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

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The New Chemistry, By Josiah Parsons Cooke, LL.D. Revised edition, remodeled and enlarged. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 400. Price, $2.
All who are interested in the progress of chemistry will be glad to learn that Professor Cooke has thoroughly revised his interesting volume in the "International Scientific Series," entitled "The New Chemistry." It took a position in all the languages in which it appeared, both as a model of admirable exposition and a standard work on the present condition of chemical theory. But, excellent as it was when first published, the author has not been content to let it go improvised when there has been further important progress, both of the science and of his own views of the subject. He has accordingly revised and amplified it so that it may now be accepted as an authoritative statement of the present condition of chemical philosophy. We reproduce the author's preface to the new edition, that our readers may know exactly the import of the changes that have been made in the book:
But unquestionably the most important advance in chemistry during the last decade has resulted from the study of the thermal changes accompanying chemical processes, which has proved that the law of the conservation of energy is a directing principle in chemistry as important as it is in physics. This study has developed an entirely new branch of our science called thermo-chemistry; and we now confidently look forward to a time in the near future when we shall be able to predict the order of phenomena in chemistry as fully as we now can in astronomy.
Health in the Household; or, Hygienic Cookery. By Susannah W. Dodds, M. D. New York: Fowler & Wells. Pp. 602. Price, $2.
By hygienic cookery the author means the preparation of predominantly vegetable dishes without stimulating condiments or the assistance of ingredients hard to digest. On this subject she is in her own preferences radical, for not only would she discard heating meats and spices and grease of all kinds, but she intimates that she would do away with milk, and, going behind even the uncorrupted instincts of animals in a state of nature, would abolish salt. Exalting grains, fruits, and vegetables, as the predominantly suitable staples of human food, she has something to say of the manner in which these things should be combined in a single meal—what of them should be eaten together—that deserves attention. Radicalism and the statement of principles constitute, however, but a part of the book. In the practical part the author is more catholic, and gives recipes for dishes both in "the hygienic dietary"—that is, a dietary strictly according to her principles—and in an enlarged dietary of "compromise dishes," into which meat dishes and the least deadly errors of modern seasoning are admitted. Hygienic people do not appear confined to a spare or monotonous diet. Mrs. Dodds's list is full and various, and some of the dishes are as good any the gourmands have. Including the compromise dishes, the dyspeptic who is strong enough to bear them can, after all, live like an epicure.
La Fabula de los Caribes. (The Fable of the Caribs.) By Juan Ignacio de Armas. Havana: Francisco S. Ibañez. Pp. 31.
This monograph is numbered I of a series of Americanist studies, and is a paper which was read before the Anthropological Society of Havana, at a date not given. It traces the fable of the Caribs—who were reported to be neighbors of the Amazons, to be cannibals, and to flatten their heads—from its origin with the ancients and its primitive location on the Black Sea, through the mutations it underwent with the authors of the middle ages, to its final location by the Spanish chroniclers in the newly discovered regions of tropical America. Having examined the grounds on which the characteristics first ascribed to the Chalybs of the Euxine were assigned to the Caribs of America, he finds that they were false, and that our Caribs were a people of mild and peaceful habits. "The fable of the Caribs," he says, "was in the beginning a geographical error; then a hallucination; and finally a calumny."
Reflex Nervous Influence, and its Importance as a Factor in the Causation and Cure of Disease. By D. T. Smith, M. D. New Orleans.
Reflex influence is that property of the nervous system by means of which, when one organ is affected, some other one responds to its call and acts instantaneously with it for the common good. It is an important factor in many relations of the individual to its environment; and familiar instances of its operation may be found in the daily actions of men and beasts. Dr. Smith conceives its function to be much more general than has been supposed, and would extend it to cases of disease. Thus colds are cases of the response of some correlated internal nerves, now of one part, now of another, to impairment of vitality in the cutaneous nerves. Poultices act favorably by ​stimulating the vitality and nutrition of nerves of skin covered by them, the exaltation of which is reflected to the deeper parts, and to the abscess whose maturity it is desired to hasten. The ordinary remedies for the relief of inflammation, and medicines which can not directly reach the part it is desired to affect, operate by reflex action. Restoration of the tone of the stomach may be promoted by the taste, sight, or smell, of pleasant food, and expectoration is stimulated by the swallowing of remedies that can not be expected to reach the mucous membrane of the respiratory passages, simply by the operation of the principle under consideration.
Report on the Cotton Production of the State of Florida: With an Account of the General Agricultural Features of the State. By Eugene Allen Smith, Ph. D. Tuscaloosa, Ala. Pp. 77.
