Popular Science Monthly/Volume 35/July 1889/Literary Notices
The American Commonwealth. By James Bryce, M.P. London and New York: Macmillan & Co. Two Volumes. Price, $6.
The comprehensiveness and importance of Mr. Bryce's book place it with Von Hoist's great work in the first rank of treatises on the political institutions of America. It is not a history, though its statements are elucidated here and there by historical material; it is not a treatise on constitutional law, though the general character and notable features of the Federal and the several State Constitutions are pointed out; its fifteen hundred pages comprise an account of the present condition of the American nation. In the words of the author, "There are three main things that one wishes to know about a national commonwealth, viz., its framework and constitutional machinery, the methods by which it is worked, the forces which move it and direct its course." These three things it has been his task to tell about the United States. Part I deals with the three divisions of the Federal Government—the executive, the legislative, and the judicial. It describes the relations of the national power to the several States. It discusses the nature of the Constitution and shows how this stable instrument has been in a few points expressly, in many others tacitly and half-unconsciously, modified. Part II deals similarly with the State governments. There is also given some account of the systems of rural and city government which have been created in the various States. Mr. Bryce commends our rural governments, but condemns the government of our cities as "the one conspicuous failure of the United States." Part III contains a sketch of the party system and of the men who "run" it. The author is conscious of especial difficulties in making such a sketch, because the system is so different from what a study of the Constitution would suggest, because there are no existing authorities on the subject, and knowledge must be gleaned from news-paper articles, conversation, and a variety of occurrences, which together constitute a floating and uneven basis for the work. But what Mr. Bryce deems the most difficult and most vital part of his task is to describe public opinion in America, and this subject forms Part IV. Public opinion, he says, "stands above the parties, being cooler and larger-minded than they are; it awes party leaders and holds in check party organizations. No one openly ventures to resist it. It determines the direction and the character of national policy. It is the product of a greater number of minds than in any other country, and it is more indisputably sovereign." In order to illustrate the statements made in treating of parties and public opinion, the author gives in Part V accounts of the Tweed Ring, the Philadelphia Gas Ring, and Kearnyism. He follows these with discussions of territorial extension, the laissez-faire doctrine, and women's suffrage, and then passes to an estimate of the strength and weakness of democratic government as it exists in the United States, and a comparison of the facts with European speculation about democracy in general. Part VI is of a somewhat different character from the preceding portions of the work, dealing with the social institutions of the United States, but these, as the author says, "count for so much in the total life of the country, in the total impression which it makes and the hopes for the future which it raises, that they can not be left unnoticed." In footnotes and appendixes to both volumes much matter illustrative of the text is supplied. Among these materials are an account of "the lobby," and a newspaper description of a scene in a presidential nominating convention. Mr. Bryce is not inclined to credit so much influence to democracy in making America what it is as preceding writers have done, or as Americans are fond of doing. "A close analysis of social and political phenomena," he says, "often shows us that causes are more complex than had at first appeared." He finds many things to condemn in our political system, as any honest critic must, but he is not pessimistic in regard to our future. He is convinced of "the existence in the American people of a reserve of force and patriotism more than sufficient to sweep away all the evils which are now tolerated, and to make the politics of the country worthy of its material grandeur and of the private virtues of its inhabitants. America excites an admiration which must be felt upon the spot to be understood. The hopefulness of her people communicates itself to one who moves among them, and makes him perceive that the graver faults of politics may be far less dangerous there than they would be in Europe. A hundred times in writing this book have I been disheartened by the facts I was stating; a hundred times has the recollection of the abounding strength and vitality of the nation chased away these tremors." If there is not much in these volumes that the well-informed American is not aware of, there is a great deal in them that Americans do not sufficiently think of, while to the English reader it furnishes a broad, truthful, appreciative view of the great republic of the New World.
The History of Ancient Civilization. Edited by Rev. J. Verschoyle. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 295. Price, $1.75.
