Popular Science Monthly/Volume 13/August 1878/Literary Notices
Adamites and Preadamites, or a Popular Discussion concerning the Remote Representatives of the Human Species and their Relation to the Biblical Adam. By Alexander Winchell, LL.D. Syracuse, N. Y.: John T. Roberts. Pp. 52. Price, 15 cents.
This pamphlet is as readable as it is instructive. It is spicy in style, meaty in matter, and straightforward in its logic. As an introduction to the study of the antiquity of man, with an important side bearing upon the old doctrines that have been entertained upon the subject, it is decidedly the best thing that we have met with. The discussion was originally contributed by Prof. Winchell to the Northern Christian Advocate, and now appears in ten chapters, the scope of which is indicated by their titles, as follows: Chapter I., "A Sagacious Dutchman;" II., "Dispersion of the Noachites;" III., "The Black Races not Adamites;" IV., "The Negro preadamic;" V., "The Negro preadamic"—continued; VI., "Scheme of Prehistoric Times;" VII., "Retrospective of Primeval Man in Europe;" VIII., "Antiquity of Man;" IX., "Origin of Man;" X., "Patriarchal Chronology."
It will be gathered from these heads of his arguments that Prof. Winchell is considering the question of man's antiquity upon the earth from the point of view of the common Christian belief that the whole human race is descended from the Scripture Adam. This he denies, affirming that the black races have a much higher antiquity than the period to which Adam is historically assigned, and who, in so far as he was a progenitor of races, must be regarded as only the father of the white or superior races. In the first chapter, entitled "A Sagacious Dutchman," Prof. Winchell calls attention to a small book that appeared in Paris in 1665, written by a Dutch ecclesiastic, named La Peyrère, on the unheard-of subject, indicated by its title of "Præadamitæ." Prof. Winchell says that La Peyrère was the first to promulgate to the world the idea of preadamite men. Of course, the sciences of ethnology and anthropology were at that time unknown, and the inquiry was therefore conducted entirely as a theological one—all questions being Bible-questions, and the meaning of the Bible being extracted according to the canons of grammar. The case was strongly made out by the Dutch doctor, and, although it could be argued in no other way at the time, Prof. Winchell takes occasion to characterize the method because there are plenty of learned men with whom it is still in vogue. Upon this point he says:
"There are doctors high in authority among us at this day, who maintain that grammatical structure and Hebrew usage are sufficient to light the way to the meaning of the darkest passage's of revelation. I suppose a knowledge of Hebrew history and usages is admitted to shed its light upon interpretation, because the text is generally occupied with Jewish affairs. But the inspired writers have sometimes plunged into the midst of the profound and mysterious facts of science; why not, then, summon all our knowledge to the task of evoking the meaning of the text? I maintain, against the narrow and pernicious dogma that the Bible is sufficient everywhere to interpret itself, that, on the contrary, it was ordained to be interpreted under the concentrated light of all the learning which has been created by a God-given intelligence in man, I believe that the Bible was written for all time, and that its meaning is so deep and so rich that the accumulated learning of the latest generation of men will be unable to exhaust it."
Prof. Winchell then proceeds to discuss the question on its purely scientific basis, or in the light of modern facts, as disclosed by ethnological and archaeological research. He concludes that the profound divergency of the races of mankind, as now known, and the demonstrated divergency that had been reached in the earliest historic periods, make the conclusion impossible that, if all the races of men had one origin, that origin can be brought within anything like the usually assigned period of six thousand years. Scientific evidence "forces this alternative conclusion upon us. If human beings have existed but six thousand years, then the human races had separate beginnings, as Agassiz long since maintained—each race in its own geographical area. But if all human beings are descended from one stock, then the starting-point was more than six thousand years back, as Huxley and the evolutionists generally maintain, and the Duke of Argyll and other anti-evolutionists equally maintain."
