Popular Science Monthly/Volume 31/September 1887/Literary Notices
History of the Pacific States of North America. By Hubert Howe Bancroft. Vol. I. Central America, 1501-1530. San Francisco: The History Company. Pp. 704. Price, $5.
Though late in the order of actual publication of the series of histories, this volume is the first in the order of classification, and therefore rightly receives that number when regarded with reference to the series as a whole. The author's plan of logical arrangement is to begin at the south of the territory whose history he intends to record in the whole work, and advance toward the north; and this order corresponds in the main with the historical sequence. The volume is introduced by a general preface, giving a short summary of the plan of the whole series, and an elucidation of the theory on which it has been composed; matters which have already been discussed at length in our pages. The author avows the peculiarity of his method of work to consist in the employment of assistants, to bring together by indexes, references, and other devices, all existing testimony on each topic to be treated, whereby he obtains important information, which otherwise, with but one lifetime at his disposal, would have been beyond control. Acknowledgment is now made by name to five of these assistants. The amplitude in volume of the work is chargeable, the author says, "to the immense mass of information gathered rather than to any tendency to verbosity. There is scarcely a page but has been twice or thrice rewritten with a view to condensation; and instead of faithfully discharging this irksome duty, it would have been far easier and cheaper to have sent a hundred volumes through the press." The character and customs of the aboriginal inhabitants of the country at the time they were first seen by their subduers, and what can be gathered respecting their previous history, are discussed in the volumes on "The Native Races of the Pacific States," which are regarded as constituting a separate work from this. The "History" series, including the present volume on Central America, begins, therefore, with the Conquest, without reference to the matters treated of in those volumes. For the "History of Central America," besides the standard chroniclers and the many documents of late printed in Spain and elsewhere, the author has been able to secure a number of valuable manuscripts nowhere else existing, including some from the Maximilian, Ramirez, and other collections, with all of Mr. E. G. Squier's manuscripts relating to the subject. Much of the material has been drawn from obscure sources, from local and unknown Spanish works, and from the confused archives of Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, Salvador, and Guatemala. The introductory chapter gives a general view of Spain and civilization at the beginning of the sixteenth century. The course of discovery is then followed up, with accounts of Columbus and his discoveries, the discovery of Darien, the further explorations of Columbus, the administration of the new colonies, the discovery of the Pacific Ocean, etc.; then the stages of further colonization and conquest, till the downfall of the Quiché nation, whose capital is described, and of the Cakchiquels and Zutugils, in 1524; and the volume closes with the account of the revolt of the Cakchiquels, in 1524-'25. The publishers inform us that an Eastern agency for Mr. Bancroft's works has been established, under the direction of Mr. F. M. Derby, at 149 Church Street, New York.
A History of Modern Europe. By C. A. Fyffe. Vol. II, from 1814 to 1848. New York: Henry Holt & Co. Pp. 513. Price, $2.50.
A comparison of the condition and policies of the chief civilized nations as pictured in this book, with the present aspect of Europe, will help to give a realizing conception of the extent to which the world of politics and government has moved during the last forty years. We are slow to comprehend how fast we are making history till some survey of the recent past like this brings vividly before us what has happened in our own lifetime. The period whose events are recorded in the present volume of Mr. Fyffe's history, may be described, as in its earlier years, the period of reaction. It was the aim of its statesmen to restore Europe to the despotic régime which it endured before the French Revolution. Nationalities were cut up or combined, without a thought of how their people would be affected, to suit the ambitions and convenience of sovereigns and ministers whose chief aim was to crush out all life of freedom and enforce the asserted divine right of the few to govern and tax the many. The achievement of Grecian independence was a rude interruption to the successful pursuit of this policy; the French "July Revolution" of 1830 was a dangerous break in it; and the Revolutions of 1848 were the sign of its ultimate defeat, and of the ushering in of the present era when consideration of the desires and interests of the people is becoming more and more the accepted theory of the governments. The four leading features we have mentioned, in their order, constitute the framework on which Mr. Fyffe has wrought his history. The story is told with brevity and clearness.
Principles of Education Practically Applied. By J. M. Greenwood. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 192. Price, $1.
