Popular Science Monthly/Volume 20/November 1881/Literary Notices
The Ancient Bronze Implements, Weapons, and Ornaments of Great Britain and Ireland. By John Evans, D. C. L., LL. D., F. R. S., F. S. A., F. G. S., President of the Numismatical Society, etc. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1881. Pp. 509. Price, $5.
A few years ago there appeared a portly volume, profusely illustrated, and entitled "The Ancient Stone Implements and Ornaments of Great Britain." It was a monument of careful observation and painstaking labor in a new field, with not many enthusiastic explorers, and was at once accepted as a trustworthy and authoritative work upon the subject, which, although chiefly confined to Great Britain, was an important contribution to the general science of archæology. Mr. John Evans, the author of that work, has continued to devote himself to the field of archaic research, and now publishes a corresponding volume on "The Ancient Bronze Implements, Weapons, and Ornaments of Great Britain and Ireland."
We have here a history more ancient than written history, and which reveals the social state, the conditions of culture and development of prehistoric man. These are determined by the evidences of what he did, the relics that remained-and have been found, of what he invented and constructed to meet his wants. His first tools and weapons were of stone, and the period when he employed them is the earliest of which we have any trace, and is called the "Stone Age." But there was an education in these rude constructions which led to progress, so that this most ancient period has been divided into two stages, the Palæolithic or the very earliest, and the Neolithic or later stone age, which exhibits a marked advancement in the art of producing stone implements.
The next step of prehistoric progress consisted in entering upon the use of metal instead of stone for the construction of weapons and implements of industry. It is probable that gold, which commonly occurs native and brilliant, was the first metal that attracted the attention of mankind; and it is likely that the next metal discovered was copper, which also occurs native, and has many points of resemblance to gold. It was found in sufficient abundance to be available for working, and was probably the material out of which the first metallic utensils were manufactured. The State of Wisconsin alone has furnished upward of one hundred axes, spear-heads, and knives formed of copper. On the shores of Lake Superior native copper occurs in great abundance, and no doubt attracted the attention of the early occupants of the country. Dr. Evans remarks that, "accustomed to the use of stone, they would at first regard the metal as a stone of peculiarly heavy nature, and on attempting to chip it or work it into shape would at once discover that it yielded to a blow instead of breaking, and that in fact it was a malleable stone." The great majority of these copper instruments hitherto found, if not all, have been hammered and not cast, so that the working of metal into shape by melting it was probably a later acquisition. There is reason to believe that there was what may be called a "Copper Age," in parts of North America, but in Europe the traces of it are feeble, if not totally wanting.
Bronze is formed by the admixture or alloy of tin with copper in the molten state, and the effect of this mixture results in hardening the product, so that the resulting bronze becomes much more useful for many mechanical purposes than copper. There is overwhelming evidence that bronze greatly predominated for these purposes before iron was employed; the passage to iron and steel constituting a further step of advancement, and leading to a subsequent "Iron Age." Bronze abounded in ancient Egypt, while iron was but little used, and there are only thirteen references to iron in the Pentateuch, while bronze is mentioned forty-four times.
Dr. Evans's volume contains 540 illustrations of hatchets, chisels, gouges, hammers, sickles, knives, razors, daggers, halberds, maces, swords, scabbards, spear-heads, shields, trumpets, bells, pins, bracelets, rings, clasps, buttons, buckles, and vessels of all kinds, that are formed of bronze, and that have been collected and classified with the view of throwing light upon the history of the "Bronze Period." And in regard to their scientific significance the author remarks: "It may by some be thought that a vast amount of useless trouble has been bestowed in figuring and describing so many varieties of what were, after all, in most cases, the ordinary tools of the artificer, or the common arms of the warrior or huntsman, which differed from each other only in apparently unimportant particulars. But as in biological studies minute anatomy often affords the most trustworthy evidence as to the descent of any given organism from some earlier form of life, so these minor details in the form and character of ordinary implements, which to the cursory observer appear devoid of meaning, may, to a skillful archæologist, afford valuable clews by which the march of the bronze civilization over Europe can be traced to its original starting-place. I am far from saying that this has as yet been satisfactorily accomplished, and to my mind it will only be by accumulating a far larger mass of facts than we at present possess that comparative archaeology will be able to triumph over the difficulties with which its path is still beset."
