Annual Report of the New York Meteorological Observatory (1877). By D. Draper, Director. Pp. 32.
An important feature of this report is Mr. Draper's remarks upon the rainfall of New York City. It has been found by observation that there was an increase of rain from the date of commencing the observatory records till 1869, and after that year a steady decrease. The question now arises, "Does the rainfall of New York still diminish, will it continue to do so, and does this variation occur in the early or late portion of the year?" To which the author replies that from his study of the subject "it appears that the rainfall of this city will most probably continue to decrease by fluctuations for several years to come, and that the variations are nearly the same in the two portions of the year."
The Former and Present Number of our Indians. By G. Mallery. From "Proceedings of the American Association." Pp. 27.
Some Common Errors respecting the North American Indians. Same author. From "Bulletin of the Philosophical Society of Washington." Pp. 6.
The errors here exposed and corrected by Mr. Mallery have regard first to the color of the aborigines: they are not "red," nor "copper-colored." Their real prevailing color is brown. Second error: the opinion that the Indian believes in a "Great Spirit." Their common religious system is "polydemonism." Third error: that the aboriginal race is rapidly becoming extinct; the author holds that they are rather on the increase.
Opening of the Lewis Brooks Museum. At the University of Virginia, June 27, 1878. Richmond: Printed by order of the Board of Visitors. Pp. 60.
The University of Virginia is indebted to the late Lewis Brooks, of Rochester, New York, for the fine Natural History Museum—building and specimens—which was opened during the present year. The pamphlet before us gives a brief history of the founding of the institution, and contains an address on "Man's Age in the World," by James C. Southall, author of the work entitled "Epoch of the Mammoth."
Deep-Sea Soundings. A Lecture by Lieutenant-Commander T. F. Jewell, U. S. N., Claremont, N. H.: Manufacturing Company print. Pp. 63.
The first material improvement made in deep-sea sounding instruments was the employment, by Lieutenant Walsh, U. S. N., of a steel wire in place of a hempen cord; that was about thirty years ago. Since then sounding has received much attention from naval officers and scientific men, and so numerous are the devices contrived for the purpose of exploring the bottom of the sea, that the author of the above-named address finds it necessary, with a view to presenting a clear history of the subject within the ordinary limits of an evening lecture, to confine himself to the achievements, in this field, of our own countrymen. From a perusal of the address, it is seen that American inventive genius has played an important part in the improvement of sounding-instruments.
Parks and Gardens of Paris considered in Relation to the Wants of other Cities and of Public and Private Gardens. By W. Robinson. F. L. S. With numerous Illustrations. New York: Macmillan. Pp. 572. $7.50.
American Ornithology; or, The Natural History of the Birds of the United States. By Alexander Wilson and Charles Lucian Bonaparte. Illustrated with Plates engraved from Drawings from Nature. Philadelphia: Porter & Coates. Three volumes in one. Pp. 1178. $7.50.
Life of George Combe, Author of "The Constitution of Man." By C. Gibbon. London: Macmillan. 2 vols. Pp. 335 and 404. $8.
A Candid Examination of Theism. By Physicus. Boston: Houghton, Osgood & Co. Pp. 215. $2.50.
What is the Bible? By J. T. Sunderland. New York: Putnams. Pp. 189. $1.
Goethe: Faust—Erster Theil. Edited, with an Introduction and Notes, by J. M. Hart. Same publishers. Pp. 257. $1.25.
The Ethics of Spiritualism. By H. Tuttle. Pp. 155. 60 cts.
Ferns in their Homes and Ours. By J. Robinson. With Plates and Woodcuts. Salem: S. E. Cassino. Pp. 194. $1.50.
Evolution evolved. A Part of "The Problems of Human Life here and hereafter." By Wilford. New York: Hall & Co. Pp. 132. 50 cts.
Central Ohio Scientific Association. Urbana: Saxton & Brand print. Vol. I., Part 1. Pp. 100, with Plates.
Geography of Kentucky. By W. J. Davis. New York: Van Antwerp, Bragg & Co. Pp. 16, with Map and Woodcuts.
American Journal of Mathematics. Pure and Applied. New York: Sold by Van Nostrand. Vol. I., No. 3.
Eleventh Annual Report of the Trustees of
