eye to practical reform. It is curious to note the great difference between these two municipalities in their origin—Philadelphia having been governed by a close corporation of between twenty and thirty members, while Boston was a pure democracy, which ultimately had over seven thousand voters—and then to trace the steps by which both were converted into cities of the modern type with essentially similar organizations. Various reform measures are described and advocated in both the pamphlets before us; but the perusal of them has only confirmed us in the view we have long held that the evils of city government are due not to defective organization, but to defects in the character of the people, for which the true remedies are educational and moral.
Our thanks are due to Mr. C. C. Vermeule. Topographer of the Geological Survey of New Jersey, for calling our attention to some errors in the summary of the work of the survey which we gave in our October number, and also for furnishing us some facts additional to what are given in the report of the State Geologist. He says: "The notice of the Geological Survey of New Jersey and of the report of the State Geologist for 1886, in the October number, contains several errors which are so important as to call for correction. The topographical survey has been in progress ten years, having been begun in 1877; and will be completed during the present year. The extension of the geodetic survey from the primary chain of triangles, which was thrown across the State about 1840, was begun by Professor E. A. Bowser, Assistant United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, in 1873; and the report in question states that this survey, not the topographical survey, will require two years more for completion. This geodetic work was still further extended by the topographical survey so as to average one station to each twenty-five square miles, the stations being at a distance of five miles apart, and not twenty-five miles, as the notice states.
"The impression is also given that the total area covered by the topographical survey at the date of the report was eighteen hundred and ninety-seven square miles, whereas the report states that this area was covered during the year 1886, and that the only work remaining to be done is the revision of five hundred and seventy square miles. At the date of this communication this work has all been done, and maps of the whole area of the State, on the scale of one inch to a mile, have been published."
A text-book of Volapük, or an easy method of acquiring the new "Universal" language, prepared by Klas August Linderfelt, Librarian of the Milwaukee Public Library, is in press, and will be published immediately by C. N. Caspar and H. H. Zahn & Co., Milwaukee. It has been prepared for the English-speaking public, on the basis of Alfred Kirchoff's "Hilfsbuch," with a key and dictionaries. It will contain about 120 pages, and will be sold at fifty and seventy-five cents a copy.
A "Hand-book of Volapük" is also announced, by Charles E. Sprague, of 1271 Broadway, New York. It will contain expositions of the grammatical structure of Volapük; progressive exercises; cautions and hints; grammatical analyses; a vocabulary; and a key to the exercises. It can be used for home study, and presupposes only a knowledge of English grammar. Price, $1.
Greer, Henry, Editor. Recent Advances in Electricity, etc., 122 E. 26th Street, New York. Pp. 55. $1.
Brinton, Daniel G., M. D., Philadelphia. Were the Toltecs an Historic Nationality? Pp. 15.
Primrose. Frank. J., Philadelphia. The Golden Fleece. Monthly. October, 1887. Vol. 1. No. 1. Pp. 56. $2 a year.
Shufeldt. R. W., M. D. A Review of the Muscles used in the Classification of Birds. Pp. 24.
Agricultural College of Michigan. A New Contagious Disease among Horses in America. Pp. 4.
Calcutta Homœopathic Charitable Dispensary. Report for 1886–'87. Calcutta, India. Pp. 11.
Clayton. H. Helm. Readville, Mass. Loomis's Contributions to Meteorology Reviewed. Pp. 61.
Griswold. W. M., Washington. D. C. The Continuous Index. No. 12. May to August, 1887. Pp. 7. Bimonthly. 50 cents a year. The Novel List. Pp. 8. 10 cents.
United States Geological Survey. Report on Methods of Business and Work. Pp 112.
Matas, Rudolph. M. D., New Orleans. Report on Removal of a Subcutaneous Parasite. Pp. 19.
Society for the Promotion of Agricultural Science. Proceedings of Eighth Annual Meeting. New York city, 1887. W. R. Lazenby, Secretary, Columbus, Ohio.
