•250 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 



The weather of the first twenty days of June, which was very favorable to 

 ■the growing of crops, continued through that month. Since then there has been 

 very little precipitation and the temperature has been very high. 



Extremes both of high and low barometer have occurred, but no severe storm 

 been developed in this locality. 



Highest temperature 98°, on the i8th. Lowest temperature 48°, on the 

 .28th. 



Highest barometer 29.36, on the 2d. Lowest barometer 28.70, on the 20th. 



Miles traveled by the wind 8455. 



Highest velocity of wind 48 miles per hour on the 21st. 



The usual summary by decades is given above. 



BOOK NOTICES. 



Butterflies, their Structure, Changes and Life Histories. By Samuel 

 H. Scudder, octavo, pp. 322; New York; Henry Holt & Co., 1881. Price 

 $3.00. For sale by M. H. Dickinson. 



In this field of investigation there is no more skilled and enthusiastic ex- 

 plorer than Mr. Scudder. He has devoted years to this branch of science, and 

 his works on entomology, fossil and present, are numerous and exhaustive, in- 

 cluding "Fossil Myriapods of Nova Scotia," " Catalogue of Orthoptera," "Fos- 

 sil Butterflies," etc. 



The work under consideration treats of the egg, the caterpillar, the chrysalis, 

 the butterfly, the internal organs of caterpillars, the transformations of the internal 

 organs during growth, the habits of the butterfly, their seasonal changes, color- 

 ing, diversity of the sexes, origin and development of ornamentation, ancestry 

 and classification, geographical distribution, instructions for collecting, rearing, 

 preserving and studying, closing with a list of butterflies with scientific and popu- 

 lar names and list of their food plants. This covers the whole ground and gives 

 the reader or the student a comprehensive view of the whole subject, written in 

 an easy and attractive style and illustrated in the most artistic manner. 



To say that it is the most complete and thorough treatise that has yet been 

 published on this subject, is to come far within the truth, and to say that it is the 

 most beautifully printed, illustrated and bound scientific work of the day, is to 

 BO more than do justice to the publishers, who are giving great attention to this 

 class of books, so much needed at the present time. 



Familiar Talks on English Literature. By Abby Sage Richardson ; 8vo. 

 pp. 454; Chicago; Jansen, McClurg & Co., 1881. Price, $2.00. 



This history of English literature is very naturally divided into six parts, viz : 

 I. English Literature Prior to Chaucer, 449 to 1300. 2. From Chaucer to Spen- 



