# Popular Science Monthly/Volume 25/May 1884/Literary Notices

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Bacteria. By Dr. Antoine Magnin and George M. Sternberg, M.D., F.R.M.S. New York: William Wood & Co. Pp. 494. Price, $4.
Dr. Sternberg's translation of Dr. Magnin's work on "Bacteria," noticed in these pages at its first appearance three years ago, forms about one third of the present ​volume. In order to bring that treatise up to the present state of knowledge on the subject, Dr. Sternberg has added chapters on "Technology," "Germicides and Antiseptics," "Bacteria in Infectious Diseases," and "Bacteria in Surgical Lesions." Under the first head he describes methods of obtaining both natural and artificial culture-fluids uncontaminated, and gives directions for arranging culture-vessels and for examining the bacteria. His list of antiseptics includes some sixty substances, and he gives, besides the results of his own extended and careful tests of their powers, some results obtained by other investigators.
The diseases which have been supposed to depend upon the action of some microorganism are also passed in review, and an abstract is given of what has been observed in regard to each. Dr. Sternberg reproduces from an earlier paper his statement of the a priori argument in favor of the existence of a yellow-fever germ, and then considers the experimental evidence which supports that view. "It must be admitted," he says, "that this is very unsatisfactory." His personal investigations are recorded in the "Preliminary Report of the Havana Yellow-Fever Commission, of the National Board of Health," from which he quotes at length. "Having reported," he continues, "my own failure to find the yellow-fever germ, I must now refer to the recent announcements of its discovery in Mexico by Dr. Carmona, and in Brazil by Dr. Freire." In regard to the latter he says: "The writer is not prepared to estimate the value of the evidence here offered, inasmuch as we are not informed whether the yellow-fever blood used in the first inoculation experiment was obtained post mortem or ante mortem. …
"Hineman, a very competent German physician practicing in Vera Cruz, has not been more successful than the writer in finding the Pernospera lutea of Carmona, or Cryptococcics xanthogenicus of Freire, in the blood of yellow-fever patients before death. He examined the blood of patients in the last stage of the disease, taking blood from the hand, thinning it with artificial serum, and bringing it at once under the microscope. He says: 'In nine cases so examined not the slightest deviation from normal blood could be found. … No organisms were found.'" The volume is illustrated with twelve heliotype plates and thirty woodcuts, and contains a bibliographical list.
Flowers and their Pedigrees. By Grant Allen, author of "Colin Clout's Calendar," "Vignettes from Nature," "The Evolutionist at Home," etc., etc. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 266. Price, $1.50.
This is a very choice book, the best of an excellent class. England has at present no writer at all comparable to Grant Allen in the power of popularizing biological subjects. He is a thorough and accomplished student in a broad range of modern subjects involving the phenomena of life and mind, and their interpretation by the principle of evolution. He is as far as possible from being a mere compiler of other men's opinions, but gives a stamp of originality to his work, throwing light upon the subjects he treats by new suggestions, ingenious explanations, and the presentation of his topics in fresh aspects and new relations. He is, moreover, a writer of remarkable perspicacity and attractiveness, pleasant, easy, humorous, and a perfect type of the high-grade popularizer of science.
If this is warm praise, the book before us justifies it. It is spoken of by the English press in terms of very unusual commendation, and we entirely agree with one of them, which declares the volume to be "as interesting as any novel from the first page to the last."
We can do the author no better justice, and convey to our readers no clearer idea of the import of the book, than to reproduce its explanatory introduction:
Now, every one of these English plants and weeds has a long and eventful story of its own. In the days before the illuminating doctrine of evolution had been preached, all that we could say about them was that they possessed such and such a shape, and size, and color; and, if we had been asked why they were not rounder or bigger or bluer than they actually are, we could have given no sufficient reason, except that they were made so. But since the great principle of descent with modification has reduced the science of life from chaos to rational order, we are able to do much more than that. We can now answer confidently. Such and such a plant is what it is in virtue of such and such ancestral conditions, and it has been altered thus and thus by these and those variations in habit or environment. Every plant or animal, therefore, becomes for us a puzzle to be explained, a problem to be solved, a hieroglyphic inscription to be carefully deciphered. In the following pages, I have taken some half-dozen of familiar English weeds or flowers, and tried thus to make them yield up the secret of their own origin. Each of them is ultimately descended from the common central ancestor of the entire flowering group of plants; and each of them has acquired every new diversity of structure or appearance for some definite and useful purpose. As a rule, traces of all the various stages through which every species has passed are still visibly imprinted upon the very face of the existing forms: and one only requires a little care and ingenuity, a little use of comparison and analogy, to unravel by their own aid the story of their own remoter pedigree. This is the method which I have here followed in the papers that deal with the various modifications of the daisy, of the grasses, of the lilies, of the strawberry, and of the whole rose family.
