# Popular Science Monthly/Volume 22/January 1883/Literary Notices

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James Mill. A Biography. By Alexander Bain, LL.D. New York: Henry Holt & Co. Pp. 426. Price, $2.
The influence of John Stuart Mill upon the reputation of his father, James Mill, has been twofold: he has advertised him, and at the same time eclipsed him. It is frequently said of James Mill that his greatest work was John Mill; and there are many who suppose that this is his chief title to be remembered. Others think that, though the father may have been a man of some consideration in his time, yet that he has been so superseded by his son that all interest in him has disappeared.
But James Mill is not to be disposed of in this way. It is hardly questionable if James Mill is not, in fact, the greater and more original man of the two. If one is to be regarded as an appendage to the other, the order of time will correspond to the order of rank. No doubt the two Mills will have to be taken together as representative of one system of ideas. But the system, as such, belongs to the father much more than to the son. James Mill led in its development and John Mill followed. The son continued the father's work, expanding, extending, and elaborating it; but he inherited it as a half-constructed system, and, if the father was unable directly to give it its more developed form, he did it indirectly by educating his son entirely with reference to the ​fulfillment of his own mission as the founder of a new school of philosophy.
In seeking to rectify past judgments and to form a more just idea of the relative greatness of these two eminent men, we must remember, not only that the father was self-made, while John Stuart Mill had James Mill for a teacher, but we must remember also that the father had to make himself over again after he had at first been very bady constructed. He was educated as a clergyman in the orthodox school of Scotch Calvinism, and was of course early saturated with the whole order of ideas which belongs to that system. From this he got himself free by a total rejection of the whole body of theological belief that belongs to Christianity. He therefore began the reconstruction of his views and opinions late in life, and had to work them all out for himself. His son, on the contrary, had the immense advantage of beginning early a systematic training in the line which he pursued without a break through life. James Mill was an independent and indeed a masterly thinker in the fields of psychology, of political economy, of logic and the philosophy of government, and he was a pioneer of modern English liberalism. John Stuart Mill ran in upon all these subjects, revising, amplifying, and making them his own through the accomplishments of a wider erudition and a more thorough preparation; but if he had possessed more of his father's quality he would have broken loose from more of his father's errors, and the system of thought that is now identified with both names might have been made more enduring than it is.
Dr. Bain's life of James Mill is a very interesting book. It is interesting in its biographical features and as a delineation of a strong and remarkable character; and it is also especially instructive as a history of the times, as illustrated by the active and influential career of a man who had much to do with the reshaping of modern liberal opinion in social and political affairs. James Mill was a man of immense intellectual activity, as shown not only by the "Analysis. of the Human Mind" and the "History of India," but by a host of lesser productions, such as articles contributed to cyclopædias and to many of the leading reviews, all of which were able in thought and written with remarkable clearness and force.
The Winners in Life's Race; or, the Great Backboned Family. By Arabella B. Buckley. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 367. Price, $1.50.
As a popular scientific writer the position of Miss Buckley is now assured. Her knowledge is sound, her judgment trustworthy, and her power of elementary exposition much above the common standard. Her first book, "A Short History of Natural Science," was needed and was well done. The "Fairy Land of Science" was also excellent. "Life and her Children" struck into the new biological path, and gave an interesting account of the invertebrates, or the lower forms of living creatures. The present work is a continuation of it into a higher field, although the present is an independent and self-explanatory work.
The work we now have from Miss Buckley was much demanded. We wanted a popular book on the vertebrates, the backboned family from the historic or evolution point of view. This made necessary unusual qualifications in the writer, and implied a knowledge of geology and paleontology, as well as natural history. Miss Buckley had been for many years the secretary and special student of Sir Charles Lyell, and had therefore the best opportunities to become familiar with those branches that have now become indispensable parts of biology. Miss Buckley says of the method of her book:
"I have therefore endeavored to describe graphically the early history of the backboned animals, so far as it is yet known I to us, keep strictly to such broad facts as ought in these days to be familiar to every child and ordinarily well-educated person, if they are to have any true conception of natural history. At the same time I have dwelt, as fully as space would allow, upon the lives of such modern animals as best illustrate the present divisions of the vertebrates upon the earth; my object being rather to follow the tide of life, and sketch in broad outline how structure and habit have gone hand-in-hand in filling every available space with living beings, than to ​multiply descriptions of the various species. If my younger readers will try and become familiar with the types selected, either alive in zoölogical gardens or preserved in good museums, they will, I hope, acquire a very fair idea of the main branches of the Backboned Family."
