New-York tribune., 1896-01-03

', yoIume OF the Papers OF the Military
Historical Society OF Massachusetts,. note
worthy feature the criticism OF General NC
CelIan as a commander. Volume or the same
series will be found by those who look into IL 10
no devoted largely 70 an elaborate study. in a
saries OF papers by John c. Ropes. General j. e.
Polfrey. General F. W. Polfrey and General
Charles A. Whittier. OF the famous fehirsu''I
Campaign. There is also a paper py Coiohe'
Thomas l.. Livermore or "Pattersons shenah-
doah Campaign" and one by Major j. r Hunt
ington on "Operauons in ;he Shenandoah NaAey
from March 10 to June .. 1852" The criticism IN
these publications Of the ssachuse,ts Society
can Os be ,am General E sS w Tory
on the conditions Of affairs after the ra.l OF Aoih
Town 'The more study Johnstons writings. ,he
more cause j find 10 dis;rlst him.. and again,
And yet ought not 70 regard NC cIeiian "ItE
eaenr The general Scheme Of the work of the
society IS we'll set forth In preface by lheodore
Macmillan & co. have reprinted in their School
1Ibrary' the Rev Alfred J. Churchs Stories from
Virgil and his akctchs Of Roman Life In the Days
Of Cicero
A revised edition of English Literature Consid-
cred as an Interpreter Of English History by Pro-
fessor Henry Coppee Of Lehigh University. has been
issued by George w. Jacobs Co.. Philadelphia
"a Manual of Greek Antiquities" Charles scrib-
ners Sons) by Professor Percy Gardner. Of oxford,
and Dr. F. T. Jevons. OF Durham University is
planly modelled in its general literary form on the
corresponding work Of Ramsay on Roman antiqui-
ties which recently passed to It's fifteenth edition
The comparison IS helped by the intentional similar
Nv in the external appearance OF the two volumes
Better authors could hardly have been chosen In
England at the present day for the encyclopaedia
tasks represented by this volume IN pract,ce the
most Important defect of the book Will be tho
neagrencss of the index all the more trouoiesoine
because the subordinate topics are not Indicated by
any system Of headings, such as s USED IN the new
edition of Ramsay's work.
Poth efficiency and economy in the use OF cleo
tric.ty for any purpose depend largely upon the
manner in which the line for the transmission Of
the current has been constructed The designer Of
uch line needs great deal of special knowledge.
therefore, about materias and methods In order IN
plan TO the best advantage He must understand
the nature OF the difficulties to be overcome. the
various means available for overcoming them. and
The cost CT and other drawbacks 10 the OF each
Of the latter An excellent collection of Information
this sort may be found In q volume entitled "Elec
trica Transmission OF Energy" containing 6s6 oc-
tavo pages and published by the ID. Van Nostrand
Abbott chief engineer of the Chicago Telephone
Company. has sought TO describe the best practice
OF the present day and TO Indicate the directions
ir which future Improvements will probably extend
The work is copously illustrated and also contains
n great deal of useful data In tabular form. Its
scope IL broad enough to include q few figures rea-
tive TO gas engines and wndmills as sources Of
power. ard estimates the cost Of storage batteries
for isolated lighting plants In the country.