This hand-book is intended to give a comprehensive view of ancient civilization in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and other quarters of "the East," as well as in Greece and Rome, in order to bring them out in their relations with one another and show the chain of dependence, without an understanding of which their succession and development can not be adequately comprehended. The civilization of Rome, "which was the outcome of corporate action," was most largely influenced by that of Greece, which was "the outcome of individual thought," and this runs back into the various civilizations of the East. The precise nature and extent of the influence of these civilizations upon Grecian development have not been defined, but are at this moment more than ever before the subject of active study. The author does not attempt to measure them, but gives comprehensive though succinct descriptions of the civilizations so far as they have been made out, beginning with "the beginnings of civilization," and bringing under review in succession, "The Monuments and Art of Egypt," "The Babylonians and Assyrians," "The Religion and Social State of the Jews," "Phœnician Commerce," and "The Civilization of the Aryans, Hindoos, and Persians." Greek civilization is treated under the heads of "Religion," "Politics," "Literature and Art," and "The Diffusion of Greek Genius"; "The Roman World" under those of "The Republic," "The Conquests of Rome—Transformation of the Republic," "Roman Society under the Empire," and "Latin Literature and Art." The work is based on M. Ducoudray's "Histoire sommaire de la Civilisation"; but, while a translation was made by an experienced hand, it can not, in its present form, be called a translation, for a large part of it has been rewritten.
How to study Geography. By Francis W. Parker. International Education Series, Vol. X. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 400. Price, $1 50.
The equipment of the teacher must include both an understanding of educational theory and an acquaintance with educational practice. The present volume, as indicated by its title, is designed to contribute to the latter of these qualifications. It consists of plain and detailed directions for teaching a knowledge of the earth's surface. The general forms of river basins are first taught with the aid of diagrams. The structure of each of the continents is then shown in the same way. Next, attention is drawn to a large number of points which together give a view of the world as a whole, among these being the relative positions of the continents, relations of continents to oceans, distribution of heat, ocean currents, winds, distribution of moisture, of vegetation, of animals, of races of men, and of minerals, and political divisions. A brief outline of a course of study is given, and this is followed by a chapter of general suggestions and directions. One direction which the author ranks above all others is that the pupil should form the habit of "locating every place, natural feature and country, mentioned in reading and study," the best chance for this being found in the study of history. He indorses the use of relief maps, after considering the objections to them, and recommends map-drawing. He maintains that "in the art of questioning is concentrated the art of teaching," hence the "Notes on the Course of Study," which occupy about half of the volume, largely consist of questions. These may be used as they stand by the teacher in giving lessons, and should also serve the higher purpose of a model from which the teacher may learn the art of original questioning. The course of study is marked out in grades, and the "Notes" are followed by a list of books and maps suitable for supplementary reading and reference in each grade. Essays on "Spring Studies in Nature," "Weather Observations," "The Study of Geography," and "Relief Maps and their Construction," by various writers, are appended. This book can not fail to be an important aid to the teacher in changing geography lessons from a mere drudgery for the memory to a real study of the earth's surface.
The Mind of the Child, Part II. The Development of the Intellect. By W. Preyer. Translated from the German by H. W. Brown. New York: D. Appleton & Co. "International Education Series." Pp. 317. Price, $1.50.
