rel without seeming to, and, by provoking Louis | column, it reveals very little of its finish to the into an attack, put him in the wrong. The plan common passer-by below, but the classical stuis carried out. There is a "troublesome piece dent will be delighted at the accuracy and perof ground, exposed to constant attacks from the fection in detail, and regard it as a fitting toptown cads," which adjoins Louis's garden. Will- stone to such a wonderful monument, even if iam asks to have it assigned to his little cousin. this editor of thirty or more scholarly works Louis, infuriated by the proposal, challenges Will- should not add to it the half dozen enterprises iam to a single combat. The challenge is accept- that he has in preparation. For it is, indeed, a ed. The battle goes hard against Louis, who fights" copious and critical English-Latin Dictionary," with desperate but unavailing courage; he is more complete and perfect than any that has chased across his own garden, his flower beds are hitherto existed, and upon an entirely different trampled down, and finally he is himself caged up plan. Its vocabulary of English words is in a in his own summer-house, which William threat-great degree limited to what, according to the ens to tear to pieces. Still none of the other grammars, is the English language-that is, to monitors interfere. Johnny wants to, but he words in actual use, or used by authors generally can not without leaving his workshop and losing read. The different senses of these words are quite a bit of money; so, persuaded by his two classified and arranged so far as possible in a fags, Billy and Bobby, he sulkily stays at home, logical order which enables the student to find "grinding away like a nigger at a new rudder very readily that for which he is searching. And and a pair of oars," which he expects to sell to to each prominent English meaning a brief definiLouis, and contenting himself with bathing poor tion is added in italics, so that in great measure Louis's head at the end of each round, and fur- the work is a dictionary of the English language nishing him with sherry-and-water out of his proper, as well as an English-Latin dictionary. own flask, and ointment and plaster for his Moreover, each meaning is illustrated by phrases wonnds and bruises. At length the whole story from classical writers, and these phrases are gencomes to Dame Europa's ears. The highly in-erally given in both Latin and English, the latter dignant dame reads the avaricious Johnny a sharp lecture for his neutrality, which she declares to be only another name for cowardice. Entreated by the other boys, she remits the penalty, which at first she threatened, of loss of office, but compels Johnny to take a back seat till he earns his old place by his good behavior. We are conscious that we have given only the story -not the sparkle-of this sprightly satire. It is as impossible for us in a paragraph to represent the latter as it would be to portray by the pen | the irresistible effects which Mr. Nast has produced by his pencil. Punch in its palmiest days had no better caricaturist than Mr. Nast, who is exactly in his element in illustrating such a satire as this. And, in their way, "John in his Workshop," "The Studious and Peaceable Boy," "Laying their Heads Together," and "Johnny Bull Playing Second Fiddle" are quite as good as the already famous letterpress which they are drawn to illustrate. The satire makes a pamphlet of thirty-four pages, and the illustratrations are thirty-three in number. MISCELLANEOUS. being not a mere translation of the former, but, better than that, a specimen of a similar combination. In this manner attention is secured to the Latin extract, which might otherwise be passed over by the young student, and a clearer impression of the meaning of the Latin is given him. And yet another feature of the work which greatly enhances its value, and which must have added very much to the labor of its preparation, is the verification of every reference, and the specification of the precise place in an author where each example of importance or interest is to be found. The editors-for the name of Theophilus D. Hall is associated upon the title-page with that of Dr. Smith-state in their preface that "every article in the book is the result of original and independent research; and it is not too much to say that a single column often represents the hard labor of several days." The amount of toil, never thought of by the million, that is represented in this result of fifteen years can be but faintly realized by those who have experienced the difficulties of English editing, and can hardly be appreciated by the eager student himself. But the editors have their rich reward in the gratitude of all good scholars for this invaluable addition to their helps, and in the conviction expressed in their own land, and shared fully by their cousins this side the sea, that this work will be the English-Latin Dictionary so long as the English language remains essentially unchanged. ONE of the most valuable helps that has been placed within the reach of the classical student for a long time is Dr. WILLIAM SMITH'S EnglishLatin Dictionary (Harper and Brothers). That