The Journal of Physiology. Edited by Gamgee, Rutherfurd, Burdon-Sanderson, Bowditch, Martin, Wood, and Michael Foster.
We have received numbers I and II of Volume III of this important periodical, together with the supplement of Volume III, and we again call attention to it as having high claims upon the medical profession and all interested in the progress of physiological science. It is conducted by the very ablest men in England and this country, and, by their labors and the contributions of other investigators, it thoroughly represents the advance of research in this fruitful field of inquiry. The papers in number I, "On the Antagonism of Poisons," "The Influence of Quinine upon the Reflex Excitability of the Spinal Cord," "The Rate of Propagation of the Arterial Pulse-Wave," "The Tonicity of the Heart and Blood Vessels"; and the articles in number II, "On the Proteid Substances contained in the Seeds of Plants," "The Influence of Season and of Temperature on the Action and the Antagonisms of Drugs," and "The Elastic Properties of the Arterial Wall," are especially noteworthy, and their conclusions of much scientific interest. The supplement gives an extensive list of titles of books and papers upon physiological questions, in all the modern languages, that have appeared in 1880. Six numbers form a volume of about 500 pages, the American subscription of which is $5, and may be remitted to Mr. W. T. Sedgwick, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland. The American edition of the Journal now appears under the auspices of that institution.
INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC SERIES.—NO. XXXV.
Volcanoes: What they Are and what they Teach. By John W. Judd, F. R. S., Professor of Geology in the Royal School of Mines. With 96 Illustrations. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 381. Price, $1.75.
In no field has modern research been more fruitful than in that of which Professor Judd gives a popular account in the present volume. The great lines of dynamical, geological, and meteorological inquiry converge upon the grand problem of the interior constitution of the earth, and the vast influence of subterranean agencies. The subject was first comprehensively dealt with in the light of modern scientific views by the late Mr. Poulett Scrope, who published two systematic treatises upon different divisions of it in the years 1825 and 1827. Professor Judd was a student and disciple of this master, who, before he died, committed to him the task of preparing a popular exposition of the present condition of our knowledge on volcanoes. Since the time of Scrope's pubiication many important additions have been made to the subject, and these the author has faithfully incorporated in the book now issued. The plan and spirit of the work are thus indicated in his preface:
"In order to keep the work within the prescribed limits, and to avoid unnecessary repetitions, I have confined myself to the examination of such selected examples of volcanoes as could be shown to be really typical of all the various classes which exist upon the globe; and I have endeavored from the study of these to deduce those general laws which appear to govern volcanic action. But it has, at the same time, been my aim to approach the question from a somewhat new standpoint, and to give an account of those investigations which have in recent times thrown so much fresh light upon the whole problem. In this way I have been led to dwell at some length upon subjects which might not at first sight appear to be germane to the question under discussion—such as the characters of lavas revealed to us by microscopic examination; the nature and movements of the liquids inclosed in the crystals of igneous rocks; the relations of minerals occurring in some volcanic products to those found in meteorites; the nature and origin of the remarkable iron-masses found at Ovifak in Greenland; and the indications which have been discovered of analogies between the composition and dynamics of our earth and those of other members of the family of worlds to which it belongs. While not evading the discussion of theoretical questions, I have endeavored to keep such discussions in strict subordination to that presentation of the results attained by observation and experiment, which constitutes the principal object of the work."
We are not acquainted with any other work of Professor Judd, but he is an experienced and very agreeable writer, and is evidently a master of the art of statement. His book is very far from being a mere dry description of volcanoes and their eruptions; it is rather a presentation of the terrestrial facts and laws with which volcanic phenomena are associated. We give an extract in our editorial pages which well represents the quality of the book. The illustrations are numerous, well chosen, and especially fine in execution; and the volume is among the best of the series to which it belongs.
The Bible and Science. By T. Lauder Brunton, M. D., D. S. C, F. R. S. With Illustrations. Macmillan & Co. 1881. Pp. 415. Price, $2.50.
This book is an example on a small scale of the common remark that "history repeats itself." It belongs to the literature of reconciliation of religion and science, and does over again what had been so often done before that its repetition should be superfluous—that is, if people were not so stupid.
When the laws of planetary motion were discovered, devout Bible-believers took the alarm and denounced the doctrine as destructive of religion. A war arose between the new science and the old Church, which was at length composed by a reinterpretation of Scripture passages, and everybody has become reconciled except Brother Jaspar.
