Miscellaneous. 73 



porous character and composition of these marls, and the intermingled 

 vegetable matter, constitute a soil unsurpassed in fertility and adapta- 

 tion to many of our most important crops. It covers an area of, at 

 least, six millions of acres. 



In a still larger portion of the State the excess of clay in the Bluff for- 

 mation renders the soil less pervious to water and atmospheric influen- 

 ces. While this variety is somewhat inferior in nature to that last de- 

 scribed, still it may be rendered almost as productive by a judicious 

 system of subsoiling and clovering. 



The Magnesian Limestone, so abundant in the great basin of the 

 Osage and its tributaries, on the Gasconade and in the mining region of 

 the South east, together with the, intercalated sandstones and chert 

 beds and overlaying clays, form a soil at once light, warm and rich in 

 lime, silex, potash and magnesia. These ingredients with its location 

 on the sunny slopes and hill-sides of those dry, salubrious regions, give 

 it a peculiar adaptation to the culture of the grape. 



In treating of practical agriculture the essayist warns the farmer 

 against the fatal mistake of exhausting the soil, and enforces hy co- 

 gent reasons the necessity of " subsoiling, deep, thorough and fre- 

 quent tilling, and the addition of vegetable matter by clovering or 

 other means, as the best method of preparing the soil to sustain the 

 frequent droughts incident to the climate, and to retain the mois- 

 ture from the excessive rains which fall during certain seasons of 

 the year. Altogether the Essay in a short compass, contains most 

 valuable suggestions for the direction of the farmer in those parts, 

 and for the emigrant who may settle in the magnificent lands of 

 the West. 



The late meeting of the American Association for the advance- 

 ment of science in this city has brought us into hearty sympathy 

 with many eminent students of natural science in the United 

 States ; and none more worthy of esteem than the author of this 

 Essay. Having seen their faces in the flesh, and having had 

 living evidence of the warmth of their hearts, the ardour of their 

 zeal and the thoroughness of their attainments, we are now belter 

 prepared to appreciate their valuable labours and to follow with 



interest the course of their important researches and discoveries. 



A. P. K 



Illustrative Scientific and Descriptive Catalogue of the Achroma- 

 tic Microscopes manufactured by J. & W. Grunow & Co., 

 New Haven, Conn., U. S. Price 30 cents. Pp. 104. 



"We have lately received a valuable pamphlet with the above 

 very unassuming title. It is, in point of fact, a concise and well- 



