Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 26.djvu/727

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LITERARY NOTICES.
709

who have no estates. A system of credits has been developed, with something like banks. And the McDonough School has become the epitome of a State, with its laws, and its vested interests, and its business methods, all systematically regulated, and the regulations a living force. The successive steps that have led up to this condition, the reason for each new measure, and the effect of it after it went into operation, are graphically described in the essay.

Town and County Government in the English Colonies of North America. By Edward Channing, Ph. D. Baltimore: N. Murray. Pp. 57. Price, 50 cents.

This is another of that series of valuable studies in the development of our political history which the Johns Hopkins University is giving to the public in monthly monographs. It describes the manner in which the parochial, or town, and county organizations in the older colonies arose, from some or other of which the similar organizations of the newer States in their essential features were derived. The exact form which the local organization in each colony should assume is regarded as having depended upon the economic conditions of the colony; the experience in the management of local concerns which its founders brought from the mother-country; and the form of church government and local organization which was found expedient.

Prehistoric America. By the Marquis de Nadaillac. Translated by N. D'Anvers. Edited by W. H. Dall. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 566, with 219 Illustrations. Price, $5.

The author of this work was already well known to students of archæology by the book previously published by him on primitive men and prehistoric times, in which were described the stone age of Europe and the early resting-places of the ancient inhabitants of the Old World. The good-will with which that work was received has led him to supplement it by tracing the analogous period in America. In carrying out this study, he has made good use of the investigations which have been undertaken in the United States, to which he fittingly acknowledges his obligations. As a result he has given a methodical and comprehensive treatise, constituting, perhaps, the most adequate presentation of the whole subject that has yet been made in a single volume. The present translation has been made with the author's sanction, and, with his permission, has been so modified and revised by the editor—who is recognized as an expert in this branch—as to bring it into harmony with the results of recent investigation and the conclusions of the best authorities on the archaeology of the United States. In the final chapter the editor expresses his views as to the manner in which America was peopled, to the effect that it was done at different times by scions of different races. The completeness of the index deserves commendation.

The Eclectic Physiology. By Eli F. Brown, M. D. Cincinnati and New York: Van Antwerp, Bragg & Co. Pp. 189, with Plates.

This is a treatise prepared with special reference to its use in schools, and giving only such matter as seems needful to enable pupils fairly to master the subject, but with supplementary matter in notes. The study is made to proceed from the simplest, in a plain order of dependence, to the most complex parts: under each topic, attention is first given to the structure and use of parts; upon which the hygiene of the part follows closely. Attention is given to the care of proper sanitary conditions in the home, and to the discussion of habits; and the effects of narcotics and stimulants on the body and mind are set forth plainly and fully.

Icaria: A Chapter in the History of Communism. By Albert Shaw, Ph. D. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, Pp. 219. Price, $1.

The purpose in this book is simply to present in full the history of a single communistic enterprise, without going into the discussion of the merits or demerits of communism, or into the consideration of any topic aside from the narrative. The author submits two particular reasons why this story should be told: First, it has never been told before, except in the most meager and inaccurate way, and is besides a peculiarly romantic and interesting one; second, because "as an example of communism in the concrete, Icaria has illustrative value