Popular Science Monthly/Volume 28/April 1886/Literary Notices
An Introduction to the Study of Chemistry. By Ira Remsen, Professor of Chemistry in the Johns Hopkins University. American Science Series. New York: Henry Holt & Co. Pp. 387. Price, $1.40.
This is one of the cases in which the bare announcement of the author's name goes far to establish the character of his performance. Professor Remsen could make no other than an excellent book on the subject of chemistry. He is a master of the subject, thoroughly familiar with its latest developments, a clear thinker, and a lucid writer, and he has besides had much practical experience as a teacher of the science.
The method of Professor Remsen's work is thus distinctly presented by the author. He begins his preface by remarking: "In preparing this hook I have endeavored to keep in mind the fact that it is intended for those who arc beginning the study of chemistry. Instead of presenting a large number of facts, and thus overburdening the student's mind, I have presented a smaller number than is usual in elementary courses in chemistry; but I have been careful to select for treatment such substances and such phenomena as seemed to me best suited to give an insight into the nature of chemical action. Usually the mind is not allowed to dwell for any length of time upon any one thing, and thus to become really acquainted with it, but is hurried on and is soon bewildered in the effort to comprehend what is presented. I can not but believe that it is much better to dwell longer on a few subjects, provided these subjects are properly selected.
"The charge is frequently made that our elementary text-books on chemistry are not scientific, that is to say, that not enough stress is laid upon the relations which exist between the phenomena considered—the treatment is not systematic. The student is taught a little about oxygen, a little about hydrogen, a little about nitrogen, etc.; and then a little about potassium, a little about calcium, etc., and he is left simply to wonder whether there is any connection between the numerous facts offered for study. It must be acknowledged that there are serious difficulties in the way of a purely scientific treatment of chemistry, but I think that it is quite possible to treat the subject more scientifically than is customary, and thus to make it easier of comprehension to the student. I have made an effort in this direction in the book here offered to the public."
Professor Remsen's remark about the difficulty in the way of a purely scientific treatment of chemistry here applies, as we suppose, to the difficulty of presenting it to beginners in the study, and is, of course, true; but we have considerable doubt whether the difficulty is to be met by any attempt to make the work of the beginner more scientific. From the quality of his book we must infer that Professor Remsen's "beginner" is a pupil advanced to considerable maturity of mind, sufficient to deal with conceptions of some complexity and comprehensiveness. It is assumed that he enters the laboratory, goes to work himself, and has such strength of thought that a few examples would be sufficient to familiarize him with the established interpretations and principles of the science. But the real "difficulty" in the case, we think, is, that a stage of mental growth has been jumped when more elementary conceptions of the subject could have been assimilated, and some preparation afforded for that scientific treatment upon which the professor proposes to enter. The child is, in reality, already familiar with many chemical phenomena, as facts of observation and experience, although he does not know that they are chemistry. The more rational method seems to us to begin considerally further back, and occupy the pupil at first with a range of simpler observations and experiments that shall acquaint him to a certain degree with the properties of substances and their simpler reactions, without attempting to grasp principles that can be better handled at a later stage. This would imply, of course, a grading of the subject, and an introduction to it as a part of primary education.
Class-Interests: Their Relations to Each Other and to Government. A Study of Wrongs and Remedies to ascertain what the People should do for Themselves. By the author of "Conflict in Nature and Life" and "Reforms: their Difficulties and Possibilities." New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 172. Price, $1.
However we may regard the conclusions of the anonymous author of the present book, one thing is to be said in his favor—his views have only been reached by deliberate and comprehensive study. His volume is, at any rate, not to be classed with those products of hasty speculation on social subjects which are now so abundant. He began well at the beginning of philosophical inquiry, by writing an original volume on those necessary conflicts and antagonisms in nature and life which put limits to what can be accomplished in the various spheres of action in which men are engaged. It was a most wholesome and needed investigation, and that it excited so little attention and interest is painful evidence of that shallowness of thought and foolish extravagance of expectation with which political and social subjects are treated in Legislatures and by the press. The author's book on "Reforms: their Difficulties and Possibilities," was an extension and application of the principles of the first treatise to immediate practical questions and measures which are occupying the general attention of the public. That discussion led to the present book on "Class-Interests," which, indeed, was originally intended to be published as a part of the volume on "Reforms," as a final application of his systematic views.
Nevertheless, the author's original studies in the antagonisms of things, and the limits to accomplishment which these antagonisms imply, seem to have been wholly insufficient to neutralize the bias of temperament or the power of preconceived convictions. He avows that the results of his studies bring him into "accord with wide-spread movements of thought and action in this country and in Europe"; and of these he refers, first and in particular, to "the amplification of government functions"—that is, he joins the swelling crowd of those who are looking for salvation from social evils to the politicians. For, say what we will, the fact remains that what we have actually to deal with as government is simply the men who have possession of political power, and, under our representative system, they are the selected and successful demagogues of the community. Our legislators, as a mass, who constitute the working power of government, are neither the wise men nor the good men of society, but men who are incompetent for their task—men without knowledge of the subjects upon which they are required to act, sordid and ambitious self-seekers, in short, office-holders and politicians who have beat all rivals. The "amplification of government functions" means, therefore, simply committing more and more the great interests of society to incompetent and untrustworthy hands. Our author condemns laissez faire, and makes the serious mistake, usual with the party of interference, of affirming that it is a "do-nothing" policy; whereas that is the only school we now have which aims to hold government to its supreme work of administering justice in society. But that great object is now so overlaid with added "functions" as to be buried out of sight and forgotten, so that those who demand that, first of all, government shall enforce it among citizens, are charged with being in favor of "doing nothing."