As bearing upon the subject of the report. Professor Smith gives in this paper, besides matters immediately relating to cotton, an outline of the physical geography and geology of the State, embodying a review of what has already been hitherto done in this field, together with a synopsis of the results obtained by himself during the summer of 1880. The geological structure of Florida has been very much misunderstood, and the author's observations, presenting the matter in a correct view, are a positive addition to knowledge.
Sixteenth and Seventeenth Annual Reports of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology. F. W. Putnam, Curator. Cambridge, Mass. Pp. 132.
The out-door work of the Curator of the Museum in 1882 was directed chiefly to the exploration and examination of the prehistoric works of various kinds on the Little Miami River, principally in Hamilton County, Ohio. The curator also examined some shell-heaps on the coast of Maine, and explored a large mound and a cemetery in Williamson County, Tennessee. Valuable contributions to the work of the museum were made by Dr. C. C. Abbott, in the gravels of Trenton, New Jersey, and by Miss Alice C. Fletcher, the fruits of her residence among the Indian tribes. In 1883 the explorations on the Little Miami were continued; excursions were made by the curator to the works in Wisconsin and in the Scioto Valley, Ohio; and reports and collections were received of investigations in North Carolina, New Jersey, Delaware, the Zuñis of New Mexico, Massachusetts, Little Falls (Minnesota), and Nicaragua. Miss Fletcher was enabled to trace a relation between some peculiar features of the Madisonville works in Ohio and past customs of the Omaha Indians. The museum was enriched by the gift, from Thomas G. and Captain Nathan Appleton, of a collection from the Chiriqui graves, Panama. The report gives several papers in full on Indian customs, etc., by Miss Fletcher and other writers, and lists of additions to the collections, which now embrace 33,150 entries.
Archæological Institute of America. Fifth Annual Report of the Executive Committee, and Third Report of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. Cambridge, Mass.: John Wilson & Sons. Pp. 118.
The report records the continuation and completion, for the present, of the excavations at Assos, in Asia Minor, the relics of which are "now one of the most interesting revelations of classical antiquity," and the very interesting explorations of Mr. Baudelier in the antiquities of New Mexico. A few remarks are offered respecting the value of the excavations at Assos, and of Greek civilization generally, to modern life. Fifteen colleges have co-operated in the maintenance of the classical school at Athens, which was under the direction, for the year, of Professor Lewis R. Packard, and is to be led for the coming year by Professor J. O. Van Benschoten, of Wesleyan University.
The Theories of Darwin and their Relation to Philosophy, Religion, and Morality. By Rudolf Schmid. Translated from the German by G. A. Zimmerman, Ph. D., with an Introduction by the Duke of Argyll. Chicago: Jansen, McClurg & Co. Pp. 410. Price, $2.
The author of this book is President of the Theological Seminary at Schönthal, Würtemberg. His purpose is to examine the various German versions and extensions of Darwinianism, and, comparing them with the views of the English Darwinian school, ​to ascertain the effect of each and all upon religious opinions and principles. Among the diversified phases of the subject, as it is presented by the different authors, he finds himself "led into the presence of a series of most interesting problems, but not a single solution finished," and has, therefore, been obliged to widen his investigation, "and to discuss even all imaginable possibilities. The beneficent result of this comparison was," he continues, "that religion and morality not only remain at peace with all imaginable possibilities of scientific theories, but can also, in the realm of the philosophy of the doctrines of nature, be passive spectators of all investigations and attempts, even of all possible excursions into the realm of fancy, without being obliged to interfere." Only in metaphysics is an antagonist found, in the attempt to eliminate from nature the idea of design, whose victory would be dangerous; but this thought is dismissed as in opposition "not only to the whole world of facts, but also to all logical reasoning."
Manual of the Mosses of North America. By Leo Lesquereux and Thomas P. James. Boston; S. E. Cassino & Co. Pp. 445, with Six Plates.
Mr. Lesquereux is known as one of the oldest and most experienced American botanists, and as one of the highest authorities in those fields of the science in which he has been engaged during his working life. In 1848 William S. Sullivant published, in the first edition of Gray's "Manual of Botany," descriptions of 205 species of mosses and 66 of hepaticæ; and in the second edition of the same work, in 1856, descriptions, with illustrative plates, of 410 mosses and 107 hepaticæ. He then began, in connection with Professor Lesquereux, a separate volume on mosses, but the work was interrupted by disability of Professor Lesquereux and the death of Mr. Sullivant. It has since been resumed and pushed to completion, with the aid of the material already collected, by Professor Lesquereux, assisted by Mr. James in microscopic analysis; M. T. Renauld, a French bryologist, in special examinations; and Mr. Sereno Watson, in revising and editing. The result is the present noble volume, which includes descriptions of all the species of mosses (about nine hundred) that are known to occur on our continent, within the limits of the United States and northward.
