LITERARY NOTICES. 



7°9 



the Bureau of Ethnology, the field work in- 

 cludes mound explorations, explorations in 

 ancient and modern stone villages, and general 

 field studies in institutions, linguistics, etc. ; 

 the office work has consisted largely in giving 

 literary form to the results of the field work. 

 The operations of the Geological Survey and 

 the Fish Commission are presented in brief 

 summaries. The summaries and " occasional 

 papers " in the appendix include ten papers 

 relating to anthropology ; an article on " Cer- 

 tain Parasites, Commensals, and Domiciliaires 

 in the Pearl Oysters," by R. E. C. Stearns ; 

 " Time Reckoning in the Twentieth Century," 

 by Sandford Fleming; and a "Report on 

 Astronomical Observations," by George H. 

 Boehmer. 



Examination op Water for Sanitary and 

 Technical Purposes. By Henry Leff- 

 mann, M. D., Ph. D., and William Beam, 

 A. M. Philadelphia: P. Blakiston, Son 

 & Co. Pp. 106. Price, $1.25. 



The aim of this manual is to present pro- 

 cesses which are trustworthy and practicable, 

 without any useless matter. Certain pro- 

 cesses which have long held prominent places 

 are not admitted to this volume, for instance, 

 the soap test for hardness, which is rejected 

 on the authority of Hehner, who has declared 

 it inaccurate, and has devised the method 

 here presented. The colorimetric tests for 

 nitrates and nitrites are described to the ex- 

 clusion of the processes heretofore in use. 

 Besides the descriptions of analytical opera- 

 tions, the text includes a chapter on the in- 

 terpretation of results, dealing with the ac- 

 tion of water on lead, living organisms in 

 water, identification of the source of water, 

 and the purification of drinking and boiler 

 waters. Tables of various analytical data 

 are appended, there are several pictures of 

 apparatus, and a number of sheets of labels 

 accompany the volume. 



College Botany. By Edson S. Bastin, Pro- 

 fessor of Botany, Materia Medica, and 

 Microscopy in the Chicago College of 

 Pharmacy. Chicago: G. P. Engelhard 

 &Co. Pp.451. Price, $3. 



As indicated by its title, this work is 

 adapted to students of some maturity. The 

 first subject taken up in it is " Organog- 

 raphy," the organs being divided into those 

 of vegetation and those of reproduction. In 



describing the organs something is told of 

 their functions, although a short division of 

 the volume is devoted to " Vegetable Physi- 

 ology," after " Vegetable Histology," which 

 is the second subject treated. Appended to 

 the chapters on histology are directions for 

 the use of the microscope and accessory ap- 

 paratus. Suggestions for laboratory work 

 follow each chapter in these three divisions 

 of the book. The fourth and closing part is 

 occupied with " Vegetable Taxonomy," end- 

 ing with a brief account of the succession of 

 plants in geologic time. The text is illus- 

 trated by nearly six hundred cuts, largely 

 from drawings by the author, and a glossary 

 of botanical terms is appended. The vol- 

 ume is somewhat marred by typographical 

 errors. 



In the Introduction to Sawyer's Bible, the 

 Rev. Leicester A. Sawyer, of Whitesboro, 

 N. Y., in view of a new translation in course 

 of publication by him, sets forth his views 

 respecting the character, authenticity, date, 

 and purpose of the several books of Script- 

 ure. He holds that if the prodigies and 

 miracles of both Testaments are explained 

 in the light of modern science, and if the 

 judgment of the ancients is tested by the 

 laws of evidence ruling in the courts, they 

 will be found " to have been attested only 

 by incompetent witnesses, and by supposed 

 proofs that are entirely sophistical " ; and 

 claims that his work will show many of the 

 supposed facts to have been fictions, and of 

 the prophecies to have been written and an- 

 tedated after the event had occurred. He 

 finds many errors which the late revision 

 has failed to correct, but concerning which 

 he expects to contribute to the formation of 

 right views ; and hopes also that his scheme 

 may be adapted to facilitate more successful 

 Bible study than has been generally possi- 

 ble hitherto by readers of English Bibles. 



Vol. IX of the Observations of the Na- 

 tional Argentine Observatory covers the work 

 done during the year 1876, which was di- 

 rected by Juan M. Thome, in the absence 

 of Dr. Benjamin A. Gould. The volume 

 contains 18,021 determinations of the posi- 

 tions of southern stars. 



No. V of Vol. XVIII of the Annals of 

 Harvard College Observatory records the ob- 

 servations of the total eclipse of the sun, Au- 