The former volume of the relation of Prof. Preyer's investigations on the mind of the child contained those parts devoted to the development of the senses and of the will. The present volume contains a third part, which treats of the development of the intellect. Three appendixes are added, containing supplementary matter. The author, considering that the development of the power of using language is the most prominent index to the unfolding of the intellect, devotes the greater part of the volume to that branch of the subject. The question whether there can be thought without words, which Max Müller has made a living one, holds a first place in the discussion. The author's opinion on this subject is clear and expressed without reserve, and is opposed to the view which Dr. Müller maintains. The thinker, who has long since forgotten the time when he himself learned to speak, can not give a decided answer to the question; for he can not admit that he has been thinking without words, "not even when he has caught himself arriving at a logical result without a continuity in his expressed thought. . . . But the child not yet acquainted with verbal language, who has not been prematurely artificialized by training and by suppression of his own attempts to express his states of mind, who learns of himself to think, just as he learns of himself to see and hear—such a child shows plainly to the attentive observer that long before knowledge of the word as a means of understanding among men, and long before the first successful attempt to express himself in articulate words—nay, long before learning the pronunciation of a single word, he combines ideas in a logical manner—i. e., he thinks." This position is sustained by numerous illustrations and citations of incidents; and the case of uneducated deaf-mutes is regarded as demonstrating that thought-activity exists without words, and without signs for words. In our own only half-remembered experiences, the author says, "it was not language that generated the intellect; it is the intellect that formerly invented language; and even now the new-born human being brings with him into the world far more intellect than talent for language." The acquisition of speech belongs to the unsolved physiological problems. As a help to the investigation, a parallel is drawn between the child that does not yet speak and the diseased adult who no longer has command of language, in the light of which the organic conditions of learning to speak are considered, with important physiological results. The development of speech in the child during the first three years is described from observations on the author's own infant. The growth of the feeling of self, or the "I" feeling, is examined in a like manner; and the results are summarized, particularly as they bear upon the theory of the formation of concepts without language. In the appendixes are given "Comparative Observations concerning the Acquirement of Speech by German and Foreign Children"; "Notes concerning Lacking, Defective, and Arrested Mental Development in the First Years of Life"; and reports of several cases illustrating the process of learning to see, on the part of persons born blind, but acquiring sight through surgical treatment. A full conspectus, showing the results of Prof. Preyer's observations in a chronological order, arranged by months, is added by the translator, and very greatly augments the value of the book.
Popular Lectures and Addresses. By Sir William Thomson. In Three Volumes. Vol. I. Constitution of Matter. With Illustrations. London and New York: Macmillan & Co. Pp. 460. Price, $2.
The first lecture included in this volume deals with capillary attraction, explaining with the aid of diagrams the action of the forces which produce capillary phenomena. There are two lectures on electrical measurements: one describing how the units in present use have been arrived at and pointing out certain things in relation to them which should be advanced and perfected; the other dealing mainly with the construction of electrometers. The collection contains an extended discussion of the size of atoms, and an address entitled "Steps toward a Kinetic Theory of Matter." The most popular address in the volume is entitled "The Six Gateways of Knowledge, "and deals with the senses, including among them the temperature-sense. Prof. Thomson says there is no evidence for the existence of a magnetic sense. Another attractive paper to the general reader is a lecture on the wave theory of light, delivered in Philadelphia. There are two lectures on the sun's heat, one of which considers the probable limits to the periods of time past and future during which the sun can be reckoned on as a source of heat and light. The second volume of this series will include subjects connected with geology, and the third will be chiefly concerned with phenomena of the ocean and with maritime affairs.
Seventh Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey to the Secretary of the Interior—1885-'86. By J. W. Powell, Director. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 656, with Plates.
