708 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XV. No. 383. 



treatment of which is most evidently insuffi- 

 cient, and among- the Protozoa, Coelenterata 

 and Vermes much recent worlv of great impor- 

 tance is omitted. Thus it is hard to see why 

 the Flatworms, wliich are both of general and 

 also of special clinical interest, should have 

 been passed over with merely three pages of 

 text and no illustrations; and the dismissal of 

 malarial organisms by the citation in a brief 

 footnote of a few authorities generally inac- 

 cessible, does not conform to the purpose of 

 the work or to the manner in which other 

 topics are handled. These are, however, in- 

 stances from chapters of which a few have not 

 been revised in either of the recent editions 

 of the book. 



In general the work has been carefully and 

 thoroughly revised and brings together in 

 convenient form a mass of valuable material 

 which can hardly be found in any other 

 single volume. It is indispensable to the 

 amateur worker with the microscope who 

 wishes assistance or information on the many 

 problems which arise in his work, while biolo- 

 gists and others to whom the microscope is a 

 professional instrument will find it a refer- 

 ence book of real value. 



Henry B. Ward. 



pernter's meteorological optics. 

 An important work on the optical phe- 

 nomena that occur in meteorology is an- 

 nounced from the press of Wilhelm Brau- 

 miiller, of Vienna, viz., 'Meteorologisehe 

 Optik,' by Professor J. M. Pernter. This work 

 is the fruit of the author's studies for twenty 

 years past and represents the lectures that he 

 has delivered to students in the universities at 

 Innsbruck and Vienna. Pie proposes to thor- 

 oughly work over a field in the physics of the 

 atmosphere that is often neglected by meteor- 

 ologists, although in many respects of impor- 

 tance to those who are studying the dynamics 

 of the atmosphere. Although treatises on 

 meteorological optics have been published by 

 Clausius, llascart and others, yet, it is to be 

 expected that this volume by Pernter will be 

 the first that has done justice to the subject. 

 The whole work will be divided into four sec- 

 tions, relating respectively to the apparent 



shape of the celestial vault ; the phenomena due 

 to the gaseous components of the atmosphere, 

 such as refraction and scintillation; those due 

 to haze or cloud, such as halos, glories, rain- 

 bows and the colors of the clouds; finally, the 

 phenomena due to very small particles of any 

 kind always existing in the air, such as the blue 

 color of the sky, the polarization of skylight, 

 twilight and the absorption of light in the 

 atmosphere. The first section, price 2 

 Kroners, or 45 cents, has already appeared, 

 covering 54 pages of large quarto, and shows 

 us that the whole work, which will embrace 

 about 480 pages, is eminently worthy of com- 

 mendation. C. Abbe. 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 



Bird Lore for March-April opens with a 

 most interesting article by William Brewster 

 on the 'Voices of New England Marsh,' in 

 which we are given a picture of the cycle of 

 life throughout the year as indicated by the 

 voice of the residents. The second article, on 

 'Bird Clubs in America,' is by S. N. Ehoads, 

 and tells of the Delaware Valley Club. Edith 

 M. Thomas contributes a poem on the 'Eng- 

 lish Starling,' and the third paper on 'How to 

 Name the Birds,' by Franli M. Chapman, treats 

 of the orioles and finches. Lawrence E. Love 

 tells of 'My Bluebirds,' and we have reviews, 

 editorials and the Audubon Department to 

 complete the number. 



The Osprey for March has 'Notes of some 

 Yellow-throated Vireos' Nests,' by William R. 

 Maxon; 'The Birds of the Marianne Islands 

 and their Vernacular Names,' by W. E. Saf- 

 ford; 'Notes of McCown's Longspur in Mon- 

 tana,' by P. M. Silloway ; 'The Carib Grassquit 

 (Eueihia iicolor omissa),' by B. S. Bowdish 

 and a 'Biographical Notice of John Cassin,' by 

 Theo. Gill, besides shorter articles and reviews. 

 The supplement on 'The General History of 

 Birds' continues the description of the feath- 

 ers. 



The Museums Journal of Great Britain has 

 a brief article on 'Museums and Teaching,' 

 which is rather flattering to American mu- 

 seums, an article by W. H. Edwards on 'An 

 Economical Method of Moimting Shells and 