On a Carboniferous Ammonite from Texas. By Professor Angelo Heilprin, of Philadelphia. Pp. 3.
This is a monograph on a new ammonite, named by the author Ammonites Parkeri, obtained from the carboniferous strata of Wise County, Texas, which is noteworthy as being the first ammonite that has been detected in any American formation below the Mesozoic series. Carboniferous ammonites have also, however, been found in India.
Fire-Proof Buildings with Wooden Beams and Girders. New York: W. H. Dolman, 229 Broadway. Pp. 14.
An exposition of the character and merits of Dolman's fire-dampers, a device for fire-proofing wooden beams and floors by packing the beams or deafening the space under the floors with ashes, which is claimed to be cheap, effective, and easy to adapt.
Wages and Trade in Manufacturing Industries in America and Europe. By J. Schoenhof. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 25. Price, 15 cents.
This essay is published, with an introduction by R. R. Bowker, under the auspices of the New York Free Trade Club. It is intended to answer the communications in the "New York Tribune" of Mr. Robert P. Porter on the same subject, who, having been dispatched to Europe as a special correspondent in the interest of protection, "did what he was sent to do," and "presented a picture of the distress of England under free trade and of the prosperity of France and Germany under a protective tariff that was much of a surprise to those who know most of those countries." An opposite view is here given.
A Hand-Book of Hygiene and Sanitary Science. By George Wilson. Fifth edition, enlarged and carefully revised. Philadelphia: P. Blakiston, Son & Co. Pp. 512. Price, $2.75.
This is a very full and at the same time closely condensed manual of facts and principles in the whole field indicated by the title, arranged under the general heads (with many divisions and subdivisions) of "Public ​Health and Preventable Disease"; "Food"; "Air, its Impurities and their Effects on Public Health"; "Ventilation and Warming"; "Examination of Air and Ventilation"; "Water"; "Water Analysis"; "Impure Water, and its Effects on Public Health"; "Dwellings"; "Hospitals"; "Removal of Sewage"; "Purification and Utilization of Sewage"; "The Effects of Improved Drainage and Sewage on Public Health"; "Preventive Measures "(disinfection); "Vital Statistics"; and "The Duties of (English) Medical Officers of Health."
Reforms: Their Difficulties and Possibilities. By the author of "Conflict in Nature and Life." New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 229. Price, $1.
Many who read that remarkable book, by an anonymous author, entitled "Conflict in Nature and Life: a Study of Antagonism in the Constitution of Things," which was published last year, were so deeply interested in the views presented, and so struck with their possible bearings upon various practical questions, as to indulge the hope that the author would resume his novel discussion, and work out some of the more obvious implications of his doctrine. This he has now done in the book before us, which, while in a certain sense a sequel or supplement to the former work, is still an independent treatise that must stand substantially upon its own merits. The work on "Conflict," as we pointed out at the time of its publication, was devoted to an explication of the dynamic view of Nature, which sees in it the action of forces ever resisted by other forces, so that the conception of conflict becomes the key to its universal operations. The radical ideas of that volume are thus restated in the author's introduction to the present work. He says: "A simple and primary form of antagonism is that of attraction and repulsion, which play so conspicuous a part in the phenomena of physics and chemistry. In biology, antagonism appears in manifold forms, in some instances somewhat obscure, but nevertheless everywhere present. Birth and death, growth and decay, waste and repair, development and degradation, are familiar examples. It appears in the never-ending struggle of individuals with individuals, of species with species, and of persistence of type with divergence of type. It is even exemplified by the rivalry of functions for vital energy from the organic sources in common, in consequence of which the over-activity of one may impoverish another, as when over-exertion of the brain exhausts the body, and early and over reproduction diminishes growth and development. Similar forms of antagonism pass over into the sphere of mind. At the bottom of the mental scale, and at the top, mental action is counteraction. There is no mental conception of properties except by contrast: one feeling antagonizes another; the mind is itself a system of balances, often fluctuating from one extreme to another; and the will is forever the theatre of emotional conflict. And all this antagonism is not incidental and transitory, as usually supposed, but fundamental and ineradicable."