The report begins with an explanation of the purposes of the geographic division of the survey and the object of the topographic maps and methods of preparing them. In the geologic division the adoption of a scheme of taxonomic representation that shall be comprehensive and susceptible of extension as new features come to light is shown to be important. The perfection of the work of the survey has made necessary the establishment of accessory divisions of paleontology, chemistry, microscopic petrography, statistics and technology, forestry, and illustrations; and, in order that needed facilities may be provided for the consultation of the results obtained by other geologists, a library of 17,255 books, 19,600 pamphlets, and 9,000 maps, has been collected. Topographic surveys were carried on during the year over 81,829 square miles, at an average cost of about $2.75 per square mile. In the distribution of the work, the investigation of the archæan rocks has been conducted under the direction of Prof. Raphael Pumpelly; investigations of the Atlantic coast, including changes of level, by Prof. Shaler; in the Appalachian region, by Mr. G. K. Gilbert; in the Lake Superior region, by Prof. R. D. Irving; in Glacial Geology, by Prof. T. C. Chamberlin; in Montana, Yellowstone Park, Colorado, California, Volcanic Geology, the Lower Mississippi region (iron and other ores, sulphur and salt deposits, etc.), Potomac River and the head of Chesapeake Bay, by Dr. Hayden, Arnold Hague, S. F. Emmons, G. F. Becker, Captain Button, L. C Johnson, and W J McGee, respectively. In other branches of the studies, the surveys have been continued under the several specialists who have had them in charge in previous years. The special papers contained in this volume—fruits of the division surveys already named—are: "The Rock-Scorings of the Great Ice Invasion," by T. C. Chamberlin;" Obsidian Cliff, Yellowstone National Park," by J. P. Iddings; "Geology of Martha's Vineyard," by Prof. Shaler; "Classification of the Early Cambrian and Pre-Cambrian Formations," by R. D. Irving; "Structure of the Triassic Formation of the Connecticut Valley," by W. M. Davis; "Salt making Processes in the United States," by T. M, Chatard; and "Geology of the Head of Chesapeake Bay," by W J McGee.
Profit-Sharing between Employer and Employee. By Nicholas P. Gilman. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Pp. 460. Price, $1.75.
The wide extent which labor troubles have reached in the past few years, and the great loss and misery which they have caused, give importance to a scheme which promises to be in any measure a remedy for them. The present volume, which is the only recent work giving a comprehensive account of its subject, is devoted chiefly to a history of profit-sharing. Accounts of experience with the system in business houses of continental Europe occupy three chapters, the first of which is a sketch of "the father of profitsharing," M. Leclaire, and his house. In the other two chapters the operation of the system in paper-making, typographical industries, cotton and woolen factories, iron, brass, and steel works, insurance, banking, and transportation companies, retail establishments, agriculture, and various other industries is described. A chapter is devoted to profit-sharing in England, and another to American experience with the system. Cases in which the system has been abandoned are grouped in another chapter, the reasons for abandonment being given in each case. The author has prefixed to this history an exposition of the present standing of profit-sharing, a brief introduction, a chapter on product-sharing, which is concerned with the conduct of agriculture, fisheries, and mining "on shares," and another on such aspects of the wages system as concern his theme. In two concluding chapters he gives a summary and analysis of the results which have been so far attained, and follows this with a statement of the argument for profit-sharing. The essence of his argument is thus stated: "Profit-sharing advances the prosperity of an establishment by increasing the quantity of the product, by improving its quality, by promoting care of implements and economy of materials, and by diminishing labor difficulties and the cost of superintendence." A bibliography of the subject is appended.
The Complete Works of Rowland G. Hazard. Edited by his Granddaughter, Caroline Hazard. Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Four Vols. Pp. 416, 410, 380, 504. Price, $2 a volume.
