# Popular Science Monthly/Volume 29/September 1886/Literary Notices

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The Elements of Economics. By H. D. Macleod. Vol II, Part I. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1886. Pp. 376. Price, 81.75.
This is a work that departs widely from current economic doctrine. It is an attempt to reconstitute the science solely upon the basis of the law of supply and demand; and, while this may not at first sight seem a very novel proceeding, the results arrived at certainly differ greatly from those commonly taught. The main thesis to the support of which the author brings much ingenuity of argument is that debt or credit is wealth—not in the sense of being a representative of existing wealth, but a distinct addition thereto, and he holds that the too narrow conception of wealth heretofore held by economists has incapacitated them for dealing with the complicated phenomena of modern credit in any satisfactory way. The conclusion that debt or credit is wealth is a direct consequence of his definition of wealth, which he maintains is anything which is exchangeable whose value can be measured in money.
All property consists of rights, whether to material things, one's own labor, or to a participation in the future profits of any ​undertaking. A debt as an exchangeable commodity is simply a "right of action." It lies wholly in the future; but it has a present value; and when put in the form of a negotiable instrument can be bought and sold equally with any material commodity. As instruments of credit can be multiplied indefinitely beyond existing material property, they form a distinct addition to existing wealth.
All wealth being produced in order to be exchanged, the problem of economics, according to our author, is to determine the conditions in conformity with which exchanges take place—that is the law of value. In arriving at this he sweeps aside the doctrine that value is due to labor, or is determined by the cost of production. Cost of production is simply the lower limit below which the value of anything can not stay for any considerable time and the thing continue to be produced. The labor embodied in anything bears no definite relation to its value. Many valuable things have no labor whatever associated with them. The sole cause of value, the author contends, is demand. If anything will exchange for something else, it has value; if it can not be exchanged, it has no value. Value, therefore, is not something which resides in a thing, but is given to it by the consumer. The same thing may consequently have very different values in different times and places. Value always being a ratio—a relation between two things—it follows that intrinsic value is a contradiction. The search for an invariable standard of value which is based upon the conception of intrinsic value is a wholly futile proceeding. Money may, indeed, be a measure of value—that is, the medium in terms of which all other values are reckoned—and this is quite sufficient. An invariable standard of value is not only unobtainable, but would be wholly useless if it were obtainable.
With these two postulates, that anything is wealth which can be bought and sold, and that the value of anything depends solely upon the relation between supply and demand, the author undertakes a consideration of the various problems of the science. We can not here undertake to follow him in his exposition, but will simply indicate the scope of his inquiry. The first volume, which was published some five years ago, is mainly devoted to establishing his propositions with regard to wealth and value. As if afraid to get too far away from the economists of acknowledged position, he fortifies himself at every step by numerous quotations from their works, showing that they have at one time or another admitted the validity of his own position. In the present volume, which closes his discussion of "Pure Economics," he considers the relation of labor to value, and the conditions affecting the wages of labor. He scouts the wage-fund theory, and contends, in agreement with various other economical writers, that the wages of labor come out of production; but he has nothing hopeful to offer to wage-workers, simply contenting himself with admonishing them to keep their numbers down.
Upon the subject of the rent of land, the author is quite at variance with the most authoritative economic teaching. He has small respect for the Ricardian theory, and maintains that Ricardo has uniformly inverted cause and effect. He does not see that land offers any special feature that takes it out of the realm of other economic quantities. The owner of a piece of land has the right to the successive crops forever, and its purchase-price is simply the summation of the present value of the successive future returns. The rent of land is simply the interest on the purchase-price.
Rights, or incorporeal wealth, the foreign exchanges, the currency, Law's theory of paper money, and a consideration of the legislation affecting the Bank of England, make up the remainder of the volume.
Proceedings of the Colorado Scientific Society. Vol. II. Part I. 1885. Denver, Colorado. Pp. 36. Price, 50 cents.