But this policy of conflict is far enough from being confined to the inorganic, the organic, and the sub-human sphere of Nature. Man, with all his activities, is a part of the great unified natural order, and is to be as much studied in the light of this principle as any other divisions of phenomena. On this point the author observes: "Now, if this antagonism prevails in Nature, and is woven into the constitution of man, we should infer that the society which man forms would embody antagonistic elements in manifold forms of combination and interrelation. We should further infer that every attempt to act on human nature and on human society, for their improvement, should take an account of this ineradicable antagonism in the constitution of things in order properly to adapt the means to the end. A prevailing form in which this antagonism appears in life is in the essential coupling of the evil with the good, of a general evil with every general good. Now, in consequence of this union of evil with good, there is no such thing as perfection, and any attempt to bring about perfect results will fail. All that can be done is to effect the greatest possible good with the least possible evil. But reformers usually go to work in defiance of this principle; they have panaceas for every moral disease in the world, and are bound that every wrong ​shall be righted, and every evil exterminated, not seeing that, while they gain on one side, they are almost sure to lose on the other."
It was quite inevitable that the author should be led by this train of thought to an examination of the general subject of reforms. By this term has come to be understood that concerted and systematic effort which men put forth for the removal of evils, personal and social, and the attainment of a higher good through wiser action and better conduct. The reforms in which men and women engage are numberless, and are usually undertaken under the spur of a vivid sense of some evil to be removed, some suffering to be mitigated, or some great good to be achieved, rather than from any clear appreciation of how much it is possible to accomplish, or the danger of making matters worse by injudicious and intractable meddling. If ever amplitude of knowledge and cautious judgment are required for the guidance of human activity, it is certainly when experiments are to be made upon human beings in social relations for the purpose of attaining ideal results. But knowledge is generally not at a premium among reformers, and, instead of being men of dispassionate discernment and cool deliberation, they are too generally ardent and passionate, and even hot-headed and fanatical. It may be said that it is just these qualities that are needed to drive a reformatory crusade, and that nothing in this direction is ever accomplished by discreet and well-balanced men. But our experience with reforms and reformers—those who make it a business and a profession—is not such as to convince us that further knowledge on the philosophy of this important subject is superfluous.
For this reason we welcome the present book as a timely and valuable contribution to the question of the difficulties and the possibilities of reformatory effort. The author brings out a view of the subject that needed to be elaborated. It is a great subject, and his treatment of it is neither exhaustive nor faultless; but it is sufficiently full, cogent, and instructive to be of great public service. The writer modestly remarks: "It may be thought that more should have been said of the possibilities of reform. I could not say more on this point than has here been said without pretending to wisdom which I am perfectly conscious I do not possess. I believe there is need of some such presentation of the subject as an incentive mainly to a careful and judicious treatment of the great practical questions of the day."
The work is divided into three parts. Part I—consisting of five chapters, is devoted to the labor question—wages, saving and management, monopoly, schemes for industrial reform, etc. Part II—three chapters—takes up financial questions—money, protection, and monopoly. Part III—six chapters—is devoted to miscellaneous reforms—questions of every-day economics, some points in education, the woman and divorce questions, the temperance question, and issues of the near future. The work is neatly printed and brought out at a moderate price. It should have an extensive circulation, for the country is full of reformers.
Intellectual Arithmetic, upon the Inductive Method of Instruction. By Warren Colburn. Revised and enlarged edition. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Pp. 216. Price, 36 cents.
To commend Colburn's Arithmetic would be like painting the rose. The system he introduced has held its place for sixty years, and educators are not yet ready to depart from its principles. The changes made in the present edition have been designed to make the "Colburn Method of Instruction" more apparent and attractive, or to bring the modes of expression and the objects referred to into conformity with the changed conditions of the life of to-day. A sketch of Colburn's life, his original preface, and George B. Emerson's introduction to the edition of 1863, are given in the Appendix.
Text-Book of Popular Astronomy. For the Use of Colleges, Academies, and High Schools. By William G. Peck, Ph. D., LL. D. New York: A. S. Barnes & Co. Pp. 330.
This book is intended to+ present, in a compact and popular form, all the facts and principles of astronomy that are needed in a general course of collegiate education. Mathematical formulas and demonstrations have been avoided as far as possible, and ​when introduced have been put in different type from the other matter. The order of arrangement of the matter is a little varied from the common order. The stars are treated of in a general way before any detailed consideration is given to the solar system. Instruments are described at those places in the text where their use is indicated in the general development of the course. Terms are defined where they may receive immediate illustration from the context. Subjects are arranged according to the author's idea of what is a natural and logical order.
