Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 16.djvu/889

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LITERARY NOTICES.
855

tailed, and is given for every country in which beer is an important product, and separately for the different parts of Germany. The pamphlet is full of matter that is interesting even to those who have no other concern in the subject than that of curiosity.

The Berkeley Quarterly. Vol. I., No. 1. January, 1880. Pp. 80. $2 a year.

This is a new journal of social science, published by the Fortnightly Club, at Berkeley, California. Its purpose is defined to be to give public expression to the individual views of members of the Club on topics pertaining to society, to stimulate other persons to investigate such topics, and to furnish a suitable medium for the publication of papers upon them. The January number contains six papers on questions of government, the guidance of society, civil service, and related topics.

The Workshop Companion. New York: Industrial Publication Company. 1879. Pp. 158. Price, 35 cents.

This is a collection of such recipes, rules, processes, and practical hints as will be found of use in the workshop and the household. It has been the aim of the compiler to give only such recipes as he has tested and found reliable, and such information of processes and methods as will meet the needs of those concerned with them. The contents are arranged alphabetically, and as far as possible all information appertaining to any one subject is given under one heading.

Blowpipe Analysis. By J. Landauer. Authorized English edition, by James Taylor and William E. Kay, of Owens College, Manchester. London: Macmillan & Co. 18mo. pp. 161. 1879. Price, $1.50.

The author having been invited to prepare a German edition of Elderhorst's "Manual," his attention was drawn to the fact that in all works on the subject the chemical aspects were subordinated to the mineralogical. He determined to prepare a work from the chemical point of view, following only the peculiar and practical arrangement of Elderhorst. The translation has been printed under the personal supervision of the author.

United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries. Part V. Report of the Commissioner for 1877. Washington: Government Printing-Office. 8vo, pp. 981. With Plates. 1879.

The report embraces, first, the result of inquiries into the condition of the fisheries of the seacoast and lakes of the United States; and, second, the history of the methods adopted for the introduction of useful food-fishes into its waters. The most important single fact ascertained by the Commission during the year was the existence on the whole coast of New England of a large flounder (Glyptocephalus cynoglossus), known in Europe as the pole or craig, an excellent food-fish, with the best qualities of the turbot, occurring in abundance and entirely unknown to the fishermen. Special attention has been given so far to the sea-salmon of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, the landlocked salmon, the white-fish, the shad, the fresh-water herring, and the German carp. Attention will be given to the cultivation of the smelt; and it is hoped, some time, that specimens of the Oriental gourami, a useful fresh-water fish, will be added to the list. The most valuable and by far the largest part of the volume is occupied with the Appendix, more than half of which is taken up with a treatise on the menhaden and its products, amply illustrated, and a large part of the other half with papers on the cod, the cod-fisheries of the Loffoden Islands, and other fisheries of Norway.

Guides for Science-Teaching.—The Boston Society of Natural History is publishing a series of guides for science-teaching, consisting of small pamphlet handbooks, each devoted to a special subject, with illustrations when they are called for. The books are designed as aids to teachers who wish to instruct their classes in natural history—not to be used as text-books—and give, besides illustrations and instructions as to the modes of presentation and study, hints for collecting, preserving, and preparing specimens. "Pebbles," by Professor Alpheus Hyatt, illustrates the way in which a common object may be used in teaching. "Concerning a Few Common Plants," by Professor Goodale, tells of the organs or "helpful parts" of plants, and how they can be cultivated and used in the school-