tribe are dispensed with, and she dies with dignity and genuine pathos.

Being a first work, as we take it to be, "Christina North" is a highly creditable effort, and gives promise of good work in the future from the author. The story, which is unexaggerated and free from affectation of any kind, is told with a simplicity and quiet force which might well be studied by better known and more experienced writers, the descriptions of natural scenery are sympathetic and vivid, and the character-drawing is good and rather original in kind. Christina herself is too intense, and suffers perhaps from the too elaborate attentions of the author; but Captain Cleasby and his sister are genuine creations, and we do not remember to have met with them elsewhere. The Curate, too, and the inva

lid grandfather are true to nature and artistically presented, and there is hardly a point at which the story touches the dead level of the mechanical novel. It is too sad, and its atmosphere, so to speak, is too confined and concentrated; but it has many and decided merits, and if we mistake not, the author will make a place for herself in contemporary fiction.

THE DICKENS DICTIONARY. By Gilbert A. Pierce, with additions by William A. Wheeler. Boston: Osgood & Co.

Every reader of Dickens, and especially every possessor of his works, will desire to own this Dictionary which renders the overflowing richness of the great novelist as accessible and easily obtained as the every-day words of our vocabulary. How vast and varied this richness is one realizes anew in looking over the long catalogue of characters from Dickens's works, which reads like a special directory containing the names only of our intimate friends and acquaintances. The method of classification adopted is excellent, and the work of compilation has been performed with conscientious completeness and accuracy. That the public will reward the labor may be assumed as certain; but Messrs. Pierce and Wheeler must be specially gratified at the conviction that their work will do much to consolidate and perpetuate the fame of the great writer, the very prodigality of whose stores bewilders the general reader, while much escapes the most diligent.

"THE SPY" and "THE PILOT," the first two volumes in the new library edition of Cooper's novels, now publishing by Appleton & Co., have just made their appearance. They are neat 16mo. in size, handsomely printed, (though on rather poor paper,) and tastefully bound. It is not really the "library edition" which admirers of Cooper will want to place upon their shelves, but the price is so very low that it ought to secure a new hold upon the present generation of readers for the most thoroughly national of American novelists.

SCIENCE.

STRYCHNIA AND BLINDNESS.-The paragraph on the use of strychnia for affections of the sight,

published in our July number, has elicited so many inquiries, that we return to the subject here with further particulars. Attention was first attracted by Professor Nagel's (of Tübingen) reports of cases which appeared in the Centralblatt (a German periodical) during 1871. In those cases it was shown that, by the injection of sulphate of strychnia under the skin, surprising effects had been produced, and that functional and organic diseases of the optic nerve had been relieved quickly and permanently. In many of the cases, improvement in vision appeared to follow upon the very first dose of the remedy; and in a few cases of functional derangement, the complete restora

tion of sight was established after three or four doses of the strychnia administered under the skin; but the whole quantity was not more than a minute fraction of a grain.

Dr. Chisholm, Clinical Professor of Eye and Ear Diseases in the University of Maryland, at Baltimore, heard of these cures, and though he had himself relieved infirmity of sight by the use of strychnia, he thought it "nearly as possible to metamorphose old age into youth as to give sight in cases of nerve atrophy." However, he tried the remedy on the naval captain mentioned in the paragraph above referred to, and with complete success, although his case had previously been dismissed as incurable. Some other cases were of that peculiar imperfection of sight known as "night-blindness," extending in one instance over a period of seven months. On this case, Dr. Chisholm remarks: "Notwithstanding a long and carefully instituted treatment by other physicians, the patient remained so absolutely blind after nightfall that he could not detect even a gaslight in full blaze. After a few doses of the sulphate of strychnia injected under the skin of the arm, night-vision was so perfectly restored, that at the end of ten days the patient could read a newspaper by the gas, when a few nights previously he could not see even the light itself."

So far as we can gather from Dr. Chisholm's statements, he has not failed to afford relief in a single instance. His cure of the naval captain was not less wonderful than the cases reported by Professor Nagel; and after this the doctor remarks: "In testing the use of strychnia in other cases of optic nerve atrophy, the effects seem nearly instantaneous upon the injection of the fluid under the skin. In nearly every instance the patient experienced the brightening of the light in less than half a minute. In one instance, in which one fortieth of a grain in solution was accidentally thrown into a vein, the sensations of light, and a feeling of muscular twitchings, were apparently simultaneous with the emptying of the syringe. I commence usually with one sixtieth of a grain, which I gradually increase to one thirtieth,

twice a day, in no case exceeding this last amount." The professor at Tübingen injects under the skin of the temple, but Dr. Chisholm prefers to inject in the arm; and we close our notice with his concluding words: "This treatment has now been tried in many cases, doing harm to none, and benefiting all more or less. In functional disturbances, the relief is very prompt; in organic troubles of the retina and optic nerve, results show themselves more slowly. So far, my experience in the hypodermic (underskin) use of strychnia, enables me to indorse the statement of the wonderful effects secured by Professor Nagel; and I can recommend to the profession strychnia, hypodermically used, as a most valuable remedy in many cases of nerveblindness."

