to ascertain the effect of each and all upon religious opinions and principles. Among the diversified phases of the subject, as it is presented by the different authors, he finds himself "led into the presence of a series of most interesting problems, but not a single solution finished," and has, therefore, been obliged to widen his investigation, "and to discuss even all imaginable possibilities. The beneficent result of this comparison was," he continues, "that religion and morality not only remain at peace with all imaginable possibilities of scientific theories, but can also, in the realm of the philosophy of the doctrines of nature, be passive spectators of all investigations and attempts, even of all possible excursions into the realm of fancy, without being obliged to interfere." Only in metaphysics is an antagonist found, in the attempt to eliminate from nature the idea of design, whose victory would be dangerous; but this thought is dismissed as in opposition "not only to the whole world of facts, but also to all logical reasoning."
Manual of the Mosses of North America. By Leo Lesquereux and Thomas P. James. Boston; S. E. Cassino & Co. Pp. 445, with Six Plates.
Mr. Lesquereux is known as one of the oldest and most experienced American botanists, and as one of the highest authorities in those fields of the science in which he has been engaged during his working life. In 1848 William S. Sullivant published, in the first edition of Gray's "Manual of Botany," descriptions of 205 species of mosses and 66 of hepaticæ; and in the second edition of the same work, in 1856, descriptions, with illustrative plates, of 410 mosses and 107 hepaticæ. He then began, in connection with Professor Lesquereux, a separate volume on mosses, but the work was interrupted by disability of Professor Lesquereux and the death of Mr. Sullivant. It has since been resumed and pushed to completion, with the aid of the material already collected, by Professor Lesquereux, assisted by Mr. James in microscopic analysis; M. T. Renauld, a French bryologist, in special examinations; and Mr. Sereno Watson, in revising and editing. The result is the present noble volume, which includes descriptions of all the species of mosses (about nine hundred) that are known to occur on our continent, within the limits of the United States and northward.
On a Carboniferous Ammonite from Texas. By Professor Angelo Heilprin, of Philadelphia. Pp. 3.
This is a monograph on a new ammonite, named by the author Ammonites Parkeri, obtained from the carboniferous strata of Wise County, Texas, which is noteworthy as being the first ammonite that has been detected in any American formation below the Mesozoic series. Carboniferous ammonites have also, however, been found in India.
Fire-Proof Buildings with Wooden Beams and Girders. New York: W. H. Dolman, 229 Broadway. Pp. 14.
An exposition of the character and merits of Dolman's fire-dampers, a device for fire-proofing wooden beams and floors by packing the beams or deafening the space under the floors with ashes, which is claimed to be cheap, effective, and easy to adapt.
Wages and Trade in Manufacturing Industries in America and Europe. By J. Schoenhof. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 25. Price, 15 cents.
This essay is published, with an introduction by R. R. Bowker, under the auspices of the New York Free Trade Club. It is intended to answer the communications in the "New York Tribune" of Mr. Robert P. Porter on the same subject, who, having been dispatched to Europe as a special correspondent in the interest of protection, "did what he was sent to do," and "presented a picture of the distress of England under free trade and of the prosperity of France and Germany under a protective tariff that was much of a surprise to those who know most of those countries." An opposite view is here given.
A Hand-Book of Hygiene and Sanitary Science. By George Wilson. Fifth edition, enlarged and carefully revised. Philadelphia: P. Blakiston, Son & Co. Pp. 512. Price, $2.75.
This is a very full and at the same time closely condensed manual of facts and principles in the whole field indicated by the title, arranged under the general heads (with many divisions and subdivisions) of "Public
