404 Notices of Books. (July, 
information given in such journals, from the ‘‘ Times” down- 
wards, is a matter of notoriety. Indeed, strictly scientific 
papers, English or foreign, appear to have been eschewed by the 
editor. In the section on Chemistry, which extends to no more 
than eleven pages, we find extracts from the ‘‘ Times” and the 
‘‘Tilustrated London News,” but not a passage from Liebig’s 
‘«¢Annalen,” from the ‘ Berichte” of the German Chemical 
Society, or the ‘“‘ Chemical News.” A similar complaint might 
be made concerning the chapters on Zoology and Botany, where 
among the authorities figure the ‘‘ Homeward Mail, the ‘‘ Globe,” 
the ‘‘ Pall Mall Gazette,” and the ‘‘ Grocer.” 
As regards the classification of the matter, the editor appears 
to proceed on principles of his own. Thus under the head 
‘‘ Chemical Science,” we find paragraphs on ‘‘ Sunlight for the 
Sick,” on ‘“‘ Prompt Remedies for Accidents and Poisons,” and 
on “Opium Smoking in New York!” On the other hand, 
‘Butter and its Adulterations” and “Tea and its Adulterations” 
rank under ‘‘ Mechanical and Useful Arts.’’ On the other hand, 
we find an article on ‘‘Compressed Peat’—abridged from the 
‘‘Times ’—in the chapter on Geology and Mineralogy 
But the gravest complaint against this ccEnpiGtieae is s the very 
small amount of light which it throws upon the progress of the 
sciences, and upon their practical and industrial applications. 
An intelligent man, without any especial acquaintance with 
chemistry, would, from merely reading Mr. Timbs’s “ Year- 
Book,” be utterly unable to form any adequate idea of the part 
which that science is now playing in the development of civilisa- 
tion. We make these remarks not in a captious or ‘ hyper- 
critical’’ spirit, but in the hope that the defects we point out 
may be in future amended, and that the work may be made— 
as it easily could—useful to the pubic, and a credit to our 
technological literature. 
The Treasury of Natural History ; or,a Popular Dictionary of 
Zoology. By SaMuEL Maunper. Revised and Corrected, 
with an Extra Supplement. By E. W. H. Hoitpswortn. 
London: Longmans, Green, and Co. 
Turis compact volume, as far as its size allows, gives a clear 
and generally correct account of the orders, families, and genera, 
as well as of the more important species of the animal world. 
The illustrations are numerous. We do not agree with the 
description given of the common viper. The ground colour of 
the male is said to be a dirty yellow ; that of the female deeper. 
Among the numbers we have seen the males were of a pale ash- 
grey, and the females of a decided copper colour. We cannot 
help expressing our dislike of the very minute type which has 
