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POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



not only a large number of carvings of ap- 

 parent pictographic character, but also many 

 simpler markings which seem to show the 

 existence of a system of linear writing, more 

 ancient than that of the Phoenicians. In a 

 volume entitled Cretan Pictographs and Prce- 

 Phcenician Script (London: Quaritch; New 

 York : Putnams) he has described a large 

 number of these carvings, together with 

 others from the sepulchral deposit near 

 Phsestos, in the Peloponnese. The work is 

 illustrated with one hundred and thirty-nine 

 figures and several plates, including a recon- 

 struction of a Mycenean ceiling decoration in 

 colors. 



A very practical and without doubt a 

 unique book is the Laboratory Manual of 

 Inorganic Preparations, of H. T. Vulte and 

 George M. S. Neustadt (Peck, $2). It tells 

 the student how to prepare a large number 

 of the inorganic reagents used in the labora- 

 tory, the processes ranging in difficulty from 

 the distilling of water and the preparing of 

 oxygen and hydrogen gases to the prepara- 

 tion of hydrazine, carbon oxysulphide, and 

 acid or alkaline normal solutions. The num- 

 ber of substances included is, apparently, 

 over two hundred. In the recovery of sub- 

 stances that have been used in experiments 

 and in the preparation of C. P. reagents 

 from chemicals of commercial grade the au- 

 thors are convinced that not only can much 

 needless waste be prevented, but that much 

 knowledge of value to the student can be 

 acquired. 



Of two recent numbers of The Journal 

 of the College of Science of the Japanese Im- 

 perial University, one, being Volume VIII, 

 Part II, contains five papers relating to bio- 

 logical subjects, accompanied by nine plates ; 

 and the other, Volume IX, Part I, comprises 

 ten physical and chemical papers, with five 

 plates. 



In his monograph on The Physical Geog- 

 raphy of Southern New England (American 

 Book Co., 20 cents), Prof. William M. Davis 

 presents evidence to show that the region in 

 question is an old peneplain which has had 

 a slanting uplift. In accordance with this 

 theory, he accounts for the mountains that 

 stand out from or rise above the New Eng- 

 land upland and for the valleys that inter- 

 rupt it. The paper contains many sugges- 



tions for the genuine scientific teaching of 

 geography. The physiographic development 

 of The Southern Appalachians is set forth in 

 a similar essay by C. W. Hayes. Both publi- 

 cations are numbers of the first volume of 

 National Geographic Monographs. 



Under the title The Climatology and 

 Physical Features of Maryland, the Mary- 

 land State Weather Service has issued its 

 first biennial report, covering the years 1892 

 and 1893. The document includes sketches 

 of the topography and geology of the State 

 and general descriptions of its soils and cli- 

 mate. Monthly summaries of the weather 

 and a summary of the weekly weather crop 

 bulletins issued during these two years are 

 included, while in tabular form the reports 

 of observers are given. There are five maps, 

 showing the annual and seasonal tempera- 

 ture and precipitation in Maryland and Dela- 

 ware. 



A quarto pamphlet of Observation Blanks 

 in Physics, prepared by Prof. William C. A. 

 Hammel, has been issued recently (American 

 Book Co., 30 cents). These blanks contain 

 directions for fifty-four simple experiments 

 relating to air, liquids, and heat, with blank 

 lines for observation, inference, name, date, 

 instructor's indorsement, etc. There are also 

 figures of the parts of the apparatus re- 

 quired, many of the articles being household 

 utensils. 



We have already called attention to the 

 series of pamphlet guides to New England 

 natural history which is being issued by Ed- 

 ward Knobel. The one now before us is de- 

 voted to The Night Moths of New England 

 (Whidden, 60 cents), and gives the name, 

 size, and colors of five hundred species with 

 figures of nearly all of them. The species 

 are arranged in seven groups, each with a 

 brief key, and there are three pages of gen- 

 eral description. 



There is substantial evidence that science 

 is not neglected on the Pacific coast in the 

 eight-hundred-page volume of Proceedings of 

 the California Academy of Sciences, which 

 constitutes Part I of Volume V of this pub- 

 lication. Among the more extended mono- 

 graphs which it contains are a Review of the 

 Reptiles of Lower California, by John Van 

 Denburgh ; California Water Birds, by Lev- 

 erett M. Loomis ; Neocene Stratigraphy of 



