New-York tribune., 1907-11-07
NISCELLANY.

The Whole Family" is the title of , navel
winch Is in course Of PREPARATION bv twelve
lai'ef1cah writer's, each writer being responsible
Ior one Of its twelve chapters. MI. Ho,yels
heaos the list and AIRS. Freeman fAIa,.y f VII
N'"s' lohoWs' and Mr.. Henry James is also in
ciuoed III the group. The sJors is to be pub
iiShed as serial in "Hinp pel's Bazar"
Professor Lounsbury in his lively article in
lhe November "Harper's'' on causes of expletives
us'is Win many phrases in constant use. one
ot those he mentions as really expletive is the
expression Where are we at?'
This came into general notice few years ago
IN ConI,SfqTence Of its empoyment hy delegate 10
attending its utterance i very II ngisf nnro
prey not only arrested the popular attention.
The almost grotesque superfiuousness cf the at so
eTeIyTb narto4ai @ sense Of hgmor that men
oI slang; and from slang to good usage there is
never been taken. An extension of it's employ
''rl nj 9ey oHd me limits to which IT is now confined
no need 9i >it IN serious uttersnCe for in their
to What % h 70 hI@ "rt to ADDITIONAL eeaness or force
YET it is by no means a new expression though
lar snecch Inea1a @ II, r S toy IN ~ IN I,Ie IN oH he
indeed he appealed to authorities in usage. but
their fellows as mon Of action, II is Scott who, in
his novel Of old Mortality, represents Graham Of
SaNerh' Ise as telling his prisoner Morton that ne
had y. mind TO contIlve Tor nm SIX ~ nouns
oI IeaIlA& Frolssart ne noyeIlst Inlshaf4q q 10y; oH
t4e Ienlalk to give TO lhe reader hgh opinion non
covenanters He may have been fully warranted Fd[d
been fond Of literature, and he certainly pursued
his studies at the University of ST. Andrews YET
ent stcred character he spelled abominahly enough
TO shock the sensihilitles OF those o[qin"Tmly m ~ ~
pressed himself vigorously. he frequently did SO
Which by origin he belonged. 1t may therefore
occasion no surprise TO find him Observing, IN =, a
supprcssine conventcles that one Of the clergy
men had preached that very day the matter of
three miles from the place whore were at
one Of the subjects discussed in new book
on Napoleon is the cost of his wardrobe The
curious fact that many museums boast an ola
hat of his is explained by the statement that
his last fifteen wears him in possession OF
no fewer than 100 hats, specially made for him
The average price of these hats was about NJ
and as we know. they were rather becoming 10
the great captain.
Mr.. David P Abbott. a professional magician
has written an interesting exposure Of the meth
ods of spirituaIists clairvoyants, palmists and
other like birds Of prey. In Behind the Scenes
with the Mediums" Uhe open Court Furnishing
Company he has brought together a remarka-
b series of close studies Of the devices oi scores
OF the best known, most successful trlchsterS IN
this country. The sealed letter trick, the
swinging pendulum ''materialization OF
spirits and objects slate writing and many other
mysteries" are mercilessly unveiled. The most
important feature of the book is the series OF
eV,nlarations II gives Of wonders that have con-
verted we'll known skeptics and scientists.
lavrnan who has not read the methods OF magi-
aU
anv of the spirituastic phenomena Mr. Abbott
here exposes. The volume may he earnestly rec
commended 20 everybody who thinks himself
shreyd enough 10 see through deceptions and
vet pins his faith 10 the antics of mediums In
stead of arguing metaphysics, the spiritualistc
neophvte should study legerdemain.
Students Of psychology and biology will vel
come the appearance Of the first volume OF the
new Animal Behavior Series" in which Dr.
Robert NJ Yerkes instructor in comparative
psychology in Harvard University sums up the
results of his Investigations of dancing mice
Mr. Yerkes in 1.-The Dancing Mouse" the Mac
MILAN Company gives the first account of these
curious creatures that has ever appeared in the
English language and the first adequate one
that has been published anywhere. He seeks, in
the first part Of the book set forth the causes
of the mysterious waltz movements and other
e,yrations of the animals; in the second section,
70 rive general account OF the mice, and in
the third "to provide supplementary textbook
on mammalian behavior and on methods or
studying animal behavior for use In connection
with college courses DR.. Yerlses Is unhappiiy
forced 70 admit that no inspection of the ner-
,,o,,s structure OF the mice that has been made
ar apparently can be made with modern micro
scopes enables him to explain the conduct Of the
dancers He expresses the belief that no ade-
ouate exclamation can ever be given in terms
of mere nervous structure; probably the entire
organism will have 10 be taken into account.
To the student therefore, the chief value Of the
rresent work lies In the lessons to be learned
from DR. Yerkes's scientific methods which are
models of painstaking sobriety and alert rea-
soning.
The controversy between the London publish
ers and ''The Times Book Club" which dragged
its slow length along through so many weary
months seemed some time ago TO have worn
itself out, but the bitter feeling which was
shown in it has cropped out again in the
strangest fashion. When the London Times"
nrinted the other day a review OF Queen Vie
toria's Letters it gave some attention to the
price of the book, which happens to be three
euineas Regret was expressed that this would
nut the work out of the reach of the ordinary
hook buyer who would have to wait year
so for the publication of cheap edition. Incl
dentally. II was suggested that Mr.. Murray. the
publisher. was allowing himself prodigous
margin OF profit Following this review there
was printed in the Times letter signed by
one "Artifex," who suavely observed that Mr..
Murray had exploited the great personality Of