The present volume is profoundly sympathetic with the needs of the masses of the people, and it closes with a very valuable essay on moral education in our primary schools, which ought to be extensively read.
Problems in Philosophy. By John Bascom, author of "Science of Mind": "Growth and Grades of Intelligence." New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 222. Price, $1.50.
The more obscure and refractory problems in philosophy are here dealt with in a series of essays, each of quite moderate length. To the presumption, nowadays so strong, that such collections of articles are apt to originate in the idea of "gathering up everything, that nothing be lost," the author replies that in this case the work is essentially new, as but one essay, that on "Liberty," has appeared elsewhere, while that has been somewhat modified. The discussions have been kept within marked limits of brevity, the writer assures us, with the view of securing an explicit statement of a few fundamental principles, and to avoid the evils of excessive elaboration which are so incident to systematic treatises on philosophy.
Dr. Bascom has here reviewed a considerable number of the most knotty questions that have been held as at the foundation of philosophy, and that have for many ages exercised the ingenuity of speculative inquirers. Among the problems considered will be found "The Relativity of Knowledge," "Spontaneity and Causation," "Freedom of Will," "Consciousness and Space," "Universality of Law," "Being," and "Final Causes." The author seems to have but little sympathy with those who hold that the human mind is shut out from any final solution of these problems. He belongs to the intuitionalist school of metaphysics, which resists the efforts of the empirical or scientific party to set limits to knowledge and to the powers of the mind. In his essay on "The Relativity of Knowledge," while not at all denying the principle, he condemns the sweeping conclusions that many have been disposed to draw from it, saying, "Relativity as a self evident and harmless assertion is made to stand for relativity as an extreme and destructive theory."
The character of the volume is thus intimated by the author: "While the discussions now offered touch very closely the points at issue between the empirical and the intuitive tendencies in philosophy, they arc not conducted with any express conformity to either mode of inquiry. There is, in the consideration of these fundamental questions, a distinct recognition of the fact that the phenomena of mind can not find a rational substratum of thought within themselves as phenomena merely, and also a recognition of the fact that it is these very phenomena, and these only, that call for explanation. The effort has been, therefore, to bring appropriate ideas to the interpretation of mental facts, as broadly and fully contained in human experience."
Japanese Homes and their Surroundings. By Edward S. Morse. Boston: Ticknor & Co. Pp. 372, with Plates. Price, $5.
Professor Morse has achieved a just distinction as an accurate observer in various fields of natural history, whose precision and facility in relation commend the published results of his labors alike to the scientific constituency and to the general reading public. The former class have shown their esteem for him by choosing him to preside at the next meeting of the American Association. We has been for many years Director of the Peabody Academy of Sciences, at Salem, Massachusetts. He visited Japan in 1877 to study the marine fauna of the coast, and, removing there in 1878 with his family, remained nearly two years as Professor of Zoölogy in the Imperial University of Tokio. During this residence he varied his labors with studying the traces of primitive man on the islands and making notes of ethnological and general interest. He afterward made a third visit to the country for the sole purpose of qualifying himself for the preparation of this and other works upon it. Many books have been written about Japan; but few of them have been the result of such patient, careful observation as this. For it the author made several explorations from Yezo to Satsuma, bringing himself into personal communication with the people of all classes, making thorough examinations of their houses, and keeping a daily illustrated journal of all that he saw and all that happened to him. The illustrations in this volume are fac simile reproductions of the pen-and-ink drawings he then made. Of the usefulness of such work as he has done here, he expresses a view with which all students of anthropology and of history will concur, when he says he feels that it "has not been altogether in vain, as it may result in preserving many details of the Japanese house—some of them trivial, perhaps—which in a few decades of years may be difficult if not impossible to obtain. . . . Nothing can be of greater importance than the study of those nations and peoples who are passing through profound changes and readjustments as a result of their compulsory contact with the vigorous, selfish, and mercantile nations of the West." The same principle is applicable to all peoples not yet spoiled, and can not be applied too quickly. "If investigators and students would bear in mind the precept of Miyada"—who held it to be a solemn duty to learn any art or accomplishment that might be going out of the world, and then describe it so fully that it might be preserved to posterity—"and seize upon those features in social life—forms of etiquette, games, ceremonies, and other manners and customs—which are the first to change in any contact with alien races, a very important work would be accomplished for the future sociologist." There is much of a practical bearing to be learned from Japanese architecture and decoration; we have in fact acknowledged it by so readily adopting their styles, or awkwardly trying to imitate them. We may criticise the things we do not like in Japan, or any other country not our own, but we should bear in mind that there may be things among ourselves equally objectionable and liable to criticism. But, "in the study of another people one should if possible look through colorless