LITERARY NOTICES. 



851 



in the study of astronomy. An introduction 

 containing explanations and definitions is fol- 

 lowed by systematically arranged data con- 

 cerning the constellations. The data are ac- 

 companied by diagrams and illustrations, and 

 consist of a short history of each constella- 

 tion, a catalogue of the stars, with their desig- 

 nations, magnitudes, and positions, and notes 

 on the principal curiosities contained in the 

 constellations. Following this portion of the 

 book are tables of old and new constellations, 

 names given to the principal stars, etc. 

 There are also brief chapters on shooting 

 stars, star showers, comets, and the planets. 

 The text is illustrated with one hundred and 

 forty cuts. 



Some Hints ox Learning to Draw. By 

 G. W. Caldwell Hutchinson. Loudon 

 and New York : Macmillan & Co. Pp. 

 199. Price, $2.25. 



The first " hints " given in this book re- 

 late to the reasons why drawing is an art 

 that every one should desire to be acquainted 

 with. There is the story of James Nasmyth, 

 who, being in Sweden, where the party of 

 either side could not understand the lan- 

 guage of the other, secured a good supper 

 by drawing its principal features, and got his 

 other wants satisfied in a like way, with great 

 admiration on the part of his hosts. The 

 " graphic " language is thus evidently a uni- 

 versal one. Drawing is of first importance 

 to architects, in teaching them to see artist- 

 ically, without which they cannot build artist- 

 ically. It is a momentous aid in the culti- 

 vation of the observing powers, and " practi- 

 cally the first step in drawing is to learn to 

 see accurately." One of the earliest lessons 

 to be learned is " how very untrustworthy 

 is the testimony of the untrained eyesight ; 

 when this is realized, the importance of keen 

 observation becomes apparent." Erroneous 

 conceptions, which are among the great diffi- 

 culties in the way of good drawing, must be 

 got rid of, for which purpose the student 

 should be placed face to face with the object 

 as soon as possible. Care should be taken 

 to have the best specimens of the model 

 obtainable. Freehand outline copies from 

 the flat may, with advantage, be alternated 

 every now and then with outline drawings 

 from objects, so that we, by seeing and 

 working from good copies, may have a high 



standard before us to show what our own 

 work should be like. From the drawing of 

 such common objects we may pass to outline 

 drawings from casts of leaves or fruit, and 

 thence to outlines from natural leaves and 

 growing plants and shells, and casts from the 

 antique. The time is not wasted that is 

 spent in striving to do everything as thor- 

 oughly as possible, even the smallest thing. 

 It follows from any fair consideration of the 

 subject that there is no simple road, no one 

 process or rule by which success may be ob- 

 tained in drawing. Another important rea- 

 son why every one should learn to draw and 

 so learn to see, is in order that our taste for 

 what is really good may be improved. The 

 student is led from the opening story and 

 these interesting considerations to the prac- 

 tical maxims and their application, which 

 are given in a plain style, and are illustrated 

 by numerous diagrams and by drawings from 

 a group of living artists of the first rank. 



Report of the United States National 

 Museum. For the Year ending June 30, 

 1891. Washington: Government Print- 

 ing Office. Pp. 869. 



The catalogued collections in the muse- 

 um now number 3,028,714 specimens, having 

 increased about nineteen fold during the 

 past ten years. It is observed, however, 

 that a large portion of the material cata- 

 logued in 1884 and in later years has been 

 in the custody of the Smithsonian Institution 

 for several years, but in storage. There are 

 now thirty-three organized departments and 

 sections in the museum, under the care of 

 curators, including honorary and acting cu- 

 rators and assistant curators. In the divi- 

 sion of anthropology progress in the ethno- 

 logical department has been satisfactory ; the 

 collection in prehistoric anthropology has 

 been reclassified and rearranged according 

 to locality, and special researches have been 

 pursued in many directions. In forestry a 

 systematic display of the more important 

 lumber trees by means of maps showing 

 their distribution, photographs of typical 

 trees, and photomicrographs, has been begun. 

 The zoological, botanical, mineralogical, and 

 geological collections have been increased in 

 nearly every department. The largest gift 

 to the library during the year was from the 

 Kev. John Crumbie Brown, of Scotland, of 