This acceptance of the evolution stand-point, this tracing of the stream of life along the great course of terrestrial changes, this marking of the epochs of advancing organization in the ascending movement, and this tracing of genetic relationships, all concur in giving a new and impressive significance to the idea of unity in the great scheme of life, and give to natural history a new element of almost romantic interest. Miss Buckley has given attractiveness to the subject by her wealth of information, the clearness and simplicity of her descriptions, and she has heightened the effect by the skillfully conceived and finely executed illustrations with which the volume is filled.
Herbert Spencer on the Americans, and the Americans on Herbert Spencer. Being a Full Report of Mr. Spencer's Interview, and of the Proceedings at the Farewell Banquet. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 96. Price, ten cents, or $5 per hundred.
This pamphlet contains the most for the money of anything that can be found in the market. It has been carefully prepared, so as to be entirely correct and authentic. The newspaper reports were defective and incomplete. The revised addresses of Hon. William M. Evarts, Mr. Spencer, Professor W. G. Sumner, Mr. Carl Schurz, Professor O. C. Marsh, Mr. John Fiske, and Rev. Henry Ward Beecher are given in full; and to these are added the unspoken speeches of Mr. E. L. Youmans, Mr. Lester F. Ward, and Mr. E. R. Leland, together with all the letters sent to the committee, and which have not before been published. The document is weighty with important thought that can not fail to dispel much prejudice, and every one who cares for the dissemination of truth should send on his five dollars and get a hundred to distribute among his neighbors. They will be sure to appreciate the favor.
Unity Pulpit. Sermons of M. J. Savage. Vol. IV. No. 9. Herbert Spencer: his Influence on Religion and Morality. Published weekly. Boston: George H. Ellis. Price, $1.50 a year, or six cents single copy.
There is no more encouraging sign of the times than the indications we see that the pulpit is beginning to yield to the spirit of progress. As science slowly advances in the reformation of knowledge, bringing new subjects under the influence of its method, regenerating the ideals of mankind, and making truth the supreme object of quest and devotion, it is, of course, impossible for the pulpit to remain unaffected by the general movement. The highest victory of evolution will be to transform the biased preacher into the unbiased teacher. The pulpit, as we have inherited it, is becoming more and more anomalous in these times. It is the place that has been sacredly protected from the competitions of inquiry. Everywhere else error goes merely for what it is worth, and must take its chances in the open conflicts of discussion, but in the pulpit error is consecrated. It is the bulwark of tradition. Beliefs that are outgrown and abandoned everywhere else find refuge in the pulpit. The preacher is the expositor of ancient creeds, the leader of a sect, a rhetorical homilist, anything except an independent seeker after truth. The virtue of the pulpit is submissive faith, its crime freethinking. This characterization, of course, applies more to the past than to the present, but it is still too extensively true. There is, however, a silent, insidious, but inevitable change going on in a great number of pulpits that is loosening ancient prejudices, undermining past bigotries, softening theological asperities, and tending to a larger liberality in all religious matters. The position of the clergyman in a time of transition like the present is difficult, and, if he be a deeply conscientious as well as a clear-sighted man, is often painful. But many of them are learning how to meet the emergency, to yield gracefully that which must go, and to accept cordially that which must unavoidably come. Some pulpits, indeed, and their number is increasing, are already free. Their occupants are content to be simply teachers, and have liberated themselves from all trammels that tend to ​hinder the promulgation of truth. The doctrine of evolution will certainly sweep away a large amount of old belief that has hitherto been venerated by its religious associations, but in various qualified forms the essential truth of that doctrine is already acknowledged in many pulpits where it is sure, as time goes on, to yield its liberalizing fruits.
