the result of the author's deductions "has been the evolvement of a purely automatic method of supplying both coined and paper money," with supply and demand as the only motive power to be used in keeping the automaton in motion. In opposition to the "mercantile theory," which seeks to accumulate the largest stores of the precious metals in a country, a plan is contended for which leaves those metals "free to the distribution of the natural forces of industry and trade."
History of the Water-Supply of the World. Arranged in a Comprehensive Form from Eminent Authorities. By Thomas J. Bell, Assistant Superintendent of the Cincinnati Water-Works. Cincinnati: Peter G. Thomson. Pp. 134. Price (paper), 50 cents.
The original intention of this work was to arrange a compilation of general and local information on the subject of water supply in all of its bearings, with special reference to Cincinnati, and to the project for a new supply for that city. As the work progressed, its scope became broader, and the plan assumed a more comprehensive form. The work contains a description of the various methods of water-supply, and discusses the pollution and purification of water, sanitary effects, and analyses of potable waters; and, further, considers other topics having special reference to Cincinnati, the Ohio River, and the proposed water-supply of the city.
A Compendious Dictionary of the French Language. Adapted from the Dictionaries of Professor Alfred Edwall. By Gustave Masson. New York: Macmillan & Co. Pp. 416. Price, $1.
A most excellent dictionary for daily use. The compiler has endeavored especially to realize the qualities of accuracy and completeness, and to keep equally distant from exaggerated concision and overabundance of detail. The letter-press is clear, yet compact. The matter is arranged in four columns to the page, the words are printed in bold-face type to catch the eye readily, and the definitions are satisfactorily full. Particular attention has been paid to etymologies in the French-English part. A supplement, giving the principal diverging derivatives or doublets in the language (showing how words have varied from the Latin roots and from the congeners in other Romance languages) is of much use and interest to students. The Chronological Tables of the History of French Literature from the earliest period to the present day, of chronicles and memoirs, and the other literary information with which the work is introduced, will be welcome to many who would otherwise find it difficult to obtain, from the numerous sources from which it would have to be drawn, the information which they convey.
How the Great Prevailing Winds and Ocean-Currents are produced, and how they affect the Temperature and Dimensity of Lands and Seas. By C. A. M. Taber. Boston: A. Williams & Co. Pp. 82. Price, 40 cents.
The author states as a reason for this publication that, after many years of experience on the oceans, he has found that the generally accepted theories of the causes of the great winds and currents were not in harmony with the world-wide operations of nature, but were rather adapted to certain areas of oceans and continents than applicable to larger portions of the globe, "where the great movements of the atmosphere and ocean are not concordant with the generally accepted explanations." He reviews the theories of Hadley, Maury, Adhemar, Croll, Geikie, and other authors who have written upon the subject, shows wherein he regards them as deficient, and elaborates his own theory, in which a depression of sea-level on the western, and elevation on the eastern sides of the ocean, by the force of the west winds, and an independent circulation of waters around the poles, form important parts.
Primary Helps: Being No. 1 of a New Series of Kindergarten Manuals. By W. N. Hailmann, A. M., editor of "The Kindergarten Messenger and the New Education." Syracuse, New York: C. W. Bardeen. Pp. 29, with Fifteen Plates. Price, 75 cents.
Professor Hailmann is an enthusiastic Kindergartner, a practical teacher, and a member of the Board of Education of Detroit, Michigan. It has been his aim for years to bring those engaged in the Kindergarten work into harmony, and especially to