The most important paper in the report is the address of the retiring president, Richard Pearce, on the growth and work of the society, particularly as they are related to the interests of Colorado. It claims that the science of mineralogy has been especially benefited by the society's labors, through which a great many additions have been made to the list of strictly Western minerals. The most important achievement is the discovery of three distinct new minerals.
Psychology: The Cognitive Powers. By James McCosh, D. D., LL. D., Litt. D. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. 1886. Pp. 245. Price, $1.50.
The author says in his preface: "For the last thirty-four years I have been teaching psychology. . . . From year to year I have been improving my course, and I claim to have advanced with the times." No one acquainted with Dr. McCosh's earlier treatises would deny upon examining this one that he has "advanced." The trouble is, he has not advanced fast enough nor far enough—"the times" have distanced him in the race; and, after we have given all due credit, we have to confess to ourselves that this latest work leaves us with the consciousness of a good deal to be desired. We suppose the author would maintain that his account of the cognitive powers is scientific. But at the very outset a suspicion is cast upon its scientific character by the opening sentence: "Psychology is the science of the soul. . . . By soul is meant that self of which every one is conscious." Now, we fear Dr. McCosh's Scotch fondness for theological battles has interfered in this case with that simplicity of truth which the faithful expositor of science ought to exhibit in his statements. The implications of the word soul extend much further than is indicated. Dr. Reid expressed them when he said, "It is a primitive belief that the thinking principle is something different from the bodily organism, and, when we wish to signalize its peculiar nature and destiny, we call it soul or spirit." In a word, soul has reference distinctively to mind as immortal or as capable of existing independently of the present bodily organism. This meaning is not openly declared by Dr. McCosh, but by the use of the term an argument is quietly instilled into the mind of the reader. President Porter, who also calls psychology the "science of the soul," is much more frank in his exposition. But, certainly, inasmuch as the immortality of the soul is something which we all hope psychology will demonstrate as a result of the examination of mental processes and powers, would it not be more satisfactory to every one and add to the value of our researches if we did not start out with assuming the point to be proved? This same disposition to study mind for the purpose of substantiating some theory crops out all too noticeably throughout the whole work. To refer again to the preface, we are informed that idealism and agnosticism are to be exploded, and, as we go on, the claws of polemical metaphysics protrude far too often for the scientific value of the book. The writer is fond of "laying down" positions which "deliver us" from great philosophical errors of the day. No doubt they do, but the warrant for laying them down is unfortunately not always so plain as the eagerness to establish them.
This is a very serious defect. Besides, although we find much to approve in particular statements, the latest, the clearest, the best results of psychological study are not brought out nor recognized as they should be. The same cloudiness and contradiction which perplex the student in the "Intuitions of the Mind" annoy us here. The classification of mental powers and their modes of exercise is cumbrous and antiquated. It is not so good as that of Sir William Hamilton, and is inferior to that of President Porter. We have, for example, no less than "six different capacities" of the representative powers, among which is placed association. But association is as much concerned with presentative knowledge as it is with representative; and even the old divisions of reproductive and productive imagination or memory and imagination would be quite sufficient to cover all not included under association. Moreover, it is very confusing to find afterward as distinct powers the comparative, including the apprehension of relations and discursive operations, as if the associative and representative powers were not adequate to explain all these mental acts. Moreover, under the "relations" classified, we notice identity and difference, and then resemblance. Obviously, identity is only complete agreement, and resemblance less complete; while it may be said of the whole catalogue of relations mentioned, that it would certainly be greatly simplified by almost every authority in psychological and logical science.
The treatment of the discursive operations is exceedingly meager, but doubtless the author thinks this should be left for logic. The exposition of sense-perception is ​in the main good. Here the work is least anachronistic. We are glad to see that Dr. McCosh enunciates clearly that sensation and perception go together, there being no sensation without perception. We wish he had also made evident the fact that there can be no perception without representation. There is some useful information in the finer print notes, and the student ought not to overlook it. This last is true of other parts of the book as well.