Unity pulpit, in Boston, occupied by the Rev. Minot J. Savage, has long been emancipated from those restraints of dogma which hinder the acceptance of the great truths established by science. Mr. Savage has met the new questions of the time without hesitation and with a cordial welcome, holding that neither will a sound morality be weakened nor pure religion suffer through the extensions of science and the enlargement of the domain of truth. He maintains rather that a more authoritative ethics and more ennobling religious conceptions must be the inevitable result of that progress of thought which now finds its highest expression in the evolution philosophy. Unity pulpit at any rate is free, and its occupant is unable to perceive why in his sphere of inquiry he should not have exactly the same liberty of investigation that is exercised by every member of the National Academy of Sciences. His last sermon, now before us, is devoted to Herbert Spencer, and to an estimate of his influence on religion and morality. It certainly can not be said that the pulpit has hitherto sinned in the way of neglecting this representative thinker; but the utterance of Mr. Savage differs so widely from what we have been accustomed to hear from the lips of clergymen, that we have pleasure in quoting its opening passages:
A Practical Treatise on Hernia. By Joseph H. Warren, M. D. Second and revised edition. With Illustrations. Boston: James R. Osgood & Co. Pp. 428. Price, $5.
The author of this book is widely known as a successful practitioner and writer on hernia and kindred affections, and his aim has been to make this a trustworthy work of reference on the subject. The first edition was received in the most favorable manner by the profession; the present new edition has been improved with all the advantages that further studies and ​continued experience in practice could enable the author to add. A new introduction has been written, and six new and carefully prepared chapters have been added, while a part of the old work, considered less essential, has been omitted. The volume contains a condensation of whatever seems most worth preserving from the world's literature on the subject, and much that is original with the author, embodying the results of his own studies for many years, and having never before been given to the public in a printed form. The treatise begins with a discussion of the causation of hernia, in fetal and infantile life and in adults, to which are added some remarks on its effects. Next are considered its kinds and frequency; its anatomy, descriptive and surgical, and strangulation. The essential purpose of the work is developed in the fifth chapter, in which the operations for hernia are considered generally; and the sixth, in which the author's own method is described and explained. Under the former head full justice is done to previous operators, all of whose methods that seem to have merit are candidly and impartially described and estimated; and acknowledgment is given for what the author has derived from them, particularly from Heaton's method, of which Dr. Warren's is a modification and improvement. The principle of Warren's method is the injection of an astringent solution to induce closure of the rings and canals, to produce what is commonly called a radical cure. This principle was suggested by Dr. Pancoast, of Philadelphia, extended and applied with much success by Dr. Heaton, and was brought to a higher degree of perfection by a more complete adaptation of the injecting instrument to the conditions required by the delicate tissues operated upon, and some modifications in the injected fluid, by Dr. Warren. All of the operations, from that of Chauliac to that of Wood, are declared to be "severe, and likely to be attended with great danger to life, if not absolute loss of it." No such arguments, Dr. Warren adds, "can be used against the operation that I recommend, as no fatal results have ever occurred in any of the operations performed by the various surgeons who have undertaken them"; and the only losses likely to occur, he intimates, are from blunders and awkwardness. He is particularly at pains to demonstrate that no danger of peritonitis, so much feared by physicians, is incurred in it. A great deal, however, is acknowledged to depend on the proper selection of cases to be operated upon. Heaton's great success may be largely ascribed to the discrimination he exercised in this matter, and we are told that "when speaking of his invariable success, he was in the habit of giving me a peculiar wise and knowing look of the eye, and he would say that he cured all, or about all, that he would operate on." The general health of the patient has, of course, much to do with the success of the operation, and something depends on the kind of hernia. The succeeding chapters to those on operations are devoted to the treatment of strangulated hernia, kelotomy, or herniotomy, "Artificial Anus and Wounds of the Intestines," hydrocele and varicocele, some observations on trusses which might be made of general application, copious accounts of cases, an extensive bibliography, and a list of operators. The work is presented by the publishers in excellent shape, with the best of paper and print, and an abundance of clearly delineated illustrations.
Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. Vol. I. Washington: Printed for the Society. (G. Brown Goode, Secretary.) Pp. 110.
