description of the several stages of butterflies and of methods of capture and preservation, an analytical key, and a more complete description of all the species that have been found in the region included. The introductory chapter describing the general characteristic and life of butterflies and methods of capturing and treating them is followed by an accentuated list of the butterflies of the Eastern United States, and this by the particular descriptions of genera and species. In the last part, the "preparatory stages," being often essential to a proper understanding of the relations that species bear to one another, and adding much to the interest of the study, are given so far as they are known.
The Industrial Situation and the Question of Wages. By J. Schoenhof. New York and London: G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1885, Pp. 157. Price, $1.
In the papers comprising this volume, Mr. Schoenhof has made a valuable contribution to current tariff discussion, in combating the wide-spread belief that high wages necessitate a high labor-cost in production, and therefore debar a country paying them from competing with a country in which wages are lower. Protectionists have worked assiduously to instill into the minds of the laboring classes the belief that the high rate of wages prevailing in this country is directly dependent upon the tariff, and that, once this prop gone, the laborer must sink to the condition of his European brother. And they have been so far successful that protection has been steadily able to hold its sway in spite of its manifest absurdities and the warring of conflicting interests.
Mr. Schoenhof points out the very obvious fact that it is only the cost of the labor entering into an article which has any bearing upon successful competition in the market. Now, the labor-cost not only may be low along with high wages, but, as a matter of fact, it generally is lowest where the wages are highest. This apparently anomalous state of things is due to the greater perfection of machinery and the greater skill and energy of the workmen in countries paying the higher wages. England, with considerably higher wages than is paid upon the Continent, is yet able to undersell its competitors there; and the United States is able to produce at a lower labor-cost than England. Here machinery has reached its greatest perfection, and the workman has acquired the highest degree of skill and capacity for turning out a large amount of work. The advantages which should accrue to this country from this state of things are, however, neutralized by the taxes upon the materials of production. With free raw materials, Mr. Schoenhof maintains that this country can compete successfully in the markets of the world with any other, and that it is manifestly to the interest of the working-man that we should have as extensive a market as possible. This is the guarantee to him of continuous employment, which is the essential thing for him. He has nothing to fear from a competition with the "pauper labor" of Europe, as already his labor embodied in the product is less than that of this same "pauper labor" in the competing goods of low-wage countries. The thing the American workman has most to fear is the limitation of the market for his productions, and this is just what protection is securing for him. In support of this general position, Mr. Schoenhof reviews the two staple manufacturing trades, those of metals and textile fabrics, and produces convincing evidence of the correctness of his view. The author writes clearly and to the point, and his reasonings and facts should have the attention alike of the manufacturer and his employé, who are both injured by the protection they persist in believing is for their good.
Architecture. Heating, and Ventilation of Institutions for the Blind. By J. F. McElroy. Adrian, Mich.: "Times and Expositor." Pp. 21.
The author is Superintendent of the Michigan School for the Blind, and this pamphlet contains his address before the last meeting of the American Association of Instructors for the Blind. The first point in the architecture of the institution is, that the building should be constructed primarily with reference to its internal requirements, to which the exterior should be only the dress. The internal arrangement should look to spacious and convenient accommodation, free ventilation, proper heating, healthfulness, and the suppression of disturbing noises.
