important additions, and concentrates attention on points at which he is best able to reward it; and this with only secondary reference to general symmetry." Predominant interest is shared in questions of immediate moment to society. The author confesses to have covered a large field suggestively rather than a narrow field exhaustively; and he believes that that method is often "to be deliberately preferred in practical value, though it may involve a loss in personal estimation." In the introduction, the complexity of the facts of sociology is illustrated, and the relation of the social sciences to one another is considered. In the succeeding chapters are discussed the power of custom and its relation to law and public opinion; the development, operation, and function of government; the "three axioms" of political economy; the development of religion; ethics, its relation to customs and economics, and the connection of ethical law with government and religion; and various social problems, including the rights of women, prohibition, public education, equal civic advantages, franchises, laws of entail and inheritance, competition, the mission of the pulpit, and socialism.
Health of our Children. Pp. 128. Price, 75 cents. Health in our Homes. Price, 75 cents. A Household Guide in Health and in Disease. Pp. 460. Price, $3. Boston: Thayer Publishing Company. Cupples & Co., Wholesale Agents.
The first two of these volumes have been compiled from a series of letters for popular reading, which were published in one of the newspapers of Boston. The first, a book of "practical advice to mothers," is based on the conviction that two thirds of the cases of illness among children arise from preventable causes, and aims to put before the reader, in the simplest manner possible, the important essentials in the care and management of children. The second treats of the faults tending to the production of disease which exist in many of our homes, and advises the application of those improvements and sanitary precautions by means of which a large part of the sickness now experienced may be avoided. The leading design of the "Household Guide" is to place before the reader those established principles, a knowledge of which is essential to the preservation of health, and to recovery when suffering from disease. Under the head of "Practical Hygiene" are considered the most common substances used for food, and their peculiar action; the laws of diet; personal hygiene, with the purpose of promoting correct physical habits. A chapter on mental hygiene treats of the intellectual operations and the relationship between the mind and the body. A third part relates to the sick-room and its general management, with chapters on nursing and the dietetic treatment of the sick. Under the heading of the "Principles of Medicine" are considered the symptoms and causes of disease, and medicines and their administration. The practice of medicine is taken up and described in its applications to diseases of the respiratory, circulatory, and digestive systems, the stomach and intestines, the abdominal organs, the nervous system, fevers, "general diseases," and "accidental disturbances."
Elements of Botany. By Edson S. Bastin. Illustrated. Chicago: G. P. Engelhard & Co. Pp. 282. Price, $2.50.
The author believes that there is need for some work on botany better adapted to the wants of our higher schools than any in present use; as well as of a work which is not so technical but that any student of fair intelligence may take it up without the aid of a teacher, and obtain a good foundation-knowledge of the facts and principles of the science. He has endeavored to supply such a book. He has aimed to make the text simple and free from unnecessary technicalities, and, in the order of arrangement of subjects, to lead the mind of the pupil from that which is familiar to what is less so. Hence those features in structure are first presented which may be understood without other aids than good eyes, nimble fingers, a pocket-knife, and a magnifier, before inviting attention to more delicate points. The organs are therefore treated of in the first part, as organs of vegetation and of reproduction. Vegetable histology is next presented, and is followed by the chapters on vegetable physiology and vegetable taxonomy. As subjects for study and description those plants are selected which are either familiar to most students, or which may be readily found and identified by means of the de-
