into the shape of graphic charts even the most careless cannot fail to note the fluctuations of the quantities which they represent. Among the matters treated of in the body of the report, we would name especially the Municipal Hospital, water-supply, nuisances, as fat-boiling, intramural interments, etc. The deaths in Philadelphia for the year covered by the report numbered 17,805, an increase of 2,567 over the preceding year. The exhibit of the statistics of mortality among children under ten was less favorable than usual; the year 1872, when small-pox committed such ravages, was not as fatal to children as 1875. Diphtheria prevailed to an extent unprecedented in the records of the preceding sixteen years.
Coördinate Surveying. By H. F. Walling, C.E. Pp. 19. With Plates. (From "Proceedings of the American Society of Civil Engineers.")
The object of this essay is best stated in the words of the author himself, who says: "It is the object of this paper to point out a simple method by which the high degree of precision which accompanies the Coast Survey work may be made available in the ordinary operations of land-surveyors and civil engineers, in those districts over which the Coast Survey triangulations have been carried, and at the same time to call attention to the importance of an extension of these triangulations over the entire country."
Problem of Problems.
We noticed, not long ago, a book entitled the "Problem of Problems," a discussion of atheism, Darwinism, and theism, which has been much praised by theological authorities as an annihilating criticism of Evolution and the Darwinian school. The book received some damaging criticism, and the rumor got started that it would be revised. But it seems this is an error. Whatever else may change in this world of mutations, the "Problem of Problems" and its solution in President Braden's book will remain unchanged. The author announces in the Cincinnati Christian Standard that "it will never be revised." He says, "The commendations of the book have been such, and by such persons, that it would be a reflection on them to revise it." It is a great satisfaction to have something at last that will be stuck to and can be depended upon. And, now that we have something that is to stand like a lighthouse amid the storms of controversy, it is well to be fully aware of its value, and we notice that the Journal of Speculative Philosophy, in its April issue, testifies of the author that "for tilting against the Darwinians, Spencerians, Comtians, Correlationists, Evolutionists, et id genus omne, he is well enough accoutred, and is mighty in his cause." We shall do well not to forget how this puissant finality in modern polemics originated. The Journal says of the author, "At the age of fourteen he became a skeptic, and lectured in public on the skeptical side of the question." The precocious rogue pursued this scandalous course for ten years, when he was abruptly pulled up, and took the back track. The Journal says, "At the age of twenty-four he met a preacher, who converted him, and he began his career as a lecturer against skepticism, the fruits of which are contained in the volume before us." Now, if anybody wants to stop a great scientific movement, he will know how to prepare for it.
Why the Earth's Chemistry is as it is. By J. N. Lockyer, F. R. S. L. New York: Macmillan. Pp. 59. Price 25 cents.
Three lectures by Mr. Lockyer are contained in this volume; they were originally delivered at Manchester, before a popular audience. In the first of these the author gives a singularly clear account of the principles and main results of spectrum analysis of nebulæ and comets. The second lecture treats of meteorites, and the chemical constitution of the stars and the sun. The third lecture treats of the planets of our system and their atmospheres, and concludes with an exposition of the theory of evolution.
The Tailed Amphibians, including the Cæcilians. By W. H. Smith. Detroit: Herald print. Pp. 158.
This monograph, prepared as a thesis to be presented to the Faculty of Michigan University for the degree of Ph. D., very succinctly describes the distinguishing char-
