302
��[Vol. v., No. 114.^
��siiideul's noics will be confinw] to iiiatitutioiis where lectures dd chemistry are not extensive. The book, desci'ibing only a Tew of the com- moner and well-known compounds, is for the moat part accurate. Dr. Sioddard has divid&i the elements into metals and non-metals, ai-- c^rding to their i^eriodic HinctionB, placing bismuth, tia, antimony', and arsenic among the latter. We think it simpler and less confusing to the student if only the elements which have no basic properties are included amoug the non-metale. According to Dr. Stoddard's division, we see no reason wby lead should not be classed as a non-metal.
The general arrangement of the quulitnlive analysis, by the same author, differs but little from that of other manuals. There is a close resemblance to the form of the ' lecture-notes " on the same subject by Prof. Henry B. Hill; the difference, however, in point of clearness and conciseness, not being in favor of the 'outline.' A small manual of qualitative analysis should be of such arrangement that it may be used on the laboratory-desk; and the method of regular analysis should lie given in fl continuous form. The methods described for the basic analysis are not always those which we have found to give the best results in the average student's hands; and the re- actions given for the detection of the acids are decidedly meagre. We see nothing in the book that is new, or of any advantage over the manuals of qualitative analysis now in use-
The sj'steraatic mineral recoid. by Prof. E. M. Sbepard, is intended to accompany any text-book of mineralogy, and will be of great belp to the student in the systematic examina- tion of minerals. Its chief feature is the ex- tremely clear and minute explanation of the various physical and optical characteristics which enable one to determine the nature of the specimen; and the definitions are illustrated by examples of well-marked types.
��NOTES AND NEWS.
Dk. Bkkjauin ApTHosr Gould la to return lo this country very Boon from South America, where he has reirently completed the olnervationsuponwhlchlic lias been engaged for io long a time at the observatory of Cordobs. His fellow-citizeni of Boston propose to give him a reception and a dinner on his rctwn.
— The British steamship Venetian, Capt. Traut, reports that on March 22, at seven p.m., In 4S° north, Bl" west, the sea was very much agitated, and break- ing iu all directions; that this condition lasted half an hour, and could not have been I'liided by Ibp
��ohnnge^ in IliRwiiid. it bar] ibe .ippearniicp at a j very heavy tide I'nce.
— A number of eieclrieal aiorms arc reported by I vessels In the Norlli Allan tic from March 9 to 13, and | St various point* off the coast from Cape HaiLei Cape Cod. SL Elmo's Are was seen hi most of the I cases, and many of the storms weru accompanied by lieavy tbunderhig and lightniiig.
— The Lyceum of natural history of Williams college, Williamstown, Mass., the oldest natural-his- tory society but one connected with any college in the country, wli] celebrate Its fiftieth anniversary on the 21th of thin month, at which a former member. Dr. W. K. Brooks of ilie elaas of 1870, now as- sociate of Jobn> Hopkins university, will deliver an address. The lyceum proposes to take adviintage of the occasion to raise funds to enable it to undertake expeditions to some spot, sbnilar to those which It has undertaken in former year^ to Lnbrailor. Florida,
— The first number of the American journal ^^ arehofolugy reflects much credit upon the editoiial ' I nianagemenl, and warrants the expectation that It I will supply a greatly needed want to the student* of archeological science in all its numerous branches. Kor this reason we regret the mure, that, in the intiial number of an American iournal, the topic of Amei^ lean archeology should be conspicuous by its ab- sence. Tbis, we understand, has not arisen from neglect upon the part of the editors; and arrange- ments have already been made to remedy it. The original articles are not nmnerous, but alt a undoubted merit and interest. Professor NorUMi revives the memory of the earliest American claasl- ral arebcotogist, Mr. J. J. Middleton, of the well- known South-Carolina family of that name. B ilie companion of Dodwell In his studies of the Pe- lasglc remains in Italy, but preceded liim by sis. years in publication. Some of his drawings wen reproduced in the well-known posthumous publica tion of Dodwell. hot no credit was given to lb American scholar. Mr. Waldsteln contrihut^i Uti substance of au important note to his forthcoming
' Essays on the art of Phidias,' correcting the n conception ax to the artistic signiQcance of the p«p- Ids group on the eastern frieze of the Parthenon. The longest paper Is by Prof. Aug. C. Merrlam, a study of Inscriptions found upon a collection of | sepulchral vases from Alexandria, now In Xew York. It is most creditable to American scholarship, a a decided addition to knowledge. The managing J editor. Dr. A. L. Frothingham, jun., begins a leriw. I of articles on the relative excellence of Italian and { French sculpture during the thirteenth ceutui?, in ft I very entertaining fashion; and Mr. Marsh gives ft j lucid summary of a remarkable essay by DorpBeld* I winch has shed a flood of light upon the origlut ' Doric architecture, and its relations to earlier crudff \ brick construction, More than half the number toil devoted to book-notices, summaries of the conlABM' [ of the, more Important archeological periodicals of-] Kurope, and news items .ibout discoveries, and tbttj
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