tion of the methods and of the apparatus used," Prof. Nichols continues, "I have always had in view the greatest possible directness and simplicity, rather than the highest degree of accuracy. The inexperience and the immaturity of the reader and the necessarily inadequate equipment of school laboratories have been likewise borne in mind." The applications of physics to the arts, which in some books are pointed to with pride, he has rigidly excluded. As in most elementary works, mechanics, being the simplest division of the science, comes first, and the chapter here includes something of hydrostatics and pneumatics. This is followed by heat; while electricity, often left till the last, comes third, being followed by sound and light. Practical directions on the use of apparatus are given in appendixes. Four hundred and fourteen cuts, nearly all from new drawings, illustrate the text.
The extraordinary activity in the determination of atomic weights since 1884, resulting in the accumulation of a great mass of new material, has led Prof. F. W. Clarke to prepare a revised and enlarged edition of his Recalculation of the Atomic Weights. It appears as Part V of the series of volumes on the constants of nature published by the Smithsonian Institution.
The small treatise on Metals in the Textbooks of Science Series, a new edition of which has been prepared by A. K. Huntington and W. G. McMillan, is based on one by Bloxam published in 1872, and rewritten by Prof. Huntington in 1882 (Longmans, $2.50). Its aim is "to make clear the principles which have guided the evolution of the metallurgical arts and industries, avoiding multiplicity of detail, which tends to obscure main issues." The volume opens with an extended chapter on the characters and modes of preparing the various fuels used in metallurgy, from charcoal to water gas. Several forms of apparatus for producing or utilizing various kinds of gas are also described. This chapter is followed by a few pages on refractory materials and fluxes. In passing to the treatment of the various metals, their common properties are set forth and certain general processes for crushing, dressing, and roasting ores are described. Because of its importance iron is given first place, and nearly two thirds as much space is devoted to it as to all other metals together. The chief ores of iron are described, and something is told of the Catalan and other primitive smelting methods. The various processes in present use for the production of iron and steel are then described, particular care being given to stating the reasons for each step, and to telling the properties of combinations of iron with small quantities of other elements. The other metals used in the arts are similarly treated. Among the less common ones to which a page or two is given are cadmium, iridium, palladium, bismuth, magnesium, and sodium. Tables and a full index are appended. There are one hundred and twenty-two cuts of furnaces and other apparatus.
American Chemical Society. Journal. August, 1897. Vol. XIX. No. H. Easton, Pa.: Chemical Publishing Company. Pp. 100. $5 a year.
American Forestry Association. Proceedings, Fifteenth Annual Meeting, 1897. Pp. 1-66. Washington, D. C.
Baldwin, J. Mark. Princeton Contributions to Psychology. Vol. II. Nos. 1 and 2 March and September, 1897. Pp. 59 and 70. Semiannual, 50 cents each.
Beal, F. E. L. The Blue Jay and its Food. Washington: United States Department of Agriculture. Pp. 10.
Borden, John. An Essay on Value, with a Short Account of American Currency. Chicago: Rand, McNally & Co. Pp. 232.
Brinton, Daniel G. Religions of Primitive Peoples. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 264. $1.50.
Butts, First Lieutenant Edmund L. Manual of Physical Drill, United States Army. New York: D. Appleton and Company. Pp. 175. $1.25.
Call, M. Ellsworth. La Cartographie de Mammoth Cave, Kentucky. Pp 10.
Cannon, Hon. Frank J., Tillman, Hon. B. R., Butler, Hon. Manin, and Allen, Hon. William V., United States Senator. Speeches on the Tariff (Bounties). Pp. 41.
Chavannes, Albert, Editor and Publisher, Knoxville, Tenn. The Philosopher. A Monthly Magazine for Progressive People. August, 1897. (Vol. I, No. 4.) Pp. 24. 5 cents. 50 cents a year.
Chester, Albert H. A Catalogue of Minerals Alphabetically Arranged, with their Chemical Composition and Synonyms. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Pp. 56.
Cockerell, T. D. A. The Food Plants of Scale Insects. Washington: United States National Museum. Pp. 60.
Colgate University, Department of Geology and Natural History. Fifth Annual Circular of Information, 1896-'97. Pp. 16.
Colles. George W. The Metric versus the Duodecimal System. Pp. 120.
