LITERARY NOTICES. 



853 



thology," by Professor R. Ramsay Wright 

 and A. B. Macallum ; " The Development of 

 the Compound Eyes of Cranogon," by Dr. 

 J. S. Kingsley ; " Eyes of Mollusks and Ar- 

 thropods," by Dr. William Patten; "On 

 the Phylogenctic Arrangement of Sauropsi- 

 da," by Dr. G. Baur ; " A Contribution to 

 the History of the Germ-layers in Clepsine," 

 by C. 0. Whitman; "The Germ-bands of 

 Lumbricus," by Professor E. B. Wilson ; 

 and " Studies on the Eyes of Arthropods," 

 by Dr. William Patten, all of which, except 

 that on arrangement of Sauropsida, are ac- 

 companied by lithographic plates. The 

 " Journal " is to be devoted chiefly to em- 

 bryological, anatomical, and histological sub- 

 jects, and will be practically limited to ani- 

 mal morphology. Each number will contain 

 from 150 to 200 or more pages, and eight 

 or ten lithographic plates. There will be 

 no stated times of publication, but numbers 

 will appear when the material on hand 

 makes it desirable. This undertaking de- 

 serves that every American zoologist should 

 do his share toward insuring for it a con- 

 tinuance of life and usefulness. 



Astronomy for Amateurs. Edited by John 

 A. Westwood Oliver. Illustrated. Lon- 

 don and New York : Longmans, Green 

 & Co. Pp. 316. Price, $2.25. 



This manual has a different field from 

 that of books which aim merely to point 

 out the beauties of the firmament. " Its 

 pages are intended to afford the amateur 

 astronomer, possessed of limited instru- 

 mental means, but yet anxious to devote 

 his labors to the furtherance of astronomi- 

 cal science, such hints and suggestions as 

 will help him to direct his efforts into the 

 channels which experience has indicated as 

 best fitted to his qualifications and equip- 

 ment." The editor has had the assistance 

 of eminent specialists in various depart- 

 ments of astronomy. 



Ormsbt Macknight Mitchel. By his Son, 

 F. A. Mitchel. Boston: Houghton, 

 Mifflin & Co. Price, $2. 

 This biography is a vivid panorama of 

 the career of an enthusiastic astronomer and 

 faithful general. The history and char- 

 acter of the subject have been presented, 

 so far as possible, in the words of his diary 

 and letters. The account of the founding 



of the Cincinnati Observatory, and of Pro- 

 fessor Mitchel's visit to Europe to procure 

 instruments, is almost entirely derived from 

 his papers, but there was not sufficient ma- 

 terial available for a complete life-record of 

 this sort. The space devoted to his service 

 in the civil war, Umited by his death to 

 fourteen months, about equals that occupied 

 with his early life and his scientific work. 



Natural Rp:sources of the United States. 



By Jacob Harris Patton, M. A., Ph. D. 



New York : D. Appleton k Co. Pp. 523. 



Price, $3. 



This comprehensive work presents in a 

 single volume as full an account as the gen- 

 eral reader will require of the many and 

 varied natural products which are vielded 

 by land and water in the United States. 

 The first hundred pages are devoted to the 

 coal-fields from Texas to Alaska, giving a 

 brief section to each locality or variety, and 

 including the leading facts of the geology 

 of the carboniferous deposits. The coal- 

 fields of Canada and Europe are also briefly 

 mentioned. Petroleum and natural gas 

 come next in order, and then iron-ores are 

 treated of in the same manner as coal. The 

 comparatively short chapters on gold and 

 silver include accounts of the original dis- 

 coveries in some of the most famous min- 

 ing regions of the country. The other use- 

 ful metals receive due attention. The chief 

 deposits of precious stones, clays, building- 

 stones, marbles, and abrasive materials are 

 named, while such minerals as graphite, salt, 

 sulphur, borax, mica, and asbestus are not 

 forgotten. Among mineral resources me- 

 dicinal waters of course have a place, and 

 the account of these naturally leads up to a 

 chapter on health-resorts. The considera- 

 tion of the vegetable resources of the coun- 

 try is introduced by a description of its cli- 

 mate and rainfall. The fisheries, the fur- 

 seal, and wild game are the chief resources 

 belonging to the animal kingdom, while the 

 people of the United States have two other 

 great natural resources in water-power and 

 unoccupied homestead lands. For the Ameri- 

 can or foreigner whose occupation or whose 

 desire to be well informed gives him an in- 

 terest in this class of facts relating to the 

 United States, the volume is one that can 

 be read with pleasure, and that will be fre- 

 quently referred to. It should be in the 



