LITERARY NOTICES. 



273 



Selections for Written Reproduction. De- 

 signed as an Aid to Composition Writing 

 and Language Study. By Edward U. 

 Shaw. New York : D. Appleton & Co. 

 Pp. 102. Price, 75 cents. 



Explaining the theory of his book, the 

 compiler says : " One of the best means of 

 language-training is reading a selection to 

 a grade or class, and requiring them to re- 

 produce it in writing. The value of such 

 exercises consists in the natural and easy 

 way in which the pupil gains a command 

 of language. Written reproductions from 

 memory form the best basis to lead into 

 original composition, and what, moreover, 

 is of the utmost importance, they give the 

 pupil an opportunity by his own practice to 

 discover his errors and inaccuracies, and to 

 work out of them. Through careful and sug- 

 gestive criticism by the teacher, all the prin- 

 ciples of composition become known ; not, 

 of course, in a formulated way, but in that 

 way which gives the pupil power to avoid 

 errors without being hampered by rules." 

 The aim has been to supply a series of ex- 

 ercises suitable for such reproductions. The 

 book is divided into three parts, of which 

 the first consists of selections purely narra- 

 tive or descriptive in character, such as ex- 

 perience has proved are best adapted for 

 beginners. In the second part, the selec- 

 tions contain quotations, and are more diffi- 

 cult of punctuation ; and the third part con- 

 tains matter adapted to advanced grammar 

 grades and classes in rhetoric. Suggestions 

 to teachers are given at the beginning of 

 each part. 



United States Commission of Fish and 

 Fisheries. Report of the Commission- 

 er for 1883. Washington: Government 

 Printing-Office. Pp. 1206, with numer- 

 ous Plates. 



The Commissioner reports a great ex- 

 tension of the possibilities of usefulness of 

 the Commission, by means of the steamers 

 with which it has been furnished ; and much 

 has been attempted as well as accomplished. 

 In addition to the regular work of the Com- 

 mission, it has become possible to do a great 

 deal for the advancement of science in gen- 

 eral, especially by prosecuting researches 

 into the general natural history of animals 

 and plants. The very large collections made 

 by the Commission, after setting aside a full 



VOL. XXX. 18 



series for the National Museum, have been 

 divided into arranged, classified, and labeled 

 sets, and distributed to colleges, academies, 

 and other institutions of learning throughout 

 the United States. Among the objects which 

 the Commission hopes to accomplish are the 

 continued acquisition of information respect- 

 ing fresh- and salt-water fish ; improvement 

 of old methods and apparatus of fishing and 

 the introduction of new ones ; improvement 

 in the pattern of fishing-vessels ; to deter- 

 mine the extent and general character of 

 the old fishing localities, and discover new 

 ones ; to improve methods of curing and 

 packing fish for market ; and continued in- 

 crease in the supply of valuable fishes, etc., 

 in the waters of the United States. The 

 present report contains many articles of 

 general value. Among them are accounts 

 of the species of fish cultivated and distrib- 

 uted in 1883 ; accounts of the work of the 

 steamer Albatross, by Lieutenant-Command- 

 ing Tanner, and of its results in natural 

 history and biology, by A. E. Verrill and 

 Katherine J. Bush, liberally illustrated ; and 

 reports on the propagation of food-fishes at 

 the several stations. Doubtless, these pa- 

 pers, a large number of which are published 

 as an appendix to the report, are all of 

 great value to some persons ; but they are 

 not of equal value to all. It is not desir- 

 able that any one wishing for one or a few 

 of them should be burdened with so un- 

 wieldy a volume as the one before us. It 

 would perhaps be as well to publish many 

 of them in separate volumes, accessible to 

 the general public, as well as in the ponder- 

 ous shape in which they now appear. 



Fourth Report of the United States En- 

 tomological Commission. By Charles 

 V. Riley. Washington : Government 

 Printing-Office. Pp. 550, with Plates. 

 This report is essentially a revised edi- 

 tion of the Commission's Bulletin No. 3, and 

 is the final report on the cotton-worm, to- 

 gether with a chapter on the boll-worm. The 

 cotton-worm investigation was begun in the 

 spring of 1878, under an appropriation of 

 five thousand dollars, and has been conduct- 

 ed with the purpose of getting at the exact 

 truth, and for practical ends. Hence purely 

 entomological knowledge has been subordi- 

 nated to that which may be made of practical 

 use to the planter ; and descriptive matter 