PROPER MOTIONS OF THE STARS.-Dr. Huggins has been able to continue his researches into the proper motions of the stars in the direction of the line of sight. It will be remembered that the telescope he formerly used did not possess sufficient light-gathering power to deal with any star except Sirius. The instrument Dr. Huggins is now using has a light-gathering power four times as great. The first fruits of its employment in this line of research confirm in a very interesting manner the anticipations as well as the theories of Mr. Proctor. Dr. Huggins finds that certain stars are moving as if in systems or families, since they possess a common motion either of recess or approach. Among such instances may be mentioned one of a very remarkable kind. It may be remembered that Mr. Proctor, nearly three years ago, announced that the five stars ẞ, y, d, e, and Ursi Majoris, as well as Alcor close by 5, and the telescopic companion of 5, are moving in a common direction; and at a lecture delivered in May, 1870, at the Royal Institution, Mr. Proctor expressed his conviction that whenever Dr. Huggins applied the spectroscopic method to these stars, he would find that they are either all receding or all approaching. Many, unaware of the evidence on which this conviction was based, considered so definite a prediction altogether unwise. It has, however, been amply confirmed by the event, since Dr. Huggins finds these five stars to be all receding at the rate of about thirty miles per second.

On the other hand, the star , which Proctor had indicated as not belonging to the set, is found to have a spectrum differing in character from that common to the five stars, and though receding, has a different rate. The star a, also, as marked by Mr. Proctor distinct from the rest, is found to have a totally different spectrum, and to be approaching. Thus, the prediction referred to has been more than fulfilled; it has been found not merely that all the stars of the set are receding at the same rate, but that other stars excluded from the set are not moving in the same way, and are furthermore distinguished by spectral

differences from the members of the drifting-star family.-Popular Science Review.

THE WORK OF AN IGNORAMUS.-One of the leading scientific journals abroad contains the following paragraph concerning one of the most discreditable incidents connected with the Ring rule in this city:

Mr. Waterhouse Hawkins's efforts in NewYork have, we regret to learn, been completely overthrown by an ignorant manager of the Central Park Museum. In answer to an inquiry made of him, Mr. Hawkins says that all he had done during twenty-one months to restore the skeletons of the extinct animals of America, (of the Hadrosaurus, and the other gigantic animal, which was thirty-nine feet long,) was destroyed by order of Mr. Henry Hilton, on May 3, with sledge-hammer, and carted away to Mount St. Vincent, where the remains were buried several feet below the surface. The preparatory sketches of other animals, including a mammoth and a mastodon, and the molds and sketch-models, were destroyed. Mr. Hilton did this, said Mr. Hawkins, out of ignorance, just as he had a coat of white paint put on the skeleton of a whale which Mr. Peter Cooper had presented to the Museum, and just as he had a bronze statue painted white. Mr. Hilton told the celebrated naturalist who had come from England to undertake the work, that he should not bother himself with "dead animals;" that there was plenty to do among the living. This illustrates the policy of having such men as Hilton at the head of one of the most important departments of the City government. When the skeletons were dug up again, by order of Colonel Stebbins, they were found broken in thousands of pieces. Prof. Henry, of the Smithsonian Institution, when he heard of this piece of barbarism, would not believe it. "Why," he exclaimed, "I would have paid them a good price for it." Mr. Hilton, however, preferred to destroy the work of the naturalist, which had cost the city at least $12,000.

PURIFYING SICK-CHAMBERS.-The difficulty of purifying a sick-chamber is known in many quarters by painful experience, especially in cases of lunacy or epilepsy, which diffuse smells of the most disagreeable kind, that cling to the rooms for months, and even come back after vigorous attempts to get rid of them. Dr. B. W. Richardson, F.R.S., has shown in a recent lecture how this difficulty may be overcome. He dissolves iodine in the chemical preparation known as amyl hydride, and in the liquid thus produced, he soaks pieces of filter-paper, and when these are dry, he lays three or four about the room, and the chemical action that then takes place puri. fies the air. If the smell of iodine is perceptible in the room, that is a proof that the work of purification is still going on; and this may be accelerated by burning one of the little sheets of paper

from time to time. After infectious diseases, a room may be more effectually purified by damping it with the liquid in showers of spray. Instruments which will send forth a shower of spray may be bought at the makers of chemical apparatus. The room should be first thoroughly cleaned and dried, and then moistened in every part with the liquid, of which one ounce will suffice for four feet of wall, floor, or ceiling; and care must be taken that the doors and windows are kept close shut for twenty-four hours after the operation. During this time, also, the carrying of a lighted candle into the room must be absolutely forbidden. While the room is drying, a volatile vapor rises from the layer of liquid, and, by mere contact, rapidly destroys the offensive and hurtful organic matters lurking therein. "By this simple method," says Dr. Richardson, "the most persistent and offensive odor in rooms that have been occupied by the sick may be more speedily purified than perhaps by any other known

method."