Prof. Winchell, of course, takes the ground that the older or black race is of an inferior type to the subsequent or, as he calls them, the Adamic races; and to the objection that the negro is not inferior to the white man he makes the following reply:
"1. If, when the sun is shining brightly, a man tells me it is dark, I can only pronounce him blind. The inferiority of the negro is a fact everywhere patent. I imply here only inferiority of intelligence, the instrument of self-helpfulness and of all civilization. I need not argue the fact; circumspice. But when this inferiority is conceded, we always hear the appeal to unfavorable conditions.' This leads me to note, 2. The African Continent has always been favorably conditioned. In the first place, it had a land connection with Asia and the seats of ancient civilization. It even had a remote civilization planted within its own borders; and the fires of Egyptian civilization have never been extinct; while for two thousand years the enlightenment of Europe has been within accessible distance. In the second place, the salubrity of the climate, the fertility of the soil, the vast hydrographic system of lakes and rivers, have all conspired to give the interior of the continent natural conditions unsurpassed by those of the site of any civilization which ever existed. Thirdly, the indigenous productions of Africa have supplied other conditions of human advancement. There exist two native cereals, negro millet and Caffre corn, which supply material for bread. There are the edible 'breadroots' and also 'earth-nuts,' which are adequate to supply the daily food of whole villages. As to fruit-trees, there are the doom-palm, the oil-palm, and the 'butter-tree.' Moreover, for thousands of years the way has been open, as wide as the continent, for the introduction of the cereals of Asia. In fact, they have long been known to the natives; and maize, the manioc-root, and sugar-cane, as well as wheat and barley, have spread far toward the interior. There, too, have been domesticated animals, received, probably, from the Egyptians in a domesticated state; but no native animal has ever been domesticated. The Aryans of India employed the elephant as a beast of burden; but the African elephant was never utilized. These are not the conditions under which a whole race could be crushed into a process of degeneracy. 3. Comparison with other races shows the negroes inferiority. The Egyptian civilization was reared on the African Continent by the side of the barbarous negro, and under the same conditions. If the materials of civilization were introduced from Asia, it was certainly easier for the negro to introduce them from Egypt. America is not naturally superior in its physical conditions to Africa. Its only cereal is maize. Its principal edible roots are the mandioca and the potato; and the feeble llama and vicuna are the only native animals capable of domestication as beasts of burden. Yet the civilization of the Nahuatl nations of Mexico, the Quiches of Central America, the Mayas of Yucatan, and the Aymaras and Quichuas of Peru, had become, both in respect to intellectual and industrial advances, and judicial, moral, and religious conceptions, almost a stage of true enlightenment. The glaring fact of negro inferiority in respect to social conditions cannot be explained by any appeal to adverse conditions. Such are the ethnological facts and the coördinated circumstances. But in proof of my position I make another point: 4. The anatomical structure of the negro is inferior. The lean shanks, the prognathous profile, the long arms (which do not always exist), the black skin, the elongated and oblique pelvis—these are all characteristics in which, so far as the negro diverges from the white man, he approximates the African apes. The skull also is inferior in structure and in capacity, and in the relative expansion of its different regions. Among whites, the relative abundance of 'crossheads' (having permanently unclosed the longitudinal and transverse suture on the top of the head) is one in seven; among Mongolians, it is one in thirteen; among negroes, it is one in fifty-two. This peculiarity is supposed by some to favor the prolonged development of the brain. In any event, it is most frequent in the highest races. Again, the prevailing form of the negro head is dolichocephalous; that of civilized races is mesocephalous and brachycephalous. That is, it lacks the breadth which we find associated with executive ability. The broadest negro skull does not reach the average of the Germans, nor does the best Australian skull, let me add, reach the average of the negro. Finally, the capacity of the negro cranium is inferior. Assuming 100 as the average capacity of the Australian skull, that of the negro is 111.6, and that of the Teuton 124.8. Now, no fact is better established than the general relation of intellect to weight of brain. Welker has shown that the brains of twenty-six men of high intellectual rank surpassed the average weight by fourteen per cent. Of course, quality of brain is an equally important factor; and hence not a few men with brains even below the average have distinguished themselves for scholarship. But this does not abolish the rule; nor does it prove that the racial inferiority of the negro brain, in respect to size, is not to be taken as an index of racial inferiority in respect to intelligence and the capacity for civilization; and this all the more, since the quality of the negro brain is also inferior.
