“Among the various methods now used for the super-structure of railways in this country and in Europe, I know of none to compare with Mr. Herron’s patent horizontal truss, or diagonal braced floor. It has the great advantages of surface-bearing lateral connection, and longitudinal combination of strength, and evenness of level. It is calculated to rest secure in all the various characters of soil . . . . will be found to resist with the utmost degree of permanency all the vicissitudes of the caved and washed embankments which undermine the present mud-sills and cross-ties of the road-beds now in use.” The Franklin Institute says of it: “Mr. Herron has fully understood and appreciated the evils inseparably connected with the plans of railway super-structure so much in use here and in Europe, in which the rails are supported upon isolated blocks of stone or sleepers of timber . . . . His object has been to devise a plan in which all the parts forming the structure shall be adequately supported; while, at the same time, they shall be so connected that no portion will be liable to independent displacement, either laterally or vertically.” * * * * * _Letters from Abroad to Kindred at Home. By the author of “The Linwoods,” etc. 2 vols. Harper and Brothers: New York, 1841._ Miss Sedgwick has given us, in these volumes, her notes of travel through England, Italy, and other parts of Europe. The book is written in an easy, almost conversational style; it abounds in anecdote and what we should call allowable gossip; and, if it were only a little racier, would be a model for tourists. We like particularly the little details of persons and manners, in which our author has indulged—one gets, in perusing them, an excellent idea of the society in other countries. This is what we want, and where the author does not intrude on privacy, we cannot see that he or she is to be condemned. Miss Sedgwick’s choice of words might—to our minds—be purer: her style is often disfigured by provincial phrases of the worst kind. * * * * * _The Life and Adventures of Valentine Vox, the Ventriloquist. By_ H. Cockton. _With numerous illustrations, by Phiz. 1 vol. Carey and Hart._ This is a work of considerable humor—one of that class, which, without much originality, manages to become popular, as much from the fun it contains, as from the style in which the story is told. The illustrations are not as happy as those of Phiz in general. The book is neatly printed, in the style of the Nickleby series. * * * * * SECRET WRITING.