November 8, 1889.] 



SCIENCE. 



321 



— E. & F. N. Spon announce as in preparation, " Practical Elec- 

 trics," a universal handybook on every-day electrical matters, in- 

 cluding connections, alarms, batteries, coils, dynamo-machines, 

 motors, phonographs, telephones, etc., reprinted from the third 

 series of " Workshop Receipts ; " " Treatise on Evaporation by the 

 Multiple System in Vacuum, its Construction and Working in'Sugar 

 Factories," by James Fo-ter ; " Experimental Science : Treatise on 

 fhe Various Topics of Physics in a Popular and Practical Way," 

 by George M. Hopkins ; " The Steam Engine and the Indicator," 

 by William B. Le Van ; and " A Practical Treatise on Mine En- 

 gineering," by G. C. Greenwell, F.G.S., third edition, reprinted from 

 the second. 



— The eighth edition is in preparation, to be ready in January, 

 of " The Electrician," electrical trades' directory and handbook for 

 1890 (corrected to December, 18S9). This will contain a carefully 

 compiled list of British, colonial, and foreign electricians, electrical 

 engineers, electric-light engineers and contractors, electrical-appa- 

 ratus makers, electric-bell makers and fitters, electric-light, tele- 

 graph, and telephone companies, electric-light, telegraph, and 

 telephone engineers, wire makers and drawers, and of all persons 

 engaged in electrical pursuits throughout the world ; useful tables 

 relating to dynamos, arc and incandescent lamps, batteries, etc. ; 

 and a biographical section, giving interesting particulars concerning 

 eminent men connected with electricity in all its applications, with 

 portraits. Full particulars will be sent immediately on application 

 to " The Electrician " Office, i Salisbury Court, Fleet Street, Lon- 

 don, E.C. 



— D. C. Heath & Co. of Boston have issued " An Introduction 

 to the Study of Shakespeare," by Hiram Corson. It does not cover 

 all the ground that an introduction ought to cover, for it gives no 

 account of the dramatist's life, nor of the state of the English 

 drama in his time ; and many other points necessary to a thorough 

 understanding of Shakspeare are left unnoticed. Still it presents a 

 good deal of matter in a concise though not very artistic style. 

 There is quite an elaborate discussion of Shakspeare's verse, and 

 many pages of textual criticism, the latter of which seems hardly 

 appropriate in an introductory work. But the greater part of the 

 book is taken up with literary criticisms on certain of the plays, — 

 " Romeo and Juliet," " Macbeth," " Hamlet," and others. In these 

 criticisms Professor Corson expresses strong dissent on certain 

 points from the views of Coleridge and the German critics ; but we 

 have no space to discuss the questions thus raised, and must refer 

 the interested reader to the book itself. 



— The division of ornithology and mammalogy of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture is engaged in mapping the geo- 

 graphical distribution of birds and mammals, in addition to the 

 study of their economic relations. The purpose of this work is to 

 ascertain the boundaries of the natural faunal areas of North 

 America. The original information on which the maps are based 

 is collected mainly by the special field agents employed by the 

 division. A smaller portion is contributed by voluntary observers. 

 In the progress of the work many new facts are obtained which 

 ought to be put on record for the benefit of other workers in this 

 department of science. It is not unusual to find new species in the 

 collections made by the field agents of the division, and such species 

 must be named and assigned their proper systematic position be- 

 fore they can be discussed intelligently. It is evident that the re- 

 sults of the investigations of the division are of importance to two 

 distinct classes of readers, — farmers and naturalists. It is deemed 

 desirable, therefore, to publish such of the results as are of use 

 mainly to those engaged in scientific research separately from those 

 of a more purely economic character. The publication of the eco- 

 nomic material being already provided for (and appearing as bulle- 

 tins and reports), it has been decided to publish a series of faunal 

 papers, under the title " North American Fauna." This publication 

 will contain, in addition to the faunal papers proper, such technical 

 matter as results from the study of the material collected, or as 

 may be necessary to an intelligent understanding of the reports 

 which follow. No attempt will be made to issue the separate num- 

 bers at regular intervals, but each number will bear date of actual 

 publication. The first of the series is " A Preliminary Revision of 



the North American Pocket Mice " (genera Perognathiis et Crice- 

 todipiis and), with descriptions of new species and subspecies, 

 and a key to the known forms, by Dr. C. Hart Merriam. This 

 contribution toward a revision of the North American pocket-mice 

 is the outgrowth of a recent attempt to identify a' large number of 

 specimens for the purpose of mapping their geographical distribu- 

 tion. The results are wholly unexpected. Only six species were 

 previously recognized. 1 his number is here increased to eighteen. 

