160 Miscellaneous Intelligence. 



green twigs employed in the ordinary method by exposing the 

 whole to the different rays, it is seen that the greatest assimilation 

 takes place in the orange rays, or those of medium refrangibility, 

 it is impossible to detect any relation between the absorption 

 bands and the amount of oxygen given off. Hence, with all the 

 objections which may be urged against it, Engelmann's method 

 places in our hands the means for estimating the effects in a 

 strictly localized part of the field. When, therefore, the method 

 is applied to the different parts of a variegated or colored leaf, 

 we may reasonably expect to determine the difference in the 

 efficiency of the rays belonging to the different parts of the 

 spectrum. It is fair to say that the present paper appears to 

 strengthen the position originally assumed by Engelmann in the 

 questions to which his methods and conclusions have given rise. 

 He has given also some useful hints as to the employment of his 

 method which obviate a few of the objections formerly raised 

 against it. g. l. g. 



(3) Hough's American Woods. Part J; by Romeyn B. Hough, 

 Lowville, N. Y. — This work consists of transverse, radial, and 

 tangential sections of twenty-five species of our North American 

 woods, having a thickness of perhaps one-hundredth of an inch 

 or in some cases a good deal less, and measuring two inches by a 

 little more than four. A few of the specimens are somewhat 

 thicker than this, but they are all sufficiently thin to reveal the 

 structure of the wood. The sets are furnished at the low price 

 of five dollars for the twenty-five species, and some of the species 

 are represented by more than one series of sections. These sets 

 remind one of the beautiful preparations made for schools by Mr. 

 Spurr, under the direction of Mr. Henry Brooks of Boston, but 

 they do not possess as those did, the advantage of protection by 

 thin plates of mica, which rendered the latter of great service in 

 botanical classes. Mr. Hough's specimens are equally beautiful, 

 but in their unprotected condition one would hardly like to 

 trust them in the hands of ordinary students. It is to be sin- 

 cerely hoped that Mr. Hough will be encouraged to continue his 

 interesting and useful work. The sections are accompanied by a 

 short account of the elements of botany, together with the more 

 important facts relative to woods, and the whole treatise is fol- 

 lowed by a specific statement regarding all the plants used in the 

 illustrations. g. l. g. 



Journal of the Trenton Natural History Society. — The number of this Journal 

 for January, 1888 (Xo. 3), contains a paper by Dr. A. C. Stokes on Fresh-water 

 Infusoria, and one by W. A. S to well on the Mora of Bergen Co., X. J. 

 "^Bulletin of the Natural History Society of New Brunswick, No. VII, pub- 

 lished at St. John, New Brunswick, contains a review of the Echinodermata of 

 New Brunswick, by Mr. "W. F. Ganong. 