Nippon Shoku Butsu meii; or, Nomenclature of Japanese Plants in Latin, Japanese, and Chinese. By J. Matsumura. Supervised by Z. R. Yatabe. Tokio, Japan: Z. P. Maruya & Co. Pp. 300. Price, $2.
The author of this catalogue is Assistant Professor of Botany in the University of Tokio, and has done his work under the supervision of the Professor-in-chief of Botany in the same institution. But little more can be said in description of it than is given in the title. Twenty-four hundred and six species are catalogued in the alphabetical order of their recognized botanical or Latin names, with the authorities on which the names rest, and the equivalents for these names are given in Japanese, romanized Japanese, and Chinese. The list itself is a sufficient index to the Latin names; but three special alphabetical indexes are given for the Japanese, romanized Japanese, and Chinese names. The general execution and arrangement of the work are as nearly perfect as such things ever are; and in mechanical execution the book is equal to the best that has ever come from an American or European press.
Beginnings with the Microscope. By Walter P. Manton, M. D. Boston: Lee & Shepard; New York: Charles T. Dillingham. Pp. 73. Price, 50 cents.
The "Beginnings" is a working handbook containing simple instructions in the art and method of using the microscope and preparing objects for examination. It is easy to handle, easy to read, and easy to understand. The successful application of its directions must depend on the skill and industry of the student.
History of the Discovery of the Circulation of the Blood. By Henry C. Chapman, M. D. Philadelphia: P. Blakiston, Son & Co. Pp. 56. Price, $1.
This essay was the concluding lecture of a course on "The Circulation" delivered by the author at the Jefferson Medical College, during the term of 1883. Giving to Harvey the credit that is his due for grasping and formulating the law of the circulation, the author shows that the idea was entertained indefinitely in ancient times by Eristratus and Galen; that Servetus expressed some very intelligent ideas on the heart and its functions; that other writers had demonstrated particular features of the circulation, in an isolated way, before Harvey's time; and that it was not until after the appearance of Harvey's work that the discovery of the capillaries made intelligible the manner in which the blood passed from the arteries to the veins, and the demonstration of the lymphatics completed our knowledge on the subject.
Machinery of the Heavens. A System of Physical Astronomy. By A. P. Pichereau. Galesburg, Ill.: Plaindealer Printing Company. Pp. 142. Price, $1.50.
Mr. Pichereau is a practicing lawyer, who has kept up a living interest in astronomical questions and studies. While having the highest respect for astronomers, he is not fully satisfied with the sufficiency of their theories; he has thought out some hypotheses of his own, which he presents modestly, but with confidence, in this book. These theories relate to the causes of planetary axial rotations and orbital motions, the origin of worlds, the genesis of comets' tails, and the tides. If they can not be called scientific, it would be unjust to pronounce them contrary to science. They are plausible speculations pleasantly uttered by an amateur.
Physics in Pictures. With Explanatory Text prepared by Theodore Eckardt and translated by A. H. Keane. London: Edward Stanford.
In this work the principal natural phenomena and physical appliances in use are described and illustrated by thirty colored plates. Nearly every physical property of matter and ordinary manifestation of force is graphically represented, often with much ​ingenuity. In the first plate, for instance, the property of center of gravity is illustrated in a dozen ways, some of them amusing, in a two-page picture, which itself has no inconsiderable merit as a composition. Other plates explain the principles of the mechanical powers of simple and compound machines, the parallelogram of forces, density, the fire-engine, pumps, watch and clock works, mills, distilling apparatus, house-heating apparatus, steam-engines, ship-construction, electricity and its applications, the aurora borealis, and acoustics and optics, and the instruments in which they are applied, or are made subjects of investigation.
In the Heart of Africa. By Sir Samuel Baker. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. Pp. 284. Price, $1.
No one has done more to make the world acquainted with the regions of the Upper Nile and the Central African lakes than Sir Samuel Baker; and no one has conveyed the knowledge gained of them in a more entertaining and instructive manner than he. His two works, on "The Nile Tributaries of Abyssinia" and "The Albert Nyanza Great Basin of the Nile," are too large and expensive, and out of the reach of the mass of readers. The present volume has been condensed from them in such a manner as to omit that which is dry and only of detail, while the unity and thrilling charm of the narrative and the descriptive parts are retained.
The Globe Pronouncing Gazetteer of the World. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd; New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 463, with Thirty-two Maps. Price, $2.50.
