75 6 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



a single township, amounts to something al- 

 most incredible when an entire State or coun- 

 try is included in the calculation. Accord- 

 ing to the reports of Dr. Fitch, $12,000,000 

 worth of wheat has been destroyed in the 

 State of New York, in a single year, by 

 the wheat-midge and Hessian-fly. An in- 

 teresting account is next given of the re- 

 production, growth, and metamorphosis, of 

 insects, with some remarks on their psy- 

 chology, their relations to each other, and 

 their relations to other animals. The last 

 twelve pages are devoted to the insects of 

 the garden, some of the more noxious of 

 which are described, their habits sketched, 

 and the means of combating them indi- 

 cated. A beautiful chromo-lithograph, show- 

 ing the different stages of insect metamor- 

 phosis, heads the issue, and the succeeding 

 pages abound with well-executed illustra- 

 tions. For clearness and vigor of style, the 

 name of the author is sufficient guarantee. 



Manual of Physical Geography and In- 

 stitutions of the State of Iowa. By 

 C. A. White, Professor of Geology in 

 the State University. Davenport : Day, 

 Egbert & Fidlar. 1873. 



This book was made for use in the 

 schools of Iowa, being limited to the physi- 

 cal geography and institutions of that State. 

 This has enabled the author to give a large 

 amount of information, locally valuable, that 

 would be obviously out of place in a more 

 general work. For convenience, the book 

 is divided into two parts. Part I. gives an 

 account of the leading natural features of 

 the State — its physical geography, geology, 

 climate, soil, minerals, and natural history. 

 Part II. deals with the history of the State, 

 and includes an account of its educational, 

 charitable, and penal institutions. The few 

 who may desire to carry the study into a 

 wider field, will find the mastery of this 

 work an excellent preparation. 



The Theory and Practice of Linear Per- 

 spective. Translated from the French 

 of Y. Pellegrin. New York : Putnam's 

 Sons. 51 pp., with colored chart. 



The author claims that books of this 

 kind are generally too theoretical, and that 

 he has aimed to make tfiis especially prac- 

 tical. It was adopted by the educational 

 authorities of Paris, and commended by 



them as a " little book which, under a mod- 

 est form, contains ideas of which the popu- 

 larization would be of great use — ' The 

 Practical Theory of Perspective,' a study 

 for the use of artists, etc., by Monsieur V. 

 Pellegrin, late Professor of Topography at 

 the Military School of St. Cyr. The author, 

 himself a painter, and accustomed to the 

 manipulation of geometrical methods, was 

 particularly qualified for writing this trea- 

 tise ; and he has been able, by dint of re- 

 search and ability, to condense into a small 

 number of pages the laws of perspective ; 

 and to extract, from a confused mass, rules 

 which are very simple and easily applicable 

 to every possible case ; thus placing a sure 

 and clear guide within the reach of all stu- 

 dents, artists, and amateurs. Monsieur 

 Pellegrin's excellent treatise will become a 

 standard work." 



Submerged and Different Forms of Re- 

 taining "Walls. By James S. Tate, 

 C. E. New York : D. Van Nostrand. 

 1874. Price, 50 cents. 



This is No. 7 of the publisher's " Sci- 

 ence Series." The simple statement of 

 what the author has proposed to himself to 

 accomplish will be the best evidence of the 

 value of this little manual. His object was 

 to furnish to engineers a certain and ready 

 means of ascertaining the pressures of em- 

 bankments, submerged or otherwise, com- 

 posed of different materials; also the mo- 

 ments of retaining walls, of different forms 

 of cross-section, to successfully withstand 

 those pressures. By having this little book 

 at hand, the engineer will be saved the 

 trouble of many a long calculation. 



HOW TO BECOME A SUCCESSFUL ENGINEER. 



By Bernard Stuart. New York: D. 

 Van Nostrand. 127 pp., ISmo. Price, 

 50 cents. 



This little work, which is designed par- 

 ticularly for the mechanical engineer, but, 

 in a more general way, also for the civil en- 

 gineer, is more indicative than instructive. 

 That is, it points out the studies to be pur- 

 sued without explaining their nature, and 

 it tells the apprentice what work he will 

 find in the machine-shop, without detailing 

 the method in which it is done. It con- 

 tains some practical suggestions on the im- 



