Riley, C. V., and Howard, L. O., Editors. Insect Life. January and February, 1890. Pp. 64.
School Management, A Primer of. Syracuse, N. Y.: C. W. Bardeen. Pp. 44. 25 cents.
Sensenig, David M. Numbers Universalized. An Advanced Algebra. Part II. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 492. $1.26.
Shufeldt, R. W., M. D. Osteology of Arctic and Sub-Arctic Water Birds. Pp. 13, with Plates.—On the Position of Chamæa in the System. Boston: Ginn & Co. Pp. 24.
Southwick Nurseries, Massachusetts. Gillett & Hosford. Catalogue of Wild Flowers, Shrubs, Trees, and Vines. Pp. 28.
Spencer, David E. Local Government in Wisconsin. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University. Pp. 20. 25 cents.
Stejneger, Leonhard. Birds collected in Kauai, Hawaiian Islands, by Valdemar Knudsen. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 10.
Stone, W. E. Cane-Sugar in the Sweet Potato. Pp. 5.
Thorpe, T. E. A Dictionary of Applied Chemistry. London and New York: Longmans, Green & Co. Vol I. Pp. 715.
Tubs with Bottoms and Tubs without. (Anonymous.) Printed for the author at 20 Cooper Union, New York. Pp. 345. $1.
Walcott, Charles D. Inarticulate Brachiopod from the Trenton Limestone. P. 1.
Ward, Lester F. The Geographical Distribution of Fossil Plants. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 180, with Map.
Wendel, F. C. H. History of Egypt. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 158.
White, David. Cretaceous Plants from Martha's Vineyard. Pp. 8, with Plate.
Whitlock, L. L. List of Scientific and Trade Papers. Boston. Pp. 80. 50 cents.
Willard, Frances E. Glimpses of Fifty Years. The Autobiography of an American Woman. Chicago: Woman's Temperance Publishing Association. Pp. 704.
Yeo, J. Burney, M. D. Food in Health and Disease. Philadelphia: Lea Brothers & Co. Pp. 583.
POPULAR MISCELLANY.
Jacob Ennis—This able but retiring man was born in Essex County, N. J., in 1807. He came of sturdy Scotch-Irish stock on his father's side, and was of Dutch extraction (the Doremuses) on his mother's side. After graduating at Rutgers College, and when yet quite a young man, he connected himself with the Dutch Reformed Church, and was by that organization sent to the islands of Java and Sumatra as a missionary, where he remained four years. Here his powers of observation and his love for the study of nature had an early development. Returning to his native country, he soon engaged in educational work, and was elected Professor of Natural Sciences in the National Military College of Bristol, Pa. Afterward he became principal and proprietor of the Scientific and Classical Institute of Philadelphia, where he spent the best part of his life. He also occupied for some years the chair of Physical Sciences in the State Normal School at Shippenburg, Pa. In his career as an educator, he from the start laid great stress on the importance of the study of nature, and was indeed a bold and fearless innovator in this respect, anticipating by perhaps a quarter of a century the recognition that scientific studies have subsequently had in all the highest institutions of learning. His life was quiet, simple, dignified, but laborious. He was a member of the chief scientific bodies both in this country and abroad, and his contributions in the shape of addresses before learned societies, pamphlets, and articles in scientific periodicals were many and varied, always strikingly original, often profound, and sometimes prophetic. Among these contributions, chiefly on astronomical problems, was one entitled The Two Great Works to be done on our Sidereal Systems. In this publication two questions are asked—First: Which way round does the great ring of the milky way revolve? Second: In which direction must we look for the center of our sidereal systems, and how far is it distant? These two questions he attempted to answer himself in an unpublished work, upon which he expended all the time and thought that he could command during the latter days of his life. He considered this the most important and certainly the most original and far-reaching of his works on astronomy, and it will no doubt be published in due time. In his book on The Origin of the Stars, published over twenty years ago, some of the most transcendental problems of physical astronomy were attacked and solved with a keen analysis, an abundance of facts, and a wealth of illustration worthy of a master of the science. Prof. Ennis's intellectual scope and sympathies were not narrow or one-sided; he was familiar with the entire range of English and classical literature, and was an excellent linguist. His literary style was simple, direct, and lucid; he had a great dislike for "big words," and always succeeded in making his ideas clear by the use of plain and untechnical language even when handling the most abstruse problems. His habits and tastes were simple, his wants few, his disposition kindly and gentle, and the attitude of his mind was distinctly reverent. He was so quiet, mod-