authoritative name upon the title page has become almost a synonym for classical knowledge. The scholarship that has built for itself so enduring a monument in the "Dictionaries of Greek and Roman Antiquities," "Geography," and "Biography and Mythology," and the "Dictionary of the Bible," which has just been Americanized, has in this work added to the already high monument yet another stone. The patience that wrought so many years in fashioning those massive blocks has matched them with this elaborate result of fifteen years of labor. In the nature of the case the work can not share in so popular an appreciation as some of its predeces-its biographer. Authors have risen more rapidsors. It is, as it were, upon a higher plane, and there are fewer who can enjoy the careful work it evinces. Like the finely carved capital of a We have only commendation to offer to Allibone's Dictionary of Authors (J. B. Lippincott and Co.), of which the third and last volume is now laid upon our table. Not that we might not find occasion to criticise if we were so inclined. In a work which contains notices of nearly 50,000 authors it would be simply impossible that some should not be inserted that might be omitted, and some omitted that should have been inserted. Literature has moved faster than ly than Dr. Allibone could record them. Yet these defects are so few as to be insignificant in comparison with the extent of the labor accom plished, and the general fullness, accuracy, and impartiality which characterize the result. The work has been twenty years in preparation; and if we have felt sometimes impatient at the long delay which intervened between the first and last volumes-twelve years-when we come to scan the work accomplished a life-time appears none too long for its completion. Some curious general facts are easily to be gathered from the recapitulation at the end of this last volume, as, for example, the ratio, in numbers, of authors on various topics. The writers on divinity are the most numerous; poets are the next in number to the clergymen; writers of biography and history follow in about equal numbers; while the novel-writers stand far down on the list, being only 2257 against 12,000 writers on divinity. It requires some self-restraint not to enter upon a discussion of some of the important questions suggested by the report of Messrs. WELLS, DODGE, and CUYLER on Local Taxation (Harper and Brothers). But this is a matter for political rather than for literary criticism, and we can do little else than simply record the fact that they have presented, not merely to the Legislature of New York State, but through this publication to the people at large, a most admirable statement of the anomalies of our present absurd tax system, and some very valuable hints toward reform. Reports are not, ordinarily, very interesting reading; but no one who pays taxes can afford to be ignorant of the facts and figures Whoever agrees which this report affords. with the motto on the title-page, "A people can not prosper whose officers either work or tell lies: there is not an assessment roll made out in this State that does not work and tell lies," will recognize the fact that the importance of reform in local taxation is immeasurably more than is represented by the amount of his own petty tax, ordinarily more easily paid than resisted, however inequitable it be.-The Diary of a Besieged Resident in Paris (Harper and Brothers) is composed of the letters of a special correspondent of the Daily News. From the preface to the close of the book there is not a dull or stupid line in the book; at least if there is we have failed to find it; and we have seen no better photograph of the inside life of Paris than it affords. Written by one in avowed sympathy with the French, it points unmistakably to the cause of their successive disasters-a degeneracy in moral life and true manhood, the result of years, perhaps of centuries, of bad government and worse education.To our thought there is no more useful and perhaps no more entertaining volume in the admirable series of HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN'S works which Hurd and Houghton are publishing than The Story of My Life. Apart from the interest which belongs to the story itself, Andersen has so large a host of friends that multitudinous will be those who will wish to read what he has called one of his "wonder stories," for the sake of the man whose life it portrays. Editor's Scientific Record. SUMMARY OF SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR. T time to time, either by increase, division, or disappear ance. A prominent feature in the science of Meteor It is our purpose hereafter to give from or theology has been the successful range of meteor principal advances that have been made in the different departments of science since the previous summary, and we commence the series in the present number. Fuller details in regard to most of the points referred to will be found in the Scientific Record, or in the column entitled Scientific Intelligence, in the Weekly. As far as Astronomy is concerned, the principal interest has centred in the reports of the different parties organized for the purpose of