The author of this book is Superintendent of Schools of Kansas City, Missouri. His motive in preparing it has been to help teachers to do better and more intelligent work in the school-room. It assumes that education is a science; and that school-teachers can understand the principles of the science, and apply them accurately in their daily work to the children under their control. The object of the work throughout is to impress upon the mind of the teacher the question, "How shall I teach so as to have my pupils become self-reliant, independent, manly men and womanly women?" The foundation of the essay is laid in a chapter insisting on the application of the principles of psychology to the work of teaching; and this is to be made in the study of the temperaments of the children and the application of certain fixed educational principles in such a way as to secure an orderly and free development of the faculties. The succeeding chapters are of a more practical and concrete character, and show how the objects aimed at may be promoted in general school and class management, in methods of conducting recitations, In questioning, and in teaching the particular branches of reading, composition, and language, penmanship, geography, history, and arithmetic. Another chapter is devoted to "Health and Hygiene"; and studies of several typical boys are presented in the concluding chapter.
Sociology. By John Bascom. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 264. Price, 1.50.
This is not a treatise on sociology conveying a full and systematic discussion of the subject, but rather a bundle of essays on a number of topics of a sociological bearing. "It passes familiar principles, and principles to which the author can make no important additions, and concentrates attention on points at which he is best able to reward it; and this with only secondary reference to general symmetry." Predominant interest is shared in questions of immediate moment to society. The author confesses to have covered a large field suggestively rather than a narrow field exhaustively; and he believes that that method is often "to be deliberately preferred in practical value, though it may involve a loss in personal estimation." In the introduction, the complexity of the facts of sociology is illustrated, and the relation of the social sciences to one another is considered. In the succeeding chapters are discussed the power of custom and its relation to law and public opinion; the development, operation, and function of government; the "three axioms" of political economy; the development of religion; ethics, its relation to customs and economics, and the connection of ethical law with government and religion; and various social problems, including the rights of women, prohibition, public education, equal civic advantages, franchises, laws of entail and inheritance, competition, the mission of the pulpit, and socialism.
Health of our Children. Pp. 128. Price, 75 cents. Health in our Homes. Price, 75 cents. A Household Guide in Health and in Disease. Pp. 460. Price, $3. Boston: Thayer Publishing Company. Cupples & Co., Wholesale Agents.
The first two of these volumes have been compiled from a series of letters for popular reading, which were published in one of the newspapers of Boston. The first, a book of "practical advice to mothers," is based on the conviction that two thirds of the cases of illness among children arise from preventable causes, and aims to put before the reader, in the simplest manner possible, the important essentials in the care and management of children. The second treats of the faults tending to the production of disease which exist in many of our homes, and advises the application of those improvements and sanitary precautions by means of which a large part of the sickness now experienced may be avoided. The leading design of the "Household Guide" is to place before the reader those established principles, a knowledge of which is essential to the preservation of health, and to recovery when suffering from disease. Under the head of "Practical Hygiene" are considered the most common substances used for food, and their peculiar action; the laws of diet; personal hygiene, with the purpose of promoting correct physical habits. A chapter on mental hygiene treats of the intellectual operations and the relationship between the mind and the body. A third part relates to the sick-room and its general management, with chapters on nursing and the dietetic treatment of the sick. Under the heading of the "Principles of Medicine" are considered the symptoms and causes of disease, and medicines and their administration. The practice of medicine is taken up and described in its applications to diseases of the respiratory, circulatory, and digestive systems, the stomach and intestines, the abdominal organs, the nervous system, fevers, "general diseases," and "accidental disturbances."
Elements of Botany. By Edson S. Bastin. Illustrated. Chicago: G. P. Engelhard & Co. Pp. 282. Price, $2.50.
The author believes that there is need for some work on botany better adapted to the wants of our higher schools than any in present use; as well as of a work which is not so technical but that any student of fair intelligence may take it up without the aid of a teacher, and obtain a good foundation-knowledge of the facts and principles of the science. He has endeavored to supply such a book. He has aimed to make the text simple and free from unnecessary technicalities, and, in the order of arrangement of subjects, to lead the mind of the pupil from that which is familiar to what is less so. Hence those features in structure are first presented which may be understood without other aids than good eyes, nimble fingers, a pocket-knife, and a magnifier, before inviting attention to more delicate points. The organs are therefore treated of in the first part, as organs of vegetation and of reproduction. Vegetable histology is next presented, and is followed by the chapters on vegetable physiology and vegetable taxonomy. As subjects for study and description those plants are selected which are either familiar to most students, or which may be readily found and identified by means of the descriptions given in the text. Illustrations are freely used, and the figures are all drawn with the author's own hand.