"I am not responsible for the inferiority of the negro. I am responsible if I ignore the facts. I am culpable if I hold him to the same standard as the white man. My appeals to him must be of a widely-different character from my appeals to the Aryan Hindoo, or the Mongoloid American savage. The ethnological facts have their application in all missionary efforts."
Of the subsequent discussion on "Primeval Man in Europe," and "The Antiquity of Man," we have no room to speak. Prof. Winchell deduces a general view, which harmonizes all the phases of evidence, and though contravening the old traditions, must be accepted in proportion as men esteem truth to be more desirable than error. He says:
"This scheme of prehistoric times, embracing only a few conjectural features, weaves in all the facts of history and science. If it traverses old opinions, we need not mourn. New truths are better than old errors. Fact is worth more than opinion. Certainty is more desirable than confidence. Progressive knowledge implies much unlearning. The loss of a belief, like the death of a friend, seems a bereavement but a false belief is only an enemy in a friend's cloak. It is only truth which is divine; and, if we embrace an error, we shall not find it ratified in the oracles of divine truth. We who hold to the valid inspiration of the sacred records may feel assured that nothing will be found affirmed therein which collides with the final verdict of intelligence. Nor has the color of the first man any concern with a simple religious faith. If our creed embodies a dogma which enunciates what is really a conclusion, true or false, based on scientific evidence—that is, evidence brought to light by observation and research—that may be exscinded as an excrescence. All such subjects are to be settled by scientific investigation—not by councils of the Church. Ecclesiastical faith has had a sorry experience in the attempt to sanctify popular opinions. A faith that has had to surrender the geocentric theory and the denial of antipodes, and of the high geological antiquity of the world, should have learned to discriminate between religious faiths and scientific opinions. Religious faith is more enduring than granite. Scientific opinion is uncertain; it may endure like granite or vanish like a summer cloud. Religious faith is simple, pure, and incorruptible; scientific opinion is a compound of all things, corruptible and incorruptible. Let us not adulterate pure faith with corruptible science. An unadulterated faith can be defended by the sturdiest blows of reason and logic; a corrupt faith puts reason and logic to shame."
Principles and Practice of Teaching. By James Johonnot. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 395. Price, $1.50.
As it is now the latest, so Prof. Johonnot's new work on education is undoubtedly the best manual of school guidance that has yet been prepared. It is better adapted to the present condition of educational progress than any other teachers' manual that we have yet seen. Two things have come prominently forward in the recent development of thought with reference to the work of instruction: 1. Science is gaining a more liberal recognition in our courses of study, and is more and more coming to be the chief thing; and, 2. Teachers are compelled to give more attention to psychological science as an indispensable prerequisite to the intelligent management of school-work. There is still need enough for advancement in both these directions, for there are plenty of schools that are hardly beyond the middle ages in their appreciation of science, and plenty of teachers who are as ignorant of the laws of mind as the untutored savage. But these considerations are surely though slowly emerging into confessed prominence, and are beginning to take that controlling position in the philosophy of education which is bound to be universally conceded to them in the not very distant future.
Prof. Johonnot is by no means a blind admirer of things established in our educational systems. He clearly sees that the whole subject is in movement, that in many respects current education is profoundly imperfect, that a critical spirit widely prevails in regard to it, and that there is plenty of work for reformers in bringing the general practice into harmony with principles that have been definitely worked out. He is not only a practical educator of large experience in the special work of training teachers, but he has his independent views of what is needed, and how to attain it; and his work will accordingly be found fresh, suggestive, and stimulating, to all teachers and school officials who are devoted to organizing and carrying out the best plans of instruction. That he has reached anything like a finality in the policy of school management he would be the last to claim; but we must cordially concede to him the merit of having grasped the problem of practical culture in its latest exigencies and newest developments. In a growing and unfolding subject, methods must be tentative and proximate: it is enough if they are better than their predecessors. Prof. Johonnot has well digested for us the latest theoretical wisdom regarding the principles of teaching, and he has embodied these in an improved system of practice, which has stood the test of experience. Having unfolded the general principles of culture in the earlier and chief portions of his work, the author devotes the last hundred pages to laying down courses of study, general and special. This is the constructive part, which is ever the most difficult and liable to criticism, because of its conflict with preexisting habits; but there can be no doubt that this portion of his volume involves a marked advance on previous practice. We have seen no popular scheme of study in which Nature is so confessedly the groundwork on which the whole fabric of mental cultivation is to rest, and in which science is so intimately interwoven with the constant course of school-work. Hitherto, scientific studies have been too much looked upon as secondary, intrusive, and to be superinduced upon a preëstablished scheme; they are here made the starting-point, and incorporated in the plan of studies as an essential and fundamental element. In thus contributing to the better organization of school exercises, this book meets an urgent need of the times which cannot fail to be appreciated by many teachers.