However much fault we may be disposed to find with this treatise, considered as a scientific account of the cognitive powers, we think no one can deny that it contains much valuable moral didactic. The dangers of novel-reading are vividly portrayed; "some even of our Sabbath-school stories" tend "to dissipate and weaken the mind." Attention is called to the fact that "those who would allure the thoughtless know well how to set off sin and folly by theatrical accompaniments, by the setting of cut flowers which look pretty by night, but which are faded on the morrow"; and warnings are uttered in great profusion against evil habits of all sorts. This is, of course, very excellent. It makes the book a safe one to put in the hands of youth. It also adds to its merit that we can unreservedly say, as the critic whom Leslie Stephen quotes in the preface to his "Science of Ethics" remarked of Dr. Watts's sermons, that there is nothing in President McCosh's work "calculated to call a blush to the cheek of modesty."
Manual Training. By Charles H. Ham. New York: Harper & Brothers. Pp. 403, with Illustrations.
Contributions to the Tertiary Geology and Paleontology of the United-States. By Angelo Heilprin, Professor of Invertebrate Paleontology at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Philadelphia: Published by the Author. 1884. Pp. 117.
Professor Heilprin has, in the present volume, made a valuable addition to the literature on this subject.
Besides offering a general systematic review and analysis of the formation taken as a whole, a concise statement is given of the geology of the tertiary period in all of those States of the Atlantic and Gulf border where the formation has been determined; each of these States is separately considered.
The second division of the book treats of the relative ages and classification of the post-eocene tertiary deposits of the Atlantic slope; and contains carefully prepared faunal lists of Maryland, Virginia, and North and South Carolina.
The other divisions of the volume relate respectively to the stratigraphical evidence afforded by the tertiary fossils of the peninsula of Maryland; to the occurrence of nummulitic deposits in Florida, and the association of nummulites with a freshwater fauna; a comparison of the tertiary mollusca of the Southeastern United States and Western Europe in relation to the determination of identical forms, and to the age of the Tejon rocks of California, and the occurrence of ammonitic remains in tertiary deposits. A map accompanies the volume.
The whole work bears the mark of careful study and research, and will undoubtedly greatly assist the labor of future workers in this field.
Annual Address. By C. V. Riley, as President of the Entomological Society-of Washington for 1884. Pp. 10.
The society had just closed its first year when this address was delivered (March 18, 1885). The address notices some of the more striking entomological events of the year, and brings forward some general observations that are suggestive. With reference to the Entomological Division of the Agricultural Department, of which Dr. Riley is the head, no one more fully than himself appreciates how far it falls short of his own ideal and of the necessities of the country, or "how difficult it is to build up to that ideal under the unfortunate political unscientific atmosphere that pervades the department. . . . It was to get away from official surroundings, away from the work of the United States entomologist, that the members of the division decided to join in the organization of this society. It was still more to get acquainted with those of kindred tastes outside the department, in Baltimore and elsewhere, as well as in Washington, and to cultivate social intercourse and interchange of views and experience." The various branches of the science are well represented in the society and in the various collections in Washington.
The Climatic Treatment of Disease: Western North Carolina as a Health Resort. By Henry O. Marcy. Pp. 24.
The former subject mentioned in the title is considered in the first fourteen pages of this pamphlet. Concerning the second subject, we have a description of the triangular region between the Blue Ridge and the Smoky Mountains of Northern North Carolina, where, within an area of fifty miles, there are twenty peaks over six thousand feet high; nine tenths of the entire district is an unbroken, primeval forest of the largest growth, chiefly of ​deciouous trees; and not a lake or a swamp is to be found in the entire region. The water is pure and abundant, and sulphur and iron springs are not rare. "One great benefit to invalids of all classes lies in the purity of the air, which the extraordinary forest growth does much to render equable in temperature and moisture. Dust is unknown. The electrical phenomena of the summer storms are exceptional. . . . Notwithstanding the utter disregard of the laws of health by the inhabitants, they are a long-lived race of people."
Kant's Ethics: A Critical Exposition. By Noah Porter. Chicago: S. C. Griggs & Co. Pp. 249. Price, $1.25.
