4i8 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Methods of Reseakch in Microscopical 

 Anatomy and Embryology. By Charles 

 Otis Whitman. Boston : S. E. Cassino 

 & Co. Pp. 255. Price, $3. 



The aim of this work is to supply in a 

 measure a need which has been created by 

 the rapid development of the methods of 

 microscopical anatomy and embryology with- 

 in the last few years. The contents of the 

 volume have been arranged in two parts, 

 the first embracing methods of a more gen- 

 eral nature, such as preservative fluids, 

 dyes, macerating fluids, fixatives, mounting 

 media, the microtome with its appurte- 

 nances, methods of imbedding, etc. ; and 

 the second including special applications 

 of embryological, anatomical, and histo- 

 logical methods. Under the head of " em- 

 bryological methods" are given, besides 

 accounts of objects of study, notes on such 

 points as the times, places, and best meth- 

 ods of collecting, breeding-habits, food, and 

 other items of information that may aid the 

 student in making a choice of material and 

 controlling its supply. The part on special 

 methods is designed to meet the wants of 

 the beginner as well as of the more ad- 

 vanced studcHt. 



RErORT ON roi>ESTRT (Department of Agri- 

 culture). Prepared by Nathaniel IT, 

 Egleston. Vol. IV. 1884. Washing- 

 ton : Government Printing-Office. Pp. 

 421. 



This report is compiled from the replies 

 to the circulars of inquiry which have been 

 sent out to various parts of the country, 

 asking for information respecting different 

 points in the condition of the forests and 

 the consumption of wood. The facts thus 

 gathered are arranged in the shape of spe- 

 cial reports by agents of the department, as 

 on the collection, preservation, and planting 

 of seeds or young trees in the prairie States; 

 the condition of forests, timber-culture, etc., 

 in the Southern and Western States ; on the 

 kmds and quantity of timber used for rail- 

 road-ties (from facts furnished by two hun- 

 dred and eighty-three railroad companies) ; 

 on the decrease of woodlands in Oiiio ; on 

 the forest condition and lumber and wood 

 trade of certain States ; on the growth, etc., 

 of trees ; on the forests of Washington Ter- 

 ritory ; and on the production of maple-su- 

 gar in the United States and Canada. 



The German Verb -Drill. By Adolphe 

 Dreyspring. New York : D. Appleton 

 & Co. Pp. 276. 



Professor Dreyspring is the author of 

 the " Cumulative Method " of teaching Ger- 

 man, which he illustrates by the motto — 

 Rcpditio mater studiorum — " repetition the 

 mother of studies." The purpose of this 

 work is to present the mechanism of the 

 colloquial and written languages in a series 

 of exercises on the verbs, always lively and 

 varied, yet subject to a well-ordered system. 

 The author selects this part of speech as 

 the central object of the exercises, because 

 he believes that the oflice of none other is 

 more complex, more important, and more 

 useful in ministering to the power and in- 

 telligibility of expression. It is also the 

 part of speech which in German as in other 

 languages goes through more inflections 

 and raises more difficulties in construction 

 than any other ; so that whoever masters 

 the verb has little difficulty with anything 

 else. The verb-drill takes the form of a 

 lively conversation between the teacher and 

 the class, in which a single verb being se- 

 lected for the day's lesson, it is passed 

 along in its inflections and with its combi- 

 nations. The plan appears to us, looking 

 at it from without, adapted to facilitate the 

 study of language and make it more inter- 

 esting, while it is also fundamental and 

 thorough. 



Lectures on the Principles of Uouse- 

 Drainage. By J. Pickering Putnam, 

 Aichitect. Boston : Ticknor & Co. Pp. 

 125. A Guide to Sanitary House-In- 

 spection. By William Paul Gerhard, 

 C. E. New York : John Wiley & Sons. 

 Pp. 145. Price, $1.25. 



The " Lectures " of the former volume 

 were delivered at the Massachusetts Insti- 

 tute of Technology, before the Suff"olk Dis- 

 trict Medical Society and the Boston Society 

 of Architects. Their scope is chiefly the 

 presentation of the principles on which the 

 drainage appliances of houses should be con- 

 structed and arranged, with criticisms of 

 existing appliances and arrangements. The 

 author has himself devised some new appli- 

 ances, the qualities of which he describes, 

 but always with an honest notice to the 

 reader that he is talking about his own work. 

 A foreign and independent judgment of the 



