events in our country's history. He was a Virginian by birth, of Scotch ancestry. That the belligerent faculty which was afterward so valuable to his country was early developed, is shown in an anecdote of young Scott punishing a bully who was abusing the youth's Quaker teacher. Young Scott entered the legal profession, but in 1807 one of the incidents that foreshadowed the War of 1812 caused him to join a troop of militia cavalry. When a more serious incident occurred a year or two later, Scott received a commission as captain. When war was actually declared, he was made a lieutenant colonel, although being then only twenty-five years of age. General Wright gives a detailed account of the operations of this war, in which Scott won an enviable record for gallantry and a promotion to a generalship. General Scott had gained some experience in Indian fighting during the war with England, and saw more of the same kind of service in the troubles with the Sacs and Foxes, the Seminoles, and the Cherokees. He was sent to South Carolina at the nullification time to act in case of an outbreak. The chief part of General Scott's reputation was made in the round of successes constituting the war with Mexico. The siege and capture of Vera Cruz, the battle of Cerro Gordo, and the operations around the capital city ending in Scott's triumphal entry, are described with gratifying fullness. The rest of the volume is occupied with minor events, including his nominations for the presidency, his honors, travels, administration of various military affairs, his retirement from the chief command of the army at the beginning of the civil war, etc. The various controversies in which a strong will and somewhat choleric disposition involved him are not concealed, and a wealth of anecdote illustrates all sides of his character. A frontispiece, portrait, and several maps illustrate the chronicle.
Aphorisms from the Writings of Herbert Spencer. Selected and arranged by Julia Raymond Gingell. With Portrait. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 166. Price, $1.
"How to live? that is the essential question for us Not how to live in the mere material sense only, but in the widest sense. The general problem which comprehends every special problem is the right ruling of conduct in all directions, under all circumstances." (Education, chap, i.)
This is the first selection in the volume. For many centuries man has been working out the solution of the problem to which it refers, and has made the best progress within the past generation. Just as his empirical knowledge of bodily hygiene has been greatly extended by the discovery of micro-organisms, so has his understanding of right conduct been broadened and systematized by the doctrine of evolution. Miss Gingell has made her book of extracts bear largely upon the management of life. Mr. Spencer being the chief exponent of evolution, the principles of conduct found in his writings are coordinated and unified by that great luminous truth which both lights up the past and enables us to peer into the future. This collection of aphorisms consists of brief, pithy sentences and paragraphs culled from the whole range of Mr. Spencer's writings and grouped under such headings as education, evolution, politics, justice, sympathy, happiness, etc. It has never been any part of Mr. Spencer's plan to prepare material that could be used in this way. The units of his writings are the chapters, and a passage taken out from its context is apt to give a misleading impression when standing alone. Yet Miss Gingell has carried out her undertaking with much tact, and the volume furnishes a sample of Spencer's quality from which readers may decide whether or not they desire to read any of his connected works.
Materials for the Study of Variation, treated with especial regard to discontinuity in the Origin of Species. By W. Bateson, M. A. Cambridge. London: Macmillan & Co., 1894. Pp. 598. Price, $6.50.
The first portion of the above title is printed on the back of the book, and, considered under this title alone, Mr. Bateson has made a most valuable contribution to the study of variation. He has classified the phenomena, so to speak, and given some new and convenient terms to express the kinds of variation. The phenomenon of the repetition of parts he terms merism; numerical and geometrical changes are called meristic
