the felicity of its execution renders in no small degree a model for all similar undertakings.

The first part of the work is historical; the second descriptive. Under the former head we have an account of the origin of the collection; of its gradual growth to the present day; of the succession of Professors; of the extent of the geological and mineralogical cabinets, and of the mode of cataloguing and ticketing adopted in the museum. Under the descriptive part falls first, a description of the building devoted to the reception of the collections and the general manner according to which they are distributed. In this manner thirty pages are occupied, and then commences a more detailed description of the most interesting objects in the mineral collection beginning with the different glazed cases which contain the specimens, disposed in a systematic order around the sides of the most splendid gallery devoted to this purpose in the world. The contents of one hundred and ninety-two distinct cases or compartments are noticed between pages 31 and 154. The remainder of the work is devoted to the geological collection, which occupies side-galleries on the second floor of the edifice, that communicate with the lower floor or the mineral-cabinet proper by eight flights of stairs.

We cite only a few details from the work as likely to interest American mineralogists.

It was about the year 1750 that the mineral collections under the supervision of Buffon and Daubenton were first separated from other objects of natural history and arranged by themselves. In 1772, a considerable collection was given to Buffon by the king of Poland. This was immediately added to the cabinet. From 1777 to 1785, Dombey collected with a view to its increase, in Mexico, Chili and Peru. İt was he who first sent home the Atacamite, the Euclase and the Nitre of Peru. The Emperor Joseph II. of Austria presented in 1784, a splen. did series of the minerals from Hungary and Transylvania; and the Empress Catharine II. of Russia in the year following, did the same, in respect to those of her vast territory. From 1770 to 1800, Dolomieu collected a magnificent series of the rocks and minerals of Portugal, Sicily, of the Alps, the Grisons and of Tyrol, which together with the fine cabinet of Faujas de St. Fond (formed among the extinct volcanoes of Viverais and Auvergne), fell to the royal collection at the Garden of Plants. It was farther enriched in 1795 by receiving the cabinet of Stathouder. In 1796, the government added a rich collection of precious stones, which had previously been deposited at the mint. The king of Denmark presented some valuable specimens in 1800. The cabinet was much enriched from 1800 to 1806, by voyages of discov. ery in the east. In 1802 the Garden purchased the fine cabinet of 1600 specimens of Prof. Weiss, (now of Berlin,) to the accumulation of which he had devoted twenty years of diligent labor. Then followed in succession the following valuable additions: 1, (1802 to 1808) the collection of Geoffroy St. Hilaire, remarkable for its diamonds and topazes from Brazil; 2, (1810 to 1825) collections from the king of Sweden; 3, (1823) additional specimens of value from the mint; 4, (1815) splendid specimens from Italy and Germany presented by the Emperor of Austria; 5, (1826) the king of France presented SECOND SERIES, Vol. XXI, No. 62, March, 1856.

36

his private cabinet; 6, (1835) the valuable collection of Gillet de Laumont consisting of 4000 specimens, was purchased; 7, (1836) the School of Mines at St. Petersburg presented a very choice collec tion of Russian Minerals; 8, the celebrated cabinet of 8000 specimens, formed by the Abbé Haüy was purchased in England of the Duke of Buckingham and added to the museum; 9, (1855) a splen did collection of Russian minerals which in 1853 had been presented by the Emperor Nicholas to the Institute of France, and which embraced a very precious series of emeralds, topazes, malachites and native gold.

The mineralogical catalogues number as high as 27,000 specimens. In the year 1829, Cordier was made professor of geology in the mu seum. The collection in this department then contained scarcely 1200 specimens of rocks of all sizes, the most of them without localities, and about 300 specimens of fossils. The collection now contains 175,000 specimens of rocks, without including detached organic fossils, of which the number exceeds 23,000 specimens, or trays often containing numerous individuals. M. Hugard very well observes," Ces chiffres sont assez éloquents pour montrer l'importance de la collection de geologie actuelle."

When the traveller from the United States views the extent of this vast museum of mineralogy and geology, and contemplates the system with which it is disposed and the care with which it is preserved, a feeling of mortification is sure to be felt, at the thought that his own great and flourishing country has nothing of the kind to show wherewith to excite the pride and study of her ambitious and intelligent sons.

III. BOTANY AND ZOOLOGY.

S.

