thology," by Professor R. Ramsay Wright and A. B. Macallum; "The Development of the Compound Eyes of Cranogon," by Dr. J. S. Kingsley; "Eyes of Mollusks and Arthropods," by Dr. William Patten; "On the Phylogenetic Arrangement of Sauropsida," by Dr. G. Baur; "A Contribution to the History of the Germ-layers in Clepsine," by C. O. Whitman; "The Germ-bands of Lumbricus," by Professor E. B. Wilson; and "Studies on the Eyes of Arthropods," by Dr. William Patten, all of which, except that on arrangement of Sauropsida, are accompanied by lithographic plates. The "Journal" is to be devoted chiefly to embryological, anatomical, and histological subjects, and will be practically limited to animal morphology. Each number will contain from 150 to 200 or more pages, and eight or ten lithographic plates. There will be no stated times of publication, but numbers will appear when the material on hand makes it desirable. This undertaking deserves that every American zoologist should do his share toward insuring for it a continuance of life and usefulness.
Astronomy for Amateurs. Edited by John A. Westwood Oliver. Illustrated. London and New York: Longmans, Green & Co. Pp. 316. Price, $2.25.
This manual has a different field from that of books which aim merely to point out the beauties of the firmament. "Its pages are intended to afford the amateur astronomer, possessed of limited instrumental means, but yet anxious to devote his labors to the furtherance of astronomical science, such hints and suggestions as will help him to direct his efforts into the channels which experience has indicated as best fitted to his qualifications and equipment." The editor has had the assistance of eminent specialists in various departments of astronomy.
Ormsby Macknight Mitchel. By his Son, F. A. Mitchel. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Price, $2.
This biography is a vivid panorama of the career of an enthusiastic astronomer and faithful general. The history and character of the subject have been presented, so far as possible, in the words of his diary and letters. The account of the founding of the Cincinnati Observatory, and of Professor Mitchel's visit to Europe to procure instruments, is almost entirely derived from his papers, but there was not sufficient material available for a complete life-record of this sort. The space devoted to his service in the civil war, limited by his death to fourteen months, about equals that occupied with his early life and his scientific work.
Natural Resources of the United States. By Jacob Harris Patton, M. A., Ph. D. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 523. Price, $3.
This comprehensive work presents in a single volume as full an account as the general reader will require of the many and varied natural products which are yielded by land and water in the United States. The first hundred pages are devoted to the coal-fields from Texas to Alaska, giving a brief section to each locality or variety, and including the leading facts of the geology of the carboniferous deposits. The coalfields of Canada and Europe are also briefly mentioned. Petroleum and natural gas come next in order, and then iron-ores arc treated of in the same manner as coal. The comparatively short chapters on gold and silver include accounts of the original discoveries in some of the most famous mining regions of the country. The other useful metals receive due attention. The chief deposits of precious stones, clays, building stones, marbles, and abrasive materials are named, while such minerals as graphite, salt, sulphur, borax, mica, and asbestus are not forgotten. Among mineral resources medicinal waters of course have a place, and the account of these naturally leads up to a chapter on health-resorts. The consideration of the vegetable resources of the country is introduced by a description of its climate and rainfall. The fisheries, the fur seal, and wild game are the chief resources belonging to the animal kingdom, while the people of the United States have two other great natural resources in water-power and unoccupied homestead lands. For the American or foreigner whose occupation or whose desire to be well informed gives him an interest in this class of facts relating to the United States, the volume is one that can be read with pleasure, and that will be frequently referred to. It should be in the