Again, not only has each English plant a general history as a species, but it has also a separate history as a member of the British flora. Besides the question how any particular flower or fruit came to exist at all, we have to account for the question how it came to exist here and now in this, that, or the other part of the British Islands. For, of course, all plants are not to be found in all parts of the world, and their distribution over its surface has to be explained on historical grounds just as a future ethnologist would have to explain the occurrence of isolated French communities in Lower Canada and Mauritius, of African negroes in Jamaica and Brazil, or of Chinese coolies in San Francisco and the Australian colonies. In this respect, our English plants open out a series of interesting problems for the botanical researcher; because we happen to possess a very mixed and fragmentary flora, made up to a great extent of waifs and strays from at least three large distinct continental groups, besides several casual colonists. Thus while at Killarney we get a few rare Spanish or Portuguese types, in Caithness and the Highlands we get a few rare Alpine or Arctic types; and while in Norfolk and Suffolk we find some central European stragglers, the ponds of the Hebrides are actually occupied by at least one American pond-weed, its seeds having been wafted over by westerly breezes, or carried unconsciously by water-birds in the mud and ooze which clung accidentally to their webbed feet. Moreover, we know that at no very remote period, geologically speaking, Britain was covered by a single great sheet of glaciers, like that which now covers almost all Greenland: and we may therefore conclude with certainty that every plant at present in the country has entered it from one quarter and another at a date posterior to that great lifeless epoch. This, then, gives rise to a second set of problems, the problems connected with the presence in England of certain stray local types, Alpine or Arctic, southern or transatlantic, European or Asiatic. Questions of this sort I have raised and endeavored to answer with regard to two rare English plants in the papers on the hairy spurge and the mountain tulip.
Record of Family Faculties: Consisting of Tabular Forms and Directions for entering Data, with an Explanatory Preface. Pp. 64. Price, 90 cents. Also, Life-History Album. Pp. 170. Price, $1.25. By Francis Galton, F. R. S. London: Macmillan & Co.
The "Record of Family Faculties" "is designed for those who care to forecast the mental and bodily faculties of their children, and to further the science of heredity," being arranged for entering descriptive and historical data in regard to the fourteen direct ancestors which constitute the three generations immediately preceding a family of children.
Space is allowed also for descriptions of brothers and sisters of these ancestors, and of other relatives about whom little is known. Some of the entries called for are: "Mode of Life, so far as affecting Growth or Health; Bodily and Mental Powers, and Energy, if much above or below the Average; Favorite Pursuits; Minor Ailments, and Graver Illnesses; Cause and Date of Death, and Age at Death." In the preface Mr. Galton rebukes the vanity of those who parade 'the fact of their descent from some distant, illustrious ancestor, and remarks that "one ancestor, who lived at the time of the Norman Conquest, twenty-four generations back, contributes (on the ​supposition of no intermarriage of kinsfolk) less than one part in 16,000,000 to the constitution of a man of the present day." He deems three generations far enough to go back for hereditary information, except that any distinctly alien element of race or disease, which has been introduced earlier, should be noted. Mr. Galton holds that "the natural gifts of each individual being inherited from his ancestry, it is possible to foresee much of the latent capacities of a child in mind and body, of the probabilities of his future health and longevity, and of his tendencies to special forms of disease, by a knowledge of his ancestral precedents. When the science of heredity shall have become more advanced, the accuracy of such forecasts will doubtless improve; in the mean time we may rest assured that fewer blunders will be made in rearing and educating children, under the guidance of a knowledge of their family antecedents, than without it." As a stimulus to the making of these records, Mr. Galton has offered £500 in prizes "to those British subjects resident in the United Kingdom who shall furnish him before May 15, 1884, with the best extracts from their own family records."
