The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1879-10-27


the audacty of the novelist who takes up such ma
tcrals with so little misgiving. Those who have
read the late Violet 10 Dues "Annals of Fortress
WILL however know that the feat of linking science
and romance together be successfully performed
The French have genius that way. We can COM
mend therefore. to our public the stories o. Far
Hair and Deer in tho caves of Montmartre. of the
wars OF the tribes of Wolves and Cormorants by the
lakes. and tho love Of Dumorix and Mona. when
the first settlement OF Paris was made.
NATURAL HISTORY OF THE ANCIENrs.
Rev. w. Houghton NJ. A.. +. L. s., is careful to
state in the preface to his work, "Gleanings from
the Natural History of the Ancents (Casse, Peter
Galpn. that he is not to be held accountable
for what he fails to describe. He that he is
not to be criticised for any shortcomings. those
of the actual work done and hence calls his collection
of facts "gleanings. Accepting this limitation we
praise it less careful in its collection Of
facts than popular in it's style of presenting them.
Still we think that. allowing himself little wider
field and laying more stress upon the natural his
tory OF the ancient Western nations. he might have
made his work moro perfect, and without greatly
increasing its bulk. His work Is exclusively ZOO
logical and gives good idea of the domesticated
and wild animals known to the Egyptians. Assyrians
and the East generally; to the Greeks and Romans.
and less fully to the West of Europe. With the
animals shown upon the monuments Of Assyria and
Egypt he deals at greatest length. and. in each
there is illustration Of the mural decorations
or monumental SCULPTURES, where the birds. beasts
fishes appear these portions full Of interest
and information. The sources of information are.
he states. four-namely. natural history. literary
history. figures on monuments. coins, gems, &C.,
and the names of animals. Perhaps to most readers
the tracing out Of the original habitat Of animals
through their names will prove most novel.
Apart from tho descriptive names. such as
hitter-mousc for bat, porcupine the pig-ike animal
with spines; squirrel, the shadow tail animal 1t is
curious to learn that to tho early Accaans the horse
was known as 1.-the carrying animal from the East"
and the camel the carrying animal from the sea.
indicating in the former Media and Armenia
and in the latter Arabia-across the Persian Gulf
On this point we may point to the name of esprit
g"-shauha,oaukou-give by the Sioux or Dakota
Indians to the horse. showing clearly its being
non-indigene IL did not know that the noble
animal was first brought to this continent by the
Spanish discoveries. How the ape honored in
Egypt. how the pig was despised there as well as
among the Israelites. who probably learned their dis
like of it from the Egyptians. although it eaten
and relished in ancient Rome; how the vulture was
looked emblem OF affection. how many diff
ferent breeds of dogs the ancients domesticated.
what wild animals they hunted and tamed-all this
can be pleasantly read about in Mr.. Houghton's
book.
AMERICAN WILD FOWL SHOOTING"
Mr.. Joseph ". Long has long promised. and
sportsmen have impatently awaited. the book which
the Orange Judd Company have just published under
the title given above We believe the book will give
entire satisfaction. 1t is very thorough. giving
failing their haunts and habits, and the most APP
proved methods Of bagging them at the various
Of the year. The training of water retrievers
receives special attention. and apparently all that
be said about boats. blinds. decoys, &C., is carefully
told. The Instructions upon camping and chapter
of miscellaneous Hints" contain great deal that
veteran sportsmen cannot afford to neglect If
he would enjoy comfort well sport. great deal
Of space is devoted to guns. ammunition loading the
force of shot, &c.-topics which most men, to their
own annoyance and loss. leave almost entirely to
manufacturers. Tho chapters choke-bore guns
very interesting. partly because they demon
srate that the peculiar feature of these pieces an
American idea. but principally for the authors
PLANTATION of the difference between the better and
worse methods OF choke-borng and his theory of the
manner in which the gun attains its known results.
Through tho courtesy of Secretary of State Allen
C. Beach we have received copy of the record Of
some centennial celebrations which have taken place
in New York State published at the States expense
Ms ordered by the Legislature at the session 1878
and provided for by on appropriation this year. 1t
does not include the celebrations later than 1877,
and for publishing these it is supposabe fresh APP
preparation will be asked The events Of the Revou-
tionary period celebrated the adoption of the New
York State constitution. with proceedings ut New
York and kingston; the centennials of the battles OF
or fights at Oriskany, Bemus Heights. Schnylervilie
Burgoyne's surrender and Cherry Valley are
duly recorded. with the exercises at old Fort Scho-
harie in laying tho corner stone Of the monument
to David Williams, Of Andres captors. To these
are added historical facts relating to the old
Capitol Mt Albany and description Of the new
Capitol, far it has gone. The collection
acting on the advice of Ex-Governor Seymour. gave
place to descriptions of the celebrations which re-
lieve the dryness of the historical addresses aud
give the book, the Governor Indicated value for
the future we'll interest for the present There
Is fine steel engraving Of George Clinton and sew
eral illustrative woodcuts. Five thousand copies
have been issued for distribution as directed by the
Legislature.
HARPEI's NEW LATIN DICTIONARY.
As ripe fruit Of German scholarship DR.. wilhelm
Freunds great Latin German Dictionary" has boon
recognized for quarter of century. That in its
English translation. edited by tho late L. A..
Andrews. LII. D.. it gave the ancient Ainswortn and
other worthless terrible tusse is another proof
OF Its excellence On this side of the Atlantic has
long stood at the head Of Latin dictionaries and the
successive editions from the press OF Harpcrs have
added to its value. Now. however. are presented
with q edition (uarper a. Bros. New York;
IN which tho revision and rewriting have been SO
thorough that 1t has been reset from to cover
and, apart from alterations and substitutions,
the added matter reaches nearly three hundred pages
of small typo. The magnitude OF the work conveyed
in such bare statements can better be appreciated