making observations of the solar eclipse of December 22, 1870; and although partial accounts have been published by the English, American, and Italian observers in Nature, the Academy, the American Journal of Science, the Franklin Institute Journal, etc., we yet lack that systematic summary that shall enable us fully to appreciate the results of the observations at different points and by different parties, or satisfactorily to explain the great discrepancies that manifest themselves. In the April number of the American Journal of Science is an account of the observations of Professor Respighi, of Italy, upon the constitution of the sun, in which, as will be seen by our abstract of this article, he agrees with Professor Zöllner in the essential points of his hypotheses. Among others is the suggestion that the sunspots are produced by a kind of slag or cake formation, on the surface of the incandescent photosphere, which change their form from time system of storm-signals, as authorized by Congress, and carried out by the Signal Corps of the United States army. After training the observers and sending them to their different posts, the work of making observations was actually commenced in November last, and has since been continued without interruption. Reports of observations are received three times a day and collated, and then transmitted throughout the country; and, quite recently, these have been accompanied by forecasts of the weather, or anticipations of its changes. These have been, in the main, very accurate, and have excited much interest from their coincidence with the phenomena actually taking place. It is understood that the Signal Corps is still engaged in developing new methods for rendering the system useful in the interest of commerce and navigation. In connection with this Signal Service, a station was established and maintained at Mount Washington, under the direction of Professor Huntington and Professor Hitchcock; and some unexpected facts have been discovered in regard to the intensity of the wind, and its general direction, throughout the winter. Reports, either preliminary or detailed, of many scientific Explorations have been published since the beginning of the year. Among them are those of Professor Hayden and of Professor Marsh, in regard to the fossiliferous beds of the Rocky Mountain region; those of Mr. Clarence King and his parties, upon the glaciers of the Pacific slope; that of Professor Powell, on the cañons of the Colorado; that of the students of Williams College, in Honduras; and that of Dr. Stimpson, in Florida, together with others of greater or less interest. To these may be added the labors, in San Domingo, of the Government Commission sent to the island about the beginning of the year. In Geology, reports of the progress of surveys have been made by the States of Michigan, Ohio, Iowa, New Jersey, and others; while in the matter of general geology, the most important announcements have been those connected with the history of the South African diamond fields, and that of the labors of Dr. Hayden, Professor Marsh, and Mr. King. important bearing upon the questions connected with Mr. Darwin's views. A report of a critical examination of the crustaceans of the Gulf Stream, collected by Count Pourtalès, has been published by Dr. Stimpson, and numerous papers upon the invertebrates of the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of the United States, by Professor A. E. Verrill. A catalogue of the fishes in the British Museum, by Dr. Gunther, which has been so long in preparation, has been completed, and serves as a valuable manual for general ichthyology. In the direction of Economical Natural History, the most important labors have been those connected with the protection and artificial propagation of fish; most of the Northern and Middle States, and some of the Southern, having appointed commissioners to make official inquiries and investigations, with more or less power of administration. Numerous discoveries in Technology have been made known, which are dwelt upon in the leading journals in those branches as of some moment. Among the more interesting may be mentioned the suggestions and methods for carving out, or etching, glass and stone, by means of a blast of sand directed against the part to be acted upon. The discussions and inquiries as to the effect of cold upon cast iron seem rather to disprove the In Geography, we have the partial notices of the Tehuantepec and Darien Canal parties, reports from which are sometimes favorable, and sometimes the opposite. Important memoirs upon the currents and streams of the arctic seas have been published by Dr. Petermann; and on those of the ocean generally, especially the North Atlantic, by Mr. Croll. The reports of the last North German expedition to Greenland have also appeared, the most important point in which is the suggestion, by Lieutenant Payer, that Green-time-honored impression that the metal is renland is an archipelago, rather than a continent. Captain Hall continues his preparations for the polar expedition authorized by Congress last year, and the time of his departure, it is probable, will before long be announced. The discoveries of