12 JUNE 1858, Page 19

PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

BOOKS.

Rambles in the Islands of Corsica and Sardinia. With Notices of their His- tory, Antiquities, and Present Condition. By Thomas Forester, Author of " Norway in 1848-1849," &c.

History of Alexander the First, Emperor of Russia. By Ivan Golovin, Author of " Russia under Nicholas I.," &e.

The irorth-TP'est Passage, and the Plans for the Search for Sir John Franklin.

A Review by John Brown, F.R.G.S., Fellow of the Royal Society of Northern Antiquaries, Copenhagen.

Remains of a very anttent Recension of the Four Gospels in Syriac, hitherto unknown in Europe; discovered, edited, and translated by William Cureton, D.D., F.R.S., 80., Chaplain in Ordinary to the Queen ; Rector of St. Marga- ret's, and Canon of Westminster.

Preachers and Preaching. By Henry Christmas, M.A., F.R.S., &c., Professor of British History and Archmology in the Royal Society of Literature, and Thursday Morning Lecturer at St. Peter's, Cornhill.

The Heirs of Chereleigh. By Gervaise Abbott. In three volumes.

The Ladies of Bever Hollow. A Tale of English Country Life. By the Author of " Mary PowelL" In two volumes.

The Poor Relation. A Novel. By Miss Pardoe, Author of " The Life of Marie De Medicis." In three volumes.

The Knave of Hearts. A Novel. In three volumes. By Mrs. Frederick Hall, Author of " The Next of Kin."

The ButteVy Vivarium, or Insect Home. By II. Noel Humphreys, Author of "Ocean Gardens," —An application of the principles of the aquarium to the study Of insect life and transformations, with de- scriptions for the arrangemeat of the case and the management of its inhabitants. As far as the author's clearness of direction goes the "butterfly vivarium" is as easy to keep as an aquarium, and the ob- servation of insect metamorphosis exhibits more wonderful processes than can be seen in the growth of fishes. We suspect that the insects require minuter care and closer observation than the piscine tribes, and perhaps there is less sympathy with an insect than a vertebrate animal. This, however, is a matter of individual feeling. The account of an instructive, amusing, and elegant experiment is not the only feature of The Butterfly Vivarium. In a summary review of the four stages of insect life—egg, larva, pupa or chrysalis, and butter- fly, Mr. Noel Humphreys popularly exhibits some of the most singular examples of transformation, yet showing that wonderful as they appear to the superficial observer, the metamorphoses are in reality but develop- ment, minute germs of the future organs being ever traceable. In fur- ther chapters he gives particular accounts of some of the most remarkable insects, regard being had to their fitness for the "vivarium." Here are a few miscellaneous samples of the book. Periodicity of Insect-Ifatching.—" Many experiments have been made with the view to accelerate the hatching of insect eggs by the stimulus of heat, and to retard them by the application of intense cold ; but, except in a very few cases, little or no effect was produced—periodicity, rather than any kind of atmospheric influence, being the governing power which regulates the hatching time. In some few inaances, however, as stated, the time can be accelerated by warmth—as with silk-worms, for example—which is, per- haps, owing to their existence in Europe being altogether artificial, and their instincts being more or less thwarted and confused in all their stages. It has been found much more difficult, and in many cases impossible, to re- tard the period of hatching by any degree of cold ; and certain eggs destined to hatch in June, forinstance, will, according to Brehm, hatch at that time even in an ice-house."

Preserved Insect Food.—" In some cases the food for the young has to be positively provided, and even placed in a proper situation, by the parents ; and this they never fail to effect with the greatest completeness, whatever may be the cost of labour necessary to effect the arrangements ; and al- though they never live to see the happy results of their contrivance, as the eggs are not hatched till after they have perished, which they invariably do when they have performed that last and most important act of their exist- ence.