This volume contains the constitution of the society, the list of honorary, corresponding, and active members, and the proceedings from the first meeting, for organization, November 19, 1880, to May 26, 1882. In addition are given in full the addresses delivered on the occasion of the Darwin Memorial Meeting, May 12, 1882, comprising "The Doctrine of Darwin," by Theodore Gill; a "Biographical Sketch," by William H. Dall; "Darwin's Work in Entomology," by Dr. Riley; "Darwin as a Botanist," by Lester F. Ward; "Darwin on the Expression of the Emotions," by Frank Baker, M. D.; and "A Darwinian Bibliography," by Frederick W. True. President Gill's inaugural address of 1881, on "The Proper Use of the Term Biology," is also published in full.
A Guide to Modern English History. By William Cory. Part II, 1830 to 1835. New York: Henry Holt & Co. Pp. 567. Price, $3.50.
The first part of this work related to the first fifteen years of the great peace. The expansion of the present volume, which includes only about a third as much time, is justified by the author, on the ground of the "excessive value of the work done for the British Commonwealth in the years now surveyed." These years, the author adds, "are full of the virtue and wisdom which make modern England supremely worthy of a student's contemplation; it seems not too much to say that they form a period of paramount importance in the history of legislation and government." The work is the composition of a sharp observer, and is marked by vigorous thought and forcible expression, and a bold, captivating style that engages the reader and holds him. Mr. Samuel R. Gardiner, who may be regarded as an expert in the specialty of English history, characterizes it as "one not very well calculated to guide those who do not know a good deal of the way already, but admirably fitted to enable those who do to test those opinions which they have sometimes too hastily formed."
Address delivered by Edward Atkinson at the Opening of the Second Annual Fair of the New England Manufacturers' and Mechanics' Institute in Boston, September, 6, 1882. Pp. 32.
The end to be subserved by such industrial exhibitions, Mr. Atkinson tells us, is to make less arduous the daily work whereby the larger part of the community earn their daily bread. The author is not one who takes a pessimist's view of life, and, although he shows that the measure of comfort that each man, woman, and child can yet enjoy, even in our prosperous land, does not exceed on an average fifty or sixty cents per day, he does not think or believe that increase of wealth is of necessity complemented by increase of poverty. Still the small minority of people who can become possessors of capital in any large measure must justify the leisure which they or their fathers have earned, by the use which they make of the time and means at their disposal. After showing how it is possible for our railroad kings to put money in our pockets while amassing fortunes themselves, he compares our happy lot with the unfortunate condition, from an economic point of view, of those countries that are burdened by huge standing armies, and where the quantity produced, although relatively less, must be divided among a greater number. The advantages of developing the hand and brain together are then referred to. The last man or woman whom you desire to dis. charge from the works which you control, when the times are hard, is the one earning the most for himself or herself; the first to be discharged is the unfortunate one whose hand and brain have not been developed together, and who can, in hard times, no longer render you a service, even if paid a sum barely sufficient to support life. "Owing to the great natural, social, and political advantages that we enjoy, the wages of labor and the remuneration of capital must be greater in proportion to the effort used than in any other section of the world's surface; and these facts prove that the cost of production is less in ratio to product than it can be anywhere else."
Although intended for delivery before a limited audience on a particular occasion, the address is of such general interest as to deserve a wide circulation.
Contributions to Mineralogy. By F. A. Genth. Read before the American Philosophical Society, August 18, 1882.
This pamphlet of twenty-four finely printed pages represents a large amount of actual labor, and contains several important contributions to science, in the form of analyses and observations on altered minerals. That one mineral should be gradually changed, particle by particle, molecule by molecule, into a different mineral having other chemical and physical properties, is a curious and interesting phenomenon, worthy the study of such a chemist as Professor Genth. The first case described is the alteration of corundum, in Madison County, North Carolina; it is found partially altered to a massive greenish-black spinel; in Towns County, Georgia, a pink corundum is found surrounded by greenish-white, cleavable zoisite; an interesting occurrence of the alteration of corundum into a feldspar is near Media, Pennsylvania, at the ​"Black-Horse" tavern; Haywood County, North Carolina, has furnished specimens of corundum altered into feldspar, as well as mica; examples of corundum altered into margarite (calcium mica), cases of the alternation of corundum into fibrolite and cyanite are also mentioned. The altered minerals were more or less water-worn and rounded, while the corundum which they inclose is sharp and angular, which proves that since the great gravel deposits were formed no alteration of the corundum has taken place in these deposits.
