 have permanent value as connected with 

 the rise of modern sidereal astronomy, and 

 as throwing light upon the characteristics 

 of an illustrious scientific family. Tele- 

 scopes, new planets, comets, double stars, 

 and nebute, are always attractive things to 

 read about, but what engages us most in- 

 tently with these pages is that they overflow 

 with human nature from beginning to end. 



Analytical Processes ; or, The Primary 

 Principle of Philosophy. By Wil- 

 liam I. Gill, A. M. Pp. 483. New 

 York : The Authors' Publishing Com- 

 pany. Price, $2. 



The author of this book made his mark 

 as an acute and independent thinker by 

 the publication, a year or two since, of a 

 volume called " Evolution and Progress." 

 The present volume is the first of a series, 

 each complete in itself, in which a fresh at- 

 tempt will be made to construct a philoso- 

 phy. No intimation is given as to what 

 will be its character, the present book be- 

 ing occupied entirely with the foundation, 