Natural Law in the Business World. By Henry Wood. Boston: Lee & Shepard. 1887. Pp. 211. Price, 75 cents.
In its way, and so far as it goes, this is an excellent book. It is in no sense original, the truths it teaches being already familar to students of economics. Indeed, the author makes no claim to originality, but characterizes his work as "an honest effort to trace out the working and application of natural law, as it runs through the economic and social fabric, in a plain and simple, though, it is hoped, practical manner." He speaks of himself as having had only a practical business training, though it is evident that he is familiar with the standard economic writers; and his literary style, if not so polished as some, is characterized by clearness and a certain epigrammatic point which makes some of his expressions very effective.
Mr. Wood is a thorough disbeliever in social nostrums and in all plans of reform that run counter to natural law. He says: "The ills of our social system, the hardships of labor, and the inequalities of fortune, can not be got rid of by any short-cut route of social revolution or industrial transformation. Circumstances and conditions may change, but principles never. Wealth has always been the natural sequence to industry, temperance, and perseverance, and it will always so continue." He calls attention to the fact, so obvious to all thinking men, but so often overlooked or ignored by agitators, that brain-labor is far more important to the world than hand-labor, and consequently that the assertion so often made, that all wealth is the product of manual labor, is not true.
Of course, the author condemns socialism in unsparing terms; but he evidently has no fear of its being practically adopted. He is also strongly opposed to labor-unions, and seems to think there is almost no good in them. He declares that "their entire action and effort are in the direction of vainly trying to combat the natural principle of supply and demand" (page 53). He also condemns them because they interfere with the free action of the individual laborer, are tyrannous toward non-unionists, and antagonistic to capital. In what he says on this subject there is much that is true, and would be profitable for labor agitators to read; but, like all who take a similar view of the matter, he seems to forget that the labor-unions themselves are a product of natural law just as truly as corporations are, and that they would not have grown up and lasted so long if there were not some solid foundation for them.
The author has done well to call attention once more to the reign of natural law in economic affairs; and if his work is not quite satisfactory, it is because he has too much overlooked the reign of moral law in the same field. We can not prosper economically unless we conform to economic laws; but neither can we unless we conform to moral laws, so far as these are involved in the production and distribution of wealth. On one point of business morality, indeed, the author speaks out in emphatic language in regard to the conduct of railway directors in speculating in the stock of their roads. His view is that "railroad managers control a valuable trust, and, if they profit by their superior knowledge, to the detriment of other stockholders, it is a moral wrong, which it seems proper to make a legal offense." If this principle had actually been applied in our industrial history, many of the colossal fortunes now existing in the country would never have been accumulated; and this shows the importance of moral law in the business world.
Henry Draper Memorial. First Annual Report of the Photographic Study of Stellar Spectra, conducted at the Harvard College Observatory. Edward C. Pickering, Director. Cambridge: John Wilson & Son. Pp. 10, with Plates.
Mrs. Henry Draper, early in 1886, made a liberal provision for carrying on the photographic investigation of stellar spectra at the Harvard College Observatory, as a memorial to her husband, who did the first work of this kind in 1872, and continued it with great skill and ingenuity till his death, ten years later. The results of the year's work have been so encouraging, that Mrs. Draper has decided greatly to extend the original plan of work, and have it conducted on a scale suited to its importance. The attempt will be made to include all portions of the subject, so that the final results shall form a complete discussion of the constitution and conditions of the stars, as revealed by their spectra, so far as present scientific methods permit. The investigations already undertaken include a catalogue of the spectra of all stars north of-24° of the sixth magnitude and brighter, a more extensive catalogue of spectra of stars brighter than the eighth magnitude, and a detailed study of the spectra of the bright stars. The report describes the instruments which are employed and the methods of observation, and gives accounts, illustrated by a plate, of the studies of five bright stars. The whole field of studies is intended to comprise catalogues and classification of the spectra of bright and faint stars, determinations of the wave-lengths of the lines, comparisons with terrestrial spectra, and an application of the results to the measurement of the approach and recession of the stars. Special photographic investigations will also be undertaken of the spectra of the banded stars, and of the ends of the spectra of the bright stars.
A Modern Zoroastrian. By Samuel Laing. London: F. V. White & Co. 1887. Pp. 265.
