in illustrated articles, and in addition to the serials contain rive short stories by well known authors. The January Review of Reviews, in its " Prog ress of the World " (editorial) department, discusses present problems in public health administration, municipal jeform in the United States, the movement for deep waterways from the great lakes to the Atlan tic Ocean, the Nicaragua Canal question, the pro posed arbitration of the boundary dispute between Venezuela and Great Britain, the payment by our government of damages to Canadian seal poachers, the prospects of civil service reform, the demand for a bank-note currency, the change in the Canadian Premiership, the disposition of English visitors to instruct Americans, and the recent action of the American Federation of Labor. W. D. McCrackan, A.M., one of the ablest of contemporary writers upon the principles and institu tions of representative government, contributes a thoughtful and forcible paper to the January Arena on " Politics as a Career." Among the encouraging conclusions reached by this life-long student of every form of democracy, ancient and modern, is that no honest man can enter political life in America to-day except as a reformer, and that as a reformer he will be treated with scorn and contumely and have little or no influence. The Popular Science Monthly never flags in its task of giving to the general public the new and broader views of Nature, including man, that scien tific investigators are opening up. In the leading article of its January number many of the wonders that astronomers have discovered are brought within the view of amateurs with small telescopes. It is the second of a series of papers illustrated with star-maps which Garrett P. Serviss is contributing under the title " Pleasures of the Telescope." In " Twentyfive Years of Preventive Medicine" a history of sanitation in this country is given by Mrs. H. M. Plunkett " Ethics in Natural Law" is the title of an essay in which Dr. Lewis G. Janes criticises the famous Romanes lecture by Prof. Huxley.
The Century for January presents a varied list of attractions. In addition to the Napoleon, which marches along rapidly toward Bonaparte's first mili tary success, and which is richly illustrated by the work of contemporary and other artists, there are illustrated articles on Canton, dealing with the pun ishment of criminals and with the interesting river population, on " The Armor of Old Japan,," on
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"Festivals in American Colleges for Women," set ting forth the recreations of Bryn Mawr, Mt. Holyoke, Smith, Vassar, Wellesley, and Wells Colleges, besides a fully illustrated article by Mr. Hiram S. Maxim on his " Experiments in Aerial Navigation." An article in the January Atlantic which will be likely to attract the attention of thoughtful readers is Mr. John H. Denison"s "The Survival of the American Type." With a courage and frankness not always found in writers on public affairs he describes the political situation, especially in the larger cities. The whole paper is suggestive, and will probably excite comment of various kinds. In the January number of Scribner's Magazine, Noah Brooks begins a group of three papers on American Party Politics with a most informing ac count of -'The Beginnings of American Parties," relating the political complications with the same nearness of view as though he were a contemporary observer. The group of papers will furnish an ad mirable introduction to the leading historical plan of the year which begins in the March number — Pres ident Andrew's brilliant narrative of "The Last Quarter-Century in the United States." BOOK NOTICES. LAW. Hand-Book, of the Law ok Contracts. By Wm. L. Clark, Jr., West Publishing Co., St. Paul. Law sheep. S3. 75. This is the last addition to the " Hornbook Series" issued by the West Publishing Co., for the use of law students. Mr. Clark presents the prin ciples of the law of contracts in a clear, concise manner, accompanying them by full explanations and illustrations. The citations are numerous, including nearly ten thousand cases. The work is admirably adapted to the student's needs, and will find favor with our law teachers. The Federal Income Tax Explained. By John M. Gould and George F. Tucker. Little, Brown, & Co., Boston, 1894. Cloth. $1.00. This little manual will prove of much value and assistance not only to the legal profession but to all who are so unfortunate(?) as to come within the pro visions of the Income Tax. The decisions and practice affecting the income tax laws of the time of the Civil War have been used by the authors to elucidate the present statute, and as those rulings and decisions will undoubtedly be adopted and fol
