God and the State. By Michael Bakounine, Founder of Nihilism and Apostle of Anarchy. Translated by Benjamin R. Tucker. Boston: Benjamin R. Tucker. Pp. 52. 15 cts.
The name of the author of this pamphlet ought to give a sufficient indication of its character. His apostleship of anarchy appears to have been as active in a religious as in a social and political aspect. We are informed that the work "contains an attack upon the theistic idea from a new stand-point, which, if successful, will result in tremendous consequences." It is certainly of interest to the student of mental phenomena, and of the order of social movements of which the author is a most conspicuous representative. A preface is furnished by Carlo Cafiero and Elisée Reclus.
Popular Essays on the Movements of the Atmosphere. By Professor William Ferrel. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 59.
The papers that make up this volume were originally published in the "Nashville Journal of Medicine and Surgery," "The American Journal of Science," and "Nature." They relate to the winds and currents of the ocean; the motions of fluids and solids relative to the earth's surface; the cause of low barometer in the polar regions and in the central part of cyclones; the relation between the barometric gradient and the velocity of the wind; and researches on cyclones, tornadoes, and water-spouts.
Elementary Botany, with Student's Guide to the Examination and Description of Plants. By George Macloskie, D. Sc, LL. D., Professor of Natural History in the J. C. Green School of Science, Princeton, N. J., and Medalist of Queen's and London Universities. New York: Henry Holt & Co. 1883.
Macloskie's "Botany" is a marked departure from our cherished models of botanical text-books, and we confess that it has taken considerable time for us to get accustomed to its novelty. It is a wholly modern work, and conforms to the revolution of method that followed the translation of "Sachs's Botany," from the German. The body of the book, which is devoted to the general principles of the science, is unusually free from the technicalities of textbooks. The treatment is very fresh and interesting, and in his aim to supply a readable sketch of botany the author has well succeeded.
As a "guide to work in the field and laboratory," if supplemented by the further guidance of the master, the work will no doubt prove a success; but as a manual for private study it strikes us as unattractive and unsatisfactory. But such a use of it was probably not in the author's mind in its preparation.
Many people will object to Macloskie's innovations in descriptive botany. If anything in science is firmly settled it is thought that botanical technology might make the claim. But our author has not scrupled to alter and amend its time-honored usages; yet, if improvement be a sufficient warrant for change, we suspect that he can justify himself. He has certainly gained in brevity, if not in greater precision of statement, by which beginners in the study will be gainers. Old botanists, however, will be slow to adopt the new terms. We cordially commend the volume to that large class of readers who wish to know something of the fundamental principles and philosophical bearings of this important science.
The Sun changes its Position in Space, therefore it can not be regarded as being "in a Condition of Rest." By August Tischner. Leipsic: Gustav Fock. Pp. 37.
The obvious truth expressed in the title is used as a basis of attack upon the adequacy of the received theories of astronomy. "The smallest movement of the sun," says the author, "overthrows the entire fabric of Copernicus." If the sun is moving, the orbits traversed by the planets can not be closed; and the astronomical dictum that, with reference to the planets, we may regard the sun as being in a state of rest, involves absurdity, for it assumes a motion which is at rest.
A Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Edited by George Grove, D. C. L. Parts XVII and XVIII. London and New York: Macmillan & Co. Pp. 240. $2.
The present double part of the "Dictionary" contains the titles from "Sketches" to "Sumer is icumen in," with the title-page