1. Synopsis Plantarum Glumacearum; auctore E. G. STEU del. Stuttgard. 1854-5. Imp. 8vo. 2 vols. in one. Pars I, Gramineæ. pp. 474. Pars II, Cyperacea, Restiacea, Eriocauloneæ, Xyridea, Desvauxieæ et Junceæ. pp. 348.- We have noticed already the earlier fascicles of this work, now brought to a completion. The bringing together in one volume all the genera and species of Glumaceous plants, scattered through a vast number of books, is an undertaking which was much needed, and which has been faithfully done by our author, so far as we know. That he should collate and thoroughly revise the characters and rectify the synonymy was not to be expected, nor is it desirable that such a task should be attempted by any botanist resident in a German provincial town, remote from all the great herbaria. Kunth, who published the last Agrostographia and Cyperographia, possessed better means and greater experience; but his work did him little credit. If Steudel had confined himself to compilation, he would have conferred an unalloyed benefit. Unfortunately, he has described as new species several hundreds of specimens, in his own and some other herbaria, most of which doubtless belong to species already published, and which figure in his pages, each perhaps under several names besides the new As a contribution to science, therefore, this work is worse than Kunth's Agrostographia ;-and that is saying a great deal.

ones.

A. G.

2. Flora of Tasmania; by JOSEPH DALTON HOOKER, M.D. Part I, 1855. Royal 4to, 80 pages, with 20 colored plates.-The labors of assorting and distributing the vast Indian herbarium formed by Dr. Thomson and himself, and of publishing the first volume of the Flora Indica (noticed in our last number) have not prevented Dr. Hooker from proceeding to print his Flora of Tasmania, almost as soon as that of New Zealand was completed. The letter-press of this first part comprises the orders from Ranunculacea to the commencement of Leguminosa. Noteworthy points are, the transference of Monimiacea (including Atherospermea) to the same group of orders with the Magnoliaceae, for satisfactory reasons, assigned in the Flora Indica: the union of Mniarum with Scleranthus: the detection of our Elatine Americana, or of a plant which Dr. Hooker cannot distinguish from that species, in Van Diemens Land: and the identification of a considerable number of Tasmanian species with those of other widely distant parts of the world.

A. G.

3. Flora van Nederlandsch Indië, door F. A. W. MIQUEL. Amster. dam, 1855.-Prof. Miquel, one of the most active and learned of Dutch botanists, has commenced a general Flora of the Netherland's East Indian possessions, of which two parts have reached us: viz.-336 pages royal 8vo, and with 4 plates, from drawings by Ver Huell. The specific characters and technical descriptions are in Latin; the rest of the letterpress in Dutch. The work begins with the Leguminosa, and these two parts do not complete that large order. From the author's well known industry and perseverance we may expect the publication to proceed somewhat rapidly, and that it will be executed in a very creditable

manner.

A. G.

4. The Micrographic Dictionary, a Guide to the Examination and Investigation of the Structure and Nature of Microscopic Objects; by Dr. GRIFFITH and Prof. HENFREY, published by Van Voorst, to which we have called attention during its issue, is now completed in seventeen fasciculi. It makes a stout 8vo volume of about 750 pages, including the Introduction, illustrated by 41 plates, and 816 wood-cuts; and it contains an amount of well-digested and authentic information upon the wide variety of subjects it is devoted to, which is nowhere else to be found in any one work or set of works. We find it an admirable volume for reference. The articles on the subjects we are familiar with are correct and well worked up as far as they go; and the bibliographical citations at the end of each considerable article direct us to the best and latest sources of fuller information. But it is to the general student or amateur of natural history, and to the medical student, who can rarely be expected to possess a general scientific library rich in works. of original investigation, that this volume will be invaluable; and to these we cordially commend it.

A. G.

5. Algarum Unicellularium Genera Nova et minus Cognita; prœmissis observanibus de Algis unicellularibus in Genere; auct. ALEX. BRAUN. pp. 111, tab. 6, 4to. Leipsic. Engelmann. 1855.-One-celled plants, being the simplest form of vegetation, are of great interest in a physiological, and also in a morphological and systematical point of view. Prof. Braun has long been particularly conversant with these simple plants, and his writings upon the subject will command the great

est attention. A complete history of them would form one of the most interesting treatises in the whole range of natural science, and would touch upon most of the important questions discussed at the present day, as to the nature, origin and propagation of cells, the limits of vegetable and animal life, and as to what constitutes the individual in plants. Prof. Braun's little treatise is an important contribution to this subject, although he illustrates only six genera. In the introduction he gives his general views upon the one-celled Algæ, their limits, system. atic arangement, &c.

We notice also, that, in sketching the outlines of the grand divisions of the vegetable kingdom, considered as to their grade of evolution, Prof. Braun adopts Brongniart's view,-towards which there has been for some time a general tendency-claiming for the Gymnospermous Phanerogamia the position of a class, of equal rank with the common Dicotyledons and Monocotyledons combined. No new reasons for this, however, are adduced. This point is one likely to be contested, and which now demands a thorough discussion.