glasses; though, if one is to err in this respect, it were better that his spectacles should be rose colored than grimed with the smoke of prejudice. The student of ethnology as a matter of policy, if he can put himself in no more generous attitude, had better err in looking kindly and favorably at a people whose habits and customs he is about to study. It is human nature the world over to resist adverse criticism; and, where one is prowling about with his eyes darkened by the opaquest of uncorrected provincial glasses, he is repelled on all sides; nothing is accessible to him; he can rarely get more than a superficial glance at matters, where-as, if he tries honestly to seek out the better attributes of a people, he is not only welcome to proceed with any investigation ho wishes to make; even customs and ways that appear offensive are fully revealed to him, knowing that he will not willfully distort and render more painful what is at the outset admitted on all hands to be bad." In this spirit, which should be applied to other studies as well as those of social customs, the author has endeavored to give an account of Japanese homes and their surroundings. He might have taken the huts of the poorest people or the houses of the wealthy, as his types, but has preferred to make his general descriptions relate to the homes of the middle classes, with occasional references to those of the higher and lower orders. We have already drawn upon the matter of the book for an article in our March number. Further than to refer to that article as a general indication of the way in which the subject is treated, we will say that in the book the various items of household management, rooms, furniture, utensils, tools, gateways, objects of art, etc., are treated in detail in sections, which arc monographs in themselves, and adorned with real illustrations; and that we find here and there hints relative to comparative economy, æsthetics, and morals, that point the way to instructive thought.
The New Agriculture; or, The Waters led Captive. By A. N. Cole. New York: Anglers' Publishing Company, 252 Broadway. Pp. 224.
Mr. Cole describes in this volume a system of drainage and self-irrigation which he has devised and uses at his hill-side home in Alleghany County, New York, from which he claims to have obtained astonishing results in an improved condition of the soil, independence of spring frosts and summer drought, and greatly increased yield and quality of crops. The system consists in constructing along the hill-side a series of parallel drains of considerable size, and of depth reaching to below the frost-line. The drains are tilled with stones loosely thrown in, and covered with flat stones having above them material for sifting the solid matters from the water. Overflow drains arc provided at suitable points for conveying any excess of water to the next lower drain in the series. These drains collect all the water from rain, snow, and dew deposited upon the land above them, and act as reservoirs to hold it till it is drawn out by the needs of the soil in the dry season. From the operation of his system Mr. Cole claims to have realized a fourfold increase of cereal crops, with corresponding improvement in size, flavor, and production of fruits and vegetables; absolute freedom from disease, especially from fungoid affections; security against spring and autumn frosts, with considerable prolongation of the season; the conversion of hard-pan into good soil; prevention of soil-washing; effectual security against drought; and the formation of springs. The plan as described is particularly applicable to hill-side land.
Price-List of Publications of the Smithsonian Institution, July, 1885. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 27.
This list includes only the publications of the Institution (1847 to 1886) which can be furnished at the prices named. The publications not mentioned are out of print. The titles arc given as they occur in the order in which the works were originally published, classified according to their subjects, by authors, and according to the particular series to which they belong. We are informed that all gratuitous distribution to individuals has been discontinued; but the "Smithsonian Contributions" and "Miscellaneous Collections" are presented to public libraries containing 25,000 volumes, learned societies of the first class, and small public libraries, properly recommended, where a large district would be otherwise unsupplied.
INTERNAL SCIENTIFIC SERIES. VOL. LIII.
The Mammalia in their Relation to Primeval Times. By Oscar Schmidt. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 808, with Fifty-one Woodcuts. Price, $1.50.
This is the last work of the venerable Professor of Zoölogy in the University of Strasburg, the news of his death having arrived since its publication. That there has been a great advance in recent years of our knowledge of the mammalia, especially in relation to primeval conditions, is well known, and Dr. Schmidt in this volume has very ably summarized the most important results of recent research in this field. He published, some years ago, a volume in this series entitled "Doctrine of Descent and Darwinism," which has met with much favor as a contribution to modern philosophical biology. The present book is on the same line of exposition, and is offered by the author as a supplement, rounding up the discussion, while, at the same time, it has the character of a separate treatise. The author says: "It will be found to contain proofs of the necessity, the truth, and the value of Darwinism as the foundation for the theory of descent within a limited field, and is brought down to the most recent times. Within these limits the work is complete in itself; for, although the student of natural history may have become acquainted with interesting fragments of the actual science, still the subject has not before been presented in so comprehensive a manner or in so convenient a form."
Protection versus Free-Trade. The Scientific Validity and Economic Operation of Defensive Duties in the United States. By Henry M. Hoyt. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 435. Price, $2.
