The American Garden: a Monthly Illustrated Journal devoted to Garden Art. 24 pages. $2 a Year. Beach, Son & Co., No. 7 Barclay Street, New York.
Under the able editorial management of Mr. James Hogg, this journal is doing excellent service in the interest of gardening and fruit culture. It contains each mouth a large amount of interesting and valuable matter, characterized, in the main, by a directness of statement and common-sense that quickly win the confidence of the reader, and assure him that he is in the hands of a safe and competent instructor. From the thirty-two titles in the last number, the following may be taken as a fair sample of the variety and practical character of the subjects treated: "Insects injurious to Room-Plants," "Fresh-Water Aquaria," "The Artistic Influence of Flowers," "Tropical Scenery," "About Ferns," "The Truffle," "Stillingia Sebifera, or Tallow-Tree," "The Carolina Poplar," "Watering Plants," and "Thinning out Fruit."
Birds of the Northwest. By Elliot Coues, M. D., U. S. A. 791 pages. Washington: Government Printing-Office, 1874.
The basis of the present volume is mainly an unpublished report prepared by the author, in 1862, upon the ornithological collections made in the Missouri region by the naturalists of the expedition under Captain Reynolds, and afterward extended so as to embrace the ornithological results of previous explorations, in 1856-'57, by Lieutenant Warren, in the region of the Upper Missouri, Yellowstone, and Platte Rivers. In 1872 Dr. Hayden, U. S. Geologist, expressed to the author his desire to publish a treatise on the ornithology of the Western Territories, which he had explored. Dr. Coues undertook the task of elaborating the material collected since the writing of his original report, and the whole result is published in the book now before us, which is believed to be fairly abreast of the present state of the science. To bring the work within the compass of a single volume, and to give it a distinctive character apart from the general work on "North American Ornithology" in preparation by Profs. Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway, its scope is restricted to the Missouri region. The birds of this region, like most others of North America, having been repeatedly and sufficiently described, text of this technical kind has been omitted as a rule, to make room for fresher matter of more general interest, but particular plumages, not yet well known, are described. The distribution of the species, their residence or migration, and their abundance or scarcity, are worked out, not only within the region indicated, but throughout the general area they inhabit. All the species at present known to inhabit this region are given, and represent a large majority of the birds of North America. The author is brief in the cases of the best known Eastern birds, in order to devote more space to the history of species upon which less has already been written. Three families, Laridæ, Colymbidæ, and Podicipidæ, are made the subjects of special monographs.
The Elements of Embryology. By Michael Foster, M. D., and Francis M. Balfour, M. A. London: Macmillan, 1875. 272 pages. Price, $2.25.
This is the first installment of a systematic introduction to the study of embryology. For the sake of making the first steps in this interesting branch of science as easy as possible, the authors consider in the present volume only the embryogeny of the common fowl. The development of the chick once mastered, the study of other forms becomes an easy matter. The work consists of nine chapters, with an Appendix. In Chapter I. we have a description of the egg, and an account of the changes which take place up to the beginning of incubation. Chapter II. is a summary of the history of incubation. The other chapters, down to the ninth, indicate the changes which occur from the first day of incubation down to the end of that process. Chapter IX. is on the development of the skull. In the Appendix are given practical instructions for studying the development of the chick.
Improvement of Health. By James Knight, M. D. 406 pages. Price, $1.50. New-York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1875.
This is the second edition of this book on the improvement of health by natural means, including a history of food and a consideration of its substantial qualities.