Dr. Schweinfurth, in Central Africa, and those of Mr. Baynes, in South Africa, have tended to advance our knowledge of the geology of that continent. The account of the geysers and mud volcanoes of the head waters of the Yellowstone, by Governor Langford and Lieutenant Doane, have opened up a new page in the physical geography of the United States. In the department of Paleontology, the discovery, by Professor Marsh, of the Lophiodon, in New Jersey, and of four species of fossil serpents, in Wyoming; by Professor Leidy, of a fossil llama, in California; and of some interesting genera of the tertiary fresh-water period, in Idaho, by Professor Cope, may be mentioned; but the most interesting of all has been the detection of a post pliocene bone cave near Phoenixville, in Pennsylvania, from which Professor Cope has already obtained forty species of vertebrate animals, most of them new to science, and nearly all of extinct species. Nothing of great moment in the line of Botany has been announced, although, as far as that of America is concerned, the valuable report of the plants collected on Mr. Clarence King's expeditions, as prepared by Mr. Sereno Watson, is understood to be in the printer's hands. Some interesting facts in regard to transpiration of water by leaves have also been published in England. In the department of Zoology, the most important publication is that of Mr. Darwin upon the genesis of man, a book which has excited an immense amount of criticism. A corresponding work by Professor Haeckel, on abiogenesis, has been also published. A memoir has also appeared upon the comparative character of the brain of man and the monkey, by Professor Theodore Meynert, which is likely to have an dered brittle thereby, and less enduring, quite the contrary being now asserted to be the fact. Evidence of the continued activity in the line of scientific research is exhibited by the establishment of quite a number of new Learned Societies in the United States, among which we may mention the Philosophical Society of the city of Washington, the Anthropological Institute of New York, established on the basis of two other societies previously existing, the Philosophical Society of Middletown, and others. We conclude this review of the progress of science since the beginning of the year by referring to the more important cases of death which have occurred in the ranks of the workers in science. Of these may be mentioned Professor Chauvenet, of St. Louis, the astronomer; Mr. G. Lambert, of Paris, the arctic geographer; Professor C. G. Bischoff, of Bonn; Dr. Sheridan Muspratt, of England, and Dr. C. M. Wetherell, of Bethlehem, chemists; Professor Edward Lartét, the geologist and paleontologist; Professor Dumèril, of Paris; Professor Lacordaire, of Liege; Mr. Halliday and Mr. Henry Denny, of England, zoologists. More detailed notices in regard to these gentlemen will be found in the Scientific Intelligence. It will, of course, be understood that in the brief space that can be allotted to a résumé of this kind many discoveries and announcements of interest must fail to receive special mention; but what we have just indicated will serve as a general sketch of progress for the first part of the present year, which we trust will be followed before its close by others of still greater interest. CURE OF ST. VITUS'S DANCE. Among the more recent triumphs of medical science may be mentioned the method of treatment of chorea, or St. Vitus's dance, originally discovered in Europe, and first practiced in this country, we believe, by Dr. W. A. Hammond, of New York. This consists in the application, by means of a special apparatus, of ether-spray to the spine, the current being directed from the occiput to the sacrum, backward and forward for about six minutes each time, the treatment being renewed at proper intervals. Cases previously considered entirely hopeless have, it is said, been cured by a dozen applications of the kind referred to, although great care is necessary, as, if carried beyond a certain point, the treatment may prove injurious rather than beneficial. RAIN-PRODUCING DISTURBANCE OF THE ATMOSPHERE. Mr. Laughton, of England, in a late number of Nature, examines the question whether the condition of the atmosphere can be influenced by artificial causes, in the course of which he refers to the assumptions of Professor Espy in regard to producing rain by means of fires, and the oft-repeated assertions that a heavy cannonade will effect a similar result. After a careful consideration of the subject he comes to the conclusion that no human agencies can be relied upon to bring about any material change in the atmosphere with any degree of certainty, although he thinks that large fires, explosions, battles, and earthquakes do tend to cause atmospheric disturbance, and especially to induce a fall of rain; but that for such a result it is necessary that other conditions be suitable, especially that the lower portion of the air contain a great deal of moisture. SUPPOSED NEW BRACHIOPOD. Professor King, in a late number of the Annals and Magazine of Natural History, describes a supposed new genus of Terebratula which was dredged in very deep water on the Agulhas Banks, off the coast