The other interesting alterations described by Professor Genth are the alteration of orthoclase into albite, and talc into anthophyllite, and pseudomorphs of talc after magnetite. Several other investigations of mineral species follow, among them gahnite, rutile and zircon, sphalerite and prehnite, pyrophyllite, beryl, niccolite, and artificial alisonite. The author also describes the accidental formation of artificial crystals of rutile during fusion with potassium hydrogen sulphate; two crystals of octahedrite were likewise produced at the same time, and had a decided blue color.
On the Age of the Tejon Rocks of California, and the Occurrence of Ammonitic Remains in Tertiary Deposits. By Angelo Heilprin. From "Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia," July, 1882.
The author undertakes to settle the point in dispute between Conrad and Gabb, as to the age of the Tejon rocks, referred by the former to the Eocene series, and by the latter to the Cretaceous. A list of one hundred and twelve species is given, representing the fauna of the Tejon group with the various localities of occurrence, as claimed by Gabb, and evidence presented to show that Gabb was in error in many cases, and hence that the tables do not afford a safe criterion for the solution of the problem. The author then goes on to show that, of the seventy-seven genera represented in the Tejon group, at the very least twenty-two are more or less distinctively Tertiary, and out of these eleven are not positively known to have appeared before that geological epoch. Also that, with the exception of six or seven fragments of Ammonitidæ, there is not a single distinctively Cretaceous generic type in the entire number. He therefore concludes that the rocks of the Tejon group, despite their comprising in their contained faunas a limited number of forms from the subjacent (cretaceous) deposits, and a few undoubted representatives of the Ammonitidæ, are of Tertiary (Eocene) age.
The Eocene age of the Tejon rocks is likewise maintained by Professor Jules Marcon, who made a personal examination of the region.
Proceedings of the Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences. Vol. Ill, Part II. Davenport, Iowa: Published by the Academy. Pp. 192, with Four Plates.
The present number contains the proceedings of the Academy during 18*79 and 1880, with the president's addresses of Mrs. M. L. D. Putnam and Mr. W. H. Pratt. The numerous papers testify to the great activity of the members of the Academy in the leading departments of investigation, predominantly in archæology, to the study of which the location of the society offers excellent facilities. A very interesting paper is that of Professor G. Seyffarth on the inscriptions of the Davenport Tablets, the conclusions of which are startling for their boldness.
How to Succeed: A Series of Essays by Various Authors. Edited by the Rev. Lyman Abbott, D. D. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 131. Price, 50 cents.
This is a republication of a series of papers which appeared last winter in the "Christian Union," on the general subject and its applications, headed with articles by Senators Bayard and Edmunds on "Success in Public Life," and continued with other articles, by men who have attained eminence in their various professions or arts, on the elements of success in their respective callings.
Cerebral Hyperæmia: Does it exist? A Consideration of some Views of Dr. William A. Hammond. By C. F. Buckley, B. A., M. D., formerly Superintendent of Haydock Lodge Asylum, England. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 129.
The author opposes the theory which Dr. Hammond has published concerning the effects of excess or deficiency of blood in ​the brain with an earnestness which it is safe to call extreme. He assails with controversial ardor the logic of Dr. Hammond's views, and endeavors to show that they are inconsistent with themselves, and are not supported by the facts whence they are drawn, or by the authors from whose works Dr. Hammond has endeavored to substantiate particular points of his theory.
The Solution of the Pyramid Problem, or Pyramid Discoveries, with a New Theory as to their Ancient Use. By Robert Ballard, of Queensland. New York: John Wiley & Sons. 1882. Pp. 109.