A. G.

6. On some specimens of deep sea bottom, from the sea of Kamtschatka, collected by Lieut. Brooke, U. S. N.; by Prof. BAILEY.

[The following copy of a letter from Prof. Bailey to Lieut. Maury, of the National Observatory, Washington, D. C., dated West Point New York, January 29th, 1856, has been sent to us for publication.EDS.]

I have examined with much pleasure the highly interesting specimens collected by Lieut. Brooke of the U. S. Navy, which you kindly sent me for microscopic analysis, and I will now briefly report to you the results of general interest which I have obtained, leaving the enumeration of the organic contents and the description of the new species for a more detailed account which I hope soon to publish.

The specimens examined by me were as follows:

No. 1. Sea bottom 2700 fathoms, lat. 56° 46′ N, long. 168° 18′ E, brought up by Lieut. Brooke with Brooke's lead.

No. 2. Sea bottom 1700 fathoms, lat. 60° 15′ N, long. 170° 53′ E. brought up as above, July 26th, 1855.

No. 3. Sea bottom 900 fathoms, temperature (deep sea) 32° Saxton, lat. 60° 30′ N, long. 175° E.

A careful study of the above specimens gave the following results. 1st. All the specimens contain some mineral matter, which diminishes in proportion as the depth increases, and which consists of minute angular particles of quartz, hornblende, feldspar and mica.

2d. In the deepest soundings (No. 1. and No. 2.) there is least mineral matter, the organic contents (which are the same in all) predominating, while the reverse is true of No. 3.

3d. All the specimens are very rich in the siliceous shells of the Diatomace which are in an admirable state of preservation,-frequently with the valves united and even retaining the remains of the soft parts.

4th. Among the Diatoms, the most conspicuous are the large and beautiful discs of several species of Coscinodiscus. There is also (besides many others) a large number of a new species of Rhizosolenia, a new

Syndendrium, a curious species of Chatoceros with furcate horns, and a beautiful species of Asteromphalus, with from five to thirteen rays, which I propose to call Asteromphalus Brookei, in honor of Lieut. Brooke to whose ingenious device for obtaining deep soundings, and to whose industry and zeal in using it, we are indebted for these and many other treasures of the deep.

5th. The specimens contain a considerable number of the siliceous spicules of sponges, and of the beautiful siliceous shells of the Polycistineæ. Among the latter I have noticed Cornatella clathrata Ehr., a form occurring frequently in the Atlantic soundings. I have also noticed in all the soundings (and shall hereafter describe and figure) several species of Eucyrtidium, Halicalyptra, Perichlamidium, Stylodictya and many others.

6th. I have not been able to detect even a fragment of any of the calcareous shells of the Polythalamia. This is remarkable for the striking contrast it presents to the deep soundings of the Atlantic which are chiefly made up of the calcareous forms. This difference can not be due to temperature as it is well known that Polythalamia are abundant in the Arctic seas.

7th. These deposits of microscopic organisms, in their richness, extent, and the high latitudes at which they occur, resemble those of the Antarctic regions, whose existence has been proved by Ehrenberg; and the occurrence of these northern soundings of Asteromphalus and Chatoceros, is another striking point of resemblance. These genera, however, are not exclusively polar forms, but, as I have recently determined, occur also in the Gulf of Mexico, and along the Gulf Stream.

8th. The perfect condition of the organisms in these soundings, and the fact that some of them retain their soft portions, indicate that they were very recently in a living condition, but it does not follow that they were living when collected at such immense depths. As among them are forms which are known to live along the shores as parasites upon Algæ, &c., it is certain that a portion at least have been carried by oceanic currents, by drift ice, by animals which feed upon them, or by other agents, to their present position. It is hence probable that all were removed from shallower waters in which they once lived. These forms are so minute, and would float so far when buoyed up by gases evolved during decomposition, that there would be nothing surprising in finding them in any part of the ocean, even if they were not transported (as it is certain they sometimes are) by other agents.

9th. In conclusion, it is to be hoped that the example set by Lieut. Brooke will be followed by others, and that in all attempts to obtain deep soundings the effort will be made to bring up a portion of the bottom. The soundings from any part of the ocean are sure to yield something of interest to microscopic analysis, and it is as yet impossible to tell what important results may flow from this study.

The above is only a preliminary notice of the soundings referred to, I shall proceed without delay to describe and figure the highly interesting and novel forms which I have detected, and I hope soon to have them ready for publication.