The purpose of this "Gazetteer" is to furnish in a convenient form such a concise dictionary of geography as will, from its special features and cheapness, prove acceptable and useful to the general public. It gives descriptions of the different countries of the globe, and of their physical aspects and political divisions, and the location of their principal towns, etc., with the pronunciation, and, in many cases, the etymology of the geographical names. The first edition of the "Gazetteer" was published in 1879. The present edition has been thoroughly revised, and much new matter has been added.
Sorghum: Its Culture and Manufacture. Economically considered as a Source of Sugar, Sirup, and Fodder. By Peter Collier, Ph.D. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co. Pp. 570. Price, $3.
It is the purpose of this work to present, in a systematic manner, all the most important facts relating to the economical production of sugar, sirup, and fodder from sorghum. The attempt is made to separate that which is demonstrable from the vast accumulation of statements, true and fanciful, that have been made since the plant was first introduced into the United States. The actual working results of numerous practical experiments in the production of sugar from this source have been given in detail, together with illustrations and descriptions of all necessary apparatus. The author's experience, as chemist of the United States Department of Agriculture, has given him excellent advantages for the study of different varieties of sorghum during all stages of development, the results of which he has endeavored to present, condensed and classified, in this volume. He has full faith in the possibility of making the production of sugar from sorghum profitable.
A Bachelor's Talks about Married Life and Things adjacent. By William Aikman, D. D. New York: Fowler & Wells. Pp. 272. Price, $1 50.
Dr. Aikman, infusing into his work the interest of a narrative and the easy grace of the informal essay, has given in this volume a series of sketches, more or less connected, on the different phases and events of married life, each of which, and the whole together, are intended to convey a moral or a salutary practical lesson.
Outline of Lecture Notes on General Chemistry. By John T. Stoddard, Ph. D., Professor of Chemistry in Smith College.—"The Non-Metals." Northampton, Mass.: Gazette Publishing Company. Pp. 84.
Tokology: A Book for Every Woman. By Alice B. Stockham, M. D. Chicago: Sanitary Publishing Company. Pp. 277. Price, $2.
Tokology concerns the function of maternity. This book aims to teach women how they may build up their physical constitutions and those of their daughters, so as to fit their systems to endure safely what maternity demands of them, and to convey health and vigor to their offspring. Besides precepts concerning general physical development, particularly that of the womanly structure, it gives instructions for regimen and hygiene during the period of pregnancy, directions for the care of infants, hints for the alleviation of the pains of labor, observations on the disorders of pregnancy, and the alleviations of them, and on ventilation, baths, and gymnastics, with more than thirty pages on dietetics, embracing upward of a hundred recipes that are the outgrowth of experience.
The Man versus the State: Containing "The New Toryism;" "The Coming Slavery;" "The Sins of Legislators;" and "The Great Political Superstition." With a Preface and a Postscript. By Herbert Spencer. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 113. Price 30 cents.
Under this title the several articles by Mr. Herbert Spencer on social and political subjects, which have recently appeared in "The Popular Science Monthly," are now reprinted separately. As our readers know, they are vigorous protests against certain pronounced political tendencies of the times, which, as Mr. Spencer and many others believe, are full of danger to the cause of free government, and which at any rate deal with questions of great importance. The papers are issued in a cheap and attractive form, and the collection forms a very strong campaign document.
It may be thought singular that these discussions should be so classed, and many will be surprised that they should be published at this time, as they are not in the interest of any party, and will hardly be considered as belonging to the proper literature of a presidential canvass. But what can be more proper than to distribute through the community at the present time so able an examination of the principles which lie at the basis of free institutions?
Every four years we in this country profess to remand to the people the whole subject of government policy, which is to be reconsidered, revised, embodied in new platforms, and represented by newly chosen men for the future guidance of the nation. This would, therefore, seem to be an especially suitable occasion to look closely into the tendencies of legislation, and to restate the principles which will best promote the true objects for which government is established. Pure partisanship is, of course, unfavorable to any such serious work, its objects being wholly incompatible with the grave consideration of primary political principles. So true is this, that the time which of all others would seem most appropriate for taking up fundamental questions of political policy is just the time when such questions are intentionally and systematically excluded from popular thought. So effectually are the most important subjects evaded and ruled out of the platforms that, as between the two great rival parties to-day, there is nothing of moment at issue. An election is to be won, and the canvass is to be made subservient to the personal ambition of the candidates, the getting possession of offices, and the distribution of patronage; and the introduction of fundamental issues of principle might disconcert the calculations of the politicians.