The Psycho-Physiological Sciences and their Assailants: Being a Response by Alfred R. Wallace, of England; Prof. J. R. Buchanan, of New York; Darius Lyman, of Washington; Epes Sargent, of Boston, to the Attacks of Prof. W. B. Carpenter, of England, and Others. Boston: Colby & Rich. Pp. 216.
This is the counterblast of the spiritualists against the lectures of Dr. Carpenter on spiritualism, mesmerism, etc. For three hundred years the devotees of scientific knowledge have been laboring to disentangle the natural from the supernatural, which had previously been so mixed up in the traditions of learning that "Nature," as a system of uniform and verifiable laws, was unknown. The progress of science has, in fact, consisted simply in tracing out and giving expression to these regularities and uniformities of the natural world. The spiritualists go back on all this, and declare it to be a false process and a spurious progress. They claim that the supernatural is to be included in the natural, and aver that they can investigate it and work out its laws so that they shall be a part of proper and legitimate science. They maintain, indeed, that they have already done this; but the difficulty is, that the whole scientific world denies it. Nor is there the slightest prospect that they will be able to convince scientific men of the validity of their claims on the basis of anything as yet accomplished. What they may do in the future we shall not presume to say; but we think they will have to be content to go on working out such results as they find possible, and trusting to time for that recognition which they so vehemently demand shall be accorded to them now. They make much complaint of the inhospitality of the scientific mind to what they call new truth, and this complaint we consider as wholly groundless. Prejudices, no doubt, arise from intense preoccupation in special lines of scientific labor, so that the physicist, for example, fails in appreciation of the biologist, while the chemist is indifferent to the work of the sociologist; yet in these diverse and widely-separated departments there is still sufficient liberality of spirit to leave all investigators unmolested in their special work. Why should the spiritualists wax wroth and imprecate Science and scientific men, because they will not drop their own researches and come over to help exploit the wonders of the preternatural sphere? If they cannot appreciate such marvelous things, why not leave them with due commiseration to wriggle and squirm in their congenial materialistic mud? Let the spiritualists go on and get out something worthy of attention, and it will be sure to get attention in due time.
The Native Flowers and Ferns of the United States, in their Botanical, Horticultural, and Popular Aspects. By Thomas Meehan, Professor of Vegetable Physiology to the Pennsylvania State Board of Agriculture, Editor of the Gardener's Monthly, etc. Illustrated by Chromo-lithographs. Boston: L. Prang & Co. Pp. 16. Fifty cents per number.
Botanical works with good colored illustrations have hitherto been far too expensive for general use; but the perfection now attained in the art of chromo-lithography makes possible a new departure in pictorial botany. The series now projected, the first two numbers of which are before us, show that a very considerable degree of fidelity and naturalness in the representation of flowers is already secured by the chromo-lithographic process, and we may safely assume, from the skill and enterprise of the publishers, that they will attain still greater perfection as the work proceeds. Its editorial management is in the very best hands. Mr. Meehan is the conductor of the principal garden magazine of the country; and his thorough familiarity with botany, and his long practical acquaintance with horticulture, qualify him in a peculiar manner for the management of such an enterprise as this. The work will, therefore, combine great beauty of execution in the colored illustrations with a careful, trustworthy, and judicious text. Accompanying each plate there is a brief technical description, and three or four pages of general information in regard to the plant in question, its genus, geographical distribution, and mode of growth. The work is not offered as a complete illustrated flora of North America, the extent and expense of which would put it beyond popular reach, and prolong its publication for many years. Its scope is therefore limited to a selection of the most beautiful and interesting native flowers and ferns of the United States, preference being given to those most worthy of cultivation and available for garden decoration. After speaking of the difficulty of preparing a thoroughly systematic scientific work on the American flora, the editor remarks:
"It must not be inferred from this, however, that the present work in absolutely without system. It will be seen that the selection made for these two volumes covers a wide range of country, and offers a number of representatives of leading genera, chosen with reference to their various habits and to different geographical centres. These volumes are therefore absolutely complete in themselves, and may be said to give a good general idea of the floral wealth of oar country. Those who are satisfied with the knowledge thus obtained may rest here. But it is hoped that the more enthusiastic lovers of flowers will welcome the succeeding volumes, which it is proposed to publish after the conclusion of this series. Each of the following series is also to consist of two volumes, and to form a complete whole by itself."
