Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 11.djvu/519

Rh cotton cloth, and represents, by a series of symbols, events in which the Dakotas were concerned, beginning about the year 1800. Each year is represented by a symbol, the meaning of which is explained in the text. The symbol for 1800 is thirty black lines, representing that thirty Dakotas were killed that year. The symbol for 1801 is the head and body of a man covered with red blotches; that year the small-pox broke out in the nation. In 1869 the sun was eclipsed; the symbol representing it is a black disk. The calendar is of value as "an attempt, before unsuspected among the nomadic tribes of American Indians, to form a system of chronology."

paper is an attempt to show that there exists an "order of relationship" in the animal world, and that, beginning with the lowest organisms, there has been, up to the highest forms, an "order of development." The facts which recent paleontological researches have brought to light are used by the author with considerable skill in illustration of her subject.

little work is by an avowed freethinker, who, in a few pages of prefatory remarks, tells us in a very candid way why she thinks such a book is needed, and what she hopes to accomplish by it. Then follow discussions of "Personal Immortality," "Materialism," "Prayer," etc. The spirit of the writer is good, and, whether readers agree with her views or not, they cannot deny her sincerity or fail to be gratified by her tolerance.

little was known of the diptera of the Pacific coast until the publication of this report. Collections were made by the author in California during the years 1875 and 1876, not only along the low plains, but on plateaus of the Sierra Nevada region, at elevations of from 6,000 to 8,000 feet above the level of the sea. The present volume is a survey of the collections made, which the author says are, after all, but a small fragment of the fauna collected during a limited season. The descriptions of families and species are full and clear, and the volume, which comprises 165 pages, will be prized as a valuable contribution to American entomology.

report, published in 1876, comprises Chapters V., VI., and VII. of the forthcoming final report of the exploration of the Black Hills, made under direction of the Commissioners of Indian Affairs, in 1875.

The area of the Black Hills is stated to be nearly 6,000 square miles, about two-thirds of which area is in Dakota, the remainder in Wyoming. They are separated from the main chain of the Rocky Mountains, and surrounded by level or rolling plains. The mineral and agricultural resources, climate, rainfall, water, forests, etc., of the Black Hills region are presented in considerable detail. A good map accompanies the report.

this report is given a detailed and very interesting account of what has been done by the Ohio State Fish Commission to promote the culture of fish in that State. Hatcheries have been established at Castalia Springs, Toledo, Cleveland, and Kelley's Island, at all of which places the hatching of fish has been successfully carried on. The report is greatly enhanced in value by numerous illustrations, which are accompanied by very full descriptions, copied from the manuscript of Prof. Jordan's forthcoming report on the zoölogy of Ohio. The report includes a catalogue of the fishes of the State.