BOOK NOTICES. 733 



Two of plain form, all composed of plain red catlinite. The other four are 

 made of a light brown stone, rather small and of the simplest form. 



There is also an " axe " of the exact usual form of the plano-convex copper 

 "axes" so called, which is also made of the catlinite, or red pipestone, and a 

 small charm of the same material. 



This constitutes a very important addition to this already unequaled collec- 

 tion of the relics of the mound-builders and bringing the collection of pipes of 

 this typical form up to the number of fifty-six, including several unfinished speci- 

 mens, and by far the largest collection of its kind in the world. 



Mr. Gass presents these in the name of his little son, and a committee was 

 appointed to draft and present to him resolutions expressive of the heartfelt thanks 

 of the Academy and their high appreciation of his noble, disinterested and self- 

 sacrificing labors for the building up of this magnificent collection of the relics of 

 the remote past of our immediate locality. 



It was voted that the Curator, Mr. W. H. Pratt, be requested to prepare a 

 paper on the mound-builders' pipes for the meeting of the American Association 

 for the Advancement of Science, to be held in August at Minneapolis. 



H. A. R. 



BOOK NOTICES, 



History of the Negro Race in America. By George W. Williams. In two 

 volumes, octavo. Vol. II.; 1800 to 1880; pp. 611. G. P. Putnams' Sons, 

 New York. For sale by M. H. Dickinson, Kansas City, $3.50. 



To those persons who doubt the ability of the colored man to accompHsh ex- 

 cellent literary work we commend these volumes of Mr. Williams. He has devot- 

 ed seven years to their preparation and has produced the best account, in many 

 respects, of the negro race on this continent, of any author who has essayed the 

 task. The arrangement of the various branches of the subject, the selection of 

 the matter, the style of the composition, are all characteristic of education and 

 taste of a high order. Historical work is by no means easily managed so as to 

 convey the facts in an attractive manner, but Mr. Williams has succeeded ad- 

 mirably in maintaining the interest from beginning to ending and at the same 

 time in keeping all the important points in the foreground. 



The first volume covers the period from 16 19 to 1800, but the second relates 

 to that portion of the history of the race which is by far the most interesting to 

 the reader and important to the negro himself, viz.: from 1800 to the present 

 time, including the fierce political struggle for the restriction or extension of slav- 

 ery ; the anti-slavery agitation movement ; the national legislation upon the sub- 

 ject; the John Brown invasion of southern territory; the war for the Union; the 