In the preparation of the work Mr. Meehan has had the important advantage of freely using the unrivaled facilities of the botanical garden at Cambridge, which he cordially acknowledges, as also the assistance kindly given him by various eminent botanists. The work is elegant, attractive, and meritorious, and we think it is certain to have a large patronage.
Experimental Science Series for Beginners. II. Sound: A Series of Simple, Entertaining, and Inexpensive Experiments in the Phenomena of Sound, for the Use of Students of Every Age. By Alfred Marshall Mayer, Professor of Physics in the Stevens Institute of Technology. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 181.
The second volume of this admirable series of books is now published, and its author is to be congratulated for more than fulfilling the promise of the opening volume. No less than one hundred and thirty experiments in sound are given, all of which are original in the simplified means by which the effects are produced. They, moreover, cover the whole ground of acoustics in so complete a manner that the pupil who goes through the volume, making all the experiments, will get an actual and living knowledge of the science, such as he can never acquire by reading any number of larger works. A list of apparatus to be used in the experiments on sound is given at the close of the volume, and can be purchased complete at the cost of $27.50. But, as Prof. Mayer remarks in the preface, "the student may find it cheaper to hunt up the materials, and then make his own apparatus; but so many have desired to have the sets ready for use, that I have complied with their request. Of course, it will be understood that the instrument-maker must be paid for the time taken in finding the objects in the market, and for the labor and skill spent in making the apparatus, and in packing it in convenient boxes."
Matter and Motion. By J. Clerk Maxwell, M. A., LL. D. New York: D. Van Nostrand. Pp. 224.
This monograph, by the eminent physicist and professor of Cambridge, is one of the best things that have yet appeared in Van Nostrand's "Science Series." Like everything from Clerk Maxwell, it is clear, and, although the general treatment of dynamics is mathematical, there are many valuable definitions and much information in the book that will be available for the general reader
Comparative Psychology; or, The Growth and Grades of Intelligence. By John Bascom. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 291. Price, $1.50.
This small but thoughtful volume deserves to be very cordially commended to the students of psychological science. Though a controversial work, it is free from narrowness and the usual effects of partisan discussion, and it is written by a thinker who can appreciate views with which he disagrees, and freely acknowledges his indebtedness to the party with which he is, nevertheless, at radical issue. Of the two great schools of philosophy, the intuitional and the empirical, one holding that mental faculties are immediate a priori gifts to intelligent creatures, and the other that they are results of development through experience, the author of this volume holds with the first; but he acknowledges that it has been written to elucidate problems and carry out inquiries "that would hardly have been suggested but for the empirical philosophy." The object of the book is admirably stated in the following extract from the author's preface:
"The advocates of the empirical philosophy are wont to criticise the intuitional philosophy in two respects: first, as overlooking the relation between the mature mind and the mind of the infant between rudimentary and developed powers; and, second, as overlooking the still more important connection between the intelligence of to-day and that of remote previous periods, between the intelligence of man and that of animals, and of the earlier human life from which it has been derived We grant these points to be well taken, especially the latter. Without tracing the history of intelligence, we are not prepared to decide what is primitive and what is acquired; what is original material and what is the deposit of growth. The empiricist cannot be fully and fairly met without traveling with him these spaces of evolution, and determining at least their general facts and laws. This I have undertaken in the present volume. It is my purpose to test the nature and extent of the modifications put upon human psychology by its relations in growth to the life below it; and, in doing this, to reach a general statement of each stage of development."
