April 8, 1887.] 



SGIBNCB. 



349 



have also been made, and a considerable amount 

 of work upon vine-diseases is reported. 



Annual report of the Connecticul agricultural experiment- 

 station, for 1886. New Haven, State. 8°. 



Like most of the experiment -stations of the 

 eastern states, the Connecticut station is largely 

 occupied with the analysis of commercial ferti- 

 lizers ; about one-half of the space in the report 

 for 1886 being occupied with the results of this 

 work, while a considerable portion of the remain- 

 der is taken up with the analyses of feeding-stuffs 

 sent to the station for examination, and other 

 matter connected therewith. 



Numerous analyses of mUk and of butter and 

 butter substitutes ha^-e been made, the latter for 

 the state dairy commissioner, and also a few ash 

 analyses of feeding-stuffs. 



The most noteworthy portions of the report are 

 the papers upon ' The agricultural value of horn- 

 dust and of hoof and horn,' and upon ' Methods 

 of mechanical soil analysis.' 



In the former the method of pot experiments 

 with fertilizers, worked out with great care and 

 labor by Wagner, was applied, for the first time 

 in this country, so far as the writer is aware, to 

 the solution of an important practical question. It 

 is to be hoped that fruther experiments of this sort 

 by this and other stations may supplement their 

 work on the analysis and commercial valuation of 

 fertilizers. 



The paper upon ' Methods of mechanical soil 

 analysis ' gives the results of tests of a new method, 

 styled ' beaker elutriation,' by which a soil may 

 readily be separated into sediments of any desired 

 fineness in a very simple and expeditious manner, 

 and without the use of expensive apparatus. 

 Should the method prove, upon further trial , to 

 be as accurate as these trials indicate, it will be a 

 very substantial addition to our means of studying 

 the physical properties of soils and then- relations 

 to fertility. 



Mention should perhaps be also made of the 

 notes upon analytical methods, which contain 

 much of interest to the chemist. The report, as 

 in previous years, shows that the work under- 

 taken has been most thoroughly and conscien- 

 tiously done. One can but regret that so great a 

 proportion of the time and energy of the station's 

 officers is taken up by routine work, and so little 

 is available for really scientific investigation. 



Fifth annual report of the board of control of the New 

 York agricultural experiment-station, for the year 1886. 

 Elmira, Advertiser aasoc. pr. 8°. 



As in previous years, the report of the New 

 York experiment- station is largely devoted to the 

 elaboration of the directors' idea of an agricul- 

 tural botany ; wheat, cabbage, and lettuce being 



the plants chiefly studied during the year, — the 

 first by the first assistant, and the other two by the 

 horticulturist. The attempt is made to classify 

 the large number of varieties given and described 

 into ' agricultural species ' with distinct and rea- 

 sonably permanent characters. It would appear 

 that the success of the gentlemen interested with 

 these tasks has not always been commensurate 

 with their desires ; but this was to be expected 

 in such a comparatively new field, and any very 

 vigorous criticism of the results would be prema- 

 ture. 



In connection with these studies, a large num- 

 ber of collateral points have received more or less 

 attention, many of them important in themselves, 

 but so superficially treated as to render the results 

 of the trials of little or no value. It seems to be 

 very difficult for those in charge of these experi- 

 ments to restrain themselves from following up 

 for a little distance any collateral inquiry which 

 suggests itself, and hence their work suffers from 

 a certain lack of concentration. 



In this latter respect the reports of the botanist, 

 chemist, and assistant chemist contrast favorably 

 with those just spoken of : in part, doubtless, on 

 account of the nature of the work undertaken. 

 The paper on ' Viscometry,' by the chemist, de- 

 serves more than a passing notice. By means of 

 a simple and inexpensive apparatus he is able to 

 determine with great accuracy the relative vis- 

 cosity of liquids, and to show that it varies greatly 

 as between different liquids, and may be made a 

 very delicate means for detecting adulterations in 

 certain cases. The method has thus far been 

 applied chiefly to dairy products, and with very 

 satisfactory results, although the investigations 

 are not yet completed. 



The New York report, as a whole, contains the 

 records of a vast amount of labor ; but in many 

 cases it is only a record, and nothing more. While 

 this is necessarily the case with large portions of 

 the work, there are other portions whose value is 

 practically lost for lack of a careful discussion of 

 the results, and the value of the whole to the 

 ordinary reader would be greatly enhanced by a 

 more free employment of the resources of typog- 

 raphy to indicate the divisions and subdivisions 

 of the subjects considered. 



CHALLENGER REPORTS. 



The present volume is devoted to the Crustacea 

 (Isopoda, part ii., and Brachyura) and Polyzoa 

 (part ii.). 



In his first report on the isopods, Mr. Beddard 

 dealt exclusively with the Serolidae ; and the 



Report of the scientific results of the exploring voyage of the 

 Challenger. Zoology, vol. xvii. London, Government. 4°. 



