Iv PREFACE. 



interest him not only in the regular literature articles, but in the special articles 

 on Lowell, Lytton, and Melville, the discussion of " New Dictionaries," by Prof. 

 March, and the description of Oahspe, the Spiritualist bible ; and the student of 

 art will, of course, turn to " Fine Arts in 1891." 



Among the regular articles of interest ' and importance are : In science, 

 " Astronomy," " Chemistry," " Physiology," " Physics," " Metallurgy," " Na- 

 tional Academy of Science," and the account of meetings of the several "Associa- 

 tions for the Advancement of Science " ; in religion, those showing the year's 

 growth in the various churches ; in finance and commerce, the " Financial Re- 

 view of 1891," " United States Finances," " Commerce and Navigation of the 

 United States," and the treasury and debt statement in articles on various 

 countries. 



Among the special articles not already mentioned, "Archaeology," " Farmers' 

 Congress," " Hudson River, Improvements in," and " Manual Training " are 

 noteworthy. The personal articles include, besides the three authors mentioned 

 above, one on Speaker Crisp, of the United States House of Representatives, 

 one on Gen. Sherman, one on Gen. Johnston, one on Jules Grevy, one on Gen. 

 Yon Moltke, one on Sir John A. Macdonald, one on Meissonier, the painter, and 

 an unusually large group of sketches under the title " Obituaries " of eminent 

 men who passed away during the year. The dead of the year 1891 include 

 Carl I, of Wiirtemberg, Kalakaua I, of Hawaii, Pedro II, of Brazil, and Tama- 

 sese, of Samoa besides the two ex-Presidents, Balmaceda, of Chili, and Grevy, 

 of France ; the princes Baudouin and the two Bonapartes ; the statesmen, Par- 

 nell, Earl Granville, Bradlaugh, W. H. Smith, Windthorst, Sir John Macdonald, 

 Madhava Rao, Hannibal Hamlin, Windom, and J. E. McDonald ; the clergy- 

 men, Freppel, Magee, Rotelle, Simon, Crosby, Gilmour, Loughlin, Preston, and 

 "Wadhams ; the authors, Kinglake, Lytton, Boisgobey, the two Lowells, Lossing, 

 and Parton ; the inventors, Lebel, Hobbs, and Maynard ; the soldiers, Sherman, 

 Johnston, Moltke, Boulanger, Connor, and Sibley; the naval officers, Porter, 

 Carter, Pattison, and Ingraham ; the players, Barrett, Florence, Sullivan, Fisher, 

 Edwards, Emmet, Emma Abbott, and Mrs. Forrest ; the artists, Meissonier and 

 McEntee ; the scientists, Leidy , Le Conte, Winchell, Hilgard, and Ferrel ; the 

 philanthropists, Pratt, Mrs. Stuart, and the Duke of Devonshire. Other inter- 

 esting characters, in themselves or in their circumstances, here sketched are P. 

 T. Barnum, Mrs. Hopkins-Searles, Mrs. Polk, Madame Blavatsky, Albert Pike, 

 Charles Devens, Thomas J. Conant, and Samuel D. Burchard. 



The illustrations are more numerous than in any other volume of the series. 

 They include two colored plates, besides the large map, three fine engravings on 

 steel, and an unusual number of vignette portraits in the text. Pains have been 

 taken to profit by the suggestions of those who habitually use this series for ref- 

 erence to improve the regular articles in some details, and it is hoped that the 

 present volume will exhibit an advance in keeping with the time. 



NEW YOEK, April 19, 1892. 



