Botany and Zoology. 317 



over the earth at bottom, had been kept closed and dark until about 

 the time for the escape of the Cicadas. When opened, it was 

 found thickly set with tubular mud-cones, 6 to 8 inches high and 1 

 to 1-J thick. The bottom had been dug over to a depth of a foot 

 into red clay, when the house was made, so that it is certain there 

 w x as nothing there of the kind then. At the time of the opening, 

 the tops of the cones were closed, and on breaking them the 

 pupae were found inside. After the Cicadas had appeared, holes 

 were found in the tops. 



Dr. Newberry received specimens of the cones from four cit- 

 izens of Rahway, who testified to the facts as to the cellar. The 

 club-shaped cones are roughly made of pellets of the clay. Dr. 

 Newberry observes that the Cicadas, fiuding the place dark, and 

 apparently desiring to work up to daylight, made the pellets of 

 moist clay and with them built up the tubes, as if " for the pur- 

 pose of bridging over the vacancy, and thus reaching the surface." 

 What schooling or experience could have "fitted the Cicadas for 

 the engineering work they attempted " Dr. Newberry leaves for 

 others to explain. An excellent figure of the club-shaped cones 

 accompanies the paper. 



9. Bulletin of the Scientific Laboratories of Denison Univer- 

 sity. Edited by C. L. Herrick, Prof. Geol. and Nat. Hist. 136 

 pp. 8vo, with several plates, and an Appendix of Tables for the 

 determination of minerals. Granville, Ohio. — This first Bulletin 

 from Denison University contains the following papers, showing 

 remarkable scientific activity at the institution : On the Evening 

 Grosbeak, Hesperiphona vespertina, with a colored plate of the 

 bird, and a plate illustrating details in the osteology, by Professor 

 Herrick ; Metamorphosis of Phyllopod Crustacea, with five well- 

 drawn plates, by the same ; Superposed buds, with one plate, by 

 A. F. Foerste, of the university ; Rotifers of America, Part I, 

 with a description of a new genus and several new species, and 

 four plates, by Professor Herrick ; the Clinton Group of Ohio, 

 with descriptions of new species of fossils, and two plates con- 

 taining figures of nearly forty species of fossils, by A. F. Foerste. 

 The lithographic plates of the volume were all made by Professor 

 Herrick. The expenses of the volume were met by the contribu- 

 tions of friends of the university. The material is ready for 

 another number, which they hope to meet from the proceeds of 

 the present volume, for which the charge is $1.25. 



10. Evolution versus Involution : a Popular Exposition of the 

 Doctrine of true Evolution, a refutation of the Theories of Her- 

 bert Spencer and a vindication of Theism; by A. Z. Rked. New 

 York, 1885. (James Pott & Co.). — The author of this work 

 means well; but his subject is evidently too deep and broad 

 for him. 



IV. Astronomy. 



1. Uranometria Nova Oxoniensis, a photometric determination 

 of the magnitudes of all stars visible to the naked eye from the 

 p>ole to ten degrees south of the equator; by Professor C. 



