Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 9.djvu/134

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116
THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

and with only one element of that—the primary principle of all reasoning. This principle the author finds in the law of noncontradiction, which simply says to system-makers, "Be consistent, or do not contradict yourselves." Obvious as this principle is, we are told that in all ages it has been accepted or rejected alternately according to the exigencies of philosophical speculation, having been nullified by theologians and philosophers from Augustine to Kant. It therefore needs reëlucidation, to which Mr. Gill has devoted his volume. The book gives abundant scope for the exercise of philosophical genius, in which its author is not wanting. Our most eminent metaphysicians, as Drs. McCosh and Anderson, recognize his strong claims as a thinker, and we have no doubt his volume will attract the attention of serious students, and prove a valuable addition to American philosophical literature.

Military Map of the Indian Territory. Compiled by First-Lieutenant E. H. Ruffner, of the Engineers.

This valuable map, the preparation of which has occupied Lieutenant Ruffner and Mr. Ado Hunnius, draughtsman and engraver, for some three years, is based on Government and railroad surveys, previously-published maps, military surveys and reconnoissances, etc. The scale is made large enough for marching-purposes, and the topographical details are such as are needed in directing military movements. The task of compiling such a map as this of the Indian Territory is one that involves an enormous amount of labor, and it appears to have been performed with conscientious fidelity by Lieutenant Ruffner. The draughtsman's work is also deserving of great credit. The map is on the scale of 1:500,000.

We have received the initial number of The Home Scientist, published at Wadsworth, Ohio. The Home Scientist is a monthly, eight-page journal, in quarto, devoted to the diffusion of popular scientific knowledge. This first number, both in its original and in its selected matter, shows evidence of competent editorship. We wish it success. J. A. Clark, publisher. Terms, $1 per annum.

The Polytechnic Review.—We have received from the publishers the first number of a monthly periodical bearing the above title. In form it is a large quarto of twelve pages, tastefully printed on fine paper. The Review is designed to chronicle and illustrate the progress of science as applied to the useful arts, such as engineering in all its branches—civil, mechanical, naval, military, and sanitary; gas and water supply, and sewerage; chemical technology, with particular reference to mining, metallurgy, and manufacturing chemical industries; manufactures in general, and the mechanic arts. That the Polytechnic Review will be conducted with energy and ability, the names of the editors, William H. Wall, Ph. D., and Robert Grimshaw, Ph. D., are a sufficient guarantee. Philadelphia: Published by the editors, 119 South Fourth Street. $3 per annum.


PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

Geological Survey of Alabama. Report of Progress for 1875. By Eugene A. Smith, Ph.D. Montgomery, Alabama, 1876. Pp. 212.

Memoirs of the Peabody Academy of Science, vol, i., No. iv. Fresh-Water Shell Mounds of the St. John's River, Florida. By Jeffries Wyman, Salem, Massachusetts. Pp. 87.

Statistics of Births, Marriages, and Deaths, in the City of Philadelphia for the Year 1874. Compiled by William H. Ford, M. D. Philadelphia, 1875. Pp. 133.

Experiments with the Alleged New Force. By George M. Beard, A. M., M. D., New York, 1876. Pp. 28.

Report of the Health-Officer of the City of Oakland, California, 1875. By George E. Sherman, M. D. Oakland, 1876. Pp .32.

Reports of the Trustees and Superintendent of the Butler Hospital for the Insane, Providence, 1876. Pp. 37.

Immobility or Closure of the Jaw, with Report of Cases. By W. F. Westmoreland, M. D. Atlanta, Georgia, 1875. Pp. 10.

The Public-School Question as underderstood by a Catholic-American Citizen