400 



sciEJsrcB. 



[Vol. IX., No. 220 



tinued his scientific work whenever opportunity 

 was offered. But this work was largely of a 

 character different from that of his earlier years. 

 Many of his papers in the first part show that his 

 nature was too large to permit of his assuming, as 

 some men of science have assumed, and even 

 boastfully, an absolute indifference as to the so- 

 called practical applications of his investigations, 

 and their worth as a means of bettering the con- 

 dition of mankind. His work while director of 

 the Smithsonian was very closely related to ap- 

 plied science. He was now called upon to con- 

 sider and decide questions of great practical im- 

 portance. Much of his time, which he would 

 doubtless have gladly given to researches of a 

 higher order, vs-as occupied in devising methods of 

 testing materials for public buildings, in consider- 

 ing the acoustics of public halls, in investigating 

 the relative value of illuminants for the light- 

 house board ; and in the capacity of chairman of 

 this board he planned and executed the extensive 

 and important series of experiments and investi- 

 gations on the use of fog-horns, steam-whistles, 

 etc., and on the transmission of sound, which are 

 printed at length in the latter part of the first 

 volume. A large part of the second volume is de- 

 voted to an extended series of essays on meteorol- 

 ogy. This was a subject in which Henry had al- 

 ways been interested. On the organization of the 

 Smithsonian institute, he had named meteorology 

 as one of the subjects the investigation of which 

 could properly be assumed by the new establish- 

 ment. As early as 1848 he suggested the use of 

 the telegraph in the study of American storms, 

 and explained the benefit which would accrue 

 to commerce and agriculture from its use in the 

 dissemination of weather- warnings. He organ- 

 ized a gigantic system of voluntary meteorologi- 

 cal observers, by the aid of which much light was 

 thrown upon the climatic conditions of the coun- 

 try. All of the meteorological work of the insti- 

 tute was finally turned over to the U. S. signal 

 service upon its organization, and the success of 

 this service was and is largely due to Henry's 

 labors as a pioneer. 



His essays on meteorology were in plain and 

 unpretentious language ; the medium of their 

 publication was such as to secure their wide dis- 

 tribution and diffusion among the masses of the 

 people; and the general interest in the subject to- 

 day, as well as the general intelligence of the pub- 

 lic in regard to it, must be largely attributed to 

 their influence. These essays constituted the first 

 easily accessible scientific treatment of the physics 

 of atmospheric phenomena which appeared in this 

 country, and they contain much matter of great 

 value to the meteorologist of the present time. 



The reader will thank the editors for includ- 

 ing in this collection several essays and addresses 

 to scientific societies concerning their organi- 

 zation and working-plans, which, although -not 

 strictly scientific, have had, and will continue 

 to have, an important bearing upon the progress 

 of science. In every respect the work of compila- 

 tion seems to have been done with exactness and 

 care ; most readers, however, would have wel- 

 comed the addition of a good portrait and a brief 

 biography. 



The publication and circulation of these vol- 

 umes will enable scientific men, both at home 

 and abroad, to make a juster estimate of Henry's 

 great services to science, and the study of his 

 earlier researches must convince competent judges 

 that he was one of the really strong physicists 

 of the first half of the present century. 



8T0BERS AGRICULTURE. 



Under the modest title of ' Agriculture in some 

 of its relations with chemistry,' Professor Storer 

 has given us what, in our judgment, is the most 

 noteworthy contribution to agricultural literature 

 of recent years, either in this or any other 

 country. "We say this advisedly, and after a 

 careful examination of the book. 



It may be said to treat broadly of manures and 

 fertilizers, or better, perhaps, of ' plant-feeding,' 

 since it includes, along with the main topic of 

 manures and manurial substances and their ap- 

 plication, much with regard to the plant itself ; 

 the soil and atmosphere, which are the media of 

 its growth, and from which its food is derived ; 

 the culture and handling of different crops ; and 

 the adaptation of crops and systems of farming to 

 local conditions. 



The subject is a difficult one to treat satisfac- 

 torily, on account of its complexity and also 

 because of the very imperfect state of our knowl- 

 edge upon it in many directions, and accordingly 

 there has been a dearth of good books upon it. 

 As regards the English language, the dearth may 

 be said to have been absolute. There has been 

 hitherto no book treating of these matters which 

 could be recommended to a student who desired 

 any thing remotely approaching a thorough and . 

 systematic acquaintance with the present state of 

 our knowledge on this subject. 



The students of other countries have been some- 

 what better off ; but even there, so far as the 

 writer's acquaintance with the literature of agri- 

 culture extends, there has been no one work which 

 adequately covered the whole field of plant-feed- 

 ing in its scientific and practical aspects. This 



Agriculture in some of its relations with chemistry. By 

 F. H. Storer. New York, Soribner. 8°. 