The late official head of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Governor Hoyt, has here elaborated a pretty solid book on the general subject of freedom and restriction in commerce. The author is a protectionist, and has written his volume in the interest of that party. Its tone is controversial and lively, whatever may be said of its arguments, and the adherents of the "Pennsylvania System" will be sure to get great comfort out of its perusal. Governor Hoyt is an antagonist of free trade, and, as free trade is grounded in the principles of political economy. Governor Hoyt is also the antagonist of political economy; that is, a large portion of his book is devoted to discrediting the "so-called science" of wealth. As we understand the Governor, he seems to think that, so far as men's exchanges of property arc concerned, this world was made much too big. It should have been limited, if not to the boundaries of Pennsylvania, then certainly to the boundaries of the United States; and he thinks, too, our policy should be to correct this blunder in world-making by ignoring anything outside these national limits. His idea appears to be that foreign trade is not profitable, and that we can make more money by being shut in among ourselves and ignoring all other nations. The key to the philosophy of his book is found in its concluding words, which arc these, given with the emphasis of italics: "The nearer we come to organizing our competing industries as if we were the only nation on the planet, the more we shall make and the more we shall have to divide among the makers." The reason why it is necessary to break down "political economy" and get it out of the way is thus sufficiently apparent.
The Raising and Management or Poultry. Boston: Cupples, Upham & Co. Pp. 125.
This volume contains a phonographic report of the addresses and discussions that were had at two meetings of poultry experts, in connection with the series of Saturday Farmers Meetings, which were held in Boston May 7 and 14, 1885. The subjects specially considered pertain to the establishment of the best breeds; the qualities of each breed, as an egg and flesh producer; the care and profit of the stock; and the great and increasing value of the poultry interest to farmers and the country.
Scarlet Fever, and Certain Suggestions for its Treatment. By T. Griswold Comstock. M.D., of St. Louis. Pp. 19.
The author in this paper calls attention to certain therapeutical measures for the treatment of the disease, "which, if not entirely new to some of the profession, are but little used by many, and nevertheless are of great value."
Catholic Historical Researches. Quarterly. Edited by Rev. A. A. Lambing. January, 1886. Pittsburg. Pp. 40. Price, 25 cents a number, $1 a year.
This is a new naming, appropriate to the enlarged scope of the "Historical Researches in Western Pennsylvania, Principally Catholic," which the editor began in July, 1884. The publication is intended to contain matters relating to the past history of the Roman Catholic Church in this country; to chronicle the progress of Catholic historical inquiry, giving proceedings and papers of societies; to reproduce original historical documents, registers, letters, etc.; and to contain departments for brief historical notes, inquiries, and replies, with book reviews.
Evolution and Religion. By Henry Ward Beecher. New York: Fords, Howard, and Hulbert. Part I. Pp. 145. Price, 50 cents. Part II. Pp. 295. Price, $1.
"The universal physical fact of evolution, postulated as a theory of the divine method of creation," says Mr. Beecher, "is one which so naturally and simply fits many a puzzling lock, that it is gratefully seized by many who seem to themselves to have been shut out from hope and from the truth. For myself, while finding no need of changing my idea of the divine personality because of new light upon his mode of working, I have hailed the evolutionary philosophy with joy. Some of the applications of its principles to the line of development I have to reject; others, though not proved—and in the present state of scientific knowledge perhaps not even provable—I accept as probable; but the underlying truth, as a law of Nature (that is, a regular method of the divine action), I accept and use, and thank God for it." Mr. Beecher has learned that he has in fact been for fifty years, without knowing it, preaching a doctrine of evolution in its application to a spiritual growth, and now fervently believes that that doctrine is bringing "to the aid of religious truth, as set forth in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, a new and powerful aid, fully in line with other marked developments of God's providence in his Word." For two years he has preached with specific application of this principle to practical aspects of Christian life. These discourses are incorporated in these two parts of a single work. In the first part are placed eight sermons, discussing the bearings of the evolutionary philosophy on some of the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith—the divine nature, the question of human sinfulness, the inspiration of the Bible, the divine providence, and correlated subjects. The second part contains eighteen sermons, pointing out the specific application of those general principles, and showing the main lines along which Mr. Beecher believes "the main course of the old ship will largely be laid."
Introspective Insanity. By Allan McLane Hamilton, of New York. Pp. 8.
In this paper is given a study of a remarkable phase of morbid affections, known to the French as folic du doute and to the Germans as Grubelsucht, which varies in intensity from mere morbid nervousness or eccentricity to positive insanity. It is described as a condition of mind which is manifested by a morbid feeling of doubt and consequent indecision under the most ordinary circumstances, when both the doubt and indecision are unreasonable in the extreme, but the individual, under the mandate of an imperative conception, yields more or less to his disordered emotions. It appears under numerous aspects, some of which arc illustrated by the relation of cases.
On the Development of Crystallization in the Igneous Rocks of Washoe, Nevada. By Arnold Hague and Joseph P. Iddings. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 44.
In studying the lavas from the Pacific coast volcanoes, the authors were struck with insensible gradations in the micro-structure in the ground-mass of rocks of the same mineral composition from a purely glassy form to one wholly crystalline, and corresponding to a fine-grained granite-porphyry. They were convinced by the chain of microscopical evidence that the glassy and crystalline rocks were simply the extreme forms of the same magma. This pamphlet gives the account of the experiments and investigations.
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.
War and Peace. A Historical Novel. By Count Léon Tolstoi. New York: W. S. Gottsberger. Two volumes. Pp. 322 and 357.