The "Life-History Album" is arranged to contain the biological experience of one person, and is to be begun by the parents of a child and continued by the person himself from the time that he becomes old enough. It is expected to prove of service in the following ways: "1. It will show whether, and in what way, your health is affected by the changes that take place in your residence, occupation, diet, or habits. 2. It will afford early indication of any departure from health, and will thus draw attention to conditions which, if neglected, may lead to permanent disorder. . . . 3. A trustworthy record of past illnesses will enable your medical attendants to treat you more intelligently and successfully than they otherwise could, for it will give them a more complete knowledge of your 'constitution' than could be obtained in any other way. . . . 4. The record will further be of great value to your family and descendants; for mental and physical characteristics, as well as liabilities to disease, are all transmitted more or less by parents to their children, and are shared by members of the same family."
The first page of the "Album" is for a "Description of Child at Birth," and there is a leaf each for a "Record of Life History," "Record of Medical History," "Anthropometric Observations," and "Photographs" for each five years of life up to seventy-five. There are also charts on which to record the stature and weight—one for each five years up to twenty-five, another for a summary of these five; one for the years from twenty-five to fifty, and one for the years from fifty to seventy-five. On each chart except the last are printed curves showing the average stature and weight of the male and female population of the United Kingdom, so that the individual may compare the curves which he constructs for himself with these. The appendix contains tests of vision, notes on apparatus, etc.
Clatis Rerum (The Key of Things). Norwich: F. A. Robinson & Co. Pp. 142. Price, $1.
This book embodies the conclusions of its author in regard to the plan of the universe. He names six modes of being as elements in which the universe subsists, viz., matter, force, life, soul, spirit, and God, defining soul as "that mode of being which is characterized by intellect and will," and spirit as "that mode of being which is characterized by consciousness of God." In his closing chapter, "Consummation," he says: "Matter, force, life, soul, and spirit, came forth from God in order that, by the interior operation of their several laws, they might be fitted to return to him. . . . The return of the extrinsic universe, through human nature, into God, is accomplished by the incarnation of the Word, and by the personal union with him of all other perfect individual men."
Bleaching, Dyeing, and Calico-Printing. With Formulæ. Edited by John Gardner, F. I. C, F. C. S. Philadelphia: P. Blakiston, Son & Co. Pp. 203. Price, $1.75.
In the chapter on "Bleaching," after a brief historical review, cotton, linen, woolen goods, silk, feathers, paper materials and paper, straw, and wax, are successively ​taken up, and the outlines of the processes are given in each case. In the second chapter some thirty formulæ for dyeing cotton are given, and twenty for dyeing wool and silk. Several modes of calico-printing are sketched, and the formulæ for a large number of styles are given. There is a fourth chapter in which a short account is given of each of the important dye-stuffs. The aim of the editor has been to compile "a ready and serviceable manual for practical workers," which may be referred to with the expenditure of less time and trouble than is necessary with such larger and more elaborate works as Crookes's "Practical Hand-Book of Dyeing and Calico-Printing," Ure's "Dictionary," Wagner's "Chemical Technology," and others, which have been consulted in the preparation of the volume.
Proceedings and Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, 1882 and 1883. Montreal: Dawson Brothers.