Mr. Hazard was a man engaged busily in manufactures and commerce, who found time to think of questions of political economy and metaphysics, and wrote well and vigorously upon them. While his discussions usually went back to fundamental principles and were rather abstract, those on economical subjects at least were practical enough to be applicable to questions of the day; and it is mentioned by Prof. G. P. Fisher that in the financial exigencies that arose during the civil war his observations were more than once influential upon the proceedings of Secretaries of the Treasury. He was born, of Quaker descent, in 1801, and lived, excepting thirteen years spent in Pennsylvania, at Peacedale, in Rhode Island, where he was engaged in the woolen manufacture. For ten consecutive years he traveled in the South, in the interest of his business. In the course of these journeys he took up the cause of Northern colored men who were detained at New Orleans in the chain-gang; and, having resolved to secure their release, may be said to have bearded the slave-power in its den and fought it victoriously in its own courts. It is illustrative of the condition of American thought and feeling at the time, that it was deemed expedient, when this matter was referred to several years afterward, to suppress the name of the chief actor, in order that he might not come too directly under public reproach. But Mr. Hazard regarded the episode as the greatest effort of his life. He died June 24, 1888, carrying his taste for the discussion of abstruse questions of metaphysics into the last hours of his life. Mr. Hazard's papers, which were first published as public addresses, in periodicals, or in book form—while some of them have never before been published—are grouped in these four volumes in as many sets, each having its distinctive character. In the volume containing the portrait and "Biographical Preface," the most important paper is on "Language," the first essay which the author produced, and one which, as he averred, contained the germs of all his writings. It attracted the attention of Dr. Channing, and was the origin of a lasting friendship between the two. Of the other papers the most notable are those on "The Adaptation of the Universe to the Cultivation of the Mind"; "The Bible," now for the first time published; "Intemperance"; "The Public Schools"; and "The Duty of Individuals to support Science and Literature." A second volume of "Economics and Politics" contains papers on public questions. The first of them, on the "Decline of Political Morality," is as good reading and as pertinent now as when it was spoken immediately after the election of the elder Harrison in 18-10. The others were related to questions of their time, such as the "Fugitive-Slave Law"; matters concerning railroads and their charges; "The Tariff"; "Bribery;" "Hours of Labor"; and questions of finance and policy that arose during the war or have arisen since. A third volume comprises the book "Freedom of Mind in Willing," which was first published by D. Appleton & Co. in 1864. It was prepared at the suggestion of Dr. Charming, as an answer to the position of Edwards, and is preceded by an analysis by Prof. G. P. Fisher of the author's philosophical writings. The fourth volume contains the letters on "Causation and Free Will," which were addressed to John Stuart Mill, with their appendixes, the "Existence of Matter" and "Our Notions of Infinite Space"; "Animals not Automata," which first appeared in this magazine, and discourses on "Man a Creative First Cause."
Some Chapters on Judaism and the Science of Religion. By Rabbi Louis Grossmann, D. D. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 190. Price, $1.50.
The author attempts to sketch in this volume a few agreements which he discerns as already noticeable between historical Judaism and the present science of religion, leading up to the thought that the science of religion is the science of Judaism—or, as he otherwise expresses himself, that the results of the science of religion and the doctrines of Judaism overlap each other. He first aims to show that religion is intuitive, or that the religious feeling is native and common to all men; that it is spontaneous, by which is meant that the feeling, having been suggested by intuition, is made active and manifests itself in some form of personification. In the chapter on "The Universal Religion and the Sects," religion is treated as in some sort a growth and an adaptation. A distinction is drawn between religion and theology: "Religion is a child of our heart, theology is a creation of our mind. . . . Religion is eternal; theology a make-shift, which the exigencies of time and the compelling agents of Providence may throw into a useless heap." The relations of prophecy and the value of religious books are considered. The standard of morality, theories of ethics, and the relations of religion and knowledge, are discussed. The relations of Judaism are treated of under the headings of its history and the foreign elements in Judaism. The book is full of suggestion, but the peculiarities of its thought and style make very careful reading essential to the proper appreciation of it.
The Indians: Their Manners and Customs. By John McLean. With Eighteen Illustrations. Toronto: William Brings. Pp. 351.
The information embodied in this book is based upon a nine years' residence of the author as a missionary among the Blood Indians of the Canadian Northwest, and some facts of a historical nature have been obtained from other sources. Finding that many of the books about the Indians are of' a sensational character, he has endeavored' to write an account that should be reliable and at the same time interesting. A large number of topics are touched upon, including family, war, and social customs, religions, languages, legends, and traditions, modes of communication, and Indian oratory. Sketches are given of Tecumseh, Red Jacket, and other Indian heroes, and there is a chapter consisting of frontier tales of adventure. The author tells of the results achieved by the missionaries in Christianizing and civilizing the Indians, and gives his ideas on the Indian problem. "Hand, head, and heart training must go together," he says, "in elevating the Indian race." Many respects in which the Indians are commonly misjudged are pointed out in this volume, and a large store of material is furnished from which an intelligent opinion of these people may be formed.
