LITERARY NOTICES. 



419 



Report of the Commissioner of Agricult- 

 ure FOR THE Year 1883. Washington: 

 Government Printing-Office. Pp. 496. 



The commissioner continues the poh'cy 

 of establishing as intimate relations as pos- 

 sible between the department and the as- 

 sociations and institutions of the country 

 which are devoted to the development and 

 improvement of the art of agriculture, and 

 of calling around it those whose knowledge 

 and influence have given them especial au- 

 thority ; and he has perceived beneficial re- 

 sults from his course. Special subjects of 

 investigation within the department have 

 been the examination of microscopic fungi 

 on plants, the chemical examination of cere- 

 als, experiments with sorghum, and the in- 

 vestigations in the entomological division 

 on insects injurious to vegetation. The 

 vegetation of the new and undeveloped 

 parts of the country has been studied, es- 

 pecially the grasses, of which those that 

 may promise to be useful for meadows and 

 grazing purposes have been sought. An 

 experiment station for the investigation of 

 the contagious diseases of animals has been 

 established near Washington, under the 

 direction of Dr. D. E. Salmon. The full 

 reports of these several departmental divis- 

 ions, and of the investigations, are given in 

 the volume. 



Geological Survey of New Jersey. An- 

 nual Report of the State Geologist for 

 1883. By George II. Cook, New Bruns- 

 wick. Pp. 188, with Plates. 



Good progress was made, during the 

 year covered by the report, in the topo- 

 graphic survey of the State, and the largest 

 part of the work of the geodetic survey 

 is done. Among the special topics of geo- 

 logical and economical interest discussed 

 are the tertiary and cretaceous formations 

 of the southern part of New Jersey, with 

 accounts of the artesian wells at Ocean 

 Grove and Asbury Park ; the red sand- 

 stone and trap-rocks ; the archaean rocks 

 and iron - ore ; the iron-mines ; exploring 

 for magnetic iron-ore, and locating mines ; 

 the progress of drainage and provisions for 

 water supply at sea-side resorts and in large 

 towns ; and notes on native iron, copper, 

 and zinc ores, graphite, plumbago, and 

 black-lead, with statistics of mineral pro- 

 ductions, manufactures from clay, bricks, 



and lime. A part of the matter is in con- 

 tinuation of previous reports ; much of it 

 covers new ground. 



Our Birds in their Haunts. By Rev. J. 

 Hibbert Langille, M. A, Boston : S. E. 

 Cassino & Co. Pp. 618. Price, $3. 



In the descriptions of the birds of East- 

 ern North America, which make up this vol- 

 ume, the author has given especial attention 

 to singing and nesting habits, and has dwelt 

 upon whatever other characteristics were 

 curious in each case. He has aimed to give 

 either a full life-history, or at least a brief 

 sketch, of every species commonly met with 

 east of the Mississippi. The book is main- 

 ly a record of personal observation, supple- 

 mented by the notes of a correspondent in 

 the Hudson Bay country ; it contains many 

 bright anecdotes of bird-life, and is written 

 in a popular style, though giving the scien- 

 tific name (following Dr. Coues) of each 

 species, with the length of the bird and the 

 dimensions of its egg. 



The birds which may be seen in the same 

 season in our Northern States are grouped 

 together. The general reader will probably 

 find most that is surprising in the records 

 of their winter habits, and he will gather 

 also from these accounts that Mr. Langille's 

 love of nature is not torpid in cold weather. 

 " The author addresses himself especially 

 to men of his own profession — the gospel 

 ministry ; and would earnestly urge them to 

 become, as far as possible, the interpreters 

 of Nature as well as of the written Word." 

 He has had in view, also, the popularizing 

 of bird-study among farmers ; the sportsman 

 as well as the naturalist will recognize him 

 as a fellow; and he has, in short, tried to 

 make "a book on birds for everybody." 

 Cuts of twenty-five species are given. Un- 

 fortunately, the errata do not include all the 

 oversights in proof-reading. 



The Wonders of Plant -Life under the 

 Microscope. By Sophia Bledsoe Her- 

 RiCK. New York : G. P. Putnam's Sons. 

 Pp. 248. Price, $1.50. 



This elegant little volume is a beauti- 

 fully illustrated and thoroughly popular 

 presentation of some of the most interest- 

 ing aspects of vegetable life. Mrs. Her- 

 rick is not only an enthusiast in her devo- 

 tion to plant-studies and the microscopical 



