in an at least equally acceptable manner. Projected with especial reference to promoting the exploration of American mountains, its range has become, without neglecting these, very catholic, and we may now look in it for original studies of mountain structure and scenery and geographical characteristics in all quarters of the world. The second number of Volume VI (December, 1890), for instance, contains accounts of the Ascent of Three Japanese Volcanoes, by W. J. Holland, of the United States Eclipse Expedition, 1887; the Great Smoky Mountains and Thunderhead Peak, by Frank 0. Carpenter; the San Juan Mountains, by F. H. Chapin; and An Ascent of Sierra Blanca, by Charles G. Van Brunt. Mr. Holland's and Mr. Chapin's papers are accompanied by illustrations of a high class. W. B. Clark & Co., Boston. Price, 50 cents.
A most welcome aid in the study of English literature, and a charming piece for leisure-hour reading as well, is Sir Philip Sidney's Defense of Poesy, otherwise known as An Apology for Poetry, which Ginn & Co. publish (price, 90 cents), edited, with introduction and notes, by Albert S. Cook. The essay is a masterpiece of English writing, and is replete with noble thoughts expressed in noble style, The apology of fifty-eight pages—hardly too long to be read at a sitting, if one would read fast—is preceded by a sketch of Sidney's life, a discussion of the date of composition and publication, and observations on the author's learning, style, theory of poetry, and followers and imitators, constituting the introduction, and an analysis. The notes give explanations of the allusions in the work and the peculiarities of language and grammar; and are followed by a list of variants in the different editions and an index of proper names.
An edition of the first two extant books of Quintius Curtius (probably the third and fourth books of the original), Historiarum Alexandri Magni Macedonia, or Histories of Alexander the Great of Macedon, is published by Ginn & Co. (price, 35 cents), edited for sight-reading by Harold N. Fowler. It is intended for the upper classes of preparatory schools and the lower classes of colleges. The editor's principal work has been to supply foot-notes on each page, giving such words and uses of words as the student can not be reasonably expected to be as yet familiar with. In an introduction, Prof. James B. Greenough tells us what sight-reading is, and gives a drill-exercise to teach the student how to proceed to acquire the art. It means to take in the passage and comprehend it without translating it. "A pupil," Prof. Greenough says, "should begin from the start to try to read straight away, as if the language were his own, to see what mental pictures the author meant to present to himself, and only then, if necessary at all, transfer the thought to an English form of expression." This method, he believes, is, in some form or other, consciously or unconsciously, indispensable for any real knowledge of a foreign tongue.
Contributions to the History of the Southwestern Portion of the United States is the fourth substantial volume, besides a number of essays and statements, included in the annual reports which the Archæological Institute of America has published of the work of Mr. A. F. Bandelier. It appears as one of the papers of the Hemenway Southwestern Archæological Expedition. The volume includes an introductory sketch of the knowledge which the Spaniards in Mexico possessed of the countries north of the province of New Galicia, previous to the return of Cabeza de Vaca, in 1536; with papers on Cabeza de Vaca and the importance of his wanderings for Spanish explorations toward New Mexico and Arizona; Spanish efforts to penetrate to the north of Sinaloa, between 1536 and 1539; Fray Marcos of Nizza; and the expedition of Piedro de Villazur, from Santa Fé to the banks of the Platte River in 1720. It was the author's plan, treating the history of the Southwest in sections, monographically, to publish papers further on the expeditions of Coronada, Chamuscado, Espejo, and Oñate, but a suspension of the enterprise is at present forced upon him; and he intimates that there is material to be found in Spain which has not yet been examined that would contribute to the completeness of the work.
Mr. H. L. Green, of the Freethinker's Magazine, has sent us a bundle of pamphlets on subjects in which freethinkers are interested, or the thought of which is in accord with that of the school described under that name. It includes two pamphlets on Giorda-