The Story of Happinolande and other Legends. By Oliver Bell Bunce. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 188. Price, 25 cents.
These are nineteenth-century legends, or essays they might be called, for the embodiment of story in each case is subordinate to the thought which it contains. They are of a critical character, but far from being ill-natured or pessimistic, and are attractive in style. "The Story of Happinolande" calls attention very forcibly to the fact that the necessity of providing for our own wants is the only thing that makes us consent to supply the wants of others, and that without this necessity the industrial system of the world could not exist. In "A Millionaire's Millions" a would-be public benefactor is gradually forced to the conviction that, for improving the condition of the poor, ideas are more powerful than money, and that a stimulus to industry and economy accomplishes the beneficent purpose which almsgiving only defeats. Certain schemes and tendencies which have recently attracted public attention, especially in New York city, are also critically examined, "The City Beautiful" is an ideal, which will stimulate the reader to do his share toward realizing it; while the closing story, "John's Attic," is an ideal of a "home beautiful" adapted to moderate circumstances.
Prof. David O'Brine has published a second edition, rewritten, of A Laboratory Guide in Chemical Analysis (Wiley, $2). In its present form the book comprises, first, a chapter giving the preparation, tests, and uses of each of the reagents employed; next, a description of tests in the dry way, including those specially applicable to minerals. The tests in the wet way for the bases are then described, and there is a page on separation by electrolysis, which is followed by the methods for separating the acids. The next chapter comprises tables showing, first, the reactions of the bases, then those of the acids, with the usual reagents, which are followed by a brief summary of the leading laws and principles of chemistry. Methods for the examination of water and the detection of various poisons are given, and the closing chapter deals with general stochiometry.
The treatise on The Lixiviation of Silver-Ores with Hyposulphite Solutions, by Carl A. Stetefeldt (The Scientific Publishing Company), is offered to metallurgists as a clear, complete description of the lixiviation process in its most improved modern form. Special prominence has been accorded to the Russell process as practically standing for the lixiviation of to-day. The author deals first with the chemistry of the process, describing the chemicals used, giving the reactions of the sodium hyposulphite and the extra solutions, and telling in some detail the solubilities of metals and various compounds in sodium hyposulphite solutions. This part includes also the chemistry of the wash-water, and of sodium and calcium sulphide, and a chapter on laboratory work. In the part of the volume devoted to the practical carrying out of the process, a minute description of the arrangement of the plant is given, with detailed drawings, dimensions, and estimates of the cost of erecting and running the mill. The making of the solutions, the charging and discharging of the vats, the treatment of roasted and raw ores, and the precipitation of the metals from a lixiviation solution receive attention in turn. The closing chapter is a comparison of results of the Russell process with those of ordinary lixiviation and of amalgamation. The author reports that he has found it difficult to obtain correct statistics of the lixiviation process, but he expects to issue supplements that will place the statistics upon as sound a basis as the chemistry of the subject rests upon. The first of these supplements accompanies our copy of the work; it contains some corrections and results from the Yedras Mill, Sinaloa, Mexico.
The Elementary Biology prepared by R. J. Harvey Gibson, M. A. (Longmans, $1.75), is a text-book adapted to college students. It opens with a brief summary of the principal conclusions of physics and chemistry, dwelling especially upon those laws on which biology immediately rests. Many speculations and explanations in regard to the relationship of morphological and physiological details to general principles have been introduced, because the author is convinced that "working hypotheses not only serve to weave apparently isolated facts together, but give a certain vividness and interest to what would otherwise prove too often a bare and lifeless catalogue of data." He has made the botanical aspect of biology predominate over the animal in this book, because he deems the former from its simplicity more suited to elementary study, and because the latter has been abundantly treated by other authors. The book contains 192 cuts.