This book, like many others of late years, is evidence of two facts: first, that the traditional religion has lost its hold on most scientifically educated minds; and, second, that such minds are not content without some religion. In Mr. Laing's view all religions are "working hypotheses, by which successive ages and races of men try to satisfy the aspirations and harmonize the knowledge which in the course of evolution have come to be for the time their spiritual equipment." But when the "environment changes, when loftier views of morality prevail, when knowledge is increased, and the domain of science everywhere extends its frontier, religions must change with it if they are to remain good working, and not become unworkable and unbelievable hypotheses." That Christianity has become an unworkable hypothesis the author endeavors to show by the arguments that others have used for that purpose. He dwells particularly on such impossible doctrines as the Trinity, and also on the miracles which form so important an element in historical Christianity. He does not pronounce miracles impossible, but thinks that, as they are contrary to all we know of the course of Nature, they can not be believed without the most indubitable evidence of their occurrence, and such evidence is not forthcoming.
Moreover, Mr. Laing is troubled by the existence of evil, and hence he is unable to believe in the personality of the First Cause, since an omnipotent personal Creator must, in his opinion, be the cause of the evil as well as the good. His view of the First Cause is similar to Herbert Spencer's; but he thinks it necessary that our religious doctrine should frankly recognize the existence of evil as a fundamental constituent of the universe—proceeding, like good, from the unknowable First Cause. The antithesis of good and evil he seeks to identify with the principle of polarity in the material world, hoping thereby to bring it under a general law of the whole universe. He devotes several chapters to an account of this principle, beginning, of course, with the magnet, and then proceeding to the world of life and to those of morals and politics. He treats the antitheses of plant and animal, of male and female, and of heredity and variation, as examples of polarity, and regards the progressive and conservative tendencies in politics as another instance of the same principle. And, finally, the antithesis of good and evil is brought under the same category, so that in the author's view evil no less than good is an essential element in the universe. Such being the case, he says: "Now of all the religious hypotheses which remain workable in the present state of human knowledge, that seems to me the best which frankly recognizes the existence of this dual law, or law of polarity, as the fundamental condition of the universe, and, personifying the good principle under the name of Ormuzd, and the evil one under that of Ahriman, looks with earnest but silent and unspoken reverence on the great unknown beyond, which may, in some way incomprehensible to mortals, reconcile the two opposites, and give the final victory to good. . . . This, and this alone, seems to me to afford a working hypothesis which is based on fact, can be brought into harmony with the existing environment, and embraces, in a wider synthesis, all that is good in other philosophies and religions."
Mr. Laing does not deny the excellent moral elements to be found in Christianity; but he thinks that there are also serious moral deficiencies in it, and that Zoroastrianism has "the most complete and comprehensive code of morals to be found in any system of religion." Moreover, he thinks that Christians at the present day are really worshipers of the good principle as personified in Christ; or, in other words, that "modern Christians are, to a great extent, without knowing it, worshipers of Ormuzd, with Christ for their Ormuzd"; and this he regards as an excellent thing, and perfectly in harmony with his own principles. Of course, Mr. Laing recognizes the fact that the Zoroastrian religion can not be adapted to modern needs without some changes; but he thinks it requires fewer changes than any other ancient religion, while it can at the same time absorb into itself all that is good in the others. We should add that the author's views are well expressed; the printer's part of the work has been well done; and readers having a taste for this class of subjects will find the book an interesting one.
The Story of Metlakahtla. By Henry S. Wellcome. New York: Saxon & Co. Pp. 483. Price, $1.50.
This story is intended to excite sympathy. A tribe of savage Indians living in British Columbia, near the Alaska line, has been Christianized and civilized under the missionary efforts of the Rev. William Duncan, several thousand souls being comprehended under the influence of the work. An Anglican bishop has attempted to impose upon them a ritual and discipline which they reject, and the Colonial Government has taken land which they claim and given it to the Church Missionary Society. Their appeals for recompense having been refused, they are now seeking to remove in a body to Alaska, within the territory of the United States. The story of their claims and alleged wrongs is told in detail, with numerous references to official documents and public correspondence.
A History of the Doctrine of Comets. By Andrew D. White. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 43. Price, 25 cents.
This is a fuller version of the author's essay, which was published, as the first of "New Chapters in the Warfare of Science," in the "Monthly" for October, 1885, and was read at the meeting of the American Historical Association in September of the same year. It is published in substantial form, on thick paper, and with clear, open type, as No. II, Vol. II, of the "Papers of the American Historical Association." With its copious citations from authors and notables of every age, and of the most curious theories and opinions on the subject, it is a paper of rare interest.