The Dominion to the north of us is constantly evidencing more and more of national life. Since 1867, when the British provinces became a confederation, Canada has shown an energy and enterprise which would have been impossible to a series of separate colonies having no bond of political unity. Within the last few years, the development of railways and manufactures in Canada has quite paralleled that of the United States, and, in the higher matters of public and university education, the Dominion exhibits an advance which is full of promise for her future. Among the proofs that our northern neighbors are progressing in matters of broad, national culture, none can be more satisfactory than the establishment, by the Marquis of Lorne, of the Royal Society of Canada two years ago. The society, founded on the lines of its great English prototype, is intended to promote literature and science; and, in bringing together the most eminent scholars and scientists of the country, will undoubtedly attain the good results of mutual help, criticism, and emulation which attend such assemblages the world over. The society consists of four sections: French literature, history, and allied subjects; English literature, history, and allied subjects; mathematical, physical, and chemical sciences; geological and biological sciences. The presidents of these sections, who were appointed by the Marquis of Lorne for the purpose of organizing the society, were Messrs. J. M. Lemoine, Daniel Wilson, T. Sterry Hunt, and A. R. C. Selwyn. The first president of the society was Principal Dawson, of McGill University, who was succeeded last year by Dr. P. J. O. Chauveau, of Montreal, and in 1884 that city will again give the society its president in the person of Dr. T. Sterry Hunt.
The Proceedings and Transactions before us are not only valuable in themselves, but they give us incidentally some interesting insight into the peculiarities of Canadian national life. That the papers by the French-Canadian members should be published in their language is enough to show that the element they represent in the population is very far from genuine assimilation with their compatriots of British descent. Indeed, competent observers of the situation declare that the adhesion of the French Canadians to their language, religion, laws, and institutions was never firmer than now. Is America to behold the development of a race French in speech, customs, and sentiment? Is the province of old Quebec to be thus reconquered by France after all? Surely no better topic than this curious phase of Canadian sociology could be treated in the next volume of Transactions which the Royal Society of Canada will publish to the world. Perhaps the causes lie in the wonderful fecundity of the race, the contentment with narrow fortunes which keeps so many of them at home, and the indulgent policy toward them by Great Britain—that empire which, having lost its best group of colonies by harsh treatment, seems determined in Canada to retain the allegiance of a conquered race by a noble magnanimity.
The volume before us manifests the influence which the classical and literary education of French Canadians has had on their scientific culture. Although numbering one fourth of the nation, their representatives in the Royal Society are but one eighth the membership of the two scientific sections; and, while the scientific contributions of the French-speaking members are scarcely up to the standard of those from their British confrères, in the literary ​departments, the papers in French have a grace and beauty of style which show that the language of France has lost nothing by its study having been transferred to America for more than two centuries. The sketches of the first settlers of Canada are sufficiently well given to deserve introduction to the readers of the continent.
Dr. Daniel Wilson's paper, on the pre-Aryan American man, is a valuable contribution to the study of the Indian tribes, upon whose history discovery and research are every year throwing more light. Dr. Alpheus Todd, the constitutional historian, whose death occurred last January, has given us a paper on the establishment of free public libraries, with valuable hints derived from his long experience as parliamentary librarian.
The scientific contributions to the Transactions are noteworthy. With an area for the scope of the naturalist as extensive as our own, the range of research and exploration in the Dominion affords splendid opportunities to her men of science. In developing knowledge concerning the vast territory of Canada, the Geological Survey has done noble work. That survey, mainly established by the exertions of the late Sir William E. Logan, with the co-operation of Dr. Hunt and Mr. Billings, has given scope to the acumen and research of men such as the Dawsons, father and son, Bell, and Harrington, whose labors in the fields of systematic geology and paleontology are known and valued by the students of both Europe and America. The volume before us gives a paper by Principal Dawson on the cretaceous and tertiary floras of British Columbia and the Northwest Territories, eight fine quarto illustrations accompanying his paper. His son, Dr. George M. Dawson, describes a general section of the geology from the Laurentian axis to the Rocky Mountains. Dr. T. Sterry Hunt contributes a paper on the geological history of serpentines, wherein he defends by new arguments their aqueous origin, a thesis which he has long maintained. Incidentally to this, he condenses into a few pages the history of the pre-Cambrian rocks of Southern Europe with their included serpentines, and shows in this connection that the great groups of these rocks previously pointed out by him in America are equally developed in the Old World. In his memoir on the Taconic question in geology. Dr. Hunt begins by a tribute to the labors of Amos Eaton, the founder of American stratigraphical geology. He then gives in detail an account of the so-called Taconian or Taconic rocks, the true age of which has been the subject of so much dispute; by a wide induction of facts gleaned from all Eastern North America, he proceeds to show that these rocks are of pre-Cambrian age, and probably paralleled with the youngest pre-Cambrian group of the Alps described by him in his preceding memoir. These rocks, it may be said, in their wide range of distribution, include the white statuary marbles of both Vermont and Italy. This paper, of some fifty pages, is the first half of Dr. Hunt's elaborate memoir, and terminates in a comprehensive review of the early geological history of Eastern North America.