This volume is the fifth of Griggs's series of Philosophical Classics. President Porter enforces the description implied in the title that his treatise is both expository and critical. It proposes first to interpret and then to criticise the principal features of Kant's ethical system, and the one in order to effect the other. In performing his work, the author has thought it best to state the theory very largely in Kant's own language, with such comments as might be required to make it intelligible; and he has done this, both in order that he might be entirely just to Kant himself, and that he might aid the unpracticed student in the task of interpreting the German philosopher. Besides a brief general introduction, President Porter gives a summary or condensed review of the distinctive positions taken by Kant upon the most important topics as compared with those of other writers, and strictures upon Kant by a few German critics.
The Economical Fact-Book and Free-Trader's Guide. Edited by R. R. Bowker. New York: The New York Free-Trade Club. Pp. 151.
This volume is in the main a statement of facts, given in their most concise shape, without varnish, with some statements of opinion in which both sides are represented for guidance in making up the mind on the tariff issue. It is prepared for the furtherance of free-trade principles, which the editor assumes in the introduction, are supported by the facts of history and of present experience, as well as by the principles of economics. In it are a short history of the tariff, quotations from American leaders and party utterances on revenue reform, "Protectionist Points and Free-Trade Facts," and valuable tables. Free trade is admitted to have several shades of meaning. The free-trade cause is said to include the great body of men who oppose the principle of trade-restriction called protection, and whose common aim is to get this "mischievous element" out of the tariff and confine taxes to the support of the Government. This implies a "tariff for revenue only. . . . The immediate steps to this end are the freeing of crude materials from duty at the bottom, and the reduction of excessive duties at the top. All shades of revenue reformers unite in these steps, and are willing that their success should be the test of further advances in freeing trade."
Municipal Administration. By Robert Mathews. Rochester, N. Y. Pp. 16.
This pamphlet embodies the substance of an address delivered before the Fortnightly Club of Rochester. After reviewing the whole subject, the author reaches the conclusions that the misgovernment of cities is due to the imperfections of human nature, imperfections of our election machinery, and mistaken ideas about the proper functions of city government. The reforms needed are proportional representation, business administration, and that elevation of humanity which is both a cause and a consequence of good government.
Bulletin of the United States Geological Survey. Nos. 15 to 26. Washington: Government Printing-Office.
No. 15 is "On the Mesozoic and Cenozoic Fauna of California," by Dr. C. A. White. No. 16 is "On the Higher Devonian Fauna of Ontario County, New York," by J. M. Clarke. No. 17 is "On the Development of Crystallization in the Igneous Rocks of Washoe, Nevada," etc., by Arnold Hague and J. P. Iddings. No. 18 is "On Marine Eocene, Fresh-Water Miocene, and other Fossil Mollusca of Western North America," by Dr. C. A. White. No. 19 is "Notes on the Stratigraphy of California," by George F. Becker. No. 20 is " ​Contributions to the Mineralogy of the Rocky Mountains," by Whitman Cross and W. F. Hillebrand. No. 21 is "The Lignites of the Grand Sioux Reservation," and a "Report on the Region between the Grand and Moreau Rivers, Dakota," by Bailey Willis. No. 22 is "On New Cretaceous Fossils from California," by Charles A. White. No. 23 is "Observations on the Junction between the Eastern Sandstone and the Keweenaw Series on Keweenaw Point," by E. D. Irving and T. C. Chamberlin. These constitute Volume III of the "Bulletin," a volume of 498 pages, with many plates, and are sold separately at five cents each, except No. 20, the price of which is ten cents, and No. 23, fifteen cents. No. 24, which will be the beginning of Volume IV, is a "List of Marine Mollusca, comprising the Quaternary Fossils and Recent Forms from American Localities between Cape Hatteras and Cape Roque> including the Bermudas," by W. H. Dall, twenty-five cents. No. 25 is "On the Present Technical Condition of the Steel Industry in the United States," by Phineas Barnes, ten cents. No. 26 is "On Copper-Smelting," by H. M. Howe, ten cents.