 Three subspecies also are described, and several well-known names 

 are shifted to forms other than those to which they have been here- 

 tofore commonly applied. The present revision of the group is by 

 no means exhaustive : it is intended merely as a foundation for 

 future study. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



* ^Correspondeitis are requested to be as brief as possible. The writer's name is 

 in allcases required as proof of ^ood faith. 



The editor wilt be ^tad to publish any queries consonant with the cliaracter of 

 the journal. 



On reguest, twenty copies of the number containing iiis communication will be 

 furnished free to any correspondent. 



The Various Discoveries of Lake Mistassini. 



In being persistently discovered, the now unmythical Lake Mis- 

 tassini has a record not surpassed by the " true " source of the 

 Mississippi. If the lake in question were some recent upstart, 

 grovelling in quaternary detritus, one might pardon such unseemly 

 conduct ; but a severed body of water, quietly slumbering in 

 Archffian rocks, has a right to resent such intrusions on its privacy. 

 Furthermore, it is a sacred lake, dedicated to the Great Spirit ; for 

 on its bank, one historian informs us, there were found " autre 

 cti7-ieiix de marbre d'envh-on 30 d 35 pieds en qttari ; sa voute est 

 de Z a f) pieds de kaitt. Les sauvages Cappelent Tchichi Manitou 

 Quite koiiap, la maison du Grand Esprit" {sic). 



Its first discovery, more than two hundred years ago, is forgot- 

 ten except to the dusty pigeon-holes of the Department of Crown 

 Lands. Its last gestation required the combined services of half a 

 score of explorers and a great metropolitan journal to exploit it. 

 In the mean time, still another journal which is daily read by more 

 than a quarter of a million of people was frantically demanding to 

 be informed whether the lake had an actual existence, or whether, 

 like the fountain of perpetual youth, it lay just beyond the end of 

 the rainbow. 



Briefly stated. Lake Mistassini was discovered by Father Abanel, 

 a Jesuit, in 1672. It appears on Franquelin's map of NeiV France 

 ( " Carte de I'Amerique Septentrionale ") under the name of " Lac 

 Timagaming." On this map the shape of the lake is fairly shown, 

 and the long peninsula at the southern end is clearly recognizable. 

 Generally the outlines of the lake, though roughly charted, are tol- 

 erable accurate. Franquelin seems to have been a competent to- 

 pographer, and the slopes and drainage of the country surrounding 

 the lake are reasonably correct. The Heights of Land {Hauteurs 

 des Terres^, or divide between the St. Lawrence and the Arctic 

 basin, are correctly charted. The outlet of the lake, Rupert River, 

 is followed to Baye du Nord, now called "James Bay." On his 

 map there appears a lake much larger than Lake Mistassini lying 

 to the south-west. This, in all probability, is Lac St. Jean of Pfere 

 Laure's map ; it is, however, greatly exaggerated. 



Pere Laure, a Jesuit missionary who explored the region about 

 fifty years afterwards, was a man of far more than ordinary ability. 

 He may not have been a trained surveyor, but his keen perception 

 and faithful work more than balance any lacking in that direction. 

 He explored and mapped a large part of the region between the 

 Gulf of St. Lawrence and James Bay, and his manuscript map is 

 now in the archives of the minister of marine, in Paris. The map 

 herewith presented is reproduced from a tracing of a portion of the 

 original. As late as 1866, a reproduction of this map appears in a 

 work by Father Charlevoix. Still more recently, the " Atlas de 

 Geographic Militaire," compiled for the Military Academy at San 

 Cyr, contains a map of a part of the Dominion of Canada, evidently 

 edited from Father Laure's map. 



Less than ten years since. Lake Mistassini was again ruthlessly 

 disturbed by a discovery. This time its dimensions were enlarged 



