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LITERARY NOTICES.
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with what is doing for the advancement of biological evolution.

Moore's Rural Life. An Illustrated Journal for Suburban, Village, and Country Homes. Conducted by D. D. T. Moore. 24 pages; $1.50 per year. 34 Park Row, New York.

The "Rural New-Yorker," an excellent paper, was long managed by Mr. D. D. T. Moore, who now brings his tact, resources, and ripened experience to the establishment of a new enterprise which is admirably initiated, and we have no doubt will meet with the liberal patronage it deserves. Mr. Moore has taken pains to make the first number (for June) of his journal represent the ideal of what the succeeding numbers shall be; and does not send out a hastily prepared sample full of apologies for defects and promises of what he will do when the project gets fairly under way. Moore's "Rural Life" is splendidly illustrated and beautifully printed, and we can give the reader no better idea of the wide and judicious variety of its contents than by enumerating the departments under which its numerous articles are distributed: "Rural and Suburban Homes," "Landscape Gardening," "The Floriculturist," "The Fruitculturist," "The Arboriculturist," "Entomological," "The Vegetable Garden," "Poultry and Pet Stock," "Editorial Department," "Sketches of Life," "Literary Miscellany," "Natural Science," "Our Book-Table," "Fancy Work and Fashion," "Domestic and Hygienic," "Out-Door Amusements," "Life in the Country," and "Young Folks' Life."

Report on Life-saving Apparatus. Made by Lieutenant D. A. Lyle, Ordnance Department, United States Army. Washington: Government Printing-Office, 1878. Pp. 156, with 54 Plates.

The life-saving apparatus, with which this report is concerned, are mainly guns and projectiles designed for the purpose of carrying a line to an imperiled vessel, or from such vessel to the land. Numerous experiments, made under the direction of Lieutenant Lyle, with different kinds of guns and projectiles, and here recorded in full detail, will doubtless tend to increase the efficiency of our life-saving stations.

A Treatise on Chemistry. By H. E. Roscoe, F. R. S., and C. Schorlemmer, F. R. S. Volume II. Metals. Part I. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 504. Price, $3.

We spoke of the character of this elaborate and sterling treatise on chemistry, in noticing its first volume, some months ago, and can add nothing now to what we said then in commendation of it, except that the present volume sustains all the promise of the first. We are, however, happy in being able to give the discriminating testimony of one of our highest chemical authorities as to the character of the present volume. Professor Josiah P. Cooke, of Cambridge, having been presented with a copy by the publishers, thus speaks of it: "I received the book several weeks ago, but have waited before acknowledging the gift until I could express an intelligent opinion upon its merits. I find that it fully sustains the reputation of its authors, and has the same merits which were so conspicuous in the first volume. The descriptions of manufacturing processes are remarkably full and clear, and the woodcuts by which they are illustrated admirable. The book will be a great aid in teaching on that account, and I shall be able to refer students to it with satisfaction. Another conspicuous feature of the book is, that it makes prominent many points in the history of chemistry which it is not only a great convenience to have collected, but also very important should not be forgotten by the rising generation of chemists. Lastly, the mechanical execution of the book leaves nothing to be desired and makes it a pleasure to refer to it. I shall await the publication of the second half of the volume with great interest."

The Art of Questioning. By Joshua G. Fitch, M. A. Syracuse: Davis, Bardeen & Co. Pp. 80. Price, 15 cents.

This is the abridged form of a little work published some years ago, by Professor Fitch, when Master of the Borough Road Training School, London, from which he passed to the position of one of her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools. He is an able man, and was a skillful practical teacher. The "Art of Questioning" will be found to contain many hints and suggestions that will be helpful in schoolroom management.