The record-union., 1896-03-19
SOME new PUBLICATIONS.
A Reply to Max NOrdau-PatriOtiG Quo
tatiOnS.
The Overland Monthly'-New Novels
Current Magazines
Reviews.

Nordau. The authorship is not stated,
but the volume does him or her great
credit. The introduction is by Nicholas
Murray Butler, Professor of Philosophy
and Education in Columbia College. 1t
is caustic, elegant, polished reply to
Nordau's criticism of Tolstoi; Of anti
semitism; of Wagner; of Ibsen; of Yer
laine and his school of symbolists; of
his essay entitled "Etiology." It is a
criticism of Nordau himself whom Mr..
Butler terms the most daring to reader
of recent years. !" Professor Butler ad-
mits that if Nordau's Indictment Of
society and modern progress is pes
siInism, ii at least has the merit of
novelty of statement. But he holds
Nordau to be no ordinary pessimist,
but one who drags US into the labora-
tory and stretching us on a table of
definitions made for the purpose, pro-
ceeds to measure our faces, our skulls,
our teeth, the lobes of our ears and our
palates; we pay the penalty, says the
Professor, of our individually, in be-
ing found to be morbid deviations
from an original type" and are there
fore degenerate He says that the
author of the volume Regeneration"
successfully turns the flank of Nordau' S
only of lack Of knowledge, but Of what
is far worse, knowledge of things that
are not true. His view of life is more
sane and better than that Of Nordau,
and Professor Butler thinks that the
judgment of the average man who
knows the history of the past two cen
turies will sustain him in holding that
there are a host of indications in all
civilized countries pointing to an in
crease of intellectual power, moral
strength and esthetic refinement" The
volume is from the press of G. P. Put
nam's Sons, New York, and sells at
81 10. It is very handsomely printed
with uncut pages of fine broad mar
gins.
Harr Wagner has compiled and the
Whitaker & Ray Company, San Fran
cisco, has published a neat pamphlet,
entitled Patriotic Quotations. 1t is for
use in public schools. It contains very
large number of excellent selections
representing over 200 authors. These
quotations are not full speeches or writ
iEgs, but sharp, incisive extracts from
great orators, statesmen, writers, pub
1icists poets and journalists of this and
other countries, all relating to love of
and duty to country. 1t contains a brief
story of Liberty" a sketch of Lib
erty Bell by Madge Morris Wagner
and her poem thereon. It has the mu-
sic also of ''The Red, White and Blue, ."
a history of the flag, a programme for
Washington's Birthday exercises, sug-
gestions for flag g-raising ceremonials, a
flag drill, etc. The book is a welI-com-
piled one. 1t will be helpful to teachers
and more so to pupils. The volume has
this significant Introduction: 'It shall
be the duty of all teachers to endeavor
to impress upon the minds of the pupils
the principles of morality, truth, justice
and patriotism; to teach them to avoid
idleness, profanity and falsehood; and
to instruct them in the principles Of
free government, and to train them UP
to true comprehension of the rights,
duties and dignities of American citi-
zenship-Section 1902. Political Code of
California"
We have ''Alden's Living Topics Mag
azine and Cyelopedia," Volume 1.
These are really unique publications,
which will be highly appreciated by in
telligent readers who wish to keep track
Of the worlds progress in important
lines of activity and knowledge. They
deal with such items as one would natu-
rally look for in first-class cyclopedia
were it up to date-which no cyclopedia
is, or possibly can be, because of its
magnitude and cost. The average
reader probably inquiries more about
things touching the past three years
than concerning the preceding three
centuries Topics are treated in alpha
beticaI order, and as often as the alpha
bet is covered a new series Will begin
and the same course be resumed. Each
bound volume contains an appendix
Bringing all important matters preced-
ing up close to the date of publication
Volume l. covers from Abbas to Boye-
sen, is in excellent, handy form, and
sells at the low price of 80 cents. John
Is. Alden, 10 and u Yandewater street,
New York.
The March number Of 1.-The Progress
of the World" is compactly filed with
interesting and valuable information on
a great variety of subjects. Aside from
the usual illustrated summary of I'll
political history of the month, we note
interesting articles on new discoveries
I'm the scientific and mechanical fields
F Delany's wonderful invention, by
which he telegraphs 1000 words per
minute. is entertainingly described
The latest developments with the
Eoentgen X rays are chronicled with
good pictures and a very lucid explana-
ton of this mysterious phenomenon
Some ingenious adaptations of the BIZ
cycle for use on the water will interest
cyclists An especially well-illustrated
and readable article is the description
OF "Biltmore," the superb estate which
George W Vanderbilt has created in
North Carolina at the cost of a number
of millions of dollars. Many other top
les. covering every phase of current
event and hievement-history sci
ence, commerce, finance, literature, art
etc.-are crisply treated. and, as usual
the reader of this magazine feels that he
is kept well posted on the progress of
the world Published at 156 Fifth ave-
hue, New York.
The North American Review" New
York; has these table of contents for
March: Americas Interest in Eastern
Asia" by the United States Minister
to Siam: Revival Of the Olympian
Games" George Horton, United States
Consul at Athens; Our Foreign Trade
and Our Consular Service" Charles
Dudley Warner; taThe Excise Ques-
tion-What Shall We Do With the Ex-
else Question:" The Hon. Warner Mil
Ter; Liquor and Law" The Bishop Of
Albany; THE Future Life and the
Condition of Man Therein" Rt Hon.
". E Gladstone Our Defenseless
Coasts" Hon. George n. Southwick;
The Natural History Of Warfare, +"