Among the late "Bulletins" of the United States Geological Survey are No. 40, on Changes in River Courses in Washington Territory due to Glaciation, by Bailey Willis, with maps; No. 41, The Fossil Faunas of the Upper Devonian—the Genesee Section, New York, by Henry S. Williams; No. 42, Report of the Work done in the division of Chemistry and Physics (1885-'86), by F. W. Clarke; No. 43, On the Tertiary and Cretaceous Strata of the Tuscaloosa, Tombigbee, and Alabama Rivers, by Eugene A. Smith and Lawrence C. Johnson; No. 44, Bibliography of North American Geology for 1886, by Nelson H. Barton; No. 45, Present Condition of Knowledge of the Geology of Texas, by Robert T. Hill; No. 46,The Nature and Origin of Deposits of Phosphate of Lime, by R. A. F. Penrose, Jr., with an introduction by Prof. Shaler, and a bibliography; and No 47, Analysis of Waters of the Yellowstone National Park, with an Account of the Methods of Analysis employed, by Frank Austin Gooch and James Edward Whitfeld.
Of two recent geological essays by W J McGee, Notes on the Geology of Macon County, Missouri, embodies the results of a survey which was made preliminary to putting down a prospect bore; and Dynamical Geology relates to certain fundamental definitions growing out of the discrimination of processes commonly confounded but really distinct.
A little manual of Deductive Logic has been issued by St. George Stock, M. A. (Longmans, $1 25). The author remarks in his preface that one critic who examined his book in manuscript advised him not to publish it, because it was too like all other logics, while another advised him to cut out a considerable amount of new matter, lie followed the latter advice, and hopes that he has at least escaped the guilt of wanton innovation. His object has been "to produce a work which should be as thoroughly representative of the present state of the logic of the Oxford schools as any of the text-books of the past." As a qualification for his task, he refers to seventeen years of study and teaching of the subject at Oxford. A collection of exercises is appended. The volume is made in a neat and convenient form.
The most noticeable characteristic of Cram's Standard American Atlas of the World (George F. Cram, New York, $10.50) is its unconventional handiness. On the front cover is an index of the United States, Canada, and Mexico maps, and the pages referred to here and in the full index inside the volume can be readily found, as the leaves are printed on both sides, either with maps or letterpress. The volume contains maps of all the States and Territories of the United States, which, it is stated on the title-page, "are the largest scale and clearest print of any atlas maps published." There are also maps of the various divisions of Canada, the other countries of North America, Europe and its countries, South America, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the chief island groups of the world, and twenty-two maps of American cities. Each State map is accompanied by an index of its towns and villages, with information in regard to location, population, post offices, railways, etc. At the end of the book are twenty pages of "curiosities of statistics," and six pages of colored statistical diagrams. We have found with very little search a number of errors in its maps and its figures of population.
An American edition of Sonnenschein's Cyclopædia of Education, edited by Alfred E. Fletcher, is published by Bardeen ($3.75) It comprises a wide variety of pedagogical, psychological, historical, descriptive, and biographical articles, by such writers as Oscar Browning J. S. Curwen, James Donaldson, Sir Philip Magnus, David Salmon, Arthur Sidgwick, and James Sully. A bibliography of education, occupying thirty-four pages, is appended.
A History of Education in North Carolina, by Charles Lee Smith, is published by the United States Bureau of Education as one of its "Circulars of Information," among which it forms one of a series of "Contributions to American Educational History," under the editorial direction of Herbert B. Adams. In this essay, as Commissioner Dawson remarks, the writer has traced the genesis and development of education in North Carolina from the first settlement of that State to the present time; and for that purpose has examined the colonial records, the early laws of the State, works in pubic libraries, and private collections and personal correspondence, by the aid of which he has made a very satisfactory presentment of the story. While the history of primary and secondary instruction has not been neglected, the higher education has been principally treated in the sketch. The influence of certain classes of immigration and of institutions outside of the State is shown. Facts concerning noted educators are brought out. A full account of the University of North Carolina and of its influence on the South is given. In the picture of the present status of education in the State, we have been particularly interested in the story of what has been achieved since the war, and with the accounts of education among the colored people. One flourishing institution, Livingstone College, of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, is wholly the product of their effort. The views of buildings, which are prominent in the volume, help illustrate how fast a hold the architectural idea still keeps in education.