Although geology is much the best represented science in these Transactions, the other departments of the sections give us original papers of value. Dr. E. Haanel contributes an account of experiments in using hydriodic acid as a blow-pipe reagent, and four remarkably well-executed plates in colors serve to illustrate his paper. A series of reports of the transit of Venus, December 6, 1882, show the wide interest taken in that event in the chain of Canadian cities stretching from Montreal to Winnipeg. The observations, as a whole, were satisfactory.
Dr. Robert Bell's explanation of the causes of the fertility of the Northwest shows the immense variety of natural forces which decide whether a region shall or shall not furnish a nation with food and fuel. Mr. W. Saunders's papers on Canadian forestry and on the noxious insects of the country are suggestive and timely.
The publishing committee of these Transactions remark with pardonable pride that the paper, type, and illustrations are all of home production.
A System of Rhetoric. By C. W. Bardeen. New York: A. S. Barnes & Co. Pp. 814. Price, $1.50.
Part I of this book is entitled "Sentence-Making," and contains a large amount of such matter as is usually found in the "false-syntax" section of grammars. Part ​II is on "Conversation," and, besides directions for attaining the purposes of conversation, includes chapters which treat of elocution, etiquette, and the minor moralities of the subject. Under "Letter-Writing" letters are treated in the classes "of Friendship, of Courtesy, of Business, to Newspapers"; bad penmanship and allied sins are touched upon, and chapters on "Narration," "Description," and "Punctuation" are added. Then follow three forms of discourse, which, as the author remarks, need not be practiced by all persons. The chapters under "The Essay" treat of the subjects to which rhetorics generally are mainly devoted. Under "Oratory" are discussed "Eloquence, Argument, Extemporaneous Speaking, and Delivery." The treatment of "Figurative Language" is placed under "Poetry," together with a discussion of "What constitutes Poetry?" and a chapter on "Rhythm."
Energy in Nature. By William Lant Carpenter, B. A., B. Sc, F. C. S., etc. Illustrated. London, Paris, and New York: Cassell & Co., limited. Pp. 212. Price, $1.25.
There is a large and growing class of persons, who, while they do not care to make a close study of any special branch of physical science, yet desire to know what additions are being made to the knowledge of those general principles which underlie the phenomena of nature, and who desire also to understand how these principles are applied in the wonderful mechanical contrivances which they see multiplying about them. To this constituency Professor Carpenter has addressed the present volume, which contains, with some additions, the substance of a course of six lectures upon the "Forces of Nature and their Mutual Relations," delivered under the auspices of the Gilchrist Educational Trust, in the autumn of 1881. "The book may be shortly described," says the author, "as an endeavor to expound in popular yet accurate language the meaning and consequences of that important principle known as the conservation of energy. Considerable pains, however, have been taken, especially in dealing with electricity, to illustrate and explain the very latest developments of the subjects treated in the text, since the transformation of mechanical into electrical energy by the dynamo-machine is a remarkably good example of the general principle." The illustrations used in presenting the subject are generally "matters of common experience," and hence many interesting explanations have found their way into the volume.
A Defense of Modern Thought: In Reply to a Recent Pamphlet by the Bishop of Ontario on "Agnosticism." By William D. Le Sueur, B. A. Toronto: Hunter, Rose & Co. Pp. 40. Price, 15 cents.
We printed a portion of this masterly pamphlet last month, and the interest it has excited on the part of many to see the whole of the argument makes desirable this further reference to it. Everybody should be obliged to the lord bishop for having printed his discourse, not because of any value it had in itself, but because of the ability of the reply it elicited. Mr. Le Sueur's exposition needs no praise, but we applaud his fidelity to duty in so effectually exposing the weakness of the bishop's case, and then in printing the criticism at his own expense, as probably the publishers thought it would be no speculation for them. Let every one who was gratified with the fragment we furnished, and interested to see the remainder, send a dollar to the publishers to get as many of the pamphlet as it will bring. Extra copies will be excellent to give away.
