LITERARY NOTICES. 



851 



when introduced have been put in different 

 type from the other matter. The order of 

 arrangement of the matter is a little varied 

 from the common order. The stars are 

 treated of in a general way before any de- 

 tailed consideration is given to the solar 

 system. Instruments are described at those 

 places in the text where their use is indi- 

 cated in the general development of the 

 course. Terms are defined where they may 

 receive immediate illustration from the con- 

 text. Subjects are arranged according to 

 the author's idea of what is a natural and 

 logical order. 



Nippon Shoku BriSTT meii ; or, Nomencla- 

 TDRE OF Japanese Plants in Latin, Ja- 

 panese, AND Chinese. By J. Matsu- 

 MURA. Supervised by Z. R. Yatabe. 

 Tokio, Japan : Z. P. Maruya & Co. Pp. 

 300. Price, $2. 



The author of this catalogue is Assist- 

 ant Professor of Botany in the University 

 of Tokio, and has cone his work under the 

 supervision of the Professor-in-chief of Bot- 

 any in the same institution. But little more 

 can be said in description of it than is given 

 in the title. Twenty-four hundred and six 

 species are catalogued in the alphabetical 

 order of their recognized botanical or Latin 

 names, with the authorities on which the 

 names rest, and the equivalents for these 

 names are given in Japanese, romauized 

 Japanese, and Chinese. The list itself is 

 a sufficient index to the Latin names ; but 

 three special alphabetical indexes are given 

 for the Japanese, romanized Japanese, and 

 Chinese names. The general execution and 

 arrangement of the work are as nearly per- 

 fect as such things ever are ; and in me- 

 chanical execution the book is equal to the 

 best that has ever come from an American 

 or European press. 



Beginnings with the Microscope. By 

 Walter P. Manton, M. D. Boston : 

 Lee & Shepard ; New York : Charles T. 

 Dillingham. Pp. 73. Price, 50 cents. 



The "Beginnings" is a working hand- 

 book containing simple instructions in the 

 art and method of using the microscope and 

 preparing objects for examination. It is 

 easy to handle, easy to read, and easy to 

 understand. The successful application of 

 its directions must depend on the skill and 

 industry of the student. 



History of the Discovery of the Circula- 

 tion OF the Blood. By IIenry C. Chap- 

 man, M. D. Philadelphia : P. Blakiston, 

 Son & Co. Pp. 56. Price, $1. 



This essay was the concluding lecture of 

 a course on " The Circulation " delivered by 

 the author at the Jefferson Medical College, 

 during the term of 1883. Giving to Harvey 

 the credit that is his due for grasping and 

 formulating the law of the circulation, the 

 author shows that the idea was entertained 

 indefinitely in ancient times by Eristratus and 

 Galen ; that Servetus expressed some very 

 intelligent ideas on the heart and its func- 

 tions ; that other writers had demonstrated 

 particular features of the circulation, in an 

 isolated way, before Harvey's time ; and 

 that it was not until after the appearance of 

 Harvey's work that the discovery of the 

 capillaries made intelligible the manner in 

 which the blood passed from the arteries to 

 the veins, and the demonstration of the lym- 

 phatics completed our knowledge on the 

 subject. 



Machinery of the Heavens. A System of 

 Physical Astronomy. By A. P. Piche- 

 REAU. Galesburg, 111. : Plaindealer 

 Printing Company. Pp. 142. Price, 

 $1.50. 



Mr. Pichekeau is a practicing lawyer, 

 who has kept up a living interest in astro- 

 nomical questions and studies. While hav- 

 ing the highest respect for astronomers, he is 

 not fully satisfied with the sufficiency of their 

 theories ; he has thoughtout some hypotheses 

 of his own, which he presents modestly, but 

 with confidence, in this book. These theo- 

 ries relate to the causes of planetary axial 

 rotations and orbital motions, the origin of 

 worlds, the genesis of comets' tails, and the 

 tides. If they can not be called scientific, 

 it would be unjust to pronounce them con^ 

 trary to science. They are plausible specu- 

 lations pleasantly uttered by an amateur. 



Physics in Pictures. With Explanatory 

 Text prepared by Theodore Eckardt and 

 translated by A. H. Keane. London : 

 Edward Stanford. 



In this work the principal natural phe- 

 nomena and physical appliances in use are 

 described and illustrated by thirty colored 

 plates. Nearly every physical property of 

 matter and ordinary manifestation of force 

 is graphically represented, often with much 