THE ENGLISH COAL SUPPLY.-Professor Ramsay, F.R.S., who, since Sir Roderick Murchison's decease, has become Director-general of the Geological Survey, has recently made public statements with regard to future supplies of coal which will comfort all those worthy people who feared that our grandchildren would have nothing to burn. We have from time to time informed our readers of the geological speculations put forward to show that abundant deposits of coal are lying ready for use below the New Red Sandstone, and the strata known to geologists as Permian, and now Professor Ramsay enlarges their scope, and lends them the weight of his authority. In the South Staffordshire and Shropshire districts, he says there are ten thousand million tons of coal "existing at a workable depth beyond the present limits." Two thousand four hundred and ninetyfour million tons underlie the present Warwickshire coal-field, and one thousand seven hundred and sixty millions, the Leicestershire field. After this, all people who love a good fire may cease to be apprehensive about lack of coal, and smelters of iron and other metals may look forward to doing (literally) a roaring trade for ages to come. Of course the mines will have to be as deep again as they are at present, and difficulties will increase; but we may be sure that they will be overcome by mechanical skill and ingenuity. It is safe, however, to predict that posterity will pay a much higher price for their coal than the present generation.-Chambers's Journal.

A NEW PILE-DRIVER.-Among mechanical novelties recently brought out is a "gunpowder pile driver," which drives in piles more rapidly than by any other method, and does not require any hoop or protection round the top of the pile. A notion of the contrivance and its operation may perhaps be gathered from a brief description. Tall hoisting timbers, as usual in pile-drivers, are

fitted up; the pile is set in place by a steam-engine: a gun weighing one thousand eight hundred pounds with a six-inch bore is lowered, and made to rest on the top of the pile. The muzzle points upward, and the breech being dished or recessed, covers the top of the pile as a cap. Above the gun is suspended the ram, with a pis. ton projecting downward that fits the bore of the gun. All being ready, a cartridge is dropped into the gun; the ram is released, and descends, the piston plunges into the gun, compressing the air, and fires the cartridge. A tremendous explosion follows; up flies the ram, and is caught in the break, and with the recoil of the gun down goes the pile. This must certainly be regarded as a very clever way of utilizing the force of fired gunpowder. Tried for the first time, and by inexperienced hands, in constructing a pier near Philadelphia, it drove piles ten inches in diameter to a depth of nearly twenty feet with five blows, and with an expenditure of eight ounces of gunpowder for each pile.

A USEFUL INVENTION.-An alteration in a steam-engine which saves fuel and improves the vacuum could hardly fail to be acceptable. It occurred to Mr. R. Edge, of Dean Mills, near Bolton, that if he connected each end of his horizontal air-pump with the upper part of his condenser, by a pipe fitted with a valve, the pump would, while working, draw air from the condenser above the surface of the water. He tried, and succeeded. By improving the vacuum, the consumption of coal is diminished, and the saving in this particular is said to be beyond expectation; and we are not surprised to hear that many engines in Lancashire have been fitted with the additional pipe, as above described. It may be applied also to vertical air-pumps, but not with so large an amount of economy in the result. We have the more pleasure in making this invention known, as the inventor, instead of taking out a patent, has presented it freely to the public.— Chambers's Journal.

THE GREAT PUBLIC AQUARIUM AT NAPLES.— An account of this immense undertaking is given by a contemporary, and is of sufficient interest to have a place in our columns. The building, which is under the direction of M. Anton Dohrn, is rectangular, measuring 100 ft. by 70 ft., with a height of 40 ft., and is 200 ft. from the sea. The lower part is to be occupied by the tanks of the great aquarium, to be opened to the public; and the upper will contain 24 rooms for laboratories, a library and collections, with lodging rooms for three or four zoölogists. There will be 53 tanks in the lower story, one of them 32 ft. long, 10 broad, and 31⁄2 deep; another 26 ft. long, and twenty-six 3 ft. by 31⁄2 ft. The tanks throughout are furnished with a continuous current of seawater. Upstairs, the library room is large enough to hold 25,000 volumes. The principal laboratory room will contain 20 to 30 tanks of different

sizes; and besides, there are private laboratories for the chief zoologist and the first assistant, and other small laboratory rooms, and rooms for collections.