Mr. Ballard is not the first who has advanced a theory as to the purpose for which the pyramids were built, nor even the first to conjecture that they were of use in resurveying the land after the annual inundations of the Nile. "Built by scientific men, well versed in geometry, these great stone monuments are so suited in shape for the purposes of land-surveying, that the practical engineer or surveyor must, after consideration, admit that they may have been built mainly for this purpose." The author also thinks that he has discovered the unit of measure used in their construction, and to which he gives the name of Royal Babylonian cubit. This cubit he makes equal to 20·22 British inches, and as there are 77,760,000 royal Babylonian cubits to the polar circumference of the earth, the cubit represents the 160 of a second. This he claims is the most perfect ancient measure yet discovered. It is a perfect, natural, and convenient measure which fits the plan of the pyramids and fits the circumference of the earth. The author also states that the pyramid of Cheops is situated on one acute angle of a right-angled triangle, and the pyramid called Mycerinus is on the other acute angle, the other two sides of which run respectively east and south from these pyramids. The sides of this triangle are respectively 3, 4, and 5. The pyramids of Cheops and Cephren are situated on the acute angles of a still more remarkable triangle, the sides of which are to each other as 20, 21, and 29. Many other curious facts are mentioned regarding the dimensions, position, and slope of the pyramids, and a description of the method in which the author supposes them to have been used as the "theodolites of the Egyptians." Many of the obelisks, he thinks, were probably marks on pyramid lines of survey, and the pyramid may have been a development of the obelisk for this purpose.
A Guide to Collodio-Etching. By Benjamin Hartley. Illustrated by the author. New York: The Industrial Publication Company. Pp. 48, with Six Plates.
This little work is for the benefit of amateurs, who feel the need of some simple and inexpensive method of duplicating their sketches and studies for the benefit of their friends. The various methods by lithography, photography, and the photo-engraving of pen-and-ink drawings which have been suggested by different persons, have been found by the author to be inconvenient, expensive, and troublesome. He describes, as more nearly realizing than any other one the conditions required by the amateur, a process for drawing the sketch with a needle upon the glass plate, as prepared by the photographer for the camera, and printing from the etching as an ordinary photograph is printed. He undertakes to give all the practical information necessary on the subject, so that persons who know nothing about photography may be able to carry into effect all the details of his system.
United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries. Report of the Commissioner for 1879. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 846.
The report embraces an inquiry into the history and statistics of food-fishes, and a summary of what has been accomplished in the matter of their propagation in the waters of the United States. Among the collateral subjects of attention by the commission have been an investigation into the chemical composition of fish under the varying circumstances of age, sex, and the condition of the reproductive apparatus; researches into the temperature of fishes, experiments in the production of cold for the preservation of fish, and the preparation of a series of casts in plaster and papier-maché of the larger species. The pole flounder, which was discovered off the coast of New England in 1877, proves to be one ​of the most abundant of the flat-fish family, and promises to be an important addition to the food resources of the country. A second species of fish, known as the tilefish, and constituting a genus and species entirely new to science, was discovered during the summer of 1879. The most important item of the year in the work of propagation was the beginning of the distribution of young carp to various points in the United States. The demand for the fish was very great, even with a relatively small supply, and the calls increased so rapidly that it became doubtful whether, even with a much larger production, all the requirements could be met. Good progress is reported in the propagation and distribution of salmon and trout of the various species, shad, codfish, and striped bass. Among the valuable papers with which the report proper is supplemented are one by Professor W. G. Farlow, on the "Marine Algae of New England," containing technical descriptions of all the known species; an account of the cephalopods of the northeastern coast of America, by A. E. Verrill; and articles on the propagation of the eel, the food of marine animals, the Iceland herring fisheries, the periodicity of the great herring-fisheries, the herring's mode of life, the fisheries of the west coast of South America, the scientific examination of the German seas, the effects of sawdust and the pollution of waters by factory refuse on fishes; and articles and reports bearing upon more special features of fish propagation.
The Gulf Stream. Additional Data from the Investigations of the Coast and Geodetic Steamer Blake. By Commander J. R. Bartlett. Pp. 16.
This publication embodies the substance of a paper which was read by the author before the American Geographical Society, and is supplementary to a previous paper. The author states that he is "not hampered with any theories," and merely gives his deductions from the actual facts obtained by the Blake's party, which may serve to correct a few popular errors, even if they do not throw much new light on the subject. His principal conclusions have already been noticed in "The Popular Science Monthly."
Proceedings of the Department of Superintendence of the National Educational Association, March 21 to 23, 1882. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 112.
