Discovery of America. 419 
Four reduced copies of early maps of the territory west of the 
Mississippi are included in the Memoir; first, of a map published 
with Winterbotham’s History in 1796; second, of Rector and 
Roberdeau’s map, 1818; third, a part of Finley’s North America, 
1826; and finally, of Bonneville’s map which appeared in 1887. 
he Memoir and the Map taken together are an important 
accession to our knowledge of the physical geography of this 
continent and will be of constant service not only to men of sci- 
ence, but to statesmen and all others who are interested in the 
structure and resources of the immense territory which lies to 
the west of the Mississippi river. In this connection, we may call 
attention to the tenth volume of the surveys of the Pacific Rail 
Road which has just been distributed, containing Part III. of the 
Ppa on “ Zoology,” prepared by Prof. Spencer F. Baird of the 
mitt i ion 
. 
Institutio 
History OF THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. ATLAS OF 
KUNSTMANN, SPRUNER AND THOMAS.—In striking contrast with 
the work we have noticed by Lieut. Warren and its illustrations 
of recent discovery, we may mention the republication of early 
maps of this continent (chiefly the Atlantic coast,) which has 
been just made under the auspices of the Bavarian government. 
A few copies of this truly magnificent atlas have been received 
by Messrs. B. Westermann & Co., in New York. In place of 
comment of our own, we translate from the Berlin Zeitschrift fiir 
allgemeine Erdkunde, the following condensation of the plan of 
e compilers. 
F. Kunstmann, K. v. Spruner and G. M. Thomas have pub- 
lished an Atlas on the history of the discovery of America, which 
consists of thirteen most interesting sheets printed in fac-simile 
from those most valuable chartographical documents, which are 
found in the Royal Library, the Library of the University and 
the Military Conservatory at Munich. F. Kunstmann in his 
learned treatise “ Die Entdeckung Amerika’s, which precedesthe 
text explanatory to the charts, says, ‘The charts commence in 
the 14th century, when they first appear as the product of inde- 
pendent inquiry, and follow the progress of the voyages of dis- 
covery, the results of which are for the most part deposited in 
them. Our knowledge that the Azores were discovered in the 
14th century, we owe solely to the charts, as we have no other 
historical accounts eoncerning them. The history of the Canary 
Isles which is at first but fragmentary, is also completed by them. 
