176 THE AMERICAN MONTHLY. [July. 



ican yournal of Microscopy^ by purchase, and by various peri- 

 odicals and pamphlets. The donations to the cabinet included 

 gold ore, calcined, from the Diadem mine, Plumas county, pre- 

 sented by J. A. Edman, and a beautiful specimen of stalactitic 

 limonite from Henry G. Hanks. 



yXpril 20^ 'g2. — The regular conversational meeting was held 

 at 433 Montgomery street, the attendance was good and the exhibit 

 of objects was well received. President Breckeiifeld made the 

 visitors welcome in a few words, and stated that the object of 

 these exhibitions was to awaken in the community an interest in 

 natural history as revealed by the microscope. 



The exhibits were arranged by the committe so that each ex- 

 hibito*]- illustrated some particular subject, Mr. Breckenfeld 

 showed various fresh-water polyzoa, algtc, and larva;. R. H. 

 Freund had various forms of bacteria, as the bacillus of Asiatic 

 cholera, erysipelas, etc. Henry C. Hyde exhibited various chem- 

 ical crystals, by the aid of polarized light. L. M. King's, exhibit 

 was illustrative of vegetable structure, and included some very 

 pretty sections stained. William E. Loy showed various insect 

 parts, and an entire Cimex lectularius. George Otis Mitchell 

 exhibited various anatomical preparations, injected and stained, 

 from man and lower animals. Charles C. Riedy had an interest- 

 ing exhibit of diatoms, recent and fossil, \\\c\\\^X\\\^Coscinodiscus 

 asteromphalos under one-twentieth objective, i ,000 diameters. 



The next public exhibition of the society will be a " ladies' 

 night," to which the wives, daughters, and lady friends of mem- 

 bers will be invited. 



NOTICES OF BOOKS. 



The Atlantic Monthly for yune^ i8g2 ; Houghto7i^ Mifflin S 

 Co. — The June Atlantic opens with a noteworthy article on " The 

 Education of the Negro," by Dr. William T. Harris, Commis- 

 sioner of Education, which is enriched with comments by eminent 

 Southern gentlemen — Senator Gibson, Hon. J. L. M. Curry, 

 Philip A. Bruce, Esq., editor oi\\\e RichmondTitties., and Lewis 

 H. Blair, Esq., of Richmond. There is another installment of 

 the " Emerson-Thoreau Correspondence," written at the time Mr. 

 Emerson was in Europe, and abounding in passages delightfully 

 characteristic of both writers. Agrippina, a fortunate and aris- 

 tocratic cat, is the subject of a charming and very bright essay by 

 Agnes Repplier. Janet Ross contributes a paper. Fenollosa 

 writes comparing '•' Chinese and Japanese Traits." W. H. 

 Bishop contributes " An American at Home in Europe." Olive 

 Thorne Miller furnishes a bird story, " The Witching Wren." 

 Li "• The Discovery of a New Stellar System" Arthur Searle 

 describes the results of observations on the star Algol and its varia- 

 tions of light. An essay on Walt Whitman speaks of him very 

 justly and discriminatingly both as a man and a poet. 