Dinocerata: a Monograph of an Extinct Order of Gigantic Mammalia. By Othniel Charles Marsh. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 243, with Fifty-six Plates.
This memoir is the second in the author's series of monographs on the extinct vertebrate life of North America. The first volume described the Odontornithes, or birds with teeth, of the cretaceous deposits on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains. The present volume contains the record of a peculiar order of mammals, which Professor Marsh has brought to light in the early Tertiary strata of the great central plateau of the continent. Their remains have hitherto been found in a single Eocene lake-basin in Wyoming, and none are known from any other part of this country, or from the Old World. This lake-basin, now drained by the Green River, slowly filled up with sediment coming from the Wahsatch, Uintah, and Wind River Mountains, but remained a lake so long that the deposits formed in it, during Eocene time, reached a vertical thickness of more than a mile. It has since been subjected to a vast erosion, by which it has been carved into the picturesque Bad Lands; and this erosion has brought to light the remains of many extinct animals, among which the bones of the Dinocerata, from their great size, attracted particular attention. Among the other animals represented were ancestral forms of the modern horse and tapir, and of the pig. Many others were found related to the recent lemurs; also various carnivores, insectivores, rodents, and small marsupials; remains of a new order of mammals, the Tillodonis, quite unlike any now living. Crocodiles, tortoises, lizards, and serpents swarmed in and about the waters of the lake, while around its borders grew palms and other tropical vegetation. The picture is finished with the conception of the Dinocerata, or terrible horned, gigantic beasts, which nearly equaled the elephant in size, and roamed in great numbers on the shores of the lake. They form a well-marked order in great groups of the Ungulata, or hoofed animals. In some of their characters they resemble the Artiodactyls (Paraxonia); in others they are like the Perissodactyls (Mesaxonia); and, in others still, they agree with the Proboscidians. The points of similarity, however, Professor Marsh adds, are in most cases general characters, which point back to an earlier, primitive ungulate, rather than indicate a near affinity with existing forms of these groups. The number of species is difficult to determine. About thirty forms, more or less distinct, are recognized in the synopsis at the end of the volume; but the number might be increased, if fragmentary specimens were used as the basis for specific names. The specimens which are now in the museum at Yale College represent more than two hundred individuals of Dinocerata. Of these, not less than seventy-five have portions of the skull more or less preserved, and in more than twenty it is in good condition. The author has endeavored in his plates, and nearly two hundred woodcuts in addition, to give accurate illustrations of type specimens; and all the important specimens now known are represented, and at least one figure is given of every species.
The New Crisis. By George W. Bell. Des Moines, Iowa: Moses Hull & Co. 1887. Pp. 350.
The object of this book, as the preface declares, is "to prove the existence of a class conspiracy, the design of which is to subvert the principles of our Government by a monopoly of wealth." In other words, it is an anti-monopoly polemic, and has the usual characteristics of such works in a somewhat extreme form, but with little in it that is specially new.
Infants, their Chronological Progress. By Professor Stanford E. Chaillé, M.D. Pp. 20.
Believing that the inquiry is useful with reference to many points, Dr. Chaillé has collated in this pamphlet, as nearly in their order as may be, the various manifestations of infant life, activity, consciousness, and disposition, from birth up to the age of three years. This record is followed by notes on the color of the eyes and hair, and on growth as shown by height, weight, and chest-girth.
Results of the Observations made at the Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory, Massachusetts, in 1886. By A. Lawrence Rotch. Pp. 45, with Plates.
The Blue Hill Observatory is a private establishment, which is claimed to be one of the best-equipped meteorological stations in the United States. It is situated on Great Blue Hill, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, at an elevation of six hundred and thirty-five feet, making it the highest point within ten miles of the Atlantic coast from Maine to Florida. The present report gives a full account of the equipment of the observatory, and records of "general results," prevalence of winds, velocity of winds, and atmospheric pressure, for every day of the year, with annual summaries under each head, and several plates of tracings.
Elementary Microscopical Technology. Part I. The Technical History of a Slide. By Frank L. James. St. Louis: Medical and Surgical Journal Company. Pp. 107. Price, 75 cents.