A GALVANIC PROBE. - An instrument has

been invented which will be very serviceable in surgery, especially in cases when it is desired to ascertain whether a bullet has lodged in a wouud or not. It may be described as a galvanic probe: the operator passes it into the wound, watching, all the while, the needle of a small galvanometer which is attached to the instrument, and no sooner does the end of the probe touch the bullet, than a movement of the needle indicates the fact. This, it will be seen, is a means toward the alleviation of suffering; for cures are often retarded by uncertainty as to whether a bullet is actually in the

wound or not. Some of our readers will perhaps

remember a memorable instance: when Garibaldi was wounded, an eminent English surgeon traveled to Italy and declared there was no bullet in the wound, from which a bullet was afterward extracted by the famous Nelaton-a Frenchman. A recommendation of this new galvanic probe is, that it is so small and light as to be easily carried in the pocket.

ART.

MUSICAL FLAMES.-An improvement in Barry's singing flame has been devised by Mr. W. E. Geyer, and is described by him in "Silliman's American Journal." He states that a simple addition to the apparatus described by Barry last year has given him a flame which, by slight regulation, may be made either: (1) a sensitive flame merely; that is, a flame which is depressed and rendered non-luminous by external noises, but which does not sing; (2) a continuously singing flame, not disturbed by outward noises; (3) a sensitive flame, which only sounds while disturbed; or (4) a flame that sings continuously, except when agitated by external sounds. The last two results, so far as is known to him, are novel. To produce them it is only necessary to cover Barry's flame with a moderately large tube, resting it loosely on the gauze. A luminous flame six to eight inches long is thus obtained, which is very sensitive, especially to high and sharp sounds. If now the gauze and tube be raised, the flame gradually shortens and appears less luminous, until at last it becomes violently agitated, and sings with a loud uniform tone, which may be maintained for any length of time. Under these conditions, external sounds have no effect upon it. The sensitive musical flame is produced by lowering the gauze, until the singing just ceases. It is in this position that the flame is most remarkable. At the slightest sharp sound, it instantly sings, continuing to do so as long as the disturbing cause exists, but stopping at once with it. So quick are the responses, that by rapping the time of a tune,

or whistling or playing it, provided the tones are high enough, the flame faithfully sounds at every note. By slightly raising or lowering the jet, the flame can be made less or more sensitive, so that a hiss in any part of the room, the rattling of keys even in the pocket, turning on the water at the hydrant, folding up a piece of paper, or even moving the hand over the table, will excite the sound. On pronouncing the word "sensitive," it sings twice; and in general it will interrupt the speaker at almost every "s" or other hissing sound.

EQUESTRIAN SCULPTURE.-Equestrian statues -usually employed in modern times to honor, or attempt to honor, the memory of great soldiers or monarchs were often erected by the Greeks, and are recommended by their example. But they can not, whether ancient or modern, be consider

ed as belonging to the highest class of art. There

are no animals, except men, of which the forms are beautiful enough to be fit subjects for sculpture, though excellently well adapted for carving on a small scale. The specimens of equestrian sculpture erected in London and throughout the British Isles in commemoration of Kings and Generals, are in no way creditable to British art. There is not a single equestrian statue in existence among us which is not either bad in itself, or rendered bad by misplacement on too high a pedestal. Charles I. at Charing Cross, George III. in Cockspur-street, George IV. in Trafalgar. square, the Duke of Wellington in front of the Royal Exchange in London, and the same figure before the Exchange at Glasgow, and worst of all the Duke on the top of the arch at Hyde Park Corner, would each show to more advantage if their pedestals were lower, and the body of the horse brought to the level of the spectator's eye. The equestrian statues in which the horse is represented in a prancing attitude, as that of Peter the Great at St. Petersburg, and the Duke of Wellington before the Registry Office in Prince's street, Edinburgh-in both of which the horse would inevitably topple over if he were not supported by his tail—are hideous monstrosities, unworthy of an artistic or civilized people. Perhaps the best equestrian statue in Great Britain, and it is by no means of a high order of excellence, is that of the Earl of Hopetoun, in Edinburgh, where the man stands beside, and does not sit upon the horse.-All the Year Round.

NEW PROCESS OF CHEMICAL ENGRAVING.— Here is a new process in engraving destined to "bring about a revolution in illustrated journalism:" "A glass plate is prepared with a white etching ground on which the subject to be drawn is lightly sketched with a very soft pencil. The glass is then placed on a piece of dark cloth, and with a common steel etching-point the drawing is cut or scratched through the ground to the glass, each line as produced appearing as black as an ink-line on paper. When the work is completed, the picture is before you, as sharp and brilliant as