LITERARY NOTICES. 



847 



more generous attitude, had better err in 

 looking kindly and favorably at a people 

 whose habits and customs he is about to 

 study. It is human nature the world over 

 to resist adverse criticism ; and, where one 

 is prowling about with his eyes darkened 

 by the opaquest of uncorrected provincial 

 glasses, he is repelled on all sides ; nothing 

 is accessible to him ; he can rarely get more 

 than a superficial glance at matters, where- 

 as, if he tries honestly to seek out the 

 better attributes of a people, he is not only 

 welcome to proceed with any investigation 

 he wishes to make ; even customs and 

 ways that appear offensive are fully re- 

 vealed to him, knowing that he will not 

 willfully distort and render more painful 

 what is at the outset admitted on all hands 

 to be bad." In this spirit, which should be 

 applied to other studies as well as those of 

 social customs, the author has endeavored 

 to give an account of Japanese homes and 

 their surroundings. He might have taken 

 the huts of the poorest people or the 

 houses of the wealthy, as his types, but 

 has preferred to make his general descrip- 

 tions relate to the homes of the middle 

 classes, with occasional references to those 

 of the higher and lower orders. We have 

 already drawn upon the matter of the book 

 for an article in our March number. Fur- 

 ther than to refer to that article as a gen- 

 eral indication of the way in which the 

 subject is treated, we will say that in the 

 book the various items of household man- 

 agement, rooms, furniture, utensils, tools, 

 gateways, objects of art, etc., are treated in 

 detail in sections, which are monographs in 

 themselves, and adorned with real illustra- 

 tions ; and that we find here and there 

 hints relative to comparative economy, aes- 

 thetics, and morals, that point the way to 

 instructive thought. 



The Xew Agricclture ; or. The Waters 

 LED Captive. By A. N. Cole. New 

 York : Anglers' Publishing Company, 

 252 Broadway. Pp. 224. 



Mr. Cole describes in this volume a 

 system of drainage and self-irrigation which 

 he has devised and uses at his hill-side 

 home in Allegany County, New York, from 

 which he claims to have obtained aston- 

 ishing results in an improved condition 



of the soil, independence of spring frosts 

 and summer drought, and greatly increased 

 yield and quality of crops. The system 

 consists in constructing along the hill-side 

 a series of parallel drains of considerable 

 size, and of depth reaching to below the 

 frost-line. The drains are filled with stones 

 loosely thrown in, and covered with flat 

 stones having above them material for sift- 

 ing the solid matters from the water. Over- 

 flow drains are provided at suitable points 

 for conveying any excess of water to the 

 next lower drain in the series. These 

 drains collect all the water from rain, snow, 

 and dew deposited upon the land above 

 them, and act as reservoirs to hold it till 

 it is drawn out by the needs of the soil in 

 the dry season. From the operation of his 

 system Mr. Cole claims to have realized a 

 fourfold increase of cereal crops, with cor- 

 responding improvement in size, flavor, and 

 production of fruits and vegetables ; abso- 

 lute freedom from disease, especially from 

 fungoid affections ; security against spring 

 and autumn frosts, with considerable pro- 

 longation of the season ; the conversion 

 of hard - pan into good soil ; prevention 

 of soil-washing; effectual security against 

 drought; and the formation of springs. 

 The plan as described is particularly appli- 

 cable to hill-side land. 



Price-List of Publications of the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, July, 1885. Wash- 

 ington: Government Printing-Ofiice. Pp. 



27. 



This list includes only the publications 

 of the Institution (1847 to 1885) which can 

 be furnished at the prices named. The pub- 

 lications not mentioned are out of print. 

 The titles are given as they occur in the 

 order in which the works were originally 

 published, classified according to their sub- 

 jects, by authors, and according to the par- 

 ticular series to which they belong. We are 

 informed that all gratuitous distribution to 

 individuals has been discontinued ; but the 

 "Smithsonian Contributions" and "Miscel- 

 laneous Collections " are presented to pub- 

 lic libraries containing 25,000 volumes, 

 learned societies of the first class, and small 

 public libraries, properly recommended, 

 where a large district would be otherwise 

 unsupplicd. 



