140 



THE AMERICAN MONTHLY. 



[July. 



showing the parasite causing the dis- 

 ease, Syngamus trachcalis v. Siebold. 

 Finally, there is a comprehensive report 

 on Trichinaisis, by Dr. Salmon. We 

 have been obliged to pass over other im- 

 portant subjects without notice, but this 

 much will be a slight indication of the 

 activity, efficiency, and importance of the 

 newly-established Bureau of Animal In- 

 dustry. 



Report of the Cotninissiotter of Agriculture 

 for the year 1884. Washington : Gov- 

 ernment Printing Office. 1884. (8vo, 

 pp. 580.) 



The investigations constantly in pro- 

 gress in the Department of Agriculture 

 make the annual reports of no little scien- 

 tific as well as economic interest. In this 

 volume the report of the chemist, H. W. 

 Wiley, treats of sugar manufacture, milk 

 and butter, their analysis and adultera- 

 tions, the manufacture of flour, and other 

 matters. The report of the botanist. Dr. 

 Geo. Vasey, is illustrated by twenty-one 

 plates, showing various plants. Dr. C. V. 

 Riley's report as entomologist covers 134 

 pages and ten plates. It includes an ac- 

 count of the rust-mite of oranges, the cab- 

 bage cut-worm, and other insects. 



Science and the Stcpernatural . A lecture 

 by Prof. A. J. Du Bois, of the Sheffield 

 Scientific School of Yale College, be- 

 fore the Bridgeport Scientific Society. 

 1885. 



A lecture full of sound reasoning, clear 

 and thoughtful, which should be read by 

 those who have an interest in this sub- 

 ject. One may not be quite satisfied with 

 the method of treatment, yet there is much 

 food for thought in it. 



The Oleates. An Investigation into their 

 Nature and Action. By John V. Shoe- 

 maker, A.M., M.D., Lecturer on Der- 

 matology at the Jefferson Medical Col- 

 lege ; Physician to the Philadelphia 

 Hospital for Skin Diseases ; Member of 

 the Pennsylvania State Medical Society ; 

 the Minnesota State Medical Society; 

 the American Medical Association ; the 

 American Academy of Medicine; the 

 British Medical Association ; Fellow of 

 the Medical Society of London, etc. 

 Philadelphia: F. A. Davis, Att'y, 121 7 

 Filbert St. 1885. (i2mo, pp. 122.) 

 A very useful book for the medical prac- 

 titioner. Oleates, according to the author's 

 experiments, are superior to other oint- 

 ments, in that their active constituents 

 enter the minute openings of the glands 

 and follicles on account of being dissolved 



in the fatty base and vehicle. The oleates 

 are not absorbed and taken up by the 

 lymphatics and conveyed to the blood, 

 as ordinarily supposed. They do not 

 penetrate deeper than the glands of the 

 epidermis. The work treats of their manu- 

 facture, and their physiological and thera- 

 peutical effects. 



Manipulation of the Microscope. By Ed- 

 ward Bausch. Illustrated. Published 

 by Bausch & Lomb Optical Co. Ro- 

 chester, N. Y. : Post-Express Book and 

 Job Printing-House. 1885. (i2mo, 

 pp. 96). 



This is a thoroughly practical and in- 

 structive book, very neatly printed, and 

 for the beginner in microscopy there is 

 nothing better. Those who have become 

 familiar with microscopic work will find 

 it not unprofitable reading. We are 

 greatly pleased with the plan and systejn- 

 atic arrangement, as well as the concise 

 and plain manner of treating the subject. 

 There is nothing to criticise in these re- 

 spects. The information given is just 

 what a beginner needs. We are not quite 

 sure, however, that the statement on page 

 20, 'Other things being equal, it is the 

 angular aperture of an objective which 

 determines the quality,' will convey the 

 right impression. There are just grounds 

 for the impression that an excessive angu- 

 lar aperture does not improve an objec- 

 tive; and we would say, for instance, that 

 the half inch of 98° mentioned on page 30 

 would not be the best kind of a half inch. 

 The fact is very easily demonstrated by 

 taking a photograph of such an object as 

 a half inch would ordinarily be used 

 upon — some minute polycystina, for exam- 

 ple — with such an objective, and another 

 photograph of the same object, using the 

 same objective with the angular aperture 

 cut down to 30° or 40° by a paper dia- 

 phragm. 



The book is one which we shall be glad 

 to recommend to all beginners in micro- 

 scopy, and to intending purchasers. 



Exchanges. 



[Exchanges are inserted in this column without 

 charge. They will be strictly limited to mounted ob- 

 jects, and material for mounting.] 



Wanted : Well cleaned and selected Foraminifera, 

 for which cash will be paid or slides given. 



EDWARD G. DAY, 

 Riverside, Conn. 



Hundreds of varieties of fresh-water Algae, including 

 Volvox, Desmids, Rivularia, Draparnaldia, Tetra- 

 spora, &c., &c., for selected exchanges by list. 



J. M. ADAMS, 

 Watertown, Md. 



