tents are not described by this title, though they all treat of kindred questions raised by the progress of recent inquiry. Although not a systematic treatise, this collection will be valuable to students of contemporary thought. It may be strongly commended to general readers upon those subjects, as introductory to more methodical works. The book is in an eminent degree of the explanatory and helpful sort which, by brief incidental explanations, often succeeds in aiding the learner where more formidable disquisitions fail to be apprehended. All who are perplexed with imperfect apprehension of evolutionary doctrines will find these essays especially instructive and useful. They are not only full of valuable thought, but they make the topics plain and interesting to unproficient minds.
Memoirs of the Science Department, University of Tokio, Japan. Vol. I., Part I. Shell-Mounds of Omari. By Edward S. Morse, Professor of Zoölogy, University of Tokio. Published by the University of Tokio, Japan. Nisshusha Printing-Office. 2539 (1879).
This monograph of Japanese archæology has much more than the usual interest of such documents. In the first place, it emanates from a university that has recently arisen in the great city of Tokio, which has a vigorous scientific department, and is filled with native students, who are pushing with enthusiasm into the field of original work. Several English-speaking professors have been called to take positions in this institution—the heathen being apparently more appreciative of the missionaries of science than the missionaries of the gospel. Professor Morse, of Salem, who has for the past two or three years been carrying on the good work of zoölogy in the Tokio University, has also interested himself in Japanese ethnology and the relics of its old civilization. It is curious that, when we get back sufficiently far in time, modern distinctions disappear, and we are lost in a prehistoric antiquity which discloses common features all over the world. The mound-deposits of Japan early attracted Professor Morse's attention. He had already studied these phenomena in Massachusetts and Maine, with Wyman and Putnam, and was prepared to keep a sharp lookout for evidence of their occurrence in the East. Soon after his arrival he fortunately discovered a large and extensive shell-mound on the line of the railway at Omori, six miles from Tokio. The students of the university joined him in exploring it, and many interesting specimens of pottery; implements, and weapons were obtained, which are preserved among the collections of their Archæological Museum in Tokio. The present memoir is descriptive of those specimens. Appended to the text of this memoir are eighteen large lithographic plates on folding pages, and containing two hundred and fifty illustrations of archæological subjects. These lithographic representations are excellently done, and were all drawn by Japanese artists. Nor is this all: the composition and press-work of the volume are the work of Japanese printers, the type being set by compositors unable to speak a word of English. And, what is more, the paper upon which the book is printed is of Japanese manufacture. The paper is superior, the typography excellent, and the printing first rate—in fact, for a "heathen" production the work is highly creditable.
Fuel: Its Combustion and Economy. Edited by C. Kinnard Clark, C. E. D. Van Nostrand. Pp. 394. Price, $1.50.
This volume is a combination of two works, one by C. Wye Williams and the other by J. S. Prideaux, on the general subjects of the combustion of coal, the structure of furnaces, and the atmospheric conditions of high thermal effects. It is fully illustrated, and forms a very complete manual of the subject.
Units and Physical Constants. By J. D. Everett, F. R. S. Macmillan & Co. Pp. 175. Price, $1.10.
This is a valuable digest of what may be called the data of the physical sciences—the units, constants, standards, and symbols of the foundation facts of the most important branches of physical science—mechanics, hydrostatics, astronomy, sound, light, heat, magnetism, and electricity. Treating of the basal conceptions of quantitative science, its expressions are of course in mathematical form. It is a valuable book for critical students, and done by a first-class man.