A Plea for the Cure of Rupture. By Joseph H. Warren, A, M., M. D. Boston: James R. Osgood & Co. Pp. 117, with Plates. Price, parchment, $1.
The essay which gives the title to this book—"A Plea for Operative Measures for the Relief and Cure of Hernia"—was a paper read before the meeting at Liverpool of the British Medical Association, and is published, with very slight alterations, as it originally appeared in the Association's journal. A chapter is given on tissue-repair, with a brief summary of the application and operation of the method of subcutaneous injection. An account of the new conformateur for showing the contour of hernia, etc., a paper on the causation of hernia, and a paper on the proper fitting and wearing of trusses, etc., have been contributed by fellow-physicians of the author.
The Topographer; His Instruments and Methods. Illustrated with numerous Plates, Maps, and Engravings. By Lewis M. Haupt, A.M., C. E. Philadelphia: J. M. Stoddart. Pp. 184. Price, $4.00.
This book is designed for the instruction of students. It opens with a chapter on "How and what to observe," which is followed by one on "The Instrumental Outfit," in which are described, with cuts, the prismatic compass, chronometer, barometer, odometer, pedometer, clinometer, sextant, hand-level, heliotrope, reflector, and range-finder, the name of some maker being given with each. The next three chapters are on "Scales of Maps," "Forms of Record," and "Graphical Representations," and are supplied with diagrams and tables for illustration and reference. Under "Instruments and Methods used in 'Filling in,'" directions are given for making stadia measurements, for the use of the plane-table, and of the transit. Directions for determining the true meridian follow, with descriptions of two forms of solar transit. Short chapters are devoted to "Hydrography" and "Underground Topography,"; "Field Sketching," "Computations," and "Modeling" are taken up successively, and the final chapter is devoted to "Applications," in which are considered the locating of common roads, railroads, canals, and pipe-lines; irrigation, aqueducts, and the locating of cities. Among the accompanying maps may be mentioned one of the Yellowstone National Park, one of the floor of the Mammoth coal-bed in the vicinity of Summit Hill, Carbon county, Pennsylvania, and charts of Hampton Roads, and Boston Bay.
Houghton Farm: Experiment Orchard and Peach-Yellows. New York: Print of "The Hub." Pp. 64.
The Rocky-Mountain Locust and the Chinch-Bug. Entomological Division, Department of Agriculture. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 36.
The Disease of Inebriety and its Social-Science Relations. By T. D. Crothers, M. D. Hartford, Conn. Pp. 14.
Reports of Experiments on Insects injuriously affecting the Orange-Tree and the Cotton-Plant. Entomological Division, Department of Agriculture. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp, 62.
Reports of Observations and Experiments in Practical Work. Division of Entomology, Department of Agriculture. Washington: Government Printing-office. Pp. 72, with Three Plates.
Observations of Comets, 1880-1882. Cincinnati Observatory. Pp. 80, with Nine Plates.
Experimental Determination of Wave-Lengths in the Invisible Prismatic Spectrum. By S. P. Langley. Pp. 20.
Distribution of Gluten within the Wheat-Grain. By N. A. Randolph, M. D. Philadelphia. Pp. 5.
The Quaternary Gravels of Northern Delaware and Eastern Maryland. By Frederick D. Chester. Pp. 12.
A Case of Recurrent Dropsy of the Left Middle Ear. By Drs. Charles H. Burnett and Charles A. Oliver. Pp. 26.
Meeting of the International Prison Congress at Rome, in October, 1884. U. S. Bureau of Education. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 11.
Bulletin of the Philosophical Society of Washington, 1883. Washington. Pp. 163.
"The Canadian Record of Natural History and Geology." J. T. Donald, Editor. Montreal: John Lovell and Son. Pp. 64.
Transactions of the Ottawa Field Naturalists' Club. Ottawa, Canada: Citizen Printing and Publishing Company, Pp. 90, with Plate.
