56 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. I. No. 2. 



reeds. The eye is deceived in a similar 

 manner when the bird is crouching against 

 a tree-stump at the river side. Mr. J. E. 

 Harting tliinks that the curious attitudes 

 adopted by the bird, on finding itself ob- 

 served, are assiimed in the exercise of the 

 instinct of self-preservation. He mentions 

 a similar habit, observed and described by 

 Mr. W. H. Hudson, in the case of South 

 American Little Heron, which frequents 

 the borders of the La Plata, and is occa- 

 sionally found in the reed-beds scattered 

 over the pampas. Without the aid of dogs 

 it was found impossible to secure any spec- 

 imens of this bird, even after making the 

 spot where one had alighted. — Nature. 



NEW PUBLICATIONS. 



Astronomy and Astro-Physics will hereafter 

 be called the Astrophysical Journal and will be 

 published from the University of Chicago, 

 under the editorship of Profs. Payne and 

 Keeler and a board of the leading men of 

 science in this department. 



A monthljr Magazine of Travel, somewhat 

 practical and popular in character, will 

 hereafter be published fi-om 10 Astor Place, 

 New York. 



The Aeronautical Annual for 1896, soon to 

 be published by W. B. Clarke & Co., Bos- 

 ton, will contain reprints of some early 

 treatises on aeronautics, among them da 

 Vinci's Treatise on the Flight of Birds, Sir 

 George Gay ley's Aerial Navigation (1809), 

 A Treatise upon the Art of Flying, by Thomas 

 Walker (1810), and Franklin's aeronauti- 

 cal correspondence. — Critic. 



P. Blakiston, Son & Co. announce The 

 Dynamics of Life, by William E. Gowers, 

 M. D., of London. 



James E. Thompson ; Address. 



David Cerna ; The phonetic arithmetic of 

 the ancient Mexicans. 



William Keiller ; DescrijMve anatomy of 

 the heart. 



Thomas Flavin ; Developmental anatomy 

 and pathology of the kidneys. 



Thomas U. Taylor ; Present need of engi- 

 neering education in the So^ith. 



Egbert A. Thompson ; The storm-water stor- 

 age system of irrigation. 



T. H. Bryant, Acting Secretary. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 THE TEXAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 

 DECEMBER 31, 1894. 



Dr. Halsted, President, in the chair. 



NEW BOOKS. 



Progress in Flying Machines. O. Chanute. 

 New York, The American Engineer and 

 Eailroad Journal. 1894. Pp. iv + 308. 



Lectures on the Darwinian Theory. A. M. 

 Marshall. Edited by C. F. Marshall. 

 London, D. Nutt; New York, Macmil- 

 lan & Co. 1894. Pp. xx-i-236. $2.25. 



Sea and Land. Features of Coasts and 

 Oceans with Special Eeference to the Life 

 of Man. N. S. Shaler. New York, 

 Charles Scribner's Sons. 1894. $2.50. 



Text-book of Livertebrate Morphology J. F. 

 McMuRRicH. New York, Henry Holt & 

 Co. 1894. Pp. 294. $4.00. 



The Planet Earth. An Astronomical In- 

 troduction to Geography. Eichard A. 

 Gregory'. London and New York, 

 Macmillan & Co. 1894. Pp. viii-t-105. 

 60c. 



Physiology for Beginners. M. Foster and 

 Lewis E. Shore. New York and Lon- 

 don, Macmillan & Co. 1894. Pp. ix+ 

 241. 75c. 



The Pise and Development of Organic Chemistry. 

 Gael Schorlemmer. Ee vised edition, ed- 

 ited bj"- Arthur Smithells. London and 

 New York, Macmillan & Co. 1894. Pp. 

 ix+280. 



Woman's Share in Primitive Culture O. T. 

 Mason. New York, D. Appleton & Co. 

 1894. Pp. xiii+295. 



