LITERARY NOTICES. 



755 



tlon and mounting of objects, take up the 

 remainder of the book. The student is re- 

 ferred to the larger works of Carpenter and 

 others for a knowledge of the principles in- 

 volved in the construction of the microscope, 

 and of the course of procedure in the sev- 

 eral departments of study to which it is ap- 

 plied. 



Four Thousand Miles of African Travel. 

 By Alvan S. Sopthwoeth, Secretary 

 of the American Geographical Society. 

 AVith Maps and Illustrations. Baker, 

 Pratt & Co., New York. Price, $3.50. 



The volume of Mr. Southworth is an 

 interesting contribution to our knowledge of 

 one of the most important regions of Central 

 Africa. It is the well-told account of a jour- 

 ney made by the author as traveling corre- 

 spondent of the Xew York Herald for the 

 purpose of exploring the countries of the Up- 

 per Nile their aspects, resources, and popu- 

 lations. 



The journey commenced at Cairo on the 

 2'7th of December, 1871. " At noon on the 

 Cth of February," says the traveler, " our 

 Soudan dahabeah was parting the dark, rip- 

 pling waters of the Blue Nile from the mud- 

 dy flow of its sister confluent, the White 

 Nile, and by one o'clock the solitary minaret 

 of Khartoum was seen above the palms and 

 acacias ! " This city contains 40,000 inhabi- 

 tants, is the capital of the Soudan, and is 

 the finest provincial city of Central Africa. 



The chapters in which the author gives 

 an account of his trip up the White Nile 

 through the heart of the Soudan are full of 

 interest. The country is described as won- 

 derfully fertile. With its present wretched 

 cultivation it is more productive than the 

 well-tilled fields of Italy. It abounds in cat- 

 tle and camels, as well as wild animals. 

 Under the present government the progress 

 toward civilization has been immense. 

 Within fifteen years we are informed, 30,- 

 000,000 people have been brought in some 

 degree within the circle of semi-civiliza- 

 tion. But only incipient steps are taken. 

 The slave-trade and all the depressing in- 

 fluences of savagism still bear upon the 

 people. It is believed that no country in 

 the world is better adapted to the raising 

 of cotton than the Soudan. 



The author turned back from his trav- 

 els at Arbah Island, 300 miles southward 



from Khartoum, and nearly 2,000 miles 

 from the Mediterranean. 



The volume is enlivened by vivid de- 

 scriptions of natural scenery and phenom- 

 ena. On the Nubian Desert the mirage 

 sometimes breaks the dreary view. " On 

 the lYth of January we were seemingly en- 

 compassed by this imponderable mirror. 

 In the glowing heat the bed of the desert 

 would seem to rise in rippling waves, and a 

 line of rocks, at 200 yards distance, kept 

 common time and looked like a regiment of 

 men marching off the field in line of battle." 

 The simooms, sand-storms, and sand-spouts, 

 as well as the gorgeous tropical scenery, are 

 vividly described. The horrors of the slave- 

 trade, and the means by which this and 

 other barbarisms may be overcome, arc pru- 

 dently and judiciously treated. Dr. South- 

 worth has done excellent service in publish- 

 ing this volume. 



The American Journal of Microscopy and 

 Popular Science. Issued by the Handi- 

 craft Publication Company, 37 Park Row, 

 New York. Subscription price, 60 cents 

 a year 



This is a twelve-page monthly devoted 

 mainly to the interests of microscopy. Its 

 purpose, as expressed in the prospectus, is 

 to diffuse a knowledge of the best methods 

 of using the microscope, of valuable im- 

 provements in the instrument, and its ac- 

 cessories ; of new methods of microscopical 

 investigation, and of the most recent results 

 of microscopical research. Besides general 

 articles, of which the number before us offers 

 a pleasant variety, some of them illustrated, 

 thei'e is a "Young Folks' Column," '' Our 

 Work-Table," "Book-Table," " Notes and 

 Queries," etc. 



Report of the Michigan Board of Health, 

 1874. Lansing: AV. S. George & Co. 

 Pp. 254. 



Among the subjects treated in this re- 

 port ai-e the entailments of alcohol, drain- 

 ing for health, poisonous paper, rtlalion 

 of schools to health, resuscitation of the 

 drowned, cerebro-spinal meningitis, meteor- 

 ology of Central Michigan. Of the eight 

 special reports, five were drawn up by Prof, 

 R. C. Kedzie, M. D., whose labors are well 

 known to all who take an interest in sani- 

 tary science. 



