ng at the world
from a very _blubber-y_ point of view; but since it is in the cause of
science and humanity, we rise from the reading, which is extremely
interesting, with a high respect for Mr. Hall and renewed faith in the
result of his undertaking.

In so short a space there is no room for extracts, yet without them we
can give little idea of the simple, picturesque character of the
narrative. Mr. Hall took the Innuits by the hand as brothers, not as
savages, and the result is large because of his wisdom.

1. _La Fiera._ Commedia in Cinque Atti. Di ALBERTO NOTA. Con
Note Inglesi. Boston: De Vries, Ibarra e Compagnia.

2. _La Rosa dell' Alpi._ Novella di FRANCESCO DALL' ONGARO.
Con Note Inglesi. Boston: De Vries, Ibarra e Compagnia.

The author of an agreeable article in the "North American Review,"
entitled "Recent Italian Comedy," says that the plays of Alberto Nota
are no longer acted or reprinted. The American press straightway refutes
him by a neat edition of the comedy of "The Fair," with notes for
English readers. It is an entertaining little production, in spite of
the above critic, having rather effective incidents and situations, and
easy, if not brilliant, dialogue. The plot may be described as being
French, and the moral as English; that is, the jealous wife outwits the
faithless husband, instead of the opposite result.

The "Collection De Vries" also introduces to us the more familiar and
contemporary name of Dall' Ongaro, to whom the critics attribute more
dramatic genius than is conceded to any other living poet of Italy. The
story of "La Rosa dell' Alpi" is simply and beautifully written, and
paints the innocent career of a poor servant--maiden with something of
the grace of George Sand.

It will be a good thing for students to read these specimens of easy
colloquial Italian; so that they need not, when they visit the
beloved-land, do their shopping exclusively in Dantean phrases, as Mrs.
Siddons shopped in Shakspeare.

_A Treatise on Ordnance and Armor, with an Appendix relating
to Gun-Cotton, Hooped Guns, etc._ By ALEXANDER L. HOLLEY, B.
P. New York: Van Nostrand.

King James I. is reported to have said of iron armor, that it was an
excellent thing: one could get no harm, in it, nor do any. Yet armor has
had but a brief respite from service; banished temporarily from human
backs, it is being restored for more wholesale service: it is extended
over ship