" Other species kill insects for the express purpose of placing them in a subterranean larder to become the food of their progeny as soon as the eggs placed near the prey are hatched ; and the Mason Wasp builds up the bodies of caterpillars in the structure in which its larva' are to come forth, taking care to select such as are just about to change, and which are conse- quently unlikely to attempt escape, being in a semi-dormant state, in which they remain as nice, fresh, live food for the carnivorous young as soon as they are hatched. The Spider Wasp pursues a similar method in pro- viding, a feast of spiders for its expected young—just stinging the victims sufficiently to prevent any attempt to .escape, but not to kill them." Butterfly's Egg-nest.—" This little insect is, however, by far surpassed in the skill displayed in her maternal cares by some kinds of butterflies, which may be said to build a positive nest for their eggs, precisely similar to that constructed by birds, except that it is not used for the purpose of incuba- tion, the eggs being abandoned so soon as properly protected in the manner which instinct has suggested to the parent. The interior of this nest is formed by several layers of soft down, which the female plucks from her own body, and upon this delicate couch the eggs are deposited, and then protected by an elegant covering of the same material, often arranged with very curious intriez.en In some cases this covering is disposed in such a manner that each hair remains erect, the nest thus enclosed having the appearance of a small patch of the softest and most downy fur. Some- times, when the eggs are laid spirally round a branch, this kind of covering naturally follows their course, and it then produces a very beauti- ful appearance, which it would sorely puzzle a tryo in entomology to ac- count for, asitoften assumes the appearance of a minute bottle-brush, and at other times that of a miniature fox's-tail. By the time this final protection to the eggs is completed, the body of the devoted parent, as may be imagined, is almost entirely denuded of its beautiful silky clothing ; but she has fortunately no further occasion for it, as having thus completed the last act of her brief existence, she almost immediately expires."

_Lyra Germanica. Second Series. The Christian Life. Translated from the German by Catherine Winkworth.—The second series of Ger- man hymns are broadly arranged into three classes, the first referring to holy seasons—Advent, Christmas ; the second to the services of the Church, as Baptism ; the third are called the " Inner Life," and relate to individual emotion or feeling, as penitence. Some of the compositions pass from the hymn—a short lyric designed for public worship, to the religious poem; many of them indeed are rather prolonged for singing. In a poetical point of view they do not differ from most other collections of sacred verse; the accomplished translator has doubtless preserved the sentiment as she has retained the metres. Some of these are not well adapted to the English language ; but it is the intention of the publishers to bring out an edition with "some of the fine old German chorales," and the words must necessarily follow the music.

Introduction to English Etymology. By Robert Armstrong, English Master, Madras College, St. Andrews ; and Thomas Armstrong, Heriot Foundation School, Edinburgh.—A useful book, either for the pupil or self-student. Perhaps it is most useful to the latter, as requiring inde- pendent judgment ; for some of the derivatives seem to travel a long way—a peculiarity belonging to most etymological works. The lan- guages dealt with are Saxon, Latin, Greek, and modern tongues, the Saxon and Latin more fully than the others. After lists of prefixes and affixes, the leading roots are exhibited, and words derived from them. These are followed by particular lists of a word and its root as "Bug, (Anglo-Saxon) a sow," classified according to the parts of speech. Ex- ercises follow to illustrate the use of the book and practise the pupil.

Chancery Acts and Orders, recently passed and made. By George Osborne Morgan, M.A., of Lincoln's Inn, Barrister-at-law.—A profes- sional book whose text, as it were, is the acts of Parliament from the both and 11th Victoria relating to trustees and Chancery improvements, and the " orders " from April 1850. The commentary on this text is the cases that have arisen under them, with Mr. Morgan's remarks thereupon. A variety of forms are added and a very copious index com- piled by Mr. Whately. The volume is intended as a cheap and com- pendious handbook of the new practice, established by legislative enact- ment and illustrated by judicial authority."

The New Zealand Emigrant's Bradshatc.,—An account of New Zea- land done upon the usual plan of colonial guide-books, namely, histori- cal and geographical sketch ; descriptions of the present state of the colony, its industries, and the prospects it offers to various classes of emigrants, together with colonial statistics and regulations, as well as the modes and cost of getting to the place. The book emanates from the New Zealand shipping-agents Willis and Gann : its main feature is its cheapness.

Practical Arithmetic for Senior Classes. By Henry G. C. Smith.— A sequel to a more elementary "arithmetic" previously published by the author. It begins with vulgar fractions and ends with compound interest. The chief points of the book are its practical explanation of the rules, and their illustration by exercises.

My Three Aunts, or Imminster. By the Author of "Long, Long Ago."—Substantially the story of an old maiden lady who meets the lover of her youth when she is in the decline of life, and he is the father of a grown-up family. It takes a long time to reach a not very striking denouement ; but in reality My Three Aunts is less a story than an, elegantly minute written description of places, common domestic occurrences, and family characters.

Poems. By L.—A kind of amiable feebleness is the characteristic of these miscellaneous poems. Art and painstaking care might strengthen weak lines, but whether they could ever enliven the mass into poetry is very questionable.

The reprints of the week are only two novels, both of which appear is a handy form and at a cheap price.

A Lost Lore. By Ashford Owen. A new edition, revised. The Cardinal. By the Author of " The Duchess," &c.