Febeuaey 9, 1900.] 



SCIENCE. 



227 



A Manual of Zoology. C. Jefeeey Pahkee and 

 William A. Haswell. New York and London, 

 The Macmillan Company. 1900. Pp. xxv+563. 

 $1.60. 



Optical Activity and Chemical Composition. H. Lan- 

 DOLT, translated by John McCeae. London, 

 "Whittaker & Co.; New York, The Macmillan Com- 

 pany. 1899. Pp. ix + 158. 



The Refraction of the Eye. A . Ed WAED Davis. New 

 York and London, The Macmillan Company. 1900. 

 Pp. xii + 431. $3.00 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 



The Osprey for January begins with a paper 

 by Paul Bartsch on ' Birds of the Road,' which 

 is followed by an illustrated article on ' Esthe- 

 tic Birds ; The Bower Birds of Australia and 

 New Guinea,' by Theodore Gill. Under the 

 title, ' The Birds of the Hawaiian Islands, ' 

 Leonhard Stejneger reviews Scott Wilson and 

 Evans' monograph of the Hawaiian birds and 

 discusses some of the many interesting points 

 connected with the avifauna of the islands. 

 Charles E. Beecher contributes a sketch of 

 ' Othniel Charles Marsh as an Ornithologist,' 

 and gives a list of the fossil species described 

 by him. The editorials contain some interest- 

 ing statements as do also the notes. 



Bird Lore for February opens with a brief, 

 but appreciative biographical sketch of the late 

 Dr. Coues, accompanied by an excellent por- 

 trait. Frederic A. Lucas contributes an illus- 

 trated article, 'Concerning Birds' Tongues,' 

 and Frank M. Chapman has a ' Note on the 

 Economic Value of Gulls,' which includes a 

 very beautiful picture of a group of kitti- 

 wakes. A list is given of ' Bird Lore's Advi- 

 sory Council,' whose members have consented 

 to assist students by responding to their re- 

 quests for information. Lynds Jones discourses 

 ' On Methods in Teaching Ornithology at Ober- 

 lin College' and W. H. C. Pynchon has a paper 

 on ' Every-Day Study of Birds for Busy People.' 

 Morgan St. John (aged 12) has an article on 

 ' February Birds,' which shows that good ob- 

 servations may be made by a young observer. 

 There are numerous notes and book reviews, 

 and in the editorial department the question of 

 bird protection is discussed at length. 



The Plant World commences its third year 



with the January number and announces that a 

 series of articles by Mr. Pollard on the families 

 of flowering plants will appear as supplements 

 to each number. C. F. Saunders describes the 

 'New Jersey Pine Barrens in July,' Wm. T. 

 Davis has some ' Observations on a Woodland 

 Fire,' and C. A. Crandall under the caption 

 ' The Fall Green Orchis {Habenaria hyperborea) 

 visited by Mosquitoes ' tells how these insects 

 assist in the pollination of this plant. V. K. 

 Chestnut discusses a ' Fatal Case of Amanita 

 Poisoning ' and Mrs. Caroline A. Creevy con- 

 tinues the series of articles on ' Plant Juices 

 and their Commercial Values.' 



McClure's Magazine for October contained a 

 short story entitled ' The Killing of the Mam- 

 moth,' which was taken by many readers, not 

 as fiction, but as a contribution to natural his- 

 tory. Numerous requests for information have 

 been received by the Smithsonian Institution 

 and the editors of the magazine. To explain 

 matters, the editors have inserted in the issue 

 for February an interesting and excellently 

 illustrated article by Mr. F. A. Lucas of the- 

 U. S. National Museum, entitled 'The Truth- 

 about the Mammoth.' 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



THE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 



The 511th meeting of the Society was held 

 at 8 p. m., on January 20th at the Cosmos Club,. 

 Surgeon General Sternberg, presiding. 



Under the head of Informal Communications 

 Professor T. J. J. See of the Naval Observa- 

 tory, presented the results of his researches on 

 the orbits of the Double-Stars r Cygni and 95 

 Ceti. The substance of the paper was as fol- 

 lows : No good orbit of either star has been 

 determined by previous investigators. The 

 period of r Cygni was found to be 57 years, and 

 the eccentricity 0.37. The companion, which 

 is always very difficult, has passed through 

 periastion, and is slowly beccming easier to ob- 

 serve. 95 Ceti is the most difficult of known 

 Double-Stars, and only a few measures have 

 been made by previous observers. So many 

 unsuccessful attempts had been made by Burn- 

 ham and others during the last twenty years to 

 separate the small star, that some astronomers 