But unpropitious as the time might seem to issue a serious non-partisan document, appealing to intelligent and independent thinkers, there are strong reasons, nevertheless, for doing it, because the prevailing policy of the parties is far from having the unanimous approval of our most thoughtful citizens. There are many who protest vehemently against the vicious working of our partisan tactics. There are multitudes, and their numbers are increasing, who have become restive and are growing rebellious under these despotic party exactions, and that rule of intriguers which is fast making American politics the scandal and by-word of the world. Decent men are more and more disgusted with the empty pretenses, hypocrisy, and hollowness of our political life. They may acquiesce at last and vote the ticket of their party associations, but they denounce the system, and are ashamed of their own agency in supporting it. It is to such men, to whom the common literature of the ​canvass is mere chaff and rubbish, that such a document as this of Spencer's will make its successful appeal. Of the character of these papers it is unnecessary here to speak, but they have a living and permanent interest as masterly contributions to that phase of political inquiry which must absorb the attention of the coming generation. The problem of the function of government and the limits of its legitimate action must take precedence of all other political questions.
VAN NOSTRAND'S SCIENCE SERIES, NO. 76.
Modern Reproductive Graphic Processes. By James S. Pettit, First-Lieutenant, First United States Infantry. New York: D. Van Nostrand. Pp. 127. Price, 50 cents.
This little book was prepared for the use of the department of drawing of the United States Military Academy. It gives the outlines of about forty processes now in use for the reproduction of maps, drawings, and works of art, with details and formulas for such as are within the reach of amateurs. The processes are grouped as follows: Sensitive-paper processes, bektograph-printing, engraving, electrotypy, lithography, photography, and miscellaneous. Many of these processes which belong to the same group differ very little; their details are often trade secrets, and they are all, especially those in which chemicals are largely used, constantly undergoing improvements, and widening their range of application.
The Hollanders in Nova Zembla (1596-1597). An Arctic Poem translated from the Dutch of Hendrik Tollers. By Daniel Van Pelt. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 120.
This poem, the work of the most esteemed Dutch poet of the century, relates the story of the famous voyages of Barents and his companions three hundred years ago, and their over-wintering in Nova Zembla. The translation has been prepared and given to the public at the instigation of Samuel Richard Van Campen, who, greatly admiring the original and its author) and being also interested in Arctic research, sought long for a writer who could adequately present its beauties in an English dress. He found such a writer in Mr. Van Pelt, who had already begun the work of his own accord. To the translation Mr. Van Campen prefixes an historical introduction, covering the Dutch voyages of Arctic exploration.
Fifth Avenue to Alaska. By Edward Pierrepont. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 329, with Maps by L. F. Beckwith. Price, $1.75.
The author made the journey, the observations of which he has recorded in this volume, in company with his father, in the summer of 1883, by the Union Pacific Railroad, with the usual digressions to Salt Lake City, the Yosemite, and the Big Trees, via San Francisco, to Astoria, Portland, and the terminus of the Oregon and California Railroad; thence back to Portland, and through Puget Sound to Victoria; and thence to and through "the fiords, straits, bays, and inlets of Alaska, above two thousand miles." The return was by the Northern Pacific Railroad and the Yellowstone Park. What was seen is described in a simple, unaffected style, that seems designed to convey the exact impressions which the various adventures made upon the author.
The Philosophy of History and the New Science of Sociology. By J. M. Long. Memphis, Tenn. Pp. 61.
The Unification of Longitudes and a Universal Time. By Benjamin A. Gould. Buenos Ayres. Pp. 12.
Annual Festival of German Pioneers, Cincinnati. Speech of Charles Reemelin. Pp. 23.
Public Health Laws of Illinois. Springfield, Ill.: State Board of Health, John H. Rauch, Secretary. Pp. 51.
Sewerage Systems, and the Epuration of Sewage. By Henry J. Barnes. Cambridge, Mass.: Riverside Press. Pp. 48.
Life and Public Services of Grover Cleveland. By Pendleton King. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, Pp. 224. 80 cents.
Catalogue of the State Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama, Auburn. Pp. 24.
United States Hay-Fever Association, 1884. Portland, Me.: Hoyt, Fogg & Donham. Pp. 86.
The Offices of Electricity in the Growth of Plants. By H. B. Philbrook, New York. Pp. 21.
Sawdust Gas. By George Walker. Pp. 15.
An Anarchist on Anarchy. By Elisée Reclus. Boston: Benjamin E. Tucker. Pp. 24.
Lightning-rod Humbugs. By J. K. Macomber. Pp. 8.
Chickering Classical and Scientific Institute, Cincinnati. Pp. 20.