Another of the Educational Bureau's circulars comprises a paper on Industrial Education in the South, by the Rev. A. D. Mayo. A general discussion of the conditions of American and Southern life leads to a consideration of the need of industrial training to improve those conditions, not only in the shops and on the farms, but in the home too; and to a review of the provisions that have been made to furnish such training. These seem to be good, so far as they have been made, to be distributed with fair evenness among the States, and to be afforded in such institutions as Tulane University and Washington University on a liberal and efficient scale.
Included in the Proceedings of the Department of Superintendence of the National Educational Association, at its meeting in Washington in February, 1888, are papers and discussions on "Manual Training in the Public Schools," "County Institutes," "Elocution," "Qualifications of Teachers," "Normal Schools," "Moral Training," "Can School Programmes be shortened and enriched?" "Alaska," the relations of "Superintendents and Teachers," and "National Aid to Education."
The Massachusetts Society for promoting Good Citizenship (Boston) issues as its first "Circular of Information" a report of the Committee upon Courses of Reading and Study on Works on Civil Government. The report contains a list of text-books recommended for schools, each accompanied by a descriptive and critical note, showing the scope and value of the book; a list of other text-books, with notes; a list of brief commentaries and similar books recommended; and a list of less valuable or more bulky commentaries and books of reference.
The fifth of the "Monographs" of the Industrial Education Association consists of a study, in the history of pedagogy, of Aspects of Education, by Mr. Oscar Browning. The author reviews the various shapes in which interest in education has manifested itself since the middle ages, with the factors which have influenced or worked to change them—ending with the present aspect, which he seems to regard as largely the following of Dr. Arnold's labors at Rugby School,
Hints for Teachers of Physiology, by H. P. Bowditch, M. D. (D. C. Heath & Co.), is No. 14 of the Boston Society of Natural History's "Guides for Science-Teaching." It furnishes suggestions for supplementing the instructions of the text-books by means of simple observations and experiments on living bodies or on organic material, for which teachers will need no other apparatus than is within their easy reach. Price, 25 cents.
The Training of Nurses, an address before the Michigan State Board of Charities and Correction, by Dr. Hal C. Wyman, gives a clear picture of what the ideal nurse should be, and of the manner in which she should perform the duties of her office.
The Seaside and Wayside series of readers, by Julia McNair Wright, has reached its third number (Heath, 55 cents). The present volume is similar in character to the two which preceded it, the lessons dealing with plants, insects, birds, and fishes.
It inspires confidence in Mr. Benjamin Y. Conklin's text-book of English Grammar and Composition (Appleton, 75 cents) to find the author saying in his "hints to teachers": "In teaching grammar, it should never be forgotten that the real object is to teach pupils how to speak and to write the English language correctly, and how to read it intelligently. Analysis and parsing are only means to this end." The theory of the book is the gradual development of the sentence, beginning with its simplest form and adding new elements one after another. The learning of the proper forms which are required by the relations of words in sentences is deferred until the pupils have become familiar with the nature and office of the different parts of speech. The author states that he "has endeavored to avoid an excess of language-work on the one hand, and too much formal parsing and analysis on the other." The questions on the lessons are designed to cause the pupil to construct his own answers. Instead of the usual examples of false syntax, exercises are given for filling blanks in sentences by supplying the correct forms of the needed words. But, for teachers who desire to use the former, a collection is given in an appendix. The book is intended to compass the entire range of a two-book course.