in four periods down to the codification by Justinian, and in a fifth period to the present time. In this part are given accounts of the study of the law and its force in different States. The second part of the book discusses the general principles of the Roman law under the heads of the law of persons, the law of things, and the law of actions.
A Thousand Questions in American History. Syracuse, N. Y.: C. W. Bardeen. Pp. 247. Price, $1.
This book presents an outline of the history of the United States in the form of questions and answers. It was prepared by a teacher for use in his own school, and deals not merely with events, but with causes, and with the side issues that have played important parts in American politics. It may be found a useful aid to teachers in directing their attention to the events and aspects of events on which they can make their classes dwell with the most advantage.
The Book of Plant Descriptions: or, Record of Plant Analyses. By George G. Groff. Lewisburg, Pa.: Science and Health Publishing Company. Pp. 100. Price, 35 cents.
This is a book of blanks, for the botanical descriptions of plants as elucidated by the student in his analyses. Each plant is given a page, containing skeleton forms, to be filled in, in separate lines for each part, with characteristic descriptions respectively, of the root, stem, leaf, inflorescence, and other distinctive features; it being supposed that the student will insert nothing but what he himself has observed. For his aid are also provided a synopsis of the terms most frequently used in the description of plants, a schedule of work to be performed in the botanical laboratory, and a list of subjects suitable for theses.
Signing the Document—The Laocoon of Labor—Chopping Sand—and other 'Essays. By Wheelbarrow. Chicago: "The Radical Review." Pp. 132.
The author of these essays assumes the name of "Wheelbarrow," he asserts, because he once labored with pick, shovel, and wheelbarrow on a railroad. He also states that he was once "clerk" to a brick-layer—that is, that he carried bricks for him. The series of essays was begun under prompting of the thoughts suggested by the telegraphers' strike of 1883; and most of them have grown out of other movements of working-men to better their condition. The burden of them is to expose the folly of the present management of those movements, and this is done in the most vigorous manner, whether it relates to trades-union despotism and exclusiveness, to the silver craze, or to any of the various tricks by which demagogues and monopolists, of whatever rank, seek to impose upon men who work—and all without hostility to any association for their real benefit. "In the present condition of society," says the author, "not to organize would be the very imbecility of resignation on the part of working-men. They may follow unwise principles for a time, but out of that organization a correct education will come at last."
Wonders and Curiosities of the Railway; or, Stories of the Locomotive in Every Land. By William Sloane Kennedy. Chicago: S. C. Griggs & Co. Pp. 254. Price, $1.25.
A pleasant book of history, gossip, and anecdote, about the origin and development of railways in Europe and America. The statements of fact are derived from authentic sources, and the anecdotical serves to give variety to the solid part. The volume is illustrated by cuts of various engines and cars, including the earliest made, that give graphic representations of the modest originals from which the present provisions for the accommodation of travelers have been worked out.
Lessons in Chemistry. By William H. Greene, M. D. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co. Pp. 357. Price, $1.25.
The author of the "Lessons" is Professor of Chemistry in the Philadelphia High School. He has prepared them upon the theory that the object of a limited course in chemistry is not to make chemists of the pupils, but to teach them what the science is, what it has accomplished, and what it may accomplish; and that the study of the science can be made attractive only by arousing natural curiosity as to the cause of the