Medical Education and State License. By Romaine J. Curtiss, M. D., of Joliet, Ill. Pp. 8.
Seven Hundred Album Verses. By J. S. Ogilvie. New York: J. S. Ogilvie & Co. Pp. 128. 15 cents.
Calcification and Decalcification of the Teeth By C. N. Pierce, D. D. S., Philadelphia. Pp. 7.
​Barometric Waves of Very Short Period, pp. 11; Electric Potential and Gaseous Pressure, pp. 4. By H. M. Paul, Washington, D. C.
Proceedings of the Central Ohio Scientific Association. Urbana, Ohio. Pp. 17, with Plates.
Proceedings, etc., of the Kentucky State Sanitary Council, March, 1884, J. N. McCormack, Secretary. Bowling Green, Ky. Pp. 60.
Meteorites, pp. T; The Argillite and Conglomerate of the Boston Basin, pp. 4; Relation of the Quincy Granite to the Primordial Argillite of Braintree. Mass., pp. 5; On the Trachyte of Marblehead Neck, Mass., pp. T; Rocks and Ore Deposits in the Vicinity of Notre Dame Bay, Newfoundland, pp. 11; On the Classification of Rocks, pp. 12; Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel, pp. 32; The Fortieth Parallel Rocks, pp. 20; Atmospheric Action on Sandstone, pp, 2. By M. E. Wadsworth, Harvard University.
Equalizing and increasing our Country's Resources. By John E. Lomas. New Haven, Conn. Pp. 4.
Indian Money as a Factor in New England Civilization. By William B. Weeden. Baltimore: N. Murray. Pp. 51. 50 cents.
Reports from the Consuls of the United States on Commerce, Manufactures, etc. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 179.
A New Method of recording the Motions of the Soft Palate. By Harrison Allen, M.D. Philadelphia: P. Blakiston, Son & Co. Pp. 34.
Handbook for Horsewomen. By H. L. de Bussigny. New York; D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 75. 50 cents.
Life on a Ranch. By Reginald Aldridge. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 227. 50 cents.
Handbook for the Dominion of Canada. By S. E. Dawson. Montreal: Dawson Brothers. Pp. 835.
Forests and Forestry of Northern Russia and Lands beyond. Compiled by John Croumbie Brown. Montreal: Dawson Brothers; Edinburgh, Oliver & Boyd. Pp. 278.
Illinois State Board of Health. Fifth Annual Report. Springfield, Ill.: H. W. Rokker. Pp. 663.
The Orchids of New England. By Henry Baldwin. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Pp. 159, with Plates.
Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, 1882. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 855.
Text-Book of Medical Jurisprudence and Toxicology. By John J. Reese, M. D. Philadelphia: P. Blakiston, Son & Co. Pp. 606.
The Amazon. By Carl Vosmar. New York: William S. Gottsberger. Pp. 262.
Nervous and Mental Physics. By S. V. Clevenger, M.D. Pp. 76.
The Wind and the Whirlwind. By Wilfrid S. Blimt Boston: Benjamin E. Tucker. Pp. 30.
Excessive Saving a Cause of Commercial Distress. By Uriel H. Crocker. Boston: W. B. Clarke & Carruth. Pp. 40. 50 cents.
Elements of Analytical Geometry. By Simon Newcomb. New York: Henry Holt & Co. Pp. 356. $1.50.
Diseases of the Throat and Nose. By Morell Mackenzie. Pp. 550. $3.
Electrical Appliances of the Present Day. By Major D. P. Heap. New York: D. Van Nostrand. Pp. 237.
Fallacies in "Progress and Poverty." By William Hanson. New York: Fowler & Wells Company. Pp. 191. $1.
Cholera and its Preventive and Curative Treatment. By D. N. Ray. New York: A. L. Chatterton Publishing Company. Pp. 128.
Wonders and Curiosities of the Railway. By William Sloane Kennedy. Chicago: S. C. Griggs & Co. Pp. 254. $1.25.
Formation of Poisons by Micro-organisms. By G. V. Black, M.D., D.D.S. Philadelphia: P. Blakiston, Son & Co. Pp. 173. $1.50.
Manual of Biblical Geography. By the Rev. J. L. Hurlbut, D.D. Chicago: The Continental Publishing Company. Pp. 158. $4.50.
Essay on Hamlet. By Professor C. C. Schaeffer. Philadelphia: Charles, Brother & Co. Pp. 25, with Plate.
"Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia." Second Series, Vol. IX, Part 1. Pp. 154, with Plates.