The present number is a part of a work on general microscopic technology, the other parts of which will appear in time. It is intended to teach in detail the processes and manipulations for preparing the materials for a microscopic mount. For this purpose it takes the crude materials the object to be mounted, the chemicals, gums, bits of glass, etc., entering into the structure of a slide and carries them by minute descriptions through the processes of hardening (or softening), imbedding, section-cutting, staining, etc., up to the final mounting for the cabinet. It is purposed thus to give the student a general outline idea of the work, and a knowledge of the names, uses, and functions of the instruments and materials used. Each stage and process is taken up in detail and in the order of occurrence in actual work; so that nothing is taken for granted, and no previous acquaintance of the student with the subject is supposed.
The Treatment of Sewage. By Dr. C. Meymott Tidy. New York: D. Van Nostrand. Pp. 224. Price, 50 cents.
Dr. Tidy's researches on this subject are probably more widely known and more frequently quoted from than those of any other single author. He has made special studies through many years of the question of the disposal of the sewage of London. This manual gives the more important results of those studies, as they were presented by the author in a paper to the English Society of Arts.
Harris, William T. How to teach Natural Science in the Public Schools. Syracuse, N. Y.: C. W. Bardeen. Pp. 40. 15 cents.
Kaine, J. L., Milwaukee, Wis. Conditions of Health in Cities. Pp. 18.
Marvin, J. B., M. D., Louisville, Ky. Renal Colic, Parasitic and Calculous, "A Criticism." Pp. 26.
Wachsmuth, Charles, and Springer. Frank. The Summit Plates in Blastoids, Crinoids, and Cystius. etc. Pp. 33, with Plates.
Lea, M. Carey, Philadelphia. Papers on the Photo-Chemistry of the Silver Haloids. Pp. 36.
Illinois State Board of Health. Report of Proceedings. July Meeting, 1887. Pp. 15.
Donaldson. Prank, Baltimore, Md. Heredity in Tuberculosis. Pp. 22.
Foster, Michael, and others. The "Journal of Physiology," June, 1887. Cambridge, England. Pp. 90, with Plates. $5 a volume.
Kimball, Lieutenant W. W., and Capps, W. L. Report on the Progress of the Work on the Panama Canal during 1885. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 39, with Plates.
Withington. Charles F., M. D. Transmission of Infectious Disease through Rags. Pp. 69.
McCall, F., Twin Lakes, Minn. Thoughts on Theological and Scientific Theories. Pp. 86.
Stephenson. F. B., M. D., U. S. Navy. Duty of the State in Public Health. Pp. 11.
Rohé, George H. . M. D., Baltimore. Recent Advances in Public Medicine. Pp. 83.
Lewis, H. Carvill, Philadelphia. The Alleged Physical Phenomena of Spiritualism. Pp. 26.
Iowa State Board of Health, Monthly Bulletin, July. Pp. 13.
Halsted, Byron D. Germination of Curcubitaceous Plants. Pp. 6.
Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station. Feeding Experiments with Pigs. Pp. 16.
Mills, T. Wesley, Montreal. Retention and Loss of Hair from a Physiological Standpoint. Pp. 5.
Baker, L. W., Baldwinsville, Mass. Mental Epilepsy. Pp. 22.
Clark, Edward Gordon. The People's Right to Wealth, reduced to $s and Cents. "Monograph Publisher," New York. Pp. 14. 10 cents.
Cope, Edward D. Letters referring to the Completion of the Final Report of the United States Geological Survey of the Territories. Pp. 7.
Schlicht & Field Company, New York. "The Cosmopolitan," July, 1887. Monthly. Pp. 80. 20 cents a number, $2 a year.
Starling Medical College, Columbus, Ohio. Forty first Annual Announcement. Pp. 16.
Forbes, S. A., University of Illinois. The Lake as a Microcosm. Pp. 15.
Fry, Frank R., St. Louis. The Flexibility of the Metacarpophalangeal Joint of the Thumb. Folio.
Martin, H. Newell, and Brooks, W. K. Studies in the Biological Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University. Baltimore: N. Murray. Pp. 58, with Plates. 75 cents a number, $5 per volume.
Shufeldt, R. W., M. D. Observations upon the Habits of Micropus Melanoletieus. Pp. 8, with Plates. On the Visceral Anatomy of Certain Auks. Pp. 5. A Critical Comparison of a Series of Skulls of the Wild and Domesticated Turkeys. Pp. 16.
