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differ exceedingly from the deluge of books now appropriating the name. It is folly to suppose that before one can study a science thoroughly, his mind must be filled with the pointless gossip so abundant in textbooks. We study not merely to gain information, but also to discipline the mind. Dry narrations of effects give the student a disjointed skeleton of the subject, and, by converting the study into rote, injure the mind. Mind, like body, must have exercise and nourishing food, or it will be enfeebled. We require, therefore, in an elementary work a careful discussion of causes and effects, so presented that the student must exercise thought in preparing the lesson. Important matters should not be omitted for the sake of subjects which are merely entertaining.

Such a work is Mr. Lyell's "Elements of Geology." It consists of no naked narration; it is not a mere list of disconnected facts. It is a treatise. It gives causes and effects, explaining and investigating their relations; it discusses facts and theories; regarding physical laws as secondary to phenomena, its author generally discards hypotheses as such, and consequently treats the subject in an impartial and thorough manner; so that the student who uses it gains a far from superficial knowledge of the science as a whole. It is what we think a text-book should be, concise, interesting, and comprehensive..

With many theories offered in the work we can not agree. Especially are we dissatisfied with Mr. Lyell's argument respect ing the antiquity of man. It is almost entirely based upon the discovery of flint implements in certain caverns and in diluvium at Abbeville, Amiens, and other places, where they are accompanied by bones of extinct mammalia. We concede that, beyond all cavil, the flints are of human origin, and that they do accompany fossils of the post-pliocene period. But mere juxtaposition is no proof of contemporaneity. In Alabama, on the plains of Nebraska, and on the pampas of Buenos Ayres, we find the remains of vast mammalia referred to the post-pliocene period; but with them are also found the bones of vast herds of cattle, which were destroyed but a few years ago. Even the antiquity of the fossil mammalia is doubtful. A few hundred years hence, the bison will be exinct on this continent. A new race may

people the land, and the buffalo skeletons may be referred to an ancient period. We know that the lion has become extinct in Greece during the historical period. With these instances before us, why need we urge great antiquity to such mammalia as became extinct before the historical period, and at a recent geological period?

Again, the diluvium in which many of these flints are found, was regarded as of ancient origin by Buffon and others only because it contained no human relics. Now that such relics are found, and as the formation gives abundant evidence of great disturbance, we are as justified in assigning a modern origin to the formation as if we assigned great antiquity to our race. In his reference to Brixam Cave, Sir Chas. Lyell is unfortunate. Dr. Falconer has denied finding flint implements under the head of a Rhinoceros Hemistoechus in that cavern. With this exception, which probably resulted from oversight, the argument is fairly conducted, and, as it gives a clear statement of the author's views, adds considerably to the value of the work. We perceive that Mr. Lyell now inclines strongly toward Mr. Darwin's theory of natural selection.

This work is especially full upon paleontology and description of the various formations, nearly five hundred pages being thus devoted. As it relates particularly to the geological history of Europe, it will prove a necessary companion to Mr. Dana's noble manual, which gives the American history. Among other important additions, we note a description of the Eozoon Canadense, discovered in 1859 by Sir William Logan, in the Laurentian rocks of Canada, and since ascertained to be a Rhizopod. An excellent paper concerning this fossil, supposed to be the oldest created thing, is contained in Silliman's Journal for November last. The chapter on the Stone and Bronze ages is full of marrow, and can not fail to interest archæologists. The chapters on the Glacial epoch are especially full.

We find many new illustrations, but fail to see the frontispiece referred to by the author. Perhaps the American publishers thought it an unnecessary ornament. The book is well printed, though, like most American books, it is disfigured by numerous typographical errors, which reflect little credit upon proof-readers.

