Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 28.djvu/870

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POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY

Ericsson's Destroyer and Submarine Gun. By William H. Jaques, Lieutenant U.S. Navy. Now York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 48. Price, 50 cents.

In his paper on "the Monitors," published in a recent number of "The Century," Captain Ericsson made a reference to his application of submarine artillery to the Destroyer, a vessel of war partially armored to attack bows on at short range. In the present work an examination is made of the submarine gun and projectile to the carrying of which Captain Ericsson adapts the plan of his vessel; and the conclusion is reached that the inventor "is able to present to-day, as the product of his study, application, and mechanical skill, a type of weapon for submarine warfare well to the front in torpedo experiments."

The Evolution of Revelation. By James Morris Whiton, Ph.D. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 34. Price, 25 cents.

This essay is declared in its subtitle to be a critique of conflicting opinions concerning the Old Testament. As against the popular conception of that revelation which God is conceived as having made in the Bible, that it is something directly "handed down" from a Divine Author, and therefore superior to the pretensions of criticism, the author maintains a conception which, while it regards revelation as divine, "views it as a growth within the world, an evolution, no less than humanity itself, and no less than man himself a work of God, while also a phenomenon of the orderly development of the world, and, as such, a legitimate object of scientific criticism."

Syllabus of Instruction in Biology, with References to Sources of Information. By Delos Fall, Albion College, Michigan. Pp. 24.

The Syllabus is intended to furnish a brief skeleton or abstract of all that is comprehended, in the catalogue of 1885, under the terms Biology, Systematic Zoology, and Physiological Botany—except that the botanical part is to be given in a supplementary syllabus. The work will consist of the examination of sixteen type-forms of animals, and a less number of plants, in the philosophical order of complexity of development. The student is expected to collect his own material where it is accessible, to study and observe the object itself, make notes of all he observes, make suitable drawings, and embody the knowledge thus obtained, and no other, in a written essay or statement.

Marlborough. By George Saintsbury. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 218. Price, 75 cents.

"Marlborough" is a volume of the series of "English Worthies," edited by Andrew Lang, of which the Messrs. Appleton are the American publishers. The series will consist of short lives of Englishmen of influence and distinction, past and present, in various walks of life. Each biography will be intrusted to a writer specially acquainted with the historical period in which his hero lived, and endowed with a sympathy with his subject. Of the present volume it is sufficient to say that it is a life of one of the most distinguished English soldiers, by a writer who is well known in the field of literary and biographical sketches.

Household Remedies for the Prevalent Disorders of the Human Organism. By Felix L. Oswald, M.D. New York: Fowler & Wells Co. Pp. 229.

Dr. Oswald is no stranger to the readers of the "Monthly"; he is rather as a familiar friend to them. And the doctrines which he lays down in "Household Remedies" are the same which he has enforced with so much vigor and point, and with such charming grace of style, in the health papers he has from time to time contributed to our pages. In fact, if we read right, some of these health papers—those which come under the head of "Remedies of Nature"—are the basis from which this book of "Household Remedies" has been constructed.

Fifth Annual Report of the State Mineralogist of California, for the Year ending May 16, 1885. Sacramento: State Office. Pp. 235, with Plans.

The report is mostly taken up with the account of the State mineralogical representation at the New Orleans Exhibition, to which the plans refer.