An Introduction to the Study of the Constitutional and Political History of the States. By Franklin Jameson. Pp. 29. A Puritan Colony in Maryland. By Daniel R. Randall. Pp. 47. Baltimore: N. Murray. Price, 50 cents each.
These essays are, respectively, Nos. 5 and 6 of the fourth series of the "Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science." Mr. Jameson's essay is an endeavor to illustrate the importance of the study of local political movements, from those of the town and township to those of the State, in their bearing on the constitutional development of State and national governments. In it, he notices the tendency, which is not a good one, to insert provisions respecting details, mere temporary elements, into constitutions, as tending to impair the reverence with which those charters ought to be regarded, to lower their authority, and to introduce into our governments a most undesirable instability. Mr. Randall's study relates to the history and influence of a colony of Puritans—whose first leader, the Rev. Alexander Whittaker, performed the baptismal and marriage ceremonies for Pocahontas—that was planted at Norfolk, Virginia, in 1611, and removed thence on account of persecution, and settled at the mouth of the Severn River, in Maryland, in 1649. It formed the nucleus of the democratic party in Maryland. A parallel is drawn between its history and that of Providence Plantations, in Rhode Island: "As Roger Williams was driven from the mother Commonwealth of Massachusetts for holding heretical doctrine, so Durand, the Puritan elder, was expelled from the mother colony in Virginia, to seek a new home for religious toleration. Both leaders came to lands unoccupied, save by Indians, and invited their brethren to follow. Both called the land to which they came through divine guidance, 'Providence.'"
Proceedings of the Davenport Academy of Sciences. W. H. Pratt, Recording Secretary. Vol. IV. 1882-1884. Davenport, Iowa. Pp. 358, with Six Plates. Price, paper, $4.
The present volume contains a brief synopsis of the proceedings of the Academy for the years 1882, 1883, and 1884, in which the memoirs, chiefly on subjects of botany, fossils, and archaeology, hold the prominent place, with the contributions to the museum during 1879, 1880, and 1881. Among the memoirs are several of value to the flora of Iowa, and some of value to botany, including a few carefully prepared special papers. Concerning fossils, are some descriptions of new crinoids and blastoids. In archaeology, Dr. W. J. Hoffman contributes "Remarks on Aboriginal Art in California and Queen Charlotte's Island"; Mr. William H. Holmes a monograph on "Ancient Pottery in the Mississippi Valley," the fruit of studies in the collections of the Academy's museum; and Mr. C. E. Harrison and Dr. C. H. Preston accounts of mound explorations. Mr. Putnam's paper on "Elephant Pipes and Inscribed Tablets," concerning which subjects Mr. Powell, of the United States Geological Survey, has controverted the views held and put forward by the Davenport investigators, is published as a supplement, to place on permanent record the position and arguments of the latter. The publication of Volume V of the ​"Proceedings" has been begun, and four papers intended for it are in the hands of the printers. Notice is taken of the fact that the indebtedness on the building of the Academy has been paid, and the formation of a permanent endowment fund has been begun. Two chapters of the Agassiz Association of America for the study of natural history, and a "Humboldt Society," which seeks to unite philosophical speculations with scientific investigations, have been formed in Davenport, and hold their meetings in the rooms of the Academy. It is observed that the membership of these organizations is made up wholly of young men and women, largely students in the public schools of the city. These facts, and everything connected with this volume, speak well for the earnest interest that prevails at Davenport in the study of science.
On Small Differences of Sensation. By C. S. Peirce and J. Jastrow. Pp. 11.
A record of experiments to determine the point at which differences in the intensities of nerve excitations cease to be perceptible. Among the points brought out is the probability that we gather what is passing in one another's minds in large measure from sensations so faint that we are not fairly aware of having them, and can give no account of how we reach our conclusions about such matters. The insight of women as well as certain "telepathic" phenomena may be explained in this way.
A Treatise on the Diseases of the Nervous System. By William A. Hammond, M. D. Eighth edition; with Corrections and Additions. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 945. Price, $5.