of Africa, and described as Agulhasia davidsoni. Mr. Dall, of the Smithsonian Institution, who has been making a special study of the brachiopods, finds reason to believe that this animal is not a new form, but simply an embryonic or immature stage of the genus Terebratulina. SPONGY IRON AS A DEODORIZER. By calcining a finely divided iron ore with charcoal the species of iron known as spongy iron is obtained, which, according to Dr. Voelcker, is a deodorizer of greater potency than animal charcoal. By filtering sewage water through this material it becomes thoroughly purified; a much smaller quantity than is required of animal charcoal answering the purpose. Water treated in this way, and kept from exposure to the atmosphere, has remained perfectly fresh and sweet for many months, without any indications of cryptogamic vegetation. most valuable, bringing from $150 to $200 a pound, eighty feathers usually making up this weight. The feathers from the wild birds are, however, considered more valuable than those taken on the farms. DISTINGUISHING DEXTRINE FROM GUM According to Dr. Hager, dextrine gum can be distinguished from gum arabic by its containing sugar. Gum arabic has a percentage of lime, which causes it to become turbid when mixed with oxalic acid-dextrine, on the contrary, remaining quite clear under the same treatment. Gum arabic, too, when added to a neutral salt or oxide of iron, throws down a deposit. PUTTING UP PRESERVED FRUITS. A convenient method of closing up prepared fruits consists in placing them in stone pots somewhat narrowed at the upper end, pieces of paper being laid over the fruit in such a manner that when the top is applied there will be no opening into the interior. Some gypsum is then to be mixed with water, and poured in a liquid form over the cover to a depth of half an inch. In a few moments the gypsum hardens, and the jar becomes air-tight; and the contents, it is said, will remain unchanged for years; the exclusion of the air being much more perfect than by the ordinary methods of closing with India rubber or with tin. SYNTHESIS OF CONIIN. Dr. Schiff is said to have accomplished the first synthesis of a vegetable alkaloid-namely, coniin. The process by which this is effected is too technical for our pages, but the result obtained is stated to be entirely similar, in its reaction and physical peculiarities, to the natural alkaloid, and to possess like poisonous qualities. POTASSIUM IN TOBACCO-SMOKE. A spectroscopic analysis has, it is said, revealed the presence of potassium in tobaccosmoke; and as small quantities of potash increase the nervous excitability, while larger quantities diminish it, it is suggested that the percentage of this substance in tobacco-smoke may produce, at least in part, the peculiar sensations which are experienced in the cavity of the mouth after long and extreme smoking. PRESCRIBED DYES FOR CANDIES. A police regulation has been recently established in some parts of Germany prescribing the substances that may be used for coloring candies and other edible articles. The variety is very great, and would seem to meet all necessary requirements. All the aniline colors, without exception, are prohibited. GREEN COLOR IN PICKLES. BREEDING OF OSTRICHES IN CAPTIVITY. We have already referred to the subject of the breeding of ostriches in captivity in Europe, and are reminded that this is a practice of common It is said that to impart an excellent green occurrence in South Africa, where large numbers color to pickles they must be first covered with are kept for the purpose of securing successive boiling hot salt-water, and after a short time the crops of their feathers, and are inclosed in areas water poured off and the pickles drained. They of fifteen to twenty acres, encircled by low stone are then to be placed in an earthen pot and covwalls. Their eggs are usually hatched artificial-ered with boiling vinegar, the top put on, and ly by being kept at a temperature of about 100 degrees by the aid of an oil lamp. The long white feathers of the wings of the male birds are the the whole kept at a lukewarm temperature for a long time, the vinegar being poured off every day, heated to boiling, and turned again upon the pickles. This is to be continued until the color is a beautiful green. The vinegar used in this process is then to be poured off and replaced by fresh, and the jar closed tightly. This method of coloring is perfectly harmless, although the result is as bright a green as that of verdigris. STOLBA PROCESS OF TINNING. A somewhat similar arrangement has been made by the same gentleman for measuring the rate of travel in carriages or wagons, indicating, as before, the time and rate of movement, and the stoppages made in the journey. This apparatus is contained in a small iron box fastened to the wagon, and provided with a glass door in front, through which the paper is visible. The advantages of the application of such an apparatus as a check upon the improper use of carriages by servants, or for determining the rate and distance traveled in a livery vehicle, will readily suggest themselves. SAFRANIN. We have already referred to the process of tinning in the cold devised by Professor Stolba, of