LITERARY NOTICES. 



563 



other chemistry with which American teach- 

 ers are acquainted. It is a presentation of 

 principles without much descriptive matter. 

 The first part of the hook is devoted to 

 physical properties and forces, merging into 

 chemical physics, which prepares the way 

 for the course on pure chemistry that fol- 

 lows. " In the teaching of this portion of 

 the work," says the author, " the exercises, 

 illustrations, etc., have been selected to bear 

 on the after-course and on chemical opera- 

 tions generally. Thus, in explaining porosi- 

 ty, filtration is illustrated and taught practi- 

 cally; the collecting and storing of gases, 

 under impenetrability ; the determination of 

 boiling-points, fractional distillation, etc., 

 under heat ; the action of charcoal and dye- 

 ing, under adhesion, etc. ; so that when the 

 purely chemical portion of the work is reached 

 the student will not be perplexed and im- 

 peded when reference has to be made to 

 physical properties and physical forces. The 

 principles are taught by experimental and 

 arithmetical exercises and examination ques- 

 tions. Answers to many of the exercises are 

 ■given at the end of the work." The book is 

 suitable for students in colleges and high- 

 schools. It is strange to see a work of this 

 character without an index. 



TJie Lackawanna Institute of Historij and 

 Science has issued a first volume of its Pro- 

 ceedings and Collections. This society was 

 organized in the winter of 1885-86 at Scran- 

 ton, Pa., for the promotion and diffusion of 

 historic and scientific knowledge, especially 

 that relating to the vicinity. The locality 

 affords an exceptional amount of material 

 for scientific study, for in addition to its 

 fauna, flora, and minerals, it has the coal- 

 measures with their wealth of fossils, and it 

 lies within the area traversed by the ice of 

 the glacial epoch. The present volume con- 

 tains a lecture on " Glaciation : its Relations 

 to the Lackawanna- Wyoming Region," de- 

 livered before the institute by John C. Brau- 

 ner. Professor of Geology in the University 

 of Indiana, and " A Preliminary List of the 

 Vascular Plants of the Lackawanna and 

 Wyoming Valleys," compiled by William R. 

 Dudley, of Cornell University. Following 

 these are the proceedings and by-laws of 

 the society. 



Lessons in Geometry is a small text-book 

 by G, A. Hill (Ginn, 70 cents), prepared for 



those who desire a short and easy introduc- 

 tory course in geometry, adapted to pupils 

 between the ages of twelve and sixteen. 

 In these lessons large use is made of exer- 

 cises in drawing to scale. The training in 

 consecutive reasoning is introduced very 

 gradually, and is confined mainly to the laws 

 of equal triangles and a few of their simple 

 applications. As here presented, geometry 

 is intended to be studied before algebra. 

 The contents of the book may form a course 

 for two years or may be abridged so as to 

 be covered in one year. 



The first number of Science and PJio- 

 tography (Jas. W. Queen & Co., Philadel- 

 phia, $1 a year) has come to hand. It com- 

 prises articles bearing on various points in 

 the practice of photography and a few papers 

 on other scientific matters. 



The Annual Report of the State Geologist 

 of New Jersey for 1887 {G. H. Cook, State 

 Geologist, New Brunswick) is only a busi- 

 ness statement of the affairs of the survey, 

 the near completion of the work making it 

 unadvisable to go into detail as fully as has 

 been the case in former annual reports. The 

 first part of the final report may be expected 

 in a short time. It will be upon the phys- 

 ical geography of New Jersey, and will em- 

 body in its texts the results of the geodetic, 

 topographic, and magnetic surveys. The 

 main work of the year was given to the com- 

 pletion of the topographical survey and maps 

 of the State. Some field work was done in 

 the exploration and study of the archsean 

 rocks in Sussex County, examinations were 

 made of the glacial and terrace deposits of 

 the Delaware above the Water Gap, a care- 

 ful and detailed survey was made of the 

 zinc-mines of Franklin Furnace for the pur- 

 pose of making a model of the vein, and at- 

 tention was given to the questions of water- 

 supply and drainage. A fine topographical 

 map of the State by C. C. Vermeule accom- 

 panies the present volume. The survey and 

 its documents are attracting increasing at- 

 tention from citizens of the State. 



TJie Fifteenth Annual Report on the Geo- 

 logical and Natural History Survey of Min- 

 nesota, by Prof. N. H. Winchell (Minneapo- 

 lis, Minn.), has been issued. It covers the 

 year 1886 and comprises a report by Prof. 

 A. Winchell on the work of the party under 

 his charge, a report by Prof. N. H. Winchell 



