The first parallel being completed, zigzag excavations are made toward the front to cover the passage of men who proceed to dig the second parallel. Meanwhile the batteries have commenced to play, and riflemen have been advanced in trenches at convenient places, whose fire annoys the gunners of the enemy. The second parallel being made, the batteries are moved up to it, and the third parallel is proceeded with in a manner similar to that used for the second. We give below a rough diagram of these operations: [Illustration: A B C D E is the work of the enemy to be besieged. The working parties advance by the zigzag paths M N and O to the position chosen for the first parallel, K L. At the proper time they proceed by the zigzag paths to the second parallel, H I, and then to the third, F G. When this is reached, the enemy's work can generally be carried by storm, unless already evacuated, for _ceteris paribus_ the advantages generally lie with the besieging party. The zigzags are called _boyaux_, and they are dug in the form represented, so that the bank of earth thrown up may be always in front of them. Were they in straight lines this could not be. The above refers exclusively to the siege of a field work. The principles for besieging a walled fort or a fortified town are the same, but the operations are much more complicated.] LITERARY NOTICES. Popular Edition. RESULTS OF EMANCIPATION. By AUGUSTIN COCHIN, Ex-Maire and Municipal Councillor of Paris. Work crowned by the Institute of France (Academie Francaise). Translated by MARY L. BOOTH, Translator of Count de Gasparin's work on America, etc. Fourth thousand. Boston: Walker, Wise & Co., 245 Washington street. 1864. A remarkable book, indicative of a new era in the discussion of social, religious, political, and economical questions. Prejudice, misstatement, and fanaticism are apparently so opposed to the clear, candid mind of the author, that he has needed no effort to avoid them, and in their stead give us simple truth, broad views of men and things, and the highest conceptions of duty and charity, together with the nicest consideration of the rights and material interests, even the local prejudices and misconceptions, of our fellow mortals. He shows clearly that a _moral_ wrong can never long tend to _material_ advantage, and that the laws of _society_ cannot be made ultimately to triumph over the laws of _nature_; neither, in general, can a wrong be righted without some suffering by way of expiation. Although filled with statistical details, the work cannot fail to be intensely interesting to the general reader. Lofty, hopeful, rational, and yet progressive in its tone, it is calculated to do great good, not only through the useful information and instructive generalizations it makes known, but also as a model of right feeling, and consequent good breeding, in its peculiar sphere.