192 - % Bibliography. 
9. A Muck Manual for Farmers; by Saumur. L. Dana. Lowell, 
Daniel Bixby, 1842: pp. 216. (Communicated. ) 
Dr. Dana has long been known as one of our most accurate and 
learned chemists; and his professional duties, as connected with the 
large calico printing establishment at Lowell, have led him to make 
many careful experiments upon subjects bearing directly upon agricul- 
tural chemistry. He has written this work, therefore, in the full matu- 
rity of experience and judgment. His staternents and reasonings are 
not those of a novice, but we see at once that he has looked at every 
point again and again, and that he gives us the final conclusions of long 
and patient examination. It is well known that on many points the 
theory of this science is not fully settled. The author, however, shows, 
(and this we regard as a most valuable part of his labors,) that these 
different views are of very little practical importance. His own pecu- 
liar opinions he states with great frankness, and merely gives a summary 
of arguments on which he founds his conclusions, with scarcely any 
personal allusion to those of different views. 
The condensation of matter in this volume is one of its marked fea- 
tures. The amount of facts and reasonings brought into so small a 
compass is truly astonishing. We think it is sometimes carried to an 
extreme ; that is, it produces obscurity. It is truly a book of aphorisms. 
There is so much of generalization, indeed, that we suspect the author 
will sometimes be misunderstood. Jt would not be strange if this very 
notice should furnish some examples. “ fe yi 
The present work is a very original one. The author’s views, gel 
_ ‘The whole work is divided into eight chapters. 1. The Geology of 
ey: OQ ‘ * oe ne 
; 8. Physical Properties of Soils. 
jefends ‘and illustrates ten fun- 
