856 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY, 



room for the mental training of children. 

 Other books are " A First Lesson in Natural 

 History," by Mrs. Agassiz ; and " Commer- 

 cial and other Sponges, and Common Hy- 

 droids. Corals, and Echinoderms," by Profes- 

 sor Alpheus Hyatt. Boston : Ginn Brothers. 



The Report of the Commissioners of 

 Fisheries of the State of California for 

 THE Years IS'JS and 1879 records the prog- 

 ress of the efforts to stock the rivers and 

 lakes of the State with valuable fish ; and 

 gives also a report by Mr. W. L. Locking- 

 ton upon the food-fishes of San Francisco. 

 The introduction of salmon into the Sacra- 

 mento River has been attended with great 

 success. White-fish have thriven in the 

 lakes. Seventy-four catfish from the Rari- 

 tan River, planted in lakes near Sacramento 

 in 1874, have increased to millions, and fur- 

 nish an immense supply of food. Sacra- 

 mento : State Printiug-OflScc. 



The Report of the Entomologist op 

 THE United States, Department of Agri- 

 culture, is largely occupied with the de- 

 scription of insects affecting the cotton- 

 plant, and of the silk-worm and its culture. 

 It also notices a considerable number of 

 insects which are locally destructive to veg- 

 etation. Washington: Government Print- 

 ing-Office. 



A Lecture on Petroleum, its History, 

 Commercial Importance, Uses, and Dan- 

 gers, by P. Schneitzer, Ph. D., of the Mis- 

 souri State University, embodies a great 

 deal of information on the subject in a small 

 pamphlet. Printed at Columbia, Missouri. 



Vowel Theories, by Alexander Gra- 

 ham Bell, describes investigations into the 

 physiology of the formation of the vowels 

 in the throat and mouth, and experiments 

 with the phonograph, which were under- 

 taken by Mr. Bell with reference to their 

 bearing upon Helmholtz's theory of the 

 harmonic composition of the vowel-sounds. 

 New York : WiUiam Wood & Co. 



" The Industrial News and Inventor's 

 Guide." This is a new journal, edited by 

 Mr. C. B. Norton, and is the organ of the 

 American Industrial Exhibit Company (lim- 



ited) of New York. It is a monthly maga- 

 zine of twenty pages quarto, illustrated, the 

 special object of which is stated to be to 

 bring invention and capital together under 

 favorable circumstances and at little ex- 

 pense. The first number is filled with mat- 

 ter relating to the Australian Exhibitions 

 and new inventions. $2 per annum. 



The Form of Seeds as a Factor in 

 Natural Selection in Plants, by Robert 

 E. C. Stearns, is an account of studies on 

 the succession of predominant plants in the 

 fields near the University of California, il- 

 lustrating the advantages which burr-seed- 

 ed or bearded-seeded plants possess in the 

 struggle for existence. 



On Meteoric Fireballs seen in the 

 United States during the Year ending 

 March 31, 1879, by Professor Daniel Kirk- 

 wood, is an account of all the meteors ob- 

 served during the time which were brought 

 to the notice of the author, with the attend- 

 ant circumstances and phenomena. Many 

 of the descriptions were given by the ob- 

 servers personally ; others are gathered.f rom 

 reports made where the meteors were seen. 



Indian Corn, by E. Lewis Sturdetant„ 

 M. D., though brief, is an exhaustive trea- 

 tise on the subject. It gives the botanical 

 definition of the plant, its bibliography, its 

 synonyms in all countries, its history and 

 mythology in America, its European history, 

 accounts of its original varieties and its 

 minor variations, of the Indian cultivation, 

 and of the products from the grain, and the 

 classification of varieties, with numerous 

 references to authorities. Among the spe- 

 cial questions discussed is whether corn was 

 not known in Europe before Columbus, hav- 

 ing been introduced by the Northmen. It 

 seems to have been known in China as early 

 as the sixteenth century. Charles Van 

 Benthuysen & Sons, Albany, N. Y. 



PUBLICATIONS EECEIVED. 



The Action of the United States Tariff. By 

 Alfred Tyler, F. G. S. New York : G. P. Put- 

 nam's Sons. 1880. Pp. 16. 10 cents. 



What Christians Believe. By Miles Gaylord 

 Bullock, Ph. D. Syracuse, New York : Thomas 

 W. Durston & Co. 1879. Pp. 218. 35 cents. 