SEASIDE STUDIES3 is a description of the radiate animals found in Massachusetts Bay. Though thus limited in its range, it is a thorough little work upon the whole class. The sections on embryology are pithy and entertaining. The style is everywhere pleasing; and some portions, such as that upon the "Mode of catching jelly-fishes," are especially fine. The authors have followed Professor Agassiz' method of nomenclature, and have made this subject more interesting than we had thought possible. It would have been simplified, had the derivation and signification of the specific names been given. Possibly the omission was intentional, that the reader might be incited to inquiry; yet it detracts from the convenience of the book, for some who will read it are not acquainted with Latin or Greek. It is a remarkably good specimen of book-making, creditable alike to the authors and publishers. The illustrations, which are very numerous, are taken principally from life, exhibiting the animals in natural positions, and are good. The book is printed upon tinted paper, and is substantially bound. We sincerely hope that Mrs. Agassiz and her son will not stop at this point, but give us like descriptive works upon the other classes of marine animals.

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misery than was effected by the erring and unfortunate queen of Scots. Even at this day, there are conflicting opinions as to her principles and conduct; and the student who would either learn her history or study her character, will find little in Schiller's play by which to approximate truth. For the purpose of adapting her history to his literary requirements, he modifies facts, creates new personages, and to some of his characters attributes principles and actions wholly unwarranted by any chroni cles known to historians. Yet with all these features, and with all the palpable neglect of historical background which might have heightened the effect of the play, it is justly regarded as a creation of genius, and holds high rank among the masterpieces of German literature, as a painting of an eminently tragic situation, and of a signal triumph of mind over matter, of the human will over brute force and violence.

A NEW edition of a unique work' has ap- · peared, which will be of no little interest to all who rightly estimate the value of music in the school-room. It is a collection of hymns made especially for schools, embracing a wide range of themes and metres, with appropriate scriptural quotations, and a collection of effective standard tuues. In literary merit, poetic excellence, and practical adaptability, it well sustains the high reputation which the author has achieved in educational and classical literature.

"BRIGHT MEMORIES's is the title of a little book, designed to exhibit to the young the graces, virtues, and sufferings of one who had become endeared to numerous friends, and was, through her poetical effusions, becoming known in literary circles. The beauty of the character depicted, and the tenderness with which a sister has here performed her work of duty and affection, will cause feelings of sadness and pleasure to all who read the book.

HYMNS FOR SCHOOLS, with appropriate Selections from Scripture, and Tunes suited to the Metres of the Hymns. By CHARLES D. CLEVELAND. New York: Schermerhorn, Bancroft & Co. 18mo, durable cloth, leather back; pp. 270. 75 cents. (8) BRIGHT MEMORIES. In Memoriam AMELIA HULSE ROBERTS. By Mrs. GEORGIE A. HULSE MCLEOD, author of Sunbeams and Shadows, SeaDrifts, etc. New York: John W. Brown, printer. 18mo, pp. 79.

SCIENCE AND THE ARTS.

-A German professor has discovered the means, by the aid of chemistry, of recognizing the presence of cotton in linen fabrics. He takes a piece of cloth, about two inches by three-fourths of an inch, and after having unraveled both weft and warp, plunges it into an alcoholic solution of aniline and fuchsine. The superfluous coloring matter is removed by water. If, while still wet, it be placed in a saucer containing ammonia, the cotton fibres will immediately become discolored, while those of linen will preserve a fine red color.

-To aid bees in the formation of their comb, narrow sheets of wax are now imprinted by machinery, so as to exactly represent the dividing wall of comb between the cells.

--Wood shavings are extensively used for the manufacture of paper. To ascertain whether a given kind of paper contains wood, pour a few drops of aniline into a test-tube, add a few drops of diluted sulphuric acid, and apply heat by means of a spirit-lamp. This done, a strip of the paper to be tested is dipped into the liquid, which is a sulphate of aniline, and immediately an orange tint will be perceived, which becomes intense in proportion to the wood contained in the paper.

-M. Javal, a French savant, recently reported a method of curing strabismus, or squinting, by the use of the stereoscope. Though entirely novel, the suggestion commends itself as of high probability, and as belonging to the homeopathic, or similia similibus, principle of healing. Few have failed to notice the painful effect upon weak eyes-producing for the time almost an artificial strabismus-of a continuous use of the stereoscope.

