Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 23.djvu/143

Rh would desire, but deems it best to give the results tentatively, concludes that the work was intended chiefly as a ritual or religious calendar, to guide the priests in the observance of religious festivals, in their ceremonies, and in other duties; that the figures in the spaces are symbolical or pictographs, and refer to religious ceremonies or to the habits, customs, and occupations of the people; that the work appertained to an inland, peaceable, and sedentary people; and that the original of it was written in about the middle or latter half of the fourteenth century. Dr. Brinton gives, in his introduction, a summary of what is known respecting the Maya language and writings, which, it must be borne in mind, are quite distinct from those of the Aztecs. Two other Maya manuscripts have been published in chromo-lithography, but no attempt appears to have been made to decipher them, and several are believed to exist in private hands. In addition to the manuscripts, we have the mural paintings and inscriptions of Palenque, Copan, Chichen Itza, and other ruined cities, of the same general character. The use of the Maya mode of writing ceased after the Spanish conquest, on account of the intolerance of the priests, but many books were written by natives in their own language with the Spanish alphabet, a number of which still exist.

work is designed to afford information concerning the planting and care of forest-trees for ornament or profit, and to give suggestions upon the creation and care of woodlands, with the view of securing the greatest benefit for the longest time; and is particularly adapted to the wants and conditions of the United States. The author believes it to be the first attempt to present, in our language, and in one volume, the subject of forestry in the comprehensive sense in which he has defined it. He has endeavored to adapt the work to the wants of students of the subject, whether they be in the class-rooms of an institution, or engaged in practical labors, and to present information applicable to our own country, and to those regions where tree planting is most needed, and often most difficult. The matter of the treatise has been admirably condensed, so that the volume is made to contain an amount of information, all of practical bearing and well expressed, that might have been made to fill two or three times the space without appearing "padded." Besides reviewing the general principles of forest botany, forestry, and the growth of trees in their various aspects, it includes chapters on the reproduction of trees from seed, and by other methods; the best manner and systems of planting; special suggestions on ornamental planting, and planting for hedges, screens, and shelter-belts; forest-fires, and protection from them, and from other sources of injury; the ravages of insects; the profit of forest cultivation; the acts of Congress in reference to timber-rights; European plans of forest management; the cutting and seasoning of wood, defects in timber and processes for increasing the durability of timber and improving its quality; the various products obtained from wood and trees; descriptions of particular species of trees, their uses and adaptations; with a special chapter on the conifers; and tree planting in Kansas and Nebraska—the whole constituting a treatise at once scientific and practical.

new publication is devoted to the interests of forest-tree planting, the formation and care of woodlands and ornamental plantations generally, and to the various economies therein concerned, and comes very appropriately when public attention is called to the subject by a dozen different influences and agencies. The present numbers are occupied to a considerable extent with the proceedings of the American Forestry Congress, at its Cincinnati and Montreal meetings, and publish some of the valuable papers that were read there. One of the most noticeable papers is that of Mr. Charles Mohr, of Mobile, Alabama, on the