Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 31.djvu/876

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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

ties' have been abandoned, the schools are nourishing; where they are maintained, the reverse is true. Among hopeful indications for the future of the common schools are the efforts for the improvement of the teaching force and for bringing the rural schools under efficient supervision, and the increase of the local school-tax in sections of the country which have hitherto been negligent of that provision." Brief histories are given in the report of "Governmental Provisions for Education," and of the growth of State and local educational reports. Space is given to the discussion of the methods of colleges, and of the development of the university system, and to the subject of industrial training; and the usual full and detailed information is given concerning the schools in the several States; the different classes of schools for special and the higher instruction; and to the record of educational progress in other countries.

The Latest Studies on Indian Reservations. By J. B. Harrison. Philadelphia: Indian Rights Association. Pp. 232.

The author, as a representative of the Indian Rights Association, spent six months in 1886 in visiting the schools at Carlisle and Hampton, and the principal Indian reservations. His purpose was to observe whatever was connected with the condition and character of the schools, farming, home-life, and missionary work, and the general and special relations of the Indians to civilization and their progress therein; the character and efficiency of the administration of affairs; and the quality of Indian land and its adaptation to sustain an agricultural population. This book embodies, in terse language, the results of his observations. The first part of it consists of picturesque descriptive notes of what he saw; the second part, of opinions and reflections suggested to him by it.

Poetry and Philosophy of Goethe. Edited by Marion V. Dudley. Chicago: S. C. Griggs & Co. Pp. 300.

This book comprises the lectures and ex-tempore discussions that were given before the Milwaukee Literary School in August, 1886. They are an "Address of Welcome," by President John Johnston; "Goethe's Wilhelm Meister," by Professor W. T. Harris; "Goethe as a 'Scientist'," by Mr. James MacAlister; "Goethe's Relation to English Literature," by Mr. F. B. Sanborn; "The Divine Comedy and Faust," by Mrs. Caroline K. Sherman; "Mythology of the Second Part of Faust," by Professor D. J. Snider; "The Elective Affinities," by Mrs. M. A. Shorcy; and "What is most valuable to us in German Philosophy and Literature," by Professor W. T. Harris. To these are added "Some Birthday Tributes," including essays on "Goethe as a Man," by Professor W. T. Hewitt; and "Goethe as a Writer, Savant, and Citizen," by Mrs. Horace Rublee; a letter by Goethe, poetical tributes, and an analysis of "The Erl-King."

Miscellaneous Papers relating to Anthropology. From the Smithsonian Report for 1885. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 49.

The first paper in this group "Observations on Stone-Chipping" by George Ercol Sellers, gives the results of the author's personal observations and researches regarding a prehistoric art of which little is known, and adds to our knowledge on the subject. The other papers, each also having its own peculiar interest, are on "Copper Implements from Bayfield, Wisconsin," by Colonel Charles Whittlesey; "Ancient Remains in Ohio," by J. P. MacLean; "A Primitive Store-house of the Creek Indians," by Charles C. Jones, Jr.; "Shell-Heaps and Mounds in Florida," by James Shepard; "Ancient Earthworks in China," by Mark Williams; and a "Plan for American Ethnological Investigation," by the late Henry R. Schoolcraft.

The Doctorate Address delivered at the Semi-Centennial Anniversary of the University of Louisville, Medical Department. By David W. Yandell, M. D. Pp. 26.

Dr. Yandell gives a retrospect of the history of the institution, which was founded in 1817, with brief notices of the many distinguished physicians who have filled chairs of instruction in it. Among these were Dr. Benjamin Silliman, Jr., and Dr. J. Lawrence Smith, who also became famous in general science. A view is also given of