Value is added to the report of the ordinary discussions of this body by the papers of Drs. Billings and Charles Smart relating to "Ventilation"; of the Hon. H. S. Jones on "Obstacles in the Way of a Better Primary Education"; of Professor G. Stanley Hall on "Chairs of Pedagogy in our Higher Institutions of Learning"; of Drs. A. D. Mayo and J. L. M. Curry on "National Aid to Education"; of Dr. Sheldon Jackson on "Education (or the Want of it) in Alaska"; of Dr. John M. Gregory on the "Common School Studies."
Putnam's Art Hand-Books. Edited by Susan N. Carter. Drawing in Black and-White. Sketching in WaterColors. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 55 and 69. Price, 50 cents each.
The first manual, by the editor, is an effort to show beginners "why they had best choose one material in black-and-white, or another; and to tell them, by a few plain directions, how they can best manage their charcoals, crayons, pen-and-ink, or lead pencils." The directions are clear, and are complemented by typical illustrations, from masters, in each of the styles; but it would be better, perhaps, if the directions and illustrations were more conformed to each other. The second book is by Thomas Hatton, and is intended for the use of such students "as arc accustomed to copy watercolor drawings, and find no difficulty in sketching natural objects in black-and-white," yet need the instructions it undertakes to give them, to enable them to reproduce Nature expressively in her own colors.
A Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Edited by George Grove, D. C. L. Parts XV and XVI (Double Part). London and New York: Macmillan & Co. Pp. 272. Price, $2.
We have already called attention to the fullness and the other merits of this excellent work. The present double number contains the articles under the titles from "Schoberlechner" to "Sketches."
​The "Hoffman Cover and Binder" is a very useful aid for the convenient handling and preservation of magazines and pamphlets while in use and afterward. It is a well-finished book-cover, so arranged that a magazine can be placed and fastened within it in a moment, so as to form a substantial bound book; then, when the next number arrives, can be taken out and replaced by the new one; or it can be left in Und deposited as a single volume in the library. The magazine is thus kept in perfect order, whether it is intended to be bound with its fellow-numbers or filed singly. Six sizes arc kept in stock, to accommodate the variously shaped publications from "The Popular Science Monthly" to "Harper's Weekly" or the "Illustrated London News," and other sizes will be furnished to order, by Joseph A. Hoffman, 208 Montgomery Street, San Francisco."
"The American Journal of Physiology" is a new monthly periodical, each number of which will consist of sixteen pages, edited and published by D. H. Fernandes, M. D., Indianapolis, Indiana. It is intended to supply what the editor believes to be a lack in American scientific literature, and is promised communications from several prominent specialists.
"The Modern Stenographic Journal" is a new Phonographic Magazine, published at Buffalo, New York, by George H. Thornton, editor, and Emory P. Close, associate editor. It will keep its readers in the current of what is going on in the stenographic world; will contain a department of instruction, with serial lessons, and a department devoted to the type-writer and calligraph; and will endeavor to popularize "a simple and rapid system of writing"
Address before Section B (Physics) or the American Association for the Advancement of Science, at the Montreal Meeting. By T. C. Mendenhall. Salem, Mass., 1882. Pp. 14.
Test of Building Material, made at Watertown Arsenal, Mass., August, 1882. Philadelphia, 1882. Pp. 33.
Aberrations of Audibility of Fog-Signals. By Arnold B. Johnson. Washington: Judd & Detweiler, Printers. 1882. Pp. 14, with Two Maps.
The Longfellow Calendar for 1883, with Selections for Every Bay iii the Year. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co.
Statement of Work done at the Harvard College Observatory during the Years 1877-1882. Pp. 23: and, A Plan for securing Observations of the Variable Stars. Pp. 15. By Edward C. Pickering. Cambridge: John Wilson & Son, 1882.
The Worship of the eciprocal Principles of Nature among the Ancient Hebrews. By J. P. MacLean. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co. 1882. Pp. 23. 25 cents.
Seventh Annual Report of Johns Hopkins University. Baltimore, Md. 1882. Pp. 122.
"Paleontological Bulletin," No. 35. By Professor E. D. Cope. Philadelphia: A. E. Foote. 1882. Pp. 44.
Northern Transcontinental Survey. First Annual Report of Raphael Pumpelly, Director. New York; Wells Sackett & Rankin, Printers. 1882. Pp. 16.
Some Observations on Ostriches and Ostrich-Farming. Pp. 11.