But no sooner was the Bible brought into harmony with astronomy, than the same difficulty broke out in another place. Geologists found that the earth and the life upon it are a good deal older than have been supposed; but this was vehemently declared to be in conflict with the text of the old Hebrew oracles. The geologists were charged with being subverters of religion, and there was a long battle about it. But a way was discovered to reconcile Genesis with the new views of the earth's history, and the alarmed believers found not only that they had been a good deal more scared than hurt, but, greatly to their gratification, that Moses was the true founder of geological science.
One would think that by this time something might have been learned, and very much indeed has been learned, but there are multitudes of religious people who are still exactly where stood the religious people of three centuries ago. Another religious panic is upon us, from the same old cause. Science has proclaimed evolution as an established law of nature, and the believers in the killing letter of Scripture see another crusade of infidelity which, cloaking itself with the name of science, aims at the subversion cf Christianity. Dr. Brunton's work crows out of this crisis, and is devoted to the old task of reconciliation.
There arc many nominally religious people upon whom this sort of labor is quite thrown away. There must be some sincere solicitude for truth before there can be much concern about its agreements. It is not to be expected that those who are religions in obedience to the requirements of Mrs. Grundy will greatly trouble themselves about the conflicts of their faith. Then there arc others, not wanting perhaps in sincerity, to whom religion is a mere safeguard against future life-dangers, and these, of course, will care little about the relations of their religion to knowledge. They have nothing to reconcile, nothing to be explained away. They have merely a system of supernaturalism to be professed, with divers accompaniments, as a means of escaping from everlasting perdition. But there are still many conscientious people who, having arrived at no general principles to govern the case, are perplexed at the disagreements between the accepted tenets of religious belief and the progressive doctrines of science. Dr. Brunton's book is written for this order of minds, and with reference to the new issues between the Bible and science which have arisen in our own age. But it is best to let the author speak for himself in regard to his purpose. He says: "Many people consider the doctrine of evolution, or, as it is not unfrequently termed, Darwinism, as necessarily atheistic, and regard it with horror mingled with fear. They look upon it with horror, because they think that its spread will be injurious to religion and morality; and they fear it, because they see that every year its adoption is becoming more general, and that, notwithstanding their dislike to it, they are unable to stop its progress. In addition to this, some have a lurking dread that the doctrine may be true, and that they may by-and-by be forced, in spite of themselves, to acknowledge its truth, and to give up the cherished religious beliefs which have been their joy and strength. Feelings of this sort induce some people to remain willfully ignorant both of what the doctrine of evolution really is, and the arguments that may be adduced in support of it, while others refuse to see the force of the arguments; and others, again, are rendered most unhappy by their inability to deny their truth. The objects of the present work are to give a brief and popular sketch of the data on which the doctrine is founded, and to show that instead of being atheistic it is the very reverse, and is no more opposed to the Biblical account of the creation than those geological doctrines regarding the structure and formation of the earth's crust which were once regarded as heretical and dangerous, but are now to be found in every class-book and are taught in every school."
Dr. Brunton's volume is not at all of the controversial form, and is quiet in tone and most conciliatory in spirit. It is besides a very instructive book, his plan being not so much to argue his questions in a formal way as to give the information and illustrate the facts that will enable the reader to draw his own conclusions.
The method of the book is somewhat novel. It is divided into two parts, which are so separate and so different that the reader is left long in doubt as to their connection or what they have to do with each other. The three introductory chapters are devoted to an account of Bible lands, or the countries of Egypt and Palestine, and the Exodus of the Hebrews. This part of the work is of extreme interest, because of the freshness of its restatement of old facts in the light thrown upon them by later knowledge. The countries of Egypt and Palestine are regarded as typical specimens of regions where the climatic conditions were entirely different, so that abundance prevailed in one while famine desolated the other, and drove a starving people to one of those wholesale migrations which have played so important a part in the world's history. Ancient Egyptian life has been dwelt upon to fix attention upon an old civilization as a landmark of the world's progress, so that the long centuries which have since intervened might introduce to the conception of geological time. The influence of circumstances upon character and the law of the hereditary transmission of qualities are variously exemplified by the Israelitish race.
