Practical Life and the Study of Man. By J. Wilson, Ph. D. Newark, New York: J. Wilson and Son, Publishers. Pp. 390. Price, $1.50.
A volume of sober essays on topics relating to one or the other of the subjects mentioned in the title, expressed in plain language and pleasant style. The author's object is simply to interest and instruct those who are seeking improvement, by bringing to notice, on the subjects considdered, the best thoughts in the language, in his own words, when they have seemed fitting, in the words of others, where they expressed them best. The work has been done not to make a book, but because the author, as he remarks, "feels that he knows much that ought to be written," and with assurance, "because he has studied what he says, and has confidence in his statements."
Schelling's Transcendental Idealism. A Critical Exposition. By Professor John Watson, LL. D., of Queen's University, Kingston, Canada. Chicago: S. C. Griggs & Co. Pp. 250. Price, $1.25.
This is the second of the series of "German Philosophical Classics," which Messrs. Griggs & Co. are publishing, under the general editorial supervision of Professor George S. Morris, of the University of Michigan. In the present volume the editor has endeavored to exhibit the phases of Schelling's philosophical development as they are registered in the various treatises which form their vehicle, supplying all the elements for an independent judgment, together with some hints of weak points of the system.
Speech and its Defects, considered Pathologically, Historically, and Remedially. By Samuel O. L. Potter, M. A., M. D. Philadelphia: P. Blakiston & Co. Pp. 117. Price, $1.
The first prize was accorded to this work as a thesis by the unanimous vote of the faculty, at the fifty-seventh annual commencement of the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia. The author selected the subject for his prize thesis, because it was one on which from his own sufferings and experiments he felt "somewhat qualified to write," and could contribute to knowledge; for he had made, in his own person, practical trial of several of the recognized methods of cure, and had examined all the attainable literature on the subject. We give a note of warning from the author to those who have cases of stammering to deal with: "The ignorance of this subject which prevails among those having the care of children, is productive of much distress and serious results. to the innocent sufferers. The child who manifests a disposition to stutter is usually abused in more ways than one. The affection is intensified by any cause which disturbs the equipoise of the nervous system; and the most frequent and potent cases of this kind are derived from the reception which his infirmity receives from those who are endowed with perfect speech themselves. Mockery on the part of companions, and threats, even blows from parents and teachers, have made more confirmed stutterers than any other extensive influence, besides making the life of the patient one of unutterable wretchedness.
The Magazine of Art. London, Paris, and New York: Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Co. December, 1882. Monthly. $3.50 a year.
We have received Messrs. Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Co.'s "Magazine of Art," as it has appeared in monthly numbers through the year, with much satisfaction, and are pleased to commend it as a good representative of what is true and meritorious in art. In its letterpress it teaches what it is well to teach in art, in a manner that appeals to the popular understanding and is likely to elicit popular interest. Its illustrations are selected with discrimination from worthy and agreeable subjects, and are well executed, while the typography is nearly perfect. Its articles arc varied in subject and method, and its news and other departments are acceptably sustained; and a fair degree of attention is given to American art. In the December number some of the American pictures at the Salon of 1882 are candidly criticised; articles are given on Japanese book illustration; a subject of prehistoric art; a department of ceramics; the works of an Italian artist; and Mr. Hamerton's "Graphic Arts," all of which are appropriately illustrated.