It would be hardly possible to give a better evidence of the merit of this work than is afforded by the appearance of this, the eighth edition, testifying that during the fifteen years it has been before the public it has been tried and found not wanting. The first edition was published in 1871, as resting to a great extent on the author's own experience. Its declared purpose was to be a treatise which, without being superficial, should be concise and explicit, and, without claiming to be exhaustive, should be sufficiently complete for the instruction
and guidance of those who might consult it. The sixth edition, in 1876, was entirely remodeled and greatly enlarged. The seventh edition received extensive additions, and was translated into Italian under the supervision of Professor Borrelli, of Naples. The opportunity given by the appearance of this eighth edition has been improved to revise the work thoroughly, make several changes, and add a section on "Certain Obscure Diseases of the Nervous System."
A Critical History of the Sabbath and the Sunday in the Christian Church. By A. H. Lewis, D. D. Alfred Centre, New York: The American Sabbath Tract Society. Pp. 583. Price, $1.25.
Dr. Lewis is a prominent minister of the Seventh-Day Baptist Church, which teaches, according to his own statement, "that the law of God as contained in the Decalogue is eternal and universal, both as to its letter and its spirit; therefore, the seventh day is the only Sabbath; that under the gospel it should be observed with Christian freedom and not Judaic strictness, but that the change which Christ taught was a change in the spirit and manner of the observance, and not in the day to be observed." The argument pursued in this work is exclusively historical, and is intended to show that no authority worthy of respect exists or ever existed for the change that has been made in the day to be observed—from the seventh day to the first. The evidence, which is intended to be full and continuous from the gospels down, is given in the exact words of the texts cited, and in all the words that bear on the subject, and not in paraphrases or abstracts, so that, if any mistake be made in its import, it shall not be the author's fault. In this way Dr. Lewis attempts to show that no change is authorized in the Gospels, or in the words of any of the apostles; that the change was not made or recognized in the first two centuries; that the first signs of it appear in the days of Constantine, when the seventh day was still observed as the Sabbath, and Sunday, being the day of the resurrection, was celebrated in addition, as a religious festival; that Sunday observance gradually grew at the expense of the seventh-day observance, particularly under the auspices of the Latin Church, and under the ​impulse of a spirit of concession to paganism and worldliness; that the seventh-day Sabbath was preserved much longer in the Eastern churches; and that the present decay of Sunday is a logical outcome of the disregard of the sanctity of the original, divinely instituted, but never divinely changed Sabbath. Dr. Lewis believes that the general results of civil legislation respecting the Sabbath—like those of legislation on all religious questions—have been evil. "Take the question," he says, "out of politics, out of the realm of caucussing and plotting, and let the Church settle it as it would any other religious issue. For. . . if the day ought to be kept by divine authority, the civil law can not strengthen that authority, and by a false application it may weaken and destroy it; and if he who does not rest out of regard to the Lord, does not truly Sabbatize, his resting is only an empty form or a blasphemous pretense. Under the working of the civil law as the prominent element of authority, Sunday has tended and must tend to holidayism; and, with the masses, toward debauchery."
Medicine of the Future. By Austin Flint (Senior), M. D. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 37, with Portrait. Price, $1.
The manuscript of this paper, which was the address the author had intended to read, by special appointment, before the British Medical Association at its meeting in 1886, was found after Dr. Flint's death among his papers. Considering the progress which has been made in medicine during the past fifty years, the author anticipates as great, or greater, in store for the next half-century, and indicates the lines along which, in his view, it may be expected to be realized.
Life, its Nature, Origin, Development, and the Psychical related to the Physical. By Salem Wilder. Boston: Rockwell & Churchill. Pp. 350. Price, $1.50.
The author, whose business is an agency for the sale of goods, has been interested in questions indicated by the title of his book, and is not satisfied with the manner in which the physical philosophers of the day try to answer them. He has, therefore, inquired what science and scientific men teach respecting them, and presents the results of his investigation in the first part of the book. The second part is devoted mainly to ethical questions.
