LITERATURE AND LITERARY PROGRESS IX 1865. 



493 



Various Readings of the Vatican Manuscript 

 (No. 1,209), in the Vatican Library, together 

 with Illustrative and Explanatory Foot Notes, 

 and a Copious Selection of References, to the 

 whole of which is added a valuable Alphabeti- 

 cal Appendix," by B. Wilson, editor of the 

 "Gospel Banner," "Sacred Melodist," etc. 

 Messrs. De Vries, Ibarra & Co., a foreign publish- 

 ing house of Boston, havo issued four little 

 Pocket Manuals, entitled respectively: "Do 

 You Speak French?" "Do You Speak Ger- 

 man?" "Do You Speak Spanish? "and "Do 

 You Speak Italian ? " intended to facilitate the 

 efforts of beginners in acquiring rapidly a col- 

 loquial knowledge of those languages. The 

 only important reprint in Philology during the 

 year, was that of the second series of Max 

 Muller's invaluable " Lectures on the Science 

 of Language, delivered at the Royal Institution 

 of Great Britain^ in February, March, April, 

 and May, 1863." 



In MIXING, TECHNOLOGY, and MECHANICAL 

 SCIENCE, the principal interest in the early part 

 of the year centred in the discoveries and 

 search for petroleum. Fourteen volumes of 

 considerable size, besides some hundreds of re- 

 ports of investigations by chemists, mining and 

 civil engineers, were published on the subject. 

 Over six hundred companies were formed, and 

 nearly all issued pamphlets, setting forth their 

 claims upon the public patronage. Twelve, and 

 perhaps more, periodicals, weekly and monthly, 

 were established, giving the history, progress, 

 and success of the new enterprises, and the 

 price and fluctuations of petroleum and petro- 

 leum stock. Of the books on the subject, the 

 following are the most important.; "A Practi- 

 cal Treatise on Coal, Petroleum, and other Dis- 

 tilled Oils," by Abraham Gesner, M.D., F.G.S., 

 second edition, revised and enlarged by George 

 Welden Gesner; "Coal Oil and Petroleum: 

 their Origin, History, Geology, and Chemistry, 

 with a View of their Importance in their 

 Bearing upon National Industry," by Henri 

 Erni, A. M., M. D. ; " The Oil Regions of Penn- 

 sylvania, showing where Petroleum is found, 

 how it is obtained, and at what Cost, with 

 Hints for whom it may concern," by William 

 Wright; "Petrolia, or the Oil Regions of the 

 United States," by Frank B. Wilkie; "Pe- 

 troleum and Petroleum Wells, with a Com- 

 plete Guide-Book and Description of the. Oil 

 Regions of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ken- 

 tucky, and Ohio," by J. II. A. Bone ; " The 

 Oil Districts of Canada; " " Guide-Book for In- 

 vestment in Petroleum Stocks ; " " Marietta 

 and the Oil and Mineral Regions of Southeast- 

 ern Ohio and West Virginia ; " " Whence comes 

 the Oil ? a Popular Essay on the Palsaophytic 

 Production of Petroleum," by William Morris, 

 M. D. ; " Petroleum and Petroleum Wells : what 

 Petroleum is, where found, and what used for, 

 where and how to sink Petroleum Wells, with a 

 Complete Guide-Book and Description of the Oil 

 Regions of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and 

 Ohio," by J. H. A. Bone ; " Derrick and Drill, 



or an Insjght into the Discovery, Development, 

 and Present Condition and Future Prospects of 

 Petroleum, in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, 

 West Virginia, etc., arranged and edited, from 

 numerous Sources, by the Author of ' Ten Acres 

 Enough'" (Mr. E. Morris) ; "The Oil-Dorado 

 of West Virginia : a full Description of the 

 Great Mineral Resources of West Virginia, the 

 Kanawha Valley, and the Country between the 

 Ohio, the Hughes, and the Kanawha Rivers ; " 

 " Coal and Coal Oil, or the Geology of the 

 Earth, being a Popular Description of Minerals 

 and Mineral Combustibles," by Eli Bowen, Pro- 

 fessor of Geology. The ablest of the periodi- 

 cals devoted to this topic commenced during 

 this year, was " The Mining Chronicle and Pe- * 

 troleum Gazette," a large and well-conducted 

 monthly, published in New York. 



Next in importance to the petroleum excite- 

 ment, and perhaps surpassing it in the vast 

 amounts invested, was the mania for gold and 

 silver mining in Colorado, Nevada, Idaho, and 

 Montana. Hundreds of companies were form- 

 ed, with large capital, for the prosecution of 

 mining and the extraction of the precious met- 

 als from the ores, and great numbers of reports 

 of analyses and mineral investigations by emi- 

 nent chemists and civil engineers were pub- 

 lished. Aside from the geological surveys of 

 certain portions of these territories, there were 

 published several hand-books, or practical trea- 

 tises, on the art of extracting the precious met- 

 als, and kindred topics. Of these, the follow- 

 ing were the principal : " The Quartz Operator's 

 Hand-Book" (published in San Francisco); 

 " Silver Mining Regions of Colorado, with some 

 Account of the different Processes now being 

 introduced for working the Gold Ores of that 

 Territory," by J. P. Whitney, of Boston; "A 

 Manual of Metallurgy, more particularly of the 

 Precious Metals, including the Method of As- 

 saying them," by George Hogarth Makins, 

 M. R. C. S., F. C. S., etc. (a reprint). To these 

 may be added, " Facts about Peat as an Article 

 of Fuel, with Remarks upon its Origin and 

 Composition, the Localities in which it is found, 

 the Methods of Preparation and Manufacture, 

 and the various Uses to which it is applicable, 

 etc.," compiled by T. H. Leavitt. The construc- 

 tion of steam-engines and boilers has attracted 

 largely the attention of practical men during 

 the year, and several valuable works on that 

 subject have been, published. Among these 

 are "Hand-book of the Steam-Engine, con- 

 taining all the Rules required for the right Con- 

 struction and Management of Engines of every 

 Class, with the easy Arithmetical Solution of 

 those Rules, constituting a Key to the 'Cate- 

 chism of the Steam-Engine,' " by John Bourne, 

 C. E. (a reprint); "Practical Rules for the 

 Proportions of Modern Engines and Boilers 

 for Land and Marine Purposes," by N. P. 

 Burgh, Engineer ; " The Differential Tubular 

 Boiler," by Alban C. Stimers, Chief Engineer, 

 U. S. Navy. Two works of great merit on 

 architecture were published during the year: 