Fifty pages of the work are consumed in this preliminary discussion, and then the next 286 pages are devoted to such a general survey of the vegetable and animal kingdoms, in the present structures and affinities of living species and in the relations of the earth's historic life displayed by fossils, as brings out in an impressive manner the truth of the doctrine of evolution. This portion of the work is highly instructive, from the richness of its facts and the copiousness of the pictorial illustrations which help their interpretation. But it is mainly valuable, of course, as showing the extent, the variety, and the harmony of the proofs that can be given of the law of development. This law being established, the author proceeds in Lecture XVI to consider "The Mosaic Record and Evolution." There is here no straining after effect, but it is shown how the honest believer in the Scriptures need have no real difficulty in interpreting the Biblical text in harmony with evolutional truth. A rigorous literalism can, of course, make a stand here, as it did in the times of the astronomical and geological controversy; but there is a good deal less difficulty with the reconciliation now than there was in the preceding cases. The closing lecture is devoted to individual development, and gives occasion to some practical conclusions and reflections suggested by the subject, which are full of instructive interest.
Report of Analytical and other Work done on Sorghum and Corn-stalks by the Chemical Division of the Department of Agriculture. By Peter Collier, Chemist. Washington: Government Printing-Office. 1880. Pp. 101, with Twenty-seven Plates.
The object of the work reviewed in this report is to ascertain as many facts as possible in relation to the development and actual composition of the stalks and juices of the different varieties of sorghum and corn which can be successfully grown in the United States. The experiments were generally directed to the demonstration of the period at which the juice of each particular variety of sorghum or corn contained the most crystallizable sugar which could be profitably separated. Large sheet plates present graphically the results of 3,601 analyses of thirty-eight varieties of sorghum, eleven varieties of corn-stalks, and a few outside samples of sugar and sirup.
Naso-Pharyngeal Catarrh. By Martin F. Coomes, M. D., Professor in the Kentucky School of Medicine. Louisville, Kentucky: Bradley & Gilbert. Pp. 165. Price, 82.
This book, the author tells us, was prepared by request, as a practical treatise for the use of general practitioners of medicine. It treats of the anatomy of the parts liable to catarrhal affections, the examination of the pharynx, the value and method of local and constitutional medication, and the remedies used, the effect of climate on hay-fever, and the pathology and treatment of catarrh, and acute sporadic catarrh, with descriptions of many cases.
The Hysterical Element in Orthopædic Surgery. By Newton M. Shaffer, M. D., Surgeon in charge of the New York Orthopaedic Dispensary and Hospital, etc. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 66. Price, $1.
Cases of knee-joint disease, hip-joint disease, Pott's disease, lateral curvatures, and club-foot, have come before the author in his practice, which were not real, but the result of hysterical affection, or what he calls nervous mimicry. Some of them existed in persons who had never seen a genuine case of the disease with which they presumed they were afflicted. The present volume gives the diagnosis of such cases, with accounts of the method and results of treatment.
Brief Review of the most Important Changes in the Industrial Applications of Chemistry within the Last Few Years. By J. W. Mallet, F. R. S. Pp. 98.
This work hardly needs any other notice than the transcription of its title, which fully defines its purpose and scope. It is full of instructive facts, valuable for practical application in nearly every department of the arts. The improved chemical processes and applications which it describes in classified detail, when brought together and considered in the aggregate, are significant of the great and wonderful advance that has been made in all that contributes to the economy and comfort of life.
Educational Journalism. An Address before the New York State Teachers' Association, at its Thirty-sixth Annual Meeting, Saratoga Springs, August 1, 1881. By C. W. Bardeen. Syracuse, New York: C. W. Bardeen. Pp. 30.
This address gives the history of the older and of some of the most famous educational journals of the country, with remarks on the value of publications of that class.
A Fatal Form of Septicæmia in the Rabbit produced by the Subcutaneous Injection of Human Saliva. An Experimental Research. By George M. Sternberg, Surgeon United States Army. Baltimore: John Murphy & Co. 1881. Pp. 22.
In this interesting research the author discovered that the injection of his saliva into the subcutaneous connective tissue of a rabbit infallibly produced the death of the animal, usually within forty-eight hours. Experiments with the saliva of other persons resulted variously; some salivas appearing to be more virulent than others. These facts afford an interesting commentary on the discovery announced by Pasteur of a "new disease" produced by the injection of the saliva of infants which have died from hydrophobia. The experiments are described in detail, and photographs of the septic organisms developed after the injections are also given.
What shall we do with the Inebriate? By T. D. Crothers, M. D. Pp. 24.
