exception, ever yet recorded. Reasons are adduced to show why the gain should not naturally have been larger, but, making full allowance for these, there still seems to have been an unusually large mortality in the newspaper world during 189*7. A growing conviction of publishers is noted, "that in a very large number of cases there have been too many newspapers, and that one strong paper is better than two or three weak concerns struggling for existence."
The Passing of Plato, a commencement address by Prof. O. P. Jenkins, of Leland Stanford Junior University, celebrates the decay of the scholastic methods and teaching, and the advance of the scientific method to supremacy.
We have received the first number of the Journal of Applied Microscopy, L. B. Elliott, editor, published monthly by the Bausch and Lomb Optical Company, Rochester, N. Y. It is intended to supply what is believed to be a want of the country, of a journal devoted to microscopical instruments and technics, regarded from the practical point of view. It is to be conducted on an entirely independent basis. Subscription price, $1 a year.
An important paper on Road Materials and Road Building has been prepared by Dr. Frederick H. Merrill, director of the New York State Museum, and is published by the University of the State of New York. In it the problem of road improvement in New York, and the character and value of the material in the State available for road making, are discussed, directories of producers of road material and quarrymen are given, and liberal citations are made, largely as to the methods of construction, from the reports of the Massachusetts Highway Commission. Two pocket maps show the distribution of rocks in New York suitable for road material and the location of quarries; and more than a dozen photographs illustrate what has been done in Massachusetts.
Agricultural Experiment Stations. Bulletins and Reports. Cornell University: No. 147. Fourth Report upon Chrysanthemums. By Wilhelm Mutler. Pp. 86.—Indiana: Report of the Botanical Department. By J. C. Arthur. Pp. 10.—Michigan: No. 157. Hog Cholera. By G. A. Waterman. Pp. 8; No. 158. Some Experiments with Poultry. By C. D. Smith and C. S. Brooks. Pp. JO.—Ohio: Peach Trees. Pp 192; Newspaper Bulletin, No. 183. Cucumbers. Melons, Tomatoes, Peach Trees, and Weeds. Pp. 2.—Purdue University: Special Bulletin on Commercial Fertilizers. By H. A. Huston, State Chemist; No. 65. Formalin for Prevention of Potato Scab. By J. C. Arthur. Pp. 16.—United States Department of Agriculture: No. 15. Forest Growth and Sheep-raising in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon. By F. W. Coville. Pp. 54; No. 16. Forestry Conditions and Interests of Wisconsin. By Filibert Roth, with a Discussion by B. E. Fernow. Pp. 76; No. 22. Climate of Cuba; also a Note on the Weather of Manila. By W. P. R. Phillips. Pp. 23; North Dakota Weather and Crops. By B. H. Bunson. Pp. 8.
Britton, N. L., and Brown, Hon. Addison. An Illustrated Flora of the United States, Canada, and the British Possessions. Vol. III. Apocynaceæ to Composite (Dogbane to Thistle). New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Pp. 588. $3.
Bulletins, Reports, etc. Harvard College Observatory: The Meteoric Shower of November 13, 1897. By William H. Pickering. Pp. 16, with plate.—Johns Hopkins University Circulars: Notes from the Physical Laboratory. Pp. 16. 10 cents.—Minnesota: Third Annual Report of the Chief Fire Warden. 1897. Pp. 80.
Conant, Franklin Story. A Biographical Sketch and Memoir on the Cubomedusæ (a memorial volume). Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press. Pp. 62, with portrait and 8 plates.
Crook, James W. German Wage Theories. History of their Development. Columbia University (Studies in History, Economics, and Public Law). Pp. 113. $1.
Elliott, A. G., Editor. Industrial Electricity. Translated and adapted from the French of Henri de Graffiguy. New York: The Macmillan Company. Pp. 149.
Fairlie, J. A. The Centralization of Administration in New York State. Columbia University (Studies in History, Economics, and Public Law). Pp. 207. $1.
Haddon, A. C. The Study of Man. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 410.
International Correspondence School. What Correspondence Instruction is. Scranton, Pa. Pp. 24.
Lange, D. Handbook of Nature Study for Teachers and Pupils in Elementary Schools. New York: The Macmillan Company. Pp. 329. $1.
MacEwan. The Essentials of Argumentation. Boston: D. C. Heath & Co. Pp. 412. $1.12.
Mathews, F. Schuyler. Familiar Life in Field and Forest. The Animals, Birds, Frogs, and Salamanders. New York: D. Appleton and Company. Pp. 284. $1.75.
Miller, John. The School System of the State of New York (as viewed by a Canadian). Toronto: Warwick Brothers & Rutter. Pp. 201.
New Jersey, Geological Survey of. The Physical Geography of New Jersey. By R. D. Salisbury, with Appendix by C. C. Vermeule. Trenton. Pp. 200. with plates.-Also, accompanying this, a Relief Map of New Jersey, 24 x 42 inches, with name-sheet
New York Academy of Sciences. Vol. XI. Part. I. G. Van Ingen, Editor. Pp. 135, with plates.
Parker, F. W., and Helm, N. L. Uncle Robert's Geography. II. On the Farm. New York: D. Appleton and Company. Pp. 158. 40 cents.
Rasius, C. E. Rechte and Pflichten der Kritik (Rights and Duties of Criticism). Leipsic: William Engelmann. Pp. 171.
Reprints. Bessey, C. A. and E. A.: Further Notes on Thermometer Crickets. Pp. 2.—Black