This work will command attention on account of the fame of the author, who, after having for a considerable time held an important official position under the Emperor of Russia, retired from public life and turned his attention to literature. He is now one of the most prominent Russian writers. The story relates to that period of the Napoleonic wars, from 1805 to 1807, which preceded the Peace of Tilsit, and introduces as actors several of the prominent characters of the time. The present edition is a double translation, the story having been first translated from Russian into French by a Russian lady, and then into English by Clara Bell.
Manual of the Botany of the Rocky Mountain Region. By John M. Coulter. New York: Ivison, Blakeman, Taylor & Co. Pp. 480.
"West of the Mississippi Valley prairie region," says the author of this "Manual," "there are three well-defined floras: One is that of the Pacific slope; another is Mexican in character, extending from the Great Basin to Arizona, New Mexico, Western Texas, and southward into Mexico; the third is the Rocky Mountain region, extending eastward across the plains to the prairies." The first floral region is descriptively provided for in two volumes on the "Botany of California"; the botany of the Great Basin is described in works by Sereno Watson and Dr. Rothrock. The third region was imperfectly described in Professor Porter's "Synopsis of the Flora of Colorado," a first attempt, published about ten years ago. The present volume is an attempt to furnish a more adequate presentation of the subject than could be given at that time, and to provoke still further advance and improvement. The range it is intended to cover includes Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Western Dakota, Western Nebraska, and Western Kansas. In it arc also included the larger part of the contiguous flora, running into the western part of the Indian Territory, Northwestern Texas, Northern New Mexico and Arizona, and Eastern Utah and Idaho, for all except their own peculiar plants. In Utah the range is carried westward by the Uintah and Wasatch Mountains, whose plants) arc intended to be included. This edition only claims to be a compilation, and an orderly arrangement and sifting of scattered material—an arrangement and sifting that were greatly needed, for much of the material was practically inaccessible.
Studies from the Biological Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University. Baltimore: Newell Martin, M.D., F. R. S., and W. K. Brooks, editors. Vol. iii, Nos. 1 to 4. Pp. 216, with Twelve Plates. Price per volume, $5. The price of single numbers varies with the size.
These studies, issued from time to time, contain the majority of the original scientific papers published by members of the Biological Department of the University. They will be grouped into volumes of about five hundred pages each. The numbers before us contain eleven papers, giving accounts of special researches into various facts of special structure and function. Among the papers of most general interest are those of Mr. W. n. Howell, on "The Origin of the Fibrin formed in the Coagulation of Blood," and of Mr. H. G. Beyer, "On the Action of Carbolic Acid, Atropia, and Convallaria on the Heart, with some Observations on the Influence of Oxygenated and Non-oxygenated Blood, and of Blood in Various Degrees of Dilution," both of which are in No. 2.
The Louisiana Purchase in its Influence upon the American System. By the Right Reverend C. F. Robertson, D.D. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 42. Price, 50 cents.
This paper, by the Protestant Episcopal Bishop of Missouri, belongs to the series of the American Historical Association. The subject, as the author reviews it briefly, becomes a very broad one—much larger, probably, than most readers are at the beginning ready to suppose it to be. In the first place, the purchase was acknowledged to be extra-constitutional, but then no one, in Congress or out of it, could say anything about that matter while it was under settlement, for fear of giving France a pretext for withdrawing from the bargain. The acquisition of so large a territory in the Southwest disturbed the balance of the country, caused discontent in New England, and developed a spirit of secession. A connection is traced between some of the results of the purchase and the British blockade acts and our embargo laws. A great impetus was given to the movement of population westward. Miranda's scheme for overthrowing Spanish power in South America and Burr's conspiracy were fed by it. The Texan revolution followed in due time, leading to the consequences of annexation, the Mexican War, and the acquisition of California. From this came a vast accession of wealth, the beginning of the era of large fortunes, and an entire change in American ideas of life, with a vast increase in the sweep and scope of American policy. Parallel with the earlier stages of these events was the taking shape of the Monroe doctrine, involving, among its consequences, the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, the nullification of the French schemes against Mexico, and the unsolved problems of the future respecting interoceanic transportation over the Isthmus, Other consequences which have resulted or are emerging, made possible by the acquisition of Louisiana, are hinted at, but not considered in detail; but enough is brought forward to show that the theme is one on which much might be written.
A History of German Literature. By W. Scherer. Translated by Mrs. F. C. Conybeare, and edited by F. Max Müller. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Two volumes. Pp. 401 and 425. Price, $3.50.