The Olden Time Series. No. 1, Curiosities of the Lottery, pp. 73; No. 2, Days of the Spinning-Wheel, pp. 99; No. 3, New England Sunday, pp. 65. Boston: Ticknor & Co. Price, 50 cents each.
A series of collections of advertisements, items, and articles illustrating, by contemporary representations, the usages and the ways of thought, as well as the economical condition, of the people of the "olden time" in New England, culled chiefly from old newspapers of Boston and Salem, Massachusetts, and arranged, with brief comments, by Henry M. Brooks. The volumes are adapted to gratify a growing taste, and are of a size convenient for the pocket. The matter of numbers one and three is all closely related to the subjects expressed in the titles; that of number two takes a range beyond the spinning wheel, and is varied.
Lessons in Qualitative Chemical Analysis. By Dr. F. Beilstein. Arranged, on the Basis of the fifth German edition, by Charles O. Curtman, M. D. St. Louis, Mo.: Druggist Publishing Co. Pp. 200.
This is the second edition of a translation of Dr. Beilstein's "Anleitung," a popular German text-book on chemical analysis. Dr. Curtman has, however, considerably enlarged on the original, and made numerous additions. The opening chapter is given to chemical manipulations: it contains suggestions on the management of the blow-pipe, the handling of glass-tubing, the working with corks, etc. These directions are supplemented by a series of examples for practice in the qualitative analysis of inorganic substances. Directions for the systematic examination of substances containing one base and one acid come next in order, and these again are followed by instructions for a systematic course of qualitative analysis.
The remaining chapters are devoted to examples for practice on the analysis of organic substances, to volumetric analysis, to the examination of drinking-water, the analysis of urine, urinary sediments, and ​calculi. A colored plate of flame and absorption spectra and a plate illustrating various urinary sediments, are added; moreover, some illustrations are given in the text. This book is primarily intended to be used as a class-book in the laboratories of medical and pharmaceutical schools, but it is also well adapted for self-instruction in the principles of chemical analysis.
Watts's "Manual of Chemistry." (Based on Fownes's "Manual)." Vol. II. Organic Chemistry. Second edition. By Professor William A. Tilden. Philadelphia: P. Blakiston, Son & Co. 1 886. Pp. 662.
The general favor which is accorded to Mr: Watts's editions of Fownes's "Manual of Chemistry," shows how well adapted is the work to meet the wants of teachers and students.
Professor Tilden, of Birmingham, the editor of this issue, has closely adhered to the plan of his predecessor, and has mainly endeavored to make the corrections and additions rendered necessary by the progress and development of the science. The nomenclature has been made as uniform as possible, and has been brought into accordance with the system adopted by the London Chemical Society.
The introduction treats of the synthesis of organic compounds from inorganic materials, of ultimate analysis, the classification of organic compounds, their physical properties, and the decompositions and transformations of these bodies.
The chief division of the carbon compounds is, of course, into the fatty and the aromatic groups, or, as they are styled, into methane-derivatives and benzene-derivatives.
In the subdivisions of these groups the organic compounds are classified according to their chemical structure and functions; the compounds in each group are arranged in homologous series, and the several groups are separately considered. While the editor has tried to avoid swelling the volume to too large a size, he has aimed to give in it an account of, or at least a reference to, all carbon compounds which can fairly be regarded as having any considerable theoretical interest or practical importance.
The State Control of Medical Education and Practice (in the negative). By Romaine J. Curtiss, M. D. Joliet, Illinois. Pp. 32.
Dr. Curtiss writes in the spirit of a man who considers himself engaged in a controversy. His situation, in fact, invites vigor on the part of a disputant who speaks from his side, for he is a physician in a State where State control is exercised quite fully. Along with many expressions which might be softened without diminishing their argumentative strength, we find points presented that apply with much force in favor of the negative side of the question; among them the one embodied in the opening paragraph: "The modern method of throwing physic to the dogs seems to be to put the matter of medical education and practice under the control of the State; which means, of course, nothing more or less than making medical education and practice a factor of State politics. This method assumes that politics is a better criterion of the standard of medical education than any educational test, or any life-test, and also assumes that colleges are not qualified, by reason of natural favoritism, to judge of the merit of their work." This description may not now apply, as a fact, in any State, but, the political factor once introduced, there is danger, as the political machines have been running, that the ultimate result may be fitted to it.