A philosophical writer of our time could hardly occupy himself with a more pertinent problem than is here presented. It has been the reproach of the a priori method that it has ignored the subject of mind in its lower or comparative manifestations. It has neither worked from the base of fundamental organic conditions, nor has it systematically recognized them, and for this reason the method was probably losing its hold upon the scientific mind of the period. Clearly aware of this deficiency, Dr. Bascom has addressed himself to the task of supplying it, and his book will do much to rescue the subject from the reproach into which it had fallen.
Wisconsin Geological Survey. Report for 1877. By J. C. Chamberlin, Chief Geologist. Madison: Atwood print. Pp. 95.
The survey of Wisconsin is now completed, and the results will soon be in readiness for publication. The final report will form three volumes, with maps, of which one volume, with atlas, has already appeared. During the season of 1877, eleven surveying parties were in the field. The survey suffered a serious loss by the accidental death of Mr. Moses Strong, an enthusiastic young mining engineer, of brilliant attainments, who lost his life by the capsizing of his canoe while ascending the rapids of the Flambeau River.
State Regulation of Vice: Regulation Efforts in America. The Geneva Congress. By Aaron M. Powell. New York: Wood & Holbrook. Pp. 127. Price, $1.
Mr. Powell does not believe in the state regulation of vice, and gives his reasons in this book. The subject is considered from the point of view of the philanthropist and reformer, rather than from that of social science.
Mineralogy. By J. H. Collins, F. G. S. With 579 Illustrations. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp.206. Price, $1.50.
This little manual is remarkable for the profuseness and neatness of its crystallographic illustrations. It is designed for practical working miners, quarrymen, field geologists, and the students of the science classes in connection with the department of science and art in England.
Geographical Surveys west of the 100th Meridian, in Charge of Lieutenant G. M. Wheeler, Engineer U. S. Army. Part II., Vol. IV. Paleontology. Letter-press, pp. 365, with 83 Plates. Washington: Government Printing-Office.
The present installment of Lieutenant Wheeler's Report consists of a memoir, by E. D. Cope, on extinct vertebrata from New Mexico. The fossils here described and determined represent four geological periods, in basins that had not previously been explored, viz., the Trias, the Eocene, the Loup-Fork Epoch, and the Post-pliocene of the Sandia Mountains. The first vertebrate fossils ever determined from the Trias of the Rocky Mountains are included in this memoir. Of the high intrinsic value of Prof. Cope's work there is no need for us to say anything: his memoirs on the paleontology of our Western Territories are authoritative documents throughout the world of science. But we cannot refrain from commending the truly admirable lithographic plates by which the text is illustrated and adorned.
The Future of Sanitary Science. An Address before the Sanitary Institute of Great Britain. By B. W. Richardson, M. D. Macmillan & Co. Pp. 47. Price, 25 cents.
Dr. Richardson has become the prophet of our sanitary future, and discourses of its prospects in this pamphlet in his peculiar style. He does not fail to magnify his calling, and presents its claims in a quite extraordinary way, saying: "All political troubles have a physiological cause. To the statesman not less than to the physician, physiology is the only true source of knowledge. A society such as ours, therefore, possessing as it does professed physiological skill, may render most important service by tracing out for the legislator the simplest scientific means for removing atmospheric impurities, and by preparing for that sanitary future when men universally shall breathe purity even with their freedom."
Cerebral Hyperæmia: The Result of Mental Strain or Emotional Disturbance. By William A. Hammond, M. D. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 108. Price, $1.
This is a very important little monograph by an eminent medical authority, who has had large special experience in all that pertains to morbid conditions of the brain. The reason for and character of his little book are thus well represented by the author in his preface:
"It is, perhaps, too much to expect the emotions to be entirely under the control of the individual, nor is it desirable that we should be reduced to the condition of intellectual automata, moved always by reason and judgment, and never by feeling. But it is entirely within the power of every one, by that self-discipline so seemly in all, to obtain such a degree of mastery over unworthy or excessive passions as will prevent them dominating over the whole mind and body, to the detriment of both.