The author of this important history is recognized as an accomplished philologist and a competent literary critic, and as possessing at the same time the gift of attractive popular exposition, thus having the three most desirable qualities for his undertaking. The period embraced in its review begins with the earliest writings, and extends to the death of Goethe. The first chapter traces the roots of German nationality back to the period preceding the Aryan separation, and presents a picture of its intellectual condition at the time it became known to the Romans. The second chapter treats of the rise and development of the German hero-legends in the epoch of the migrations, and during the Merovingian period; the third chapter of the Mediæval Renaissance, the so-called Old High-German period of the Carlovingians and the Ottos. The succeeding four chapters are devoted to the classical period of the Middle High-German lyric and epic poetry, extending from about the eleventh to the middle of the fourteenth century. The next two chapters include the next three centuries, the period of transition from Middle High-German to New High-German, to which Luther's translation of the Bible belongs. The remaining four chapters are devoted to the period in which we live, beginning with the close of the Thirty Years' war, and give especial attention to the development of lyric and epic poetry, from Paul Gerhard to Goethe. The whole is supplemented by a full chronological table of authors and literary works and events, a bibliographical appendix, and an excellent index.
Men, Women, and Gods, and other Lectures. By Helen H. Gardener. With an Introduction by Colonel H. G. Ingersoll. New York: The Truth-Seeker Company. Pp. 158.
Besides a characteristic introduction by Colonel Ingersoll, this book contains three lectures. The first gives the title to the volume; the second is on "Vicarious Atonement"; the third is on "Historical Facts and Theological Fictions." The author speaks from the point of one who regards the teachings of the Bible and the doctrines and practices of the Church regarding women as all wrong, and as lying at the bottom of all the disabilities which she believes woman has suffered in Christian lands. The third lecture embodies replies to certain specific claims that have been made that the Church has contributed to the elevation of woman's life and status.
Mechanics and Faith. A Study of Spiritual Truth in Nature. By Charles Talbot Porter. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 295. Price, $1.50.
The author, as the basis of his theory, regards matter to be force, manifested in endless diversity of application to our nature and wants. "Force, truth, beauty, and love," he says, "are the four spiritual realities which in their unity interpenetrate, if indeed they do not constitute, all material forms of being. These spiritual realities arc revealed directly to the spirit of man, while the forms within which they are contained are made known to him through his physical organs of perception." It is through the recognition of these and correlated truths "that the mind becomes able to perceive the harmony that exists between reason and faith." The author has endeavored to reach these truths and to show this harmony by the aid, primarily, of mechanical science and the analogies which it affords.
Fourth Annual report of the United States Geological Survey. 1882-'83. By J. W. Powell, Director. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 473, with Plates.
The operations of the survey have been extended over the eastern part of the United States, under the authority of a provision in the appropriation act of 1882-'83, requiring it to make a geological map of the United States. The general map is to be made on a scale of 1⁄250000, or four miles to the square inch. Besides the general report of the progress of the work of the survey and the administrative reports of the heads of divisions (embracing geologic, paleontologic, and chemic work), the present volume contains papers on "Hawaiian Volcanoes," by Clarence Edward Button; "The Mining Geology of the Eureka District, Nevada," by J. S. Curtis; "Popular Fallacies regarding the Precious Metal Ore Deposits," by Albert Williams, Jr.; "The Fossil Ostreidæ of North America," by Dr. Charles A. White; and "A Geological Reconnaissance in Southern Oregon," by Israel C. Russell.
Social Wealth. The Sole Factors and Exact Ratios in its Acquirement and Apportionment. By J. K. Ingalls. New York: The Truth-Seeker Company. Pp. 320. Price, $1.
The professed purpose of this book is to direct inquiry to questions intimately related to all human life and employment. The author assumes that "we are living under a system of capitalistic aggrandizement or commercial monarchism," and that "our political savants offer us nothing but what is most delusive and contradictory, while servilely bowing to the demands of a dominant plutocracy." On the other hand, we have the ideas of the European radicals etc., "with suggestions of revolution and of measures of reform ranging from anarchism to the control of social industry by the state." he thinks there must be some natural relation between the worker and the soil, some principle of law which will give an equitable share of the products of industry to each who shares the labor, and a just principle of agreement and consent in regard to such production and division; and endeavors to discover these principles.
Mineral Resources of the United States, Calendar Years 1883 and 1884. By Albert Williams, Jr. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 1016. Price, 60 cents.
This volume is the second of the series. While it bears the same title, with the exception of the date, as the former volume which covered the calendar year 1882, it is not a reprint, or second edition of that report. The tables of production are re-given; but it has been the endeavor to avoid as far as possible a reproduction of the descriptive matter. While some of the main topics discussed in the former volume, concerning which nothing new has been brought out, are omitted, other subjects, which were not adequately discussed before, are now dealt with at considerable length. A considerable number of the articles appear as special contributions, with the authors' names attached.
The Greek Islands and Turkey after the War. By Henry M. Field, D.D. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Pp. 228. Price, $1.50.
The region of which this book gives the author's views of travel is not only one of the finest of the earth in its scenery, but is also predominantly rich in associations of profane and sacred history and literature and art, which are regarded by the majority of reading people with the warmest interest. It is also becoming the scene of stirring movements of progress and political reconstruction, and thereby a center of great contemporary interest. In describing it as a whole and in its different parts. Dr. Field has an eye to all these points of interest, and gives to each its due place. The book contains chapters on the Island of Cyprus; the shores of Asia Minor; the Archipelago; Smyrna; Mitylene and Troy; Constantinople and the American missions and schools; and the affairs and prospects of Turkey and the new states, with histories of the recent events that have led up to independence or autonomy of the latter.
