LITERARY NOTICES. 



565 



small a volume seems quite formidable, but 

 each takes up a special part of the subject 

 and treats of that. 



Mr. Wells discusses the simple outfit 

 needed by beginners in the fascinating 

 study of microscopy, gives suggestions as 

 to proper objects to be studied and their 

 preparation, and tells of some simple ex- 

 periments that will entertain the young 

 student at home in the winter-time, when 

 snow and storms forbid the seeking of sub- 

 jects for his study in field and meadow. 



Mary Treat tells of some interesting 

 plants and animals whose life-history she 

 has observed and studied under her micro- 

 scope ; and Mr. Sargent's contribution is on 

 " A Home-made Microscope, and how to use 

 it," an article which will be sure to please 

 boys of an inventive turn of mind. Quite a 

 number of illustrations are given, which add 

 considerably to the interest and value of this 

 little treatise. 



Van Nostrand's Science Series. ISmo. 

 50 cents each. The Luminiferous M- 

 ther. By De Volson Wood, C. E., M. A. 

 Pp. 121. 



Hand-Book of Mineralogy. Determina- 

 tion, Description, and Classification 

 of Minerals found in the United 

 States. By J. C. Foye, A. M., Ph. D. 

 Pp. 180. 



Flow of Water in Open Channels, Pipes, 

 Sewers, Conduits, etc. By P. J. 

 Flynn, C. E. Pp. 118. 



Treatise on the Theory of the Construc- 

 tion of Helicoidal Oblique Arches. 

 By John L. Culley, C. E. Pp. 125. 



Few properties of the luminiferous aether 

 appear to have been accurately determined, 

 except that of transmiting light at the rate 

 of 186,300 miles per second, and the ability 

 to convey a definite amount of heat energy 

 from the sun to the earth. 



Proceeding from these data, the author 

 of the first book on our list seeks, by a 

 long train of reasoning and considerable 

 figuring, to determine and establish what 

 certain other properties this aether must 

 possess. Lie comes to the conclusion that 

 its density must be such " that a volume of 

 it, equal to about twenty volumes of the 

 earth, would weigh one pound," that the 

 tension is such " that the pressure on a 

 square mile would be about one pound," 



and that the specific heat is such " that it 

 would require as much heat to raise the 

 temperature of one pound one degree Fah- 

 renheit as it would to raise about 2,300,- 

 000,000 tons of water the same amount. 



In the "Addenda" arc given extracts 

 from Newton's " Principia," and from the 

 works of Clerk-Maxwell bearing on kindred 

 themes. 



The " LTand-Book of Mineralogy " is in- 

 tended by the author as an aid in determin- 

 ing the minerals found in the United States. 

 It gives briefly the prominent and distin- 

 guishing characteristics of the different min- 

 erals, and aims at presenting the classifica- 

 tions usually adopted in arranging cabinets. 



After a few introductory remarks on 

 the apparatus and reagents needed, and a 

 short chapter on blow-pipe reaction, follows 

 the part devoted to the determination of 

 species. This comprises two tables, the 

 first for the "preliminary examination," 

 the other for the "final examination," by 

 means of which tables the nature of a speci- 

 men may be readily and rapidly determined. 



The remaining part of the work is given 

 to a description of the species, to the chem- 

 ical classification, and to a classification by 

 basic elements and ores. 



A copious system of cross-references i3 

 supplied. 



The " Flow of Water in Open Channels " 

 is a book of formulae and tables designed to 

 save time and work for hydraulic engineers 

 who make use of the formulas of D'Arcy, 

 Kutter, and Bazin, in preference to the older 

 formulae. As the former, however, although 

 more accurate, are also as a rule more com- 

 plicated and more troublesome in their ap- 

 plication, a book of this kind, practically a 

 ready method of applying the new formula?, 

 will probably render the use of them more 

 general and popular. 



Two objects are intended to be accom- 

 plished by the treatise on the construction 

 of helicoidal oblique arches. In the first 

 place, a clear and concise treatment of the 

 construction is aimed at ; and in the second 

 place it is attempted to make plain and sim- 

 ple all problems connected with the theory 

 or construction. The author believes that a 

 thorough understanding of the process of 

 the generation of helicoidal surfaces will 

 remove all difficulties that usually present 