A recent post-mortem examination proved that death had been caused by apoplexy, induced by the presence of a parasite called cysticercus in the left ventricle of the brain.

-Amongst the patents lately taken out in France, are the following: A hygienic alphabet, in gingerbread; a method of making head-dresses, caps, and pockethandkerchiefs in paper; a mechanical fan, opening and shutting instantaneously; a machine for cutting stone by means of a system of points, reproducing minutely the relief required; an apparatus for making deaf people hear; and no fewer than ten patents for stopping railway trains.

-Hail-storms are either regular or irreglar. The former return periodically; the others, the most disastrous, make their appearance at long intervals; visit indiscriminately the places most, as well as least, subject to haif, and follow valleys and

water-courses, while they avoid forests. The influence of forests may be attributed to two causes: 1. They are an obstacle to the motion of the masses of air which carry heavy clouds; hence, on the borders of forests, eddies are formed in the atmosphere, and both the air and clouds find an easy issue along those same borders. The consequence is, that the velocity of the aerial masses, and clouds with which they are charged, is checked, and they therefore disburden themselves of their hail before they arrive at the forest. 2. Admitting that electricity exercises some action in the formation of hail, the trees may be considered as conductors, depriving the clouds of their electricity. They would thus cease to be "storm clouds," and no hail could be formed in them.

-A new use for petroleum has been devised. The invention consists of a simple process of forming the debris of dust or coal-mines and yards, with petroleum, into lumps or blocked masses, which ignite readily without use of soft coals or kindlings, last longer, and give out a more intense heat than ordinary anthracite, and cost about one-half as much.

-A French savant says he has discovered a complete substitute for rags in the manufacture of paper. The root of the lucern-plant, he observes, when dried and beaten, shows thousands of very white fibres, which form an excellent paste for paper-makers. The three kinds of lucern --the medicago media, the medicago falcata, good roots for paper-makers' use. and the medicago maculata--produce equally The roots are to be first pressed between two rollers to open them, and, when sufficiently crushed and dried, they are left to soak in running water for fifteen days or three weeks. The pulp, besides the thread for paper, produces salt of soda, and a coloring matter, called by the inventor luzerine.

-The Rev. W. Fox, of Brixton, near Brooke, Isle of Wight, has discovered in the vast weaden formation, at the back of family. The only parts of the skeleton the island, a new reptile of the Dinosaurian wanting are the head and neck. The animal was above six feet long, from the shoulder to the rump, and was furnished with a massive tail five feet long. The legs were about four feet in length, terminating in a broad, short foot. Plates of bone from half an inch to four inches in diameter, and about half an inch thick, covered its body, with the exception of its back, which was protected by a great bony shield. Spinelike bones ran along the sides of the body and tail, some of which are fifteen inches long and weigh seven pounds.

MISCELLANY.

-Mrs. Southworth's method of publication is thus described: "Her plan is to hit the public thrice with one work. It first appears in the London Journal under one title, and then in a New York sensation weekly with a second name, and finally as a book, with a third name.'

-In New York city there are 15,000 dramshops, and 300,000 drinkers, each drinking two gills of liquor per day-300,000 barrels a year. This quantity would make a reservoir 900 feet long, 50 feet wide, and 63 feet deep, and could float four large ships in full sail; at sixty dollars per barrel, it amounts to $18,000,000. Out of 7,000 cases tried before the Court of Special Sessions last year, not more than 94 were sober when arrested. Paupers in the city cost $4,000,000 a year.

"How shameful it is that you should fall asleep," said a dull preacher to a drowsy audience, "while that poor idiot," pointing to an idiot who stood staring at him, is awake and attentive!" "Perhaps," said the fool, "I would have been asleep too, if I had not been an idiot."

