Authors and Publishers. A Manual of Suggestions for Beginners in Literature. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 96.
The forcible presentation in this work of the publisher's side of the questions on which publishers and authors are supposed to be liable to controversy or misunderstanding has awakened a lively discussion in the literary journals relative to the merits and faults of the two classes. This is well, for the subject is important, vague ideas prevail about it, and the questions relating to it should be settled, so that all can understand the situation, and be ready to accept it. This matter is, however, only an incident in the general purpose of the book, which is to teach young authors how to compose their books and to make bargains with publishers, so as to secure the greatest advantages to themselves, and at the same time make matters easy for the trade. The work contains a description of publishing methods and arrangements, directions for the preparation of manuscript for the press, explanations of the details of book-manufacturing, instructions for proof-reading, specimens of typography, the text of the United States copyright law, and information concerning international copy-rights, and useful general hints for authors. All this is of practical value to those who are bent on authorship, and are determined to disregard the advice given in the book to refrain from it.
Record for the Sick-Room. Philadelphia: P. Blakiston, Son & Co. Pp. 26. Price, 25 cents each, $2.50 per dozen.
The book is a set of blank tables, each ruled so as to give a record of the condition of a single patient during twelve hours. Columns are provided to show the condition of the pulse, temperature, respiration, and bowels, the medicines and nourishment given, the baths or lotions administered, the temperature of the room, and general notes on the condition of the patient, at each hour, with space at the foot of the table for the physician's directions and memoranda for the nurse. The second page of the cover is occupied with directions for nurses, lists of poisons and their antidotes, and instructions for emergencies.
Contributions to the History of Lake Bonneville. By G. K. Gilbert. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 32, with Plates.
This monograph is a part of the report of the Director of the United States Geological Survey. The study of which it records the results is one of a series designed to include all the lakes of the Quaternary formation. The geological structure of the Great Salt Lake Valley indicates that it was once the seat of an immense lake, with shores a thousand feet above the level of the present lake, while the mountains around bear the marks of shore-lines at different levels, testifying to a system of oscillations of the waters of this great sheet. Mr. Gilbert's studies were directed to the determination of the period at which this lake existed, and of the order of its oscillations. His conclusions are, that the history of the lake reveals the existence of two periods of maxima of moisture, separated by an interval of extreme dryness; that the time since the Bonneville epoch has been briefer than the epoch, and that the two together are incomparably briefer than such a geologic period as the Tertiary; that the period of volcanic activity in the Great Basin, which covered a large share of Tertiary time, continued through the Quaternary also, and presumably has not yet ended; that such earth-movements as are concerned in the molding of continents had not ceased in Western Utah at the close of the Bonneville epoch, and presumably have not yet ceased; and that the Wahsatch Range has recently increased in height, and presumably is still growing.
Libraries and Readers. By William E. Foster. Pp. 136. Libraries and Schools. Papers selected by Samuel S. Green. Pp. 126. New York: F. Leypoldt. Price, 50 cents each.
One of the good signs of the times is the increased attention that is given to the management of public libraries and the cultivation of correct reading habits and a taste for profitable reading in the general public. Both these books bear on these objects. The first relates to the direction of the attention of those who visit the libraries to the books that will be most advantageous to them—facts to be learned as to each
