212 TIIK AMERICAN MONTHLY |.Iuly. 



Cominn upon tho hcols of Dallingor's edition of Carpi-nter, 

 some will ask for a differentiation between the two. Carpenter 

 eovers a broader ground and ijoes far outside ofmlcrosoopy pro- 

 per, into biology, etc., while Vanlleurck tloes not. As descril)ing 

 the instrument itself with variations, probably Van Heurck is 

 superior, Certainly the sanu' ground is covered by both to a 

 grt-at extent and Van Heurek's ligures show to much better 

 atlvnntage by reason of the larger pjiges and heavier jtaper. 

 Both are guilty »)f sligiiting American makers and of utterly 

 ignoring such instruments as Ciritlitirs Microscope, and King's 

 Microtome. Bullock's and Zentmayer's instruments also seem 

 to be entirely overlooked by Mr. Van Heurck. But for the 

 notice of Bausch and Lomb's work, one might suppose the Bel- 

 gian very ignorant of American skill. The various English and 

 Continental microscojies receive volumniou^j attention, — nearly 

 100j)ages. These descriptions are all valuable as are those of 

 European accessories. As we keej) out all such goods by a 

 protective tariff, it is perhaps but fair that Van Heurck should 

 try to keej) a knowledge of American goods out of Europe where 

 his book will circulate most freely. There is great need of a 

 book of this sort by an American author who shall properly 

 j)resent our goods lo the world. Will not Ward, Stokes, Tolman, 

 or Seaman undertake it ? 



In liis chaj)ter on the past and future of the microscope. Van 

 Heurck gives an exceedingly interesting treatise, but in " The 

 Microscopist'd Library," where he enumerates and recommends 

 some books and periodicals, he has again shown his ignorance 

 or prejudice. For example, he cites the Journal of one of our lo- 

 cal societies, and makes no allusion at all to the Transactions of 

 our National Society. Although we send him our Journal reg- 

 ularly, he makes no reference to it. His own book on Diatoms 

 is reported, but not Wolle's Diatomaccw of North America. As 

 a book for beginners, he cites Ciltuy's "Seven Objects observed by 

 the Microscope, " but does not notice Dr. Stokes' " Micro.scopy 

 for Begianers." Although he owns a set of the leading American 

 jieriodical in which are hundreds of reviews, yet he ci es only 

 three American publications in his list, 



Taken with all due allowances, the book is still a good one to 

 have and we take much pleasure in commending it to such of 

 our readers as have plenty of money. The price is 87.00. 