Wonderful Escapes. From the French of F. Bernard, with Original Chapters added by Richard Whiting. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Pp. 306, with full-page Illustrations. Price, $1.
This is a volume of the "Illustrated Library of Wonders," of which the publishers are issuing a new and cheap edition. It relates, each story being complete in itself, a number of the most marvelous escapes of persons from extreme danger, of which history is full, beginning with the story of Aristomenes the Messenian, 684 b. c, as related by Pausanias, and closing with the escapes of Louis Napoleon from Ham, and James Stephens, the Fenian, from Richmond Prison. In it we find the narrative of the delivery of the twelve priests by Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire.
The Spartan and Theban Supremacies. By Charles Sankey. Pp. 231, with Maps. The Early Hanoverians. By Edward E. Morris. Pp. 235, with Maps and Plans. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Price, $1 each.
These volumes belong to the series of "Epochs of History," a series the purpose of which is to select and present in a separate volume, complete in itself, a group of events of such importance as to entitle it to be regarded as an epoch. In the selection of authors for the several volumes, regard has been had to the special qualifications of the writer for the portrayal of the particular period assigned to him. The former volume embraces that period—while the history of Greece was still substantially the history of the world—when Athens bad failed to weld her discordant neighbor cities into something like national unity, and the experiment was about to be taken up by the ruder states of Sparta and Thebes in succession, to end in a common downfall under the heels of the Macedonian conqueror. Greece had still great men—the soldiers of Sparta and Thebes, and Socrates—but her time of usefulness was substantially over. This volume shows the progress and the speed of the decline.
The second volume is a logical continuation of the same author's "Age of Anne," and relates to a period which was lively in British politics, and was not without brilliant deeds in the wars of other countries. While the name of the epoch is taken from English history, some of the subjects—the Turkish wars, the War of the Polish Succession, Anson's voyage, and many minor matters—are not usually treated in our school-histories. One of the most acceptable features consists in the literary biographies, among the subjects of which are Leibnitz, Newton, the poets and novelists of the period, Dr. Johnson, Rousseau, and Voltaire. Biographies of the political characters are also given, and the account of the rising known as "the "Forty-five" has been made very full.
Bulletins of the United States Geological Survey. Nos. 7 to 14, constituting Vol. II. Washington: Government Printing Office. Pp. 830, with Plates.
No. 7 is a catalogue of geological maps of America, North and South, from 1752 to 1881, containing 924 titles arranged in geographical and chronological order, by Jules Marcou and John Belknap Marcou; No. 8 is a paper "On Secondary Enlargements of Mineral Fragments in Certain Rocks," by R. D. Irving and C. R. Van Hise, in which something like a crystalline growth of minerals is indicated; No. 9 is "A Report of Work done in the Washington Laboratory during the Fiscal Year 1883, 1884," by F. W. Clarke and T. M. Chatard; No. 10 is "On the Cambrian Faunas of North America," relating particularly to the St. John formation. New Brunswick, and the Braintree Argillites, by C. D. Walcott; No. 11 is "On the Quaternary and Recent Mollusca of the Great Basin, with Descriptions of New Forms," by R. Ellsworth Call and C. K. Gilbert; No. 12 is "a Crystallographic Study of the Thinolite of Lake Lahontan," by Edward S. Dana; No. 13 is a sketch of the boundaries of the United States and of the several States and Territories, with an historical account of the territorial changes, by Henry Gannett; and No. 14 ia a paper on the "Physical Characteristics of the Iron-carburets," etc., by Carl Barus and Vincent Stronhal. Except where special provision has been made, the United Stales Geological Survey has no copies of its publications for gratuitous distribution; but copies of most of its works are on sale at fair prices, the moneys resulting from which are, in accordance with an act of Congress, covered into the Treasury of the United States.
A New Logical Machine. By Allan Marquand, Ph.D., Princeton, N.J. Pp. 5, with Plate.
International Copyright. By an American. London: Ballantyne, Hanson & Co. Pp. 80.
Did Reis Invent a Speaking Telephone? Opinons of Scientific Men. Pp. 18. On Telephonic Sytems. By Professor Amos E. Dolbear, Tufts College. Mass. Pp. 28.
Bulletin of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences, W. C. Barrett, M.D. Corresponding Secretary. Vol. V, No. 1. Pp. 46.
The Study of the Nahuatl Language. Pp. 7. Notes on the Mangue (extinct language). Pp. 22. By Daniel G. Briunon, M.D., Philadelphia.
Notes on the Flora of Eastern Virgina. By Lester F. Ward. Pp. 7.
Convention of the Provincial Educational Association of Nova Scotia. Minutes. A. McKay, Halifax, Secretary. Pp. 70.
The Scholar's Portfolio. Monthly. J. F. Sharp, Editor and Proprietor, Williamsport, Pa. Pp. 8. $1 a year.
Silver and Gold (Papers on Bimetallism). By F. J. Scott, Toledo, O. Pp. 28.
Bulletin of the Chemical Society of Washington. No. 1. A. C. Peale. Secretary. Pp. 28.