James, Joseph F., Cincinnati. Account of a Well drilled for Oil or Gas at Oxford, Ohio. Pp. 9.
National Agricultural Exposition at Kansas City, Mo. September to November, 1887. Prospectus. Pp. 48.
Ingersoll, Robert G. Centennial Oration on the Declaration of Independence. Buffalo, N. Y.: H. L. Green. Pp. 22.
Bulletins of the U. S. Geological Survey. No. 84, White, Charles A., M. D. On the Relations of the Laramie Molluscan Fauna. Pp. 54. 10 cents. No. 35. Barus, Carl, and Stroubal, Vincent. Physical Properties of the Iron Carburets. Pp. 62. 10 cents. No. 36. Barus, Carl. Subsidence of Fine Solid Particles in Liquids. Pp. 54. 10 cents. No. 37. Ward, Lester F. Types of the Laramie Flora. Pp. 120, with 57 Plates. 25 cents. No. 35. Diller, J. S. Perodotite of Elliott County, Kentucky. Pp. 31. 5 cents. No. 39. Upham, Warren. The Upper Beaches and Deltas of the Glacial Lake Agassiz. Pp. 84, with Map. 10 cents.
United States Brewers' Association. Twenty-seventh Convention, Baltimore. May. 1897. Proceedings. Pp. 125. A Solution of the Temperance Problem proposed in Switzerland. Pp 15. The Effects of Beer. Pp. 46. Report, State Board of Health of New York, on the Examinations of Beers. Pp. 35. Colonial Liquor Laws. Pp. 202. Real and Imaginary Effects of Intemperance. Pp. 167. Alleged Adulterations of Malt Liquors. Pp. 30. Some Thoughts on the International Temperance Meeting held at Antwerp in September, 1885. Pp 40. The System of High Licenses. Pp. 86. Liquor Laws of the United States. Pp. 250, with Tables. All prepared by G. Thomann.
Cherouny, Henry W., Editor. "Philosophy for the People." Quarterly. Pp. 49. 80 cents.
Wilder, Burt G. The Dipnoan Brain. Pp. 5.
Adams, Herbert B. Notes on the Literature of Charities Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Agency. Pp. 48. 25 cents.
State Board of Health, Wisconsin. Tenth Report. Madison. Wis. Pp. 250.
Truth-Seeker Company. New York. Nine Demands of the American Secular Union. Sheet. $1.
Drummond, A. T. The Distribution, etc., of British North American Plants. Pp. 12.
Wagner Free Institute of Science. Philadelphia. Transactions. Pp. 134, with Sixteen Plates.
Imperial University, Japan. Journal of the College of Science. Pp. 116, with Plates.
Butler, John S. M., D. The Curability of Insanity, and the Individualized Treatment of the Insane. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 59. 60 cents.
Ward, Lester F. Synopsis of the Flora of the Laramie Group. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 160, with Thirty-five Plates.
Rutgers Scientific School, New Brunswick, N.J. Twenty-second Annual Report, for 1886. Pp. 84.
Hermann, Gustav. The Graphical Statics of Mechanism. New York: D. Van Nostrand. Pp. 153, with Plates.
Barrows, Charles M. Facts and Fictions of Mental Healing. Boston: H. H. Carter & Karrick. Pp. 248.
Spencer, Theodore C. The Struggle for Religious and Political Liberty. New York: The Truth-Seeker Company. Pp. 140. 75 cents.
Maverick National Bank Manual, July 1, 1887. Boston: Wright & Potter Printing Company. Pp. 200.
Board of Education, City of New York. Forty-fifth Annual Report. Pp. 271.
Atkinson, Edward. The Margin of Profits, how it is now divided, etc. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 123. Paper, 40 cents; bound, 75 cents.
Johonnot, James. Ten Great Events in History. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 264. 63 cents.
Home Sanitation. A Manual for Housekeepers. Boston: Ticknor & Co. Pp. 80.
Gilman, Arthur. Gilman's Historical Readers. No. 1.—The Discovery and Exploration of America, Pp. 128. 36 cents. No. 2.—The Colonization of America. Pp. 160. 43 cents. No. 3.—The Making of the American Nation. Pp. 192. 60 cents. Chicago: Interstate Publishing Company.
Bancroft Hubert Howe. History of the Pacific States of North America, Vol. XXXI. Popular Tribunals, Vol. I. San Francisco: The History Company. Pp. 749. $5.