Practical Physics, Molecular Physics, and Sound. By Frederick Guthrie, Ph. D., of the Royal School of Mines, London. New York: Henry Holt & Co. Pp. 156. Price, 60 cents.
This is one of a series of hand-books now being published, and which are said to be designed for students and general readers. The grade of these works is intermediate between the so-called Primers and the larger works, professing to give detailed views of the respective subjects. The author in his preface says that his object is, to get beyond mere word-knowledge of the subject. We do not think he has succeeded in this with his book. As a practical and experimental teacher, he may take students through a course in his laboratory and use the book, but the guidance will be given by the instructor and not by the volume. It does not seem to us to be at all a satisfactory guide to that "practical work" which Professor Guthrie says it has been the object of physicists of late years to bring into their teaching. Such books should be skillfully constructed to promote the self-help of pupils, and we see no trace of this quality in the present hand-book. There is a good deal of scientific information in the volume, of course, but much of it runs into mathematical expression which makes it unsuitable for general readers and ordinary students. The illustrations are indifferent, to say the least; the elementary experiments to illustrate sound and waves are postponed to the close of the volume, and no figures are given to illustrate them. A list of the materials required to make such experiments closes the volume. In short, the book seems to have been produced by an inexperienced educator, though its author has evidently a good knowledge of its subject.
Hearing, and how to keep it. By Charles H. Burnett, M. D. Philadelphia: Lindsay & Blakiston. Pp. 152. Price, 50 cents.
The multiplication of health-books is a good sign. If they were not wanted they would not be published, and if they are bought it is to be inferred that they are read. Attention is therefore being drawn to the subject, and, when it is sufficiently thought about and permanent interest in it awakened, great practical good will be certain to result. Dr. Burnett's volume is the first of a series of "American Health Primers," and if the subsequent works are as good as this the series will be valuable. The first part of his little volume is devoted to the structure and physiology of the ear, and it is illustrated by excellent diagrams. The second part is devoted to diseases of the ear, with hints regarding their management, and to the care of the ear in health. It is a judiciously written and very useful little monograph.
The Art of Singing. By Professor Ferdinand Sieber. Translated from the German, with the Addition of an Original Chapter on the Hygiene of the Voice, by Dr. F. Seeger. New York: William A. Pond & Co. Pp. 175.
Professor Ferdinand Sieber's "Catechism of the Art of Singing" is a standard work in Germany, where it has passed through many editions, and Dr. Seeger has done an excellent service to the community in translating it. His familiarity with the structure of the vocal organs and his wide experience in treating them when out of order have drawn his attention to the art of singing as related to health, and induced him not only to render into English Sieber's valuable work, but to prefix to it an interesting and instructive essay on "The Hygiene of the Voice." Those interested in the art of singing, either theoretically or practically, will find this volume well worth consultation.
A Popular Treatise on the Currency Question. Written from a Southern Point of View. By R. W. Hughes, United States Judge of the Eastern District of Virginia. New York: Putnams, 1879. Pp. 222.
The author of this essay argues against "inflation," and warmly approves the national banking system. He condemns the demonetization of silver, and holds that "the public debts of the world can not be paid, nor even their interest met, in gold at an appreciated value. . . . The legal-tender quality," he predicts, "will ere long be restored to silver throughout Europe." But, if that quality is not restored, then "there will be left the alternatives of diluting the currency there with paper money, or the civil convulsions which the Socialists and Communists stand ready to inaugurate."