The Fæces of Starch-fed Infants. By N. A. Randolph, M. D. Philadelphia. Pp. 4.
Medical Thoughts of Shakespeare. Compiled by B. Rush Field, M. D. Easton, Pa.: "Free Press." Pp. 16.
Biogen. By Professor Elliott Coues. Boston: Estes & Lauriat. Pp. 66.
The Railroad as an Element in Education. By Professor Alexander Hogg. Louisville, Ky. Pp. 22.
Tenth Annual Report of the Zoölogical Society of Cincinnati. Pp. 16.
Report of the New York State Survey for 1883. James T. Gardiner. Director. Albany: Van Benthuysen Printing-House. Pp. 182, with Six Maps.
The External Therapeutics of Pulmonary Consumption, By Dr. Thomas J. Mays. Upper Lehigh, Pa. Pp. 20.
House-Drainage. By William Paul Gerhard. New York: Durham House-Drainage Company. Pp. 44.
Reflex Nervous Influence and the Causation and Cure of Disease. By Dr. D. T. Smith. New Orleans, La. Pp. 11.
"Miscellaneous Notes and Queries, with Answers." January and February, 1884 (double number). Manchester, N. H.: S. C. and L. M. Gould. Pp. 24 + 16 + 16. 20 cents; $1 for ten numbers.
Pilot-Chart of the North Atlantic for March, with Supplement of 5 pages. By Commander J. E. Bartlett. Washington: U. S. Hydrographic-Office.
Susceptibility to Malaria, or Personal Predisposition to Malarial Fevers. By Dr. J. P. Dake. Nashville, Tenn. Pp. 9.
Medical Legislation in the United States. By Dr. J. P. Dake. Nashville, Tenn. Pp. 14.
Hygienic Institutes. By Professor George A. Smyth. Pp. 27.
Bilateral Asymmetry of Function. By G. Stanley Hall and E. M. Hartwell. Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. Pp. 17.
"The Analectic" (Medical Journal Monthly). Edited by Walter S. Wells, M. D. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 48. $2.50 per year.
Topographical Surveying. By Henry F. Walling, C. E. New York: D. Van Nostrand. Pp. 208. 50 cents.
Relations of Animal Diseases to the Public Health. By Frank S. Billings, D. V. S. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 446. $4.
Clear Light from the Spirit-World. By Kate Irving. New York: G. W. Carleton & Co. Pp. 201.
​Dynamic Electricity. By E. E. Day. New York: D. Van Nostrand. Pp. 167. 50 cents.
Politics. By William W. Crane and Bernard Moses. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 305. $1.50.
Report of the State Board of Health of Connecticut. Hartford, Conn.: Case, Lockwood, and Brainard Co. Pp. 124.
Economic Tracts, First and Second Series, 1881 and 1882. New York: Society for Political Education. Pp. about 200. $1.
Christianity Triumphant. By John P. Newman, D.D. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. Pp. 136. 75 cents.
Protection to Young Industries as applied in the United States. By F. W. Taussig, Ph.D. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 72.
Third Annual Report of the United States Entomological Commission. Washington: Government Printing-office. Pp. about 500, with Plates.
My Musical Memories. By E. W. Haweis. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. Pp. 283. . $1.
Medical Directory of Philadelphia, 1884. By Samuel H. Hoppin, M. D. Philadelphia: P. Blakiston. Son & Co. Pp. 205. $1.50.
Political Economy. By Emile de Laveleye. Translated by A. W. Pollard. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 288, $1.10.
My House: An Ideal. By O. B. Bunce. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Pp. 108. $1.
The Bowsham Puzzle. By John Habberton. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. Pp. 222. $1.
Flowers and their Pedigrees. By Grant Allen. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 264. $1.50.
The Cinchona Barks. By F. A. Fluckiger, Ph.D. Philadelphia: P. Blakiston, Son &. Co.
A Text-Book of the Principles of Physics. By Alfred Daniell. London: Macmillan &, Co. Pp. 653. $5.
Recent Wonders of Electricity. New York: Agent College of Electrical Engineering. Pp. 168. $2.