EDITOR S TABLE. 
The Potatoe Plant, its Uses and Properties; to¬ 
gether with the Cause of the Present Malady, the 
Extension of that Disease to other Plants, the Question 
of Famine arising therefrom, and the Best Means of 
averting that Calamity. By Alfred Smee, Surgeon to 
the Bank of England, &c. &c. Illustrated with 10 
Lithographs, and dedicated to His Royal Highness the 
Prince Albert. New York: Wiley & Putnam, pp. 
157, 12mo. Price 75 cents. This is a work that has 
evidently required much laborious research in its pre¬ 
paration, and throws a great deal of light on the subject 
of which it treats. It contains the most perfect account 
of the potatoe plant, and the insect inhabiting it we 
have ever met with, which, if from no other considera¬ 
tions, entitle the book to a wide circulation. 
We do not agree with the author, however, in his 
theory as to the cause of the potatoe disease, nor do we 
believe it is within the reach of human perception to 
explain it. The grounds on which he forms his opinion 
are mainly as follows :—The potatoe plant, as we culti¬ 
vate it, he contends, is in an abnormal or diseased con¬ 
dition, having great excess of tuber and great deficiency 
of leaves; and that its death, in the form of the pre¬ 
vailing malady, is influenced, but not caused, by heat, 
light, electricity, moisture, soils, and manures. The 
direct cause of the disease he attributes to the work of 
a little insect he designates by the name of Aphis vas- 
tator, which punctures the leaf, sucks the sap, and de¬ 
stroys the relation between the leaf and the root, thus 
causing the leaf or some other part of the plant to be¬ 
come gangrenous, or, in other words, to die. After this 
attack, several species of fungi take root, the growth of 
which, he thinks, in many cases, is probably materially 
assisted by the prior attack of the Aphis. The same 
insect, also, he says, preys in a similar manner upon 
the turnip and cabbage tribe, the beet, the carrot, the 
horse-radish, the tomato, the sweet potatoe, the Jerusa¬ 
lem artichoke, wheat, clover, Indian corn, and doubtless 
many other plants. He infers from analogy that the 
disease is transitory, and will pass over the globe, and 
then disappear; yet it may increase, and kill millions 
from famine before it finally departs. The evil may 
be lessened, he thinks, by striking at the cause, and 
destroying the Aphis to as great an extent as possible, 
by employing birds for the purpose, as well as ichneu¬ 
mons, lady-bugs, spiders, &c., by burning infected 
haulms, and isolating from each other all plants liable 
to be attacked. 
The Aphis,, when fully grown, he says, is about the 
tenth of an inch long, the color of which is white, 
olive-green, brown, or inclined to red. It is found in 
all the three stages of existence—the larva, the pupa, 
and the imago, or perfect winged insect; and in all 
which states, like its congeners, it feeds, remains ac¬ 
tive, and probably multiplies. 
" The author is in error when he states that “ the first 
figure of a potatoe is to be found in Gerard, Herbal 
(1597).” It is figured and described in Cieija’s “Chro¬ 
nicles of Peru,” published at Seville, in 1553. A few 
of the directions in the work are exceptionable, or at 
least are ill adapted to the climate of the northern and 
middle parts of the United States. For instance, he 
recommends the sprinkling of dry quick lime over the 
plants, for the purpose of destroying the Aphides as 
soon as they appear, and even autumn planting as a 
means of preserving the potatoe against the disease. 
It is well known that quick lime too profusely applied 
to the young leaves^ of many plants, will cause them 
to die; and by planting potatoes in autumn, within any 
reasonable depth, in the northern parts of the United 
States, they would be destroyed by the winter frost. 
The Magazine of Horticulture, Botany, and all 
Useful Discoveries and Improvements in Rural Affairs. 
Edited by C. M. Hovey. Published monthly by Messrs. 
Hovey & Co., Merchants Row, Boston, and Saxton &c 
Miles, New York. Price $3 a year. This excellent 
and standard periodical has reached the first number of 
the 13th volume, and has been well sustained from the 
commencement up to the "present time. We congratu¬ 
late the publishers on the well-earned success which has 
ever attended their enterprise, and trust that their work 
will, as usual, meet with deserved encouragement. 
The Useful Arts, considered in connection with 
the Applications of Science. With Numerous Engrav¬ 
ings. By Jacob Bigelow, M. D. Professor of Mate¬ 
ria Medica in Harvard University. In 2 volumes. 
New York: Harper & Brothers, pp. 396 each. l2mo. 
Price Si-50. These volumes were prepared at the re¬ 
quest of the publishers of the School Library, now issu¬ 
ing under the sanction of the Massachusetts Board of 
Education. Most of the subjects contained in them 
were formerly comprised in a course of lectures deli¬ 
vered by the Author in Harvard University, and after¬ 
wards published in a treatise entitled “ Elements of 
Technology.” The work, in its present form, presents 
various modifications and additions, and brings the 
account of its subjects down to the latest dates. 
An Introductory Geography, Designed for Chil¬ 
dren. Illustrated with 126 Engravings, and 20 Maps. 
Fourth Edition. By Roswell C. Smith, A. M. New 
York: Paine & Burgess, 60 John Street, pp. 170. 
Price 37| cts. We like this little book, not only for its 
bold, effective, and instructive maps and cuts, but for its 
clear, concise, and intelligible text, which render it by 
far the most judiciously condensed school geography, 
and we may almost sav, philosophical work, we have 
ever met with. It seems better suited to teach the 
young than any other similar work in public use; or 
rather it is better suited to enable them to teach them¬ 
selves, being simply and familiarly arranged in a cate¬ 
chetical form, which, before all others, is equally well 
adapted to the minds of beginners as to those of older 
pupils for the purpose of review. For a specimen of 
the work, see p. 66 of the current volume. 
A Text Book on Chemistry. For the use of 
Schools and Colleges. By John W. Draper, M.D., 
Professor of Chemistry in the University of New York. 
With nearly 300 illustrations. Third edition. New 
York: Harper & Brothers, 82 Cliff st. pp. 408, I2ma 
Price 75 cents. This excellent work contains the out¬ 
line of the course of lectures delivered by the author, 
every year, in the University, and is also intended for 
the use of colleges and schools. The high standing of 
Dr. Draper as a chemist, and the popularity of the 
previous editions of this work, we trust will be a suffi¬ 
cient recommendation for the present. 
The Eclectic Magazine of Foreign Literature for 
January contains a valuable selection of articles from 
the standard Periodical Literature of Great Britain. 
We give their titles as follows, indicating the sources 
whence they are derived: “ Constantinople in the 
Fourth Century,” from the London Quarterly; “ Herder, 
the German Poet,” from the Foreign Quarterly; “A 
Postscript about John Foster,” from Frazer ; “ Schlos- 
ser’s History of the Eighteenth Century,” from the 
Eclectic; “ Fortifications of Paris,” from the London 
Quarterly ; “ Quinet’s Vacations in Spain,” from the 
Westminster; “ Advice to an intended Serialist,” from 
Blackwood; “ The Facts and Revelations of Modern 
Astronomy,” from the North British Review; “ Adolphe 
Thiers,” from the Dublin University; “ Style of Walter 
Savage Landor,” from the North British Review; 
“ English Journalism,” from Frazer; “ Husband 
Catching,” from Tait. In addition to these is a copious 
“ Miscellany.” There are also several Poems of ster¬ 
ling merit. The work is published monthly by Wm. 
H. Bidwell, 120 Nassau st., N. Y., at $6 a year, and is 
highly deserving of the patronage of families, and all 
others who have a taste for popular reading and sterling 
literature. 
