i88o.] 
275 
Analyses of Books. 
both sides of the Atlantic. As far back as 1870 the refuse of 
from 4 to 5 millions codfish was annually worked up into “ fish- 
guano ” on the Norwegian coasts, the product containing 8 to 
10 per cent of nitrogen and 10 to 15 per cent of phosphoric acid. 
The manure finds a ready sale in the Scandinavian peninsula, 
in Germany, and in France. 
On looking over the facts and figures contained in this volume 
— the vast quantity of human food obtained from the sea, to- 
gether with the supplies of oil, of glue, and of manure — we may 
well question the economic advantages which certain enthusiastic 
advocates of “ dietetic reform ” allege as likely to result from 
the disuse of animal food. 
Victorian Year-Book for 1878-9. By H. Heylyn Hayter, 
Government Statist. Melbourne : Ferris. London : Ro- 
bertson. 
We have here an elaborate assortment of statistics, vital, finan- 
cial, agricultural, criminal, moral, religious, and intellectual, 
the whole enabling us to form a very clear idea of the colony of 
Victoria as it now is. 
Turning to those portions which appeal most to our notice, we 
are glad to perceive that the Mining Schools of Ballarat and 
Sandhurst are making good progress, though something remains 
to be done before they can at all rival, e.g., the Polytechnic 
School of Zurich. Surely Victoria ought not to be beaten by 
Switzerland. The Melbourne University will not, we fear, under 
its present constitution, prove a“ researching ” body ; it is modelled 
too closely on the English system, even to the extent of granting 
doctorships of music. It is a pity that Berlin, Bonn, or Jena 
was not taken as a model. 
The agricultural statistics show some unsatisfactory facts. 
The yield of wine has fallen off by 410,333 gallons, as against 
755,000 in 1875. The loss is partly ascribed to the Phylloxera , 
and partly to the introduction of the English sparrow, which 
here, as well as in the United States, has proved, as any judi- 
cious naturalist would expect, a capital blunder. 
The cultivation of the olive and the mulberry — the former for 
oil and the latter for silk' — progress but slowly. Australia ought 
to be one of the greatest producers of wine, raisins, oil, and silk 
in the whole world. Tomatoes only occupy 3 acres, whilst that 
nuisance chicory has extended to 155 ! 
