Miscellaneous Intelligence. 159 



study and reclamation of alkali soils, by Messrs. Hilgard, Cole- 

 more and Shinn ; analysis of seventy natural waters, by Messrs. 

 Jaffa and Curtis; chemical composition of various foods and 

 fruits, by Messrs. Colby and Jaffa ; an elaborate paper on olives, 

 olive culture and olive oil, by Mr. Hayne ; and one on the ash 

 of grapes and fertilization of vineyards, by Mr. Bioletti. 



Prof. Hilgard contributes important papers on nitrogen-con- 

 tents of soil humus in arid and humid regions ; on influence of 

 climate upon the formation and composition of soils; the Ciene- 

 gas of southern California ; crops and fertilizers with reference to 

 California soils and practice ; fruits and fruit soils in the arid 

 and humid regions. 



Part II is occupied with reports of culture work at the several 

 stations by Messrs. Wickson, Shinn, Kellner, Davy, Tyson, and 

 Forrer. 



Part III, by Prof. Woodworth, is devoted to entomology and 

 plant diseases. 



This volume altogether is one of great scientific and practical 

 value. s. w. J. 



3. Dark companion to one of the components of the binary 

 star 70 Ophinchi. — The star 10 Ophiuchi is composed of two 

 components of the 4th and 6th magnitudes severally, whose 

 greatest distance is less than 1 seconds. The period ot rotation 

 is about 90 years. The brightness of the components and their 

 comparatively rapid angular motion make this system one of 

 peculiar interest, and numerous computed orbits for it have been 

 published. Prolessor See of Chicago University, in No. 363 of 

 the Astronomical Journal (Jan. 1896), from an elaborate discus- 

 sion of the measures made since Herschel in 1779 discovered that 

 it was a double star, concludes that there must be a dark com- 

 panion to od e of the components. The deviations from pure 

 elliptic motion seem to indicate quite unmistakably the existence 

 of such dark body. 



BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS RECENTLY RECEIVED AND THUS FAR 

 NOT OTHERWISE NOTICED. 



Contribution a V Etude des Lapies. — La topograpliie du desert de Plate (Haute- 

 Savoie): par Emile Chaix. (Extr. du Globe, Journal geographique organe dela 

 Societe de Geographie de Geneve, torn, xxxiv), pp. 1-44. plates i-xvi, 1895. 



Soils of Illinois ; by Frank Leverett. (Extracted from Final Report, 111. 

 Board World's Fair Com.), pp. 77-92, 1895. 



Preglacicd Valleys of the Mississippi Tributaries; by Frank Leverett. 

 (Joura. Geol., vol. iii. Oct.-Nov., 1895), pp. 740-763, 1895. 



The duration of Niagara Falls and the History of the Great Lakes ; by J. 

 W. Spencer, pp. 1-126, figs. 1-27, plates i-v. Humboldt Publishing Co., New 

 York 1895. 



Geographical Evolution of Cuba ; by J. "W. Spencer. (Extr. Bull. Geol. Soc. 

 Am , vol. vii,) pp. 67-94, Dec., 1895. 



Clay Industries of New York, prepared under the direction of Frederick J. 

 H. Merrill, by Heinrich Ries. (Extr. N. Y. State Museum, vol. iii), pp. 96- 

 262, illustrated, 1895. 



