The National tribune., 1884-03-27
NEW PUBLICATIONS.

Mr. Wlckham Hoffman, some time secretary
of our legation at st. Petersburg has recently
published, under the title of :" Leisure Hours
IN Russia" volume containing his impressions
of that country. together with numerous trans
latlons from the old Swedish poets. Mr. Hof-
mans description of the Imperial capital IS
quite interesting. and is made all the more ef-
feetiye by the comparisons which he introduces
with various American cities. His TRANSACTIONS
include free rendering of parts of the Fin
land epic entitled e The Kalevala" and one of
Rimenberg's poems, and they bear the marks
of studious care and skill. They will scarcely
attract the general reader. but are calculated to
arouse the admiration of the student.
Now that the effect which the destruction Of
our forests is having on the distribution Of rain
fall In this country is q subject of such general
discussion, and the Importance of the subject
OF forestry Is beginning to be properly recog-
niZed, the publication by AessEs. d. Appleton
& Co., of New York, of Hand Book on Tree
Planting is decidedly timely. The author of
this little work, which. without being at all
pretentious, is really full of sound practical in
formation, is Mr.. Nathaniel H. Egleston, Chief
of the Forestry Division of the Agricultural
Department. and he has SO arranged the sub
jects of which he treats as to greatly facilitate
their intelligent discussion. In their natural
order they are ~ Why to plant, ~ Where to
plant, (3l What TO plant, and t4) How to
plant. AS the author himself says in his in
PRODUCTION, the special object of the book is 10
treat of the planting of trees in masses, aud it
is not designed so much for the amateur or the
ornamental planter as for the one who is de-
sirons Of cultivating trees on large scale and
with a view to profit rather than 10 adoFnment
or mere aesthetic effect. Appended are some
useful tables as to the numberof trees required
TO the acre set out at various distances apart,
and the comparative fuel value of the most i'm
-
this city by A. Brentano & Co.
From Messrs. D. Appleton s. Co., New York,
we have work the need of which has long
been felt by the general reader. Under the
title of " Darwinism Stated by Darwin Him.
sci, MIR. Nathan Sheppard. weil-known CON-
piler, has collected anu arranged in their proper
order characteristic passages from the writings
of theg great naturalist, em5odying Substantially
the conclusions derived from his investigations
and SO much of the evidence upon which
they rest as to render lucid to the reader the
process OF reasoning employed therein. This
book is not, as might be supposed In any sense
an attempt either to reconcile the scientific
conclusions of Mr.. Darwin with the dogmas of
revealed religion or to exhibit their divergence,
but simply to wing within the reasonable COM
pass OF any ordinary volume the chief results
of his faborious researches. Necessarily in
many eases but the briefeS5 statement is given
of laws in nature the discovery of which Mr.
Darwin has himself described at length for
this compilation is the essence really of twelve
volumes of his writings; but as reference is
made in every instance TO the page in his
works (Appleton's editionl from which the
citation is made, it is rendered easy for the stu
dent to pursue his inquiries further if he
choose. The price is unexpectedly reasonable
Sl.50. For sale in this city by A. Brentano s.
Co.
Messrs. d. Appleton & Co., New York. have
issued, under the title of :" Flowers and Their
Pedigrees" a collection of most charming essays
on the British-and to all intents and purposes
our own-tloFa, which Mr.. Grant Allen has at
various times contributed to the leading En-
glish magazines. Mr.. Aliens style greatly re-
sembles that of our own John Burroughs the
naturalist, and he manages TO invest even our
common wayside flowers with human inter
est. In the essays before us he traces the origin
of the daisy to its primitive form; tells how it
comes about that in all England there is but
one spot where the Hairy wood-spurge can be
found, and relates the story of its emigration
in remote ages; traces the evolution of the
strawberry from the family of potentilaS-a
group of primitive reseS-through the tcon-
slant unconscious selection Of the little hedge
row birds, exeFted at once in favor of the pull
pest the sweetest and the ruddiest berries -
disclose5 the development of wheat from de-
generate anu uesIaueu my, anu ulSeouFses III
the most delightful way of thousand other
botanical mysteries. 1T is not necessary to
have an exact acquaintance with the history OF
plant-li;e to appreciate such q writer as this,
for he resorts to technical terms but rarely, and
the wealth of information which he imparts IS
conveyed in simple easily comprehended Ian
guage. Such a book as this, is, indeed, an edu-
cation in all that is most beautiful and wonder
full in nature. Price, SI50. For sale in this
city by A. Brentano * Co.
Messrs. Janse;l, McClurg & Co. Chicago have
begun the publication of an English transla-
ton of the historical romances of Zachris To-
pefius the most eminent of Swedish writers,
who has done for his native country what Sir
Walter Scott did for his own They are enti-
tied 1.-THE Surgeons Stories" and are each
representative of cycle OF Swedish history,
beginning with the times OF Gustaf Adoiph aud