Some Indications of an Early Race of Men in New England. By Henry W. Haynes. From the "Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History." Pp. 9.
On the Determination of the Flashing Point of Petroleum. By John T. Stoddard. Pp. 4.
Radiant Heat an Exception to the Second Law of Thermo-Dynamics. By H. T. Eddy, Ph. D. 1882. Pp. 10.
The Sense of Dizziness in Deaf-Mutes. By William James, M. D. Cambridge, 1882. Pp. 16.
Transactions of the Anthropological Society of Washington. From February, 1879, to January, 1882. Vol. I. Washington. 1882. Pp. 142.
Food Adulterations. By Professor Albert B. Prescott, M. D. Reprint from "Annual Report of Michigan State Board of Health for 1882." Pp. 6.
The Tides. By John Nader, Civil Engineer. 1879. Pp. 31.
Sketch of Lewis H. Morgan. By F. W. Putnam. From the "Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences," May, 1882. Pp. 8.
Facts and Phases of Animal Life. By Vernon S. Morwood. Illustrated. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 286. Price, $1.50.
Winners in Life's Race; or. The Great Backboned Family. By Arabella B. Buckley. Illustrated. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 367. Price, $1.50.
Lectures on Art, delivered in Support of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings By Reginald Stuart Poole and others. London: Macmillan & Co. Pp. 232. Price, $1.50.
Anatomical Technology as applied to the Domestic Cat. An Introduction to Human. Vertebrate, and Comparative Anatomy. By Burt G. Wilder and Simon H. Gage. New York and Chicago: A. S. Barnes & Co. Pp. 575. Price, $4.50.
The Life of James Clerk Maxwell, with a Selection from his Correspondence and Occasional Writings, and a Sketch of his Contributions to Science. By Lewis Campbell and William Garnett. London: Macmillan & Co. Pp. 662. Price, $6.
New Method of Learning the French Language. By F. Berger. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 138. Price. $1.
A Study, with Notes, of "The Princess" (Tennyson's poem), By S. E. Dawson. Montreal: Dawson Brothers. Pp. 120.
American Hero-Myths: A Study in the Native Religions of the Western Continent. By Daniel G. Brinton, M. D. Philadelphia: H. C. Watts & Co. Pp. 251. Price. $1.75.
Traits of Representative Men. By George W. Bungay. Illustrated. New York: Fowler & Wells. Pp. 286. Price, $1.50.
​Charles Darwin. Memorial Notices, reprinted from "Nature." London: Macmillan & Co. Pp. 82. Price, 75 cents.
A Whimsical Wooing. By Anton Giulio Barili. From the Italian by Clara Bell. New York: William S. Gottsberger. Pp. 88.
Experimental Physiology. Its Benefits to Mankind. By Richard Owen, C.B., M.D., F.R.S., etc. London: Longmans, Green & Co. Pp. 216. Price, five shillings.
Youth: Its Care and Culture. By J. Mortimer Granville. New York: M. A. Holbrook & Co. Pp. 107.
The Scientific and Technical Reader. London: T Nelson & Sons. Pp. 400. Price, 2s. 6d.
The Factors of Civilization, Real and Assumed. Considered in their Relation to Vice, Misery, Happiness, Unhappiness, and Progress. Vol. II. Atlanta, Georgia; James P. Harrison & Co. Pp. 359.
Text-Book of Geology. By Archibald Geikie. London: Macmillan & Co. Pp. 971. Price, $7.50.
The Coues Check-List of North American Birds. Second edition. Boston: Estes & Lauriat. Pp. 165.
The Diseases of the Liver, with and without Jaundice. By George Harley. M.D. Philadelphia: P. Blakiston, Son & Co. Pp. 751. Price, $5.
Novissimum Organon: The Certainties, Guesses, and Observations of John Thinking-machine. By James Ferdinand Mallinckrodt. St. Louis: Hugh R. Hildreth Printing Co. Pp. 116.
Quintus Claudius: A Romance of Imperial Rome. By Ernst Eckstein. From the German by Clara Bell. In two vols. New York: William S. Gottsberger. Pp. 616. Price, $1.75.
Dress and Care of the Feet. By Dr. P. Kahler. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 39.