The February Atlantic Monthly is a very attractive number because of the variety and interest of its articles. Of the serials, "Passe Rose" by A. S. Hardy, fully keeps up the interest of the earlier chapters. This bids fair to be one of the best novels of the year. The second installment of Henry James', "The Tragic Muse," is written with all his usual artistic taste. It is too soon to judge of the story as a whole, but the beginning is surely auspicious. Shorter stories are "A Winter Courtship," by Miss Jewett, who is well known as a writer of novelettes; "The Gift of Fernseed," a fanciful tale by H. P. Robinson, and "Under which King," by Miss Harriet W. Preston. The number also contains several interesting essays, among which are "Butterflies in Disguise," by Samuel H. Scudder, the well-known Cambridge entomologist. "A Plea for Humor," by Agnes Repplier, a thoughtful article on politics entitled "The Spirit of American Politics as shown in the Late Election," by Charles W. Clark, and "Ancient Rome in the Light of Recent Discoveries." The poetry of the number is "Brianda de Bardaxi," by Henry C. Lea, which is a weird description of the fate of Circe's victims.