On the Development of Viviparous Osseous Fishes, and of the Atlantic Salmon. By John A. Ryder. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 36, with Seven Plates.
The former paper is intended to give a summary of our knowledge respecting the best known of the truly viviparous osseous fishes characterized by an intra-follicular or intra-ovarian development. The second paper is based on the investigation of recently hatched embryos of the landlocked salmon.
Wilder, Burt G., M. D. The Paroccipital; a newly recognized Fissural Integer. Pp. 15.
Drummond, A. T. (Canada). Our Northwest Prairies. Pp. 8.
"Journal of the American Chemical Society." Monthly. May, 186. Pp. 24. $5 a year.
Netto, Dr. Ladislao. Conférence faite au Muséum National. (Lecture at the National Museum, on Brazilian Archæology.) Pp. 28. Lettre à M. ​Ernest Renan à propos de l'Inscription Phénicienne Apocryphe. (Letter to M. Ernest Renan, respecting the Apocryphal Phœnician Inscription.) Pp. 39 Rio de Janeiro.
Green. Edgar Moore, Easton, Pa. On the Value of Brücke’s Method in testing Urine for Glucose. Pp. 14.
Andrew, William. Supplement to Creation. Providence, R.I. Pp. 15.
Archivos do Museu Nacional do Rio de Janeiro. (Archives of the National Museum of Rio de Janeiro.) Vol. VI. Rio de Janeiro. Pp. 569, with Plates.
National University, Washington, D. C. Announcements of the Medical and Dental Departments, for 1886-'87. Pp. 12.
Boehmer, George H. List of Foreign Correspondents of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington. Smithsonian Institution. Pp. 190. Volcanic Eruptions and Earthquakes in Iceland. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp 47.
James, Professor Joseph F. The Geology of Cincinnati, and other Papers. Pp. 16.
State Board of Health of Illinois. Seventh Annual Report. Springfield, Ill. Pp. 613.
Hunt, A. O. Dental Directory of the Northwestern States and Territories. Iowa City, Iowa. Pp. 57.
Foster, Michael, and others. The Journal of Physiology. June, 1886. Pp. 72, with Plates. $5 a volume.
Putnam, F. W. Report of the Curator of the Peabody Museum of American Archæology and Ethnology. Pp. 25. Central American Jades. Pp. 3. Lectures on American Archæology (Programme). Pp. 6. Cambridge, Mass.
Henderson, J. T. Crop Report, Georgia, for July, 1886. Pp. 25.
Alabama Weather Service. June. 1886. Pp. 7. Special Paper of the same, on Preparation of the Soil. By Captain W. H. Gardner. Pp. 6. Auburn, Ala.
Vassar Brothers' Institute, Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Transactions, 1884-'85. Pp. 216.
Patton, A. A., New York. Responsibility of Vocal Teachers as Voice-Builders. Pp. 20.
Shufeldt, E. W. A Navajo Skull. Pp. 4. with Plates. Remarks of Professor Sir William Turner on this Paper. Pp. 2. Osteology of Conurus Carolinensis. Pp. 18, with Plates.
Ohio State Sanitary Association. Third Annual Meeting. 1886. Columbus, O. Pp. 106.
Kneeland, Samuel. The Subsidence Theory of Earthquakes. Pp. 8.
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Roby, Henry W., M.D. The Treatment of Disease from the Homœopathic Standpoint. Pp. 37.
Spooner, Lysander. A Letter to Grover Cleveland. Boston: Benjamin E. Tucker. Pp. 110.
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Massachusetts Agricultural College. General Catalogue. 1862-1886. Pp. 129.
Michigan Mining School. 1886-'87. Houghton, Mich. Pp. 10.
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