"Ill-regulated emotions are even more prolific of brain-disorders than severe mental labor, and many a person considered to be suffering from what is called nervous prostration or exhaustion is simply the subject of emotional disturbance and a consequent condition of cerebral hyperæmia."First Principles of Agriculture. By Henry Tanner, F. C. S. New York: Macmillan & Co. Pp. 95.
This is a very good little summary of elementary scientific facts and principles relating to agriculture. The difficulty about it is that it is too small—a mere primer; but those who want an introduction to the subject, to be followed by the use of larger works, will find it serviceable. Scientific agriculture, from the complexity of all its problems and the obscurity of many of them, requires to be studied with some thoroughness, in fact to be mastered, before it can be made practically and safely available.
A Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Edited by George Grove, D. C. L. Vol. I., Part II. New York: Macmillan & Co. Pp. 127. Price, $1.25.
The second number of this elaborate work is now ready, and its topics range from Ballad to Boïeldieu. Its character is well sustained, and the admirable sketch of Beethoven, with the analysis of his music, is alone worth the price of the work.
Elements of Dynamic. Part I. Kinematic. By W. K. Clifford. London and New York: Macmillan. Pp. 230. $2.50.
The Speaking Telephone, Talking Phonograph, and other Novelties. By G. P. Prescott. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 431. $3.
Physics of the Infectious Diseases. By Dr. C. A. Logan. Chicago: Jansen, McClurg & Co. Pp. 212. $1.50.
A Course in Arithmetic. By F. W. Bardwell. New York: Putnams. Pp. 166.
Physical Technics. By Dr. J Frick. Philadelphia: Lippincott. Pp. 467. $2.50.
Visions: A Study of False Sight. By Dr. E. H. Clark. Boston: Houghton, Osgood & Co. Pp. 333. $1.50.
Report on Forestry. By F. B. Hough. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 650.
Manual of the Apiary. By Prof. A. J. Cook Chicago: T. G. Newman & Son. Pp. 286. Paper, $1 cloth, $1.25.
Annual Record of Science and Industry. By S. F. Baird. New York: Harpers. Pp. 494. $2.
The Ethics of Positivism. By G. Barzellotti. New York: Somerby. Pp. 327. $2.
Ferns of Kentucky. By J. Williamson. Louisville: J. P. Morton & Co. Pp. 154. $2.
Sequel to "Essays." By C. E. Townsend. New York: Somerby. Pp. 102.
Practical Chemistry for Medical Students. By M. M. P. Muir. London and New York: Macmillan. Pp. 64. 60 cents.
Report of the Ohio Commissioner of Common Schools. Columbus: Nevins & Myers print. Pp. 384.
Report of the Wisconsin Board of Health. Madison: Atwood print. Pp. 200.
The Railway in its Relation to Public and Private Interests. By Simon Sterne. New York: Press of the Chamber of Commerce. Pp. 38.
Chronic Aural Discharges. By Dr. J. J. Chisholm. Reprint from the North Carolina Medical Journal. Pp. 10.
Facial Neuralgia. By Dr. J. Martine Kershaw. St. Louis Schroback & Co. print. Pp. 66.
The Hessian Fly. By Prof. A. J. Cook. Pp. 14.
Uniform Non-Local Time. By S. Fleming. Ottawa, Can.: The Author. Pp. 32.
Deep-Sea Soundings. By Lieutenant-Commander J. F. Jewell. U. S. N. Claremont, N.H.: Claremont Manufacturing Co. print. Pp. 63.
Report of the Executive Board of the Rochester City Board of Health. Rochester, N.Y.: Democrat and Chronicle print. Pp. 27.
Metric Weights and Measures for Medical Purposes. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 40.
Opinion of the Ohio Attorney-General on the Powers of Boards of Education. Columbus: Nevins & Myers. Pp. 24.
Quarterly Report of the Chief of the Bureau of Statistics. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 126.
Certain Symptoms of Nervous Exhaustion. By Dr. G. M. Beard. Reprint from the Virginia Medical Monthly. Pp. 24.
The Army of the Republic. By Henry Ward Beecher. New York: Christian Union print. Pp. 23. 10 cents.
How to spend the Summer. New York: Christian Union print. Pp. 105. 25 cents.
The Law of Population. By A. Besant. New York: A. K. Butts. Pp. 47.