-Just as the brain may be removed from a tortoise, and the animal will still live, so, too, without brains, will certain books live. The arts of the publisher and the circulating library keep them in motion. Their life, however, is purely mechanical, and consists in being lifted from

shelf to shelf.

"I think our church will last a good many years yet," said a waggish deacon to his minister; "I see the sleepers are very sound."

-Swift said that the reason a certain university was a learned place, was, that most persons took some learning there, and few brought any away with them; so it accumulated.

FORTUNE.-Fortune may favor fools; but that is a poor reason why a man should

make a fool of himself.

-Satire is both foolish and wicked in the school-room, and those teachers who resort to it proclaim their own weakness. Teachers who do not respect the feelings of their pupils cannot expect the pupils to respect theirs.

-In the districts of Young Hian, and of Meisonug Hian, in China, there exists a large number of salt-water wells extending over a space of about six leagues, which are actively explored by the neighboring population. From the mouth of these wells arise columns of inflammable air, so that if a torch be applied to the opening, globes of fire of from twenty to thirty feet high are seen to arise, shining with a brilliant light. The Chinese arch over these sources of gas

with long bamboo tubes, and the gas communicated through these tubes serves to illuminate the machines by which the saltwells and the places where they are situated are explored.

-It is an important fact, that if a meatpie is made without a hole in the crust, to let out certain emanations from the meat, colic, vomiting, and other symptoms of slight poisoning will occur.

young lady, after having been severely interrogated by an ill-tempered counsel, said she never before fully understood what was meant by cross-examination.

-The necessity of putting clauses in their proper places is seen in the subjoined extract from an editor's notice of a poem: 66 The poem published this week was composed by an esteemed friend, who has lain in his grave many years for his own amusement."

"Can you inform me," said a student to a bookseller, "whether I can find anywhere the biography of Pollock ?" "Yes," said the bookseller: "I dare say you'll find it in the Course of Time."

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-The construction of the English language must appear most formidable to a foreigner. One of them, looking at a picture of a number of vessels, said, "See, what a flock of ships!" He was told that a flock of ships was called a fleet, and that a fleet of sheep was called a flock. And it was added, for his guidance in mastering the intricacies of our language, that flock of girls is called a bevy, that a bevy of wolves is called a pack, and a pack of thieves is called a gang, and a gang of angels is called a host, and a host of porpoises is called a shoal, and a shoal of buffaloes is called a herd, and a herd of children is called a troop, and a troop of partridges is called a covey, and a covey of beauties is called a galaxy, and a galaxy or ruffians is cailed a horde, and a horde of rubbish is called a heap, and a heap of oxen is called a drove, and a drove of blackguards is called a mob, and a mob of whales is called a school, and a school of worshippers is called a congregation, and a congregation of engineers is called a corps, and a corps of robbers is called a band, and a band of loeusts is called a swarm, and a swarm of people is called a crowd."

-One of Theodore Hooks friends was an enthusiast on grammar; a badly constructed sentence, or a false quantity, inflicted as much pain on his sense of hearing as a false note in music does on the ear of a musician. Theodore Hook said of this grammaniac, "If any thing could cause his ghost to return after death, it would be a grammatical error in the inscription on his tombstone."

EDUCATIONAL MONTHLY.

VOL. III.

MARCH, 1866.

No. 3.

THE

THE FLY AND THE MICROSCOPE.

HE accompanying cut represents the under surface of a common house-fly, as seen in the Novelty Microscope. This instrument, by an admirable contrivance, confines the insect within the focus during the examination, and yet does not interfere with its freedom of motion;

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indeed, to witness the activity and sprightly movements of the insect, is one of the most interesting features of the examination. He moves this way and that with the utmost agility, as if conscious of the restraints of his prison walls, and anxious for his freedom; for a moment he forgets himself, stops his frenzied motions, rubs his fore-feet together with apparent delight, hastily brushes the dust from his face and eyes, and around he goes again-but all to no purpose. He feels the smooth surface of

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