the work demanded. Illustrations, moreover, of horses, or of special points of them, drawn without the aid of photography, are liable to be affected by the bias of the artist. In this book, photography, as far as practicable, is relied on for illustration. For further light on the respective points of speed and strength in the horse, the conformation of other animals that are distinguished by the possession of one or other of these gifts in a high state of perfection is examined. A more exhaustive inquiry is also made into the nature of the paces and of the leap of the horse than has previously been attempted; the object being to obtain from it exact deductions as to the best kind of conformation for various forms of work. The first principles of conformation having been laid down, descriptions are given of the structure of the body, the anatomy, the mechanism of breathing, the distribution of weight, the levers, the mechanism of locomotion and of draft, the attitudes and paces, the comparative shape, the trunk, the limbs, action, hardiness, and cleverness, condition and good looks, weight-carrying and staying power; blood, symmetry, and compensations, special points of various classes and various breeds of horses, wild horses, asses, the evolution of the horse, photographing horses, and proportions of the horse; concluding with criticisms of painters' horses. The book is furnished with a bibliography and an index, and is illustrated with seventy-seven plates, reproductions of photographs, and two hundred and five drawings.
In reading over the Rev. A. J. Church's book of Stories from the Cheek Comedians, we are reminded again of the intense human likeness that pervades all the Greek writings, which has given them their long life and makes them as fresh and readable as the day they were written. We should hardly anticipate finding in the little pieces of Aristophanes, written in the days of the Peleoponnesian war to make the Athenian populace laugh over the petty vices and follies of their fellow-citizens—and reflect, if they would, over their own course—character sketches that would fit as well to-day in New York or any other American city: exposures of tricks and devices to gain influence, wealth, and power, from which those now familiar among our own politicians and speculators might have been copied; views of similar "rings" and similar demagogues currying favor with the people in the same ways, and a similar populace binding itself in consideration of little bits of patronage and flattery to them; the "labor element" with its demands and threats and the leaders bowing to them. But these are all to be found in one or another of the nine comedies of Aristophanes; and he might as well have lived and written in New York or Chicago at the end of the nineteenth century as in Athens 2,300 years ago. His manner of presentation might be changed to suit modern fashions, but the substance and the essential features of the characters and situations would be the same. Besides Aristophanes, Philemon, Diphilus, Menander, and Apollodorus are represented in the book, having passed through the Latin versions of Plautus and Terence. Mr. Church does not give us the plays as such, but the kernel of them, in the form of stories, with parts of the dialogue. (Price, $1.)
The bulletin on The Salt and Gypsum Industries of New York, contributed to the New York State Museum by F. J. H. Merrill, Assistant State Geologist, is published in accordance with the law of 1892 relating to the appropriation for the geological map. Its purpose being not merely to publish such new information as can be gathered, but to give in concise form what has previously been made public, besides the author's own surveys, other authentic sources of information have been drawn upon. The account proper of the New York salt beds is preceded by general observations on the distribution and origin of salt, the composition of sea water, and the deposition of salt beds. Then are given the story of the development of the Onondaga salt field, the discovery of rock salt, the geology of the salt and gypsum, the altitude of the salt beds, well boring and tubing, the mining of rock salt, analyses; descriptions of the manufacture of salt in the State of New York by solar evaporation, direct fire evaporation, steam evaporation, and vacuum evaporation; with comparison of brines and processes, and statistics and facts. The account of the gypsum industry in New York, following the articles on salt, includes the descriptions of