Veterinary Bulletin, Agricultural College of Michigan. Pp. 4.
A Few Suggestions for the Prevention of Fires. New York: Home Insurance Company. Pp. 8.
The Selborne Society for the Preservation of Birds, Plants, and Pleasant Places. London: G. A. Musgrave. Pp. 11.
Patriotism and National Defense. By Charles H. Hall, D.D. New York: Society for Political Education. Pp. 43. 25 cents.
Modern Armor for National Defense. By William H. Jaques, U.S. Navy. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 44. 50 cents.
The Post-mortem Imbibition of Poisons. By George B. Miller, M.D. Pp. 8. The Exhalation of Ozone bv Odorous Plants. By Drs. J. M. Anders and G. B. M. Miller. Pp. 8.
River and Harbor Improvement Convention at Tusculoosa. Ala., November 17. 1885. Proceedings. W. C. Jemison, Tuscaloosa. Pp. 68.
The Lepers of Molokai. By Charles Warren Stoddard. Notre Dame, Ind.: "Ave Maria'" Press. Pp. 80. 10 cents.
Letters from a Chimney Corner. Chicago: Fergus Printing Company. Pp. 50.
Education In Japan. Washington: Bureau of Education. Pp. 56.
A Theorem of Maximum Dissipativity; and A New Law of Thermo-Chemistry. By George F. Becker. Pp. 11.
Report of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station for 1885. New Haven. Pp. 139.
Precious Stones. By George F. Kunz. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 60.
Bement Collection of Minerals, from Notes by Professor Gerhardt von Rath. By George F. Kunz. New York. Pp. 11.
Report of the International Electrical Exhibition on Steam-Engines. Pp. 27. with Plates.
Report of the Pathological Department of Norristown Hospital for the Insane, Pennsylvania. Pp. 80.
Report of New York State Reformatory, Elmira. Pp. 46, with Plates.
On the Movement-Cure In China. By D. J. McGowan, M.D. Pp. 12.
Report of New York Agricultural Experiment Station. Pp. 848.
Bulletin of the United States Geological Survey, Nos. 15 to 28, constituting Vol. III. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 497.
Evolution: A Scotch Verdict. By Charles F. Deems, LL.D. New York; John W. Lovell Company. Pp. 108. 20 cents.
Easy Lessons in Sanitary Science. By Joseph Wilson, M.D. Philadelphia: P. Blakiston, Son, & Co. Pp. 74. $1.
Our Own Set, a Novel. By Ossip Schubln. New York: William S. Gottsberger. Pp. 280.
Food Materials and their Adulterations. By Ellen H. Richards. Boston: Estes & Lauriat. Pp. 183.
The Chaldean Magician. By Ernst Eckstein. New York: William S. Gottsberger. Pp. 112.
Hobbes. By George Croom Robertson. Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood & Sons. Pp. 240.
Hospital Sisters and their Duties. By Eva C. E. Lückes. Philadelphia: P. Blakiston, Son, & Co. Pp. 164. $1.
Romish Teachings in the Protestant Churches. New York: N. Tibbals & Sons. Pp. 100. 90 cents.
The School-Room Chorus. Compiled by E. V. De Graff. 70th edition. Syracuse, N.Y.: C. W. Bardeen. Pp. 147. 85 cents.
The Adirondacks as a Health Resort Edited by Joseph W. Stickler. New Y'ork: O, P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 198. $1.
The Life and Genius of Goethe. Edited by F. B. Sanborn. Boston: Ticknor & Co. Pp. 454.
Evolution versus Involution. By Arze Z. Rred. New York: James Pott & Co. Pp 275. $2.50.
What Does History Teach? By John Stuart Blackie. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Pp. 123, 75 cents.
Where are We, and whither Tending? By the Rev. M. Harvey, Boston: Doyle & Whittle. Pp. 134. 75 cents.
Poetry as a Representative Art. By George Lansing Raymond. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 346. $1.75.
An Apache Campaign In the Sierra Madre. By John G. Bourke. New York: Charles Scribner's Son's. Pp. 112. $1.
The Butterflies of the Eastern United States. By G. H. French. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co. Pp. 402. $2.
A Text-Book of Inorganic Chemistry. By Professor Victor von Richter. Translated by Edgar F. Smith. Philadelphia: P. Blakiston, Sou, & Co, Pp. 482. $1.
Report of the Commissioner of Education, 1883-84. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 948.
Cassell's National Library. No. 1. My Ten Years' Imprisonment. By Silvio Pellico. Pp. 200. No. 2, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage. By Lord Byron. Pp. 192. No. 3, Autobiography of Benjamin Franklln. Pp. 192. No. 4. Tho Complete Angler. by Izaak Walton. Pp. 192. No. 5, The Man of Feeling. Ry Henry Mackenzie. Pp. 191. New York: Cassell & Co. 10 cents each.
Three Years of Arctic Service. By Adolphus Greely. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. 2 vols. Pp. 428 and 444, with Maps and Plates. Sold by subscription.
The Fisheries and Fishery Industries of the United States. By George Brown Goode. Washington: Government Printing-Office. 2 vols. Pp. xx and 895, with 277 Plates.