Prague, and we now learn that his experiments have been repeated with much success. The tinning of cast iron, wrought iron, steel, copper, and brass is found to be very satisfactory, the tin adhering very firmly, even when in very thin layers. Diluted sulphuric acid, however, it is said, generally produced dark spots and removed the coating. Experiments have been made to apply the same process for the ornamentation of metallic objects. These were tried especially upon cast iron articles electroplated with copper, where the projecting edges were tinned, with excellent effect. As greasy spots can not be tinned, it is only necessary to apply very thin layers of oil to the places where no deposit is desired in order to coat the remain-paste, of a bronze lustre, completely soluble in der of the article with tin, thus producing a striking contrast. An important addition to the resources of the art of dyeing has lately been made in the discovery, by a French chemist, of a method of preparing a substance from coal-tar which completely replaces safflower and safflower carmine (derived from Carthamus tinctorius), the price of which latter substances has been continually on the increase, in consequence of the demand and the limited supply. The new dye is called safranin, and is furnished in the form of a thick warm water, and more resistant of chemical agencies than other aniline colors; in this respect showing quite a resemblance to the Perkins violet. Safranin belongs to the substantive aniline dyes, and thus is a pigment coloring animal fibre directly. EXTER LOCOMOTIVE OR WAGON REGULATOR. We have already referred to a steam-brake invented by Exter, the general superintendent of railroads in Munich, and we now present a The economy of its use may be understood by notice of a very simple arrangement lately de- the fact that one pound will dye fifty pounds of vised by him for determining the velocity of lo- cotton to a dark safranin rose of a beautiful comotives, by means of which the engineer is color and great brilliancy; and the same quanin a condition to ascertain the rate at which he tity will suffice for eight pounds of silk, being is moving at any moment, and to appreciate any thus three times as potent as safflower carmine. variation, and thus be enabled to maintain any Its effect upon wool is very similar to that of given rate of speed without the slightest difficulty. fuchsin, producing a beautiful rose-color, supeWithout figures for illustration it will be diffi- rior to that of fuchsin in brilliancy. For use it cult to give a satisfactory account of the appa- is simply necessary to dissolve it in boiling water, ratus in question, which is contained in a small and then filter the solution. The liquid thus tin box immediately in front of the engineer, and obtained can be applied directly in coloring silk, is set in motion by means of a cord extending to although cotton naturally requires a mordant. the locomotive axis. This indicates, by means The fabrics dyed with this material can be dried of a pointer upon a dial-plate, the rate of move-in heated rooms; in this respect being very difment in miles per hour, and draws, at the same ferent from the safflower colors. time, by means of a lead-pencil upon a moving paper roll visible to the engineer, and receiving its rotation from the motion, a line corresponding to the velocity of movement at any point of the journey. The authorized rate of velocity for any given train is indicated upon this paper disk by means of a line, and any deviation from such rate is appreciable to the engineer, as well as to any other official. The sheets of paper are to be removed at the end of each trip, and held subject to the inspection of the superintendent of transportation. The apparatus thus furnishes a graphic representation of the exact rate of the speed of every train at any point in its path; and these indications being beyond the control of the engineer, an unerring check is held upon his movements, by which he can be brought to account for any improper dereliction of duty. By a special adjustment of the apparatus a second pencil shows how long the locomotive has remained at any given station, being set in motion while the engine is at a stand-still, and ceasing when it is again started. VOL. XLIII-No. 253.-10 DEVELOPMENT OF THE LAMPREY. A recent memoir presented to the Academy of Sciences of St. Petersburg by Mr. Owsjannikow, on the development of the river lamprey (Petromyzon fluviatilis), confirms the observations previously made in regard to Ammocoetes, being the larval stage of the same fish. As is well known, this latter form was for a long time considered a distinct genus of the lampreys, maintaining, as it did, to the age of two or three years, its distinctive peculiarities. The chief of these is the difference in the shape of the mouth, which, instead of being a very concave disk, thickly studded inside with sharp spines, is composed of one thin semicircular lip, with a transverse one behind it. ACTION OF LIGHT ON THE TISSUES OF According to Botalin, notwithstanding the many experiments that have been made in regard to the physiology of vegetation, little or nothing has been determined as to the action of |