The author of this pamphlet, who is superintendent of a home for the treatment of inebriates and opium cases at Hartford, Connecticut, and who may therefore be supposed to know something of the subject about which he writes, controverts the theory that drunkenness is a vice to be counteracted by moral and penal influences only. He regards it as a disease requiring peculiar treatment, and divides inebriates into three classes, to whose condition the method of treatment requires to be specially adapted. Thus managed, he believes inebriety to be as curable as other forms of disease.
Fifth Annual Report of the State Board of Health of Wisconsin. 1880. Madison, Wisconsin: David Atwood, State Printer. Pp. 156.
Besides the accounts of the operations of the Board and the condition of health of the State, this report contains a number of special papers prepared for the information of the people, on such subjects as "General Hygienic Knowledge a Necessity for the People," "Recreation as a Sanitary Agent," "School Hygiene," "The Management of Contagious Diseases in the City of Milwaukee," "Diseased Meat and its Relations to Health," and "Kerosene."
Synopsis of the Fresh-Water Rhizopods. A Condensed Account of the Genera and Species, founded upon Professor Joseph Leidy's "Fresh-Water Rhizopods of North America." Compiled by Romyn Hitchcock, F. R. M. S. New York: Romyn Hitchcock, 51 and 53 Maiden Lane. Pp. 56.
Rhizopods form a division of the Protozoa, and consist, essentially, of a soft mass of clear or granular protoplasm, usually colorless, with one or more nuclei and contractile vesicles. They are mostly microscopic, are quite common, and may be found in the settlings of still water, in the slime of submerged rocks, stems, and leaves, and in similar situations. The author hopes, by means of this work, which is devoted to the description of genera and species, to facilitate the study of these interesting organisms.
The Mineral Resources of the Hocking Valley; being an Account of its Coals, Iron-Ores, Blast-Furnaces, and Railroads. By T. Sterry Hunt, LL. D. With a Map. Boston: S. E. Cassino. Pp. 152.
The Hocking Valley coal-field of Ohio occupies an area of about two hundred and fifty square miles, in the region drained by the Hocking River, and is characterized by the exceptional thickness and value of its coal-beds. It contains, also, extensive beds of good iron-ores and quarries of limestone, and thus combines rare advantages to encourage the establishment of iron-works. It is well supplied with railroads connecting it with important commercial centers which can be supplied with coal more conveniently from it than from any more distant source. All of these points are set forth clearly and in detail in the present report.
Butterflies: Their Structure, Changes, and Life-Histories, with Special Reference to American Forms. Being an Application of the "Doctrine of Descent" to the Study of Butterflies, with an Appendix of Practical Instructions. By Samuel H. Scudder. New York: Henry Holt & Co. Pp. 322. Price, $3.
A book intended to awaken interest in the study of butterflies, and to assist in intelligent observation. It begins with the life-history of the insect, from the egg through the stages of the caterpillar, the chrysalis, and the perfect insect; describes its internal organs, with careful illustrations of its anatomy, its habits in all its stages, its seasonal changes and histories, and its coloring, "with further histories," and discusses the diversity of the sexes in coloring and structure, the origin and development of ornamentation, the ancestry and classification and geographical distribution of butterflies, and suggests a theory of the way in which New England was colonized with the insects. In the appendix are given instructions for collecting, rearing, preserving, and studying butterflies, the bibliography of the subject, and a systematic list of butterflies mentioned in the text. The whole is fully illustrated, generally from American specimens.
Primitive Industry; or, Illustrations of the Hand-work, in Stone, Bone, and Clay, of the Native Races of the Northern Atlantic Seaboard of America. By Charles C. Abbott, M. D. Salem, Massachusetts: George A. Bates. 1881. Illustrated. Pp. 560. Price, $3.
The title of this book describes in the fullest manner its contents. Dr. Abbott has wisely chosen to limit his work to that portion of the continent in which he has collected and studied, and to which he has added so many valuable contributions. In the preface he expresses the hope that the book will "induce others to explore such localities as they have opportunity of doing, and to preserve such traces of early man as they may find by placing them in public museums." Dr. Abbott has strictly adhered to this advice. He has no private collection. The immense mass of material he has gathered in his State now enriches the museums of Cambridge and Salem, where at all times it is open to inspection. In the light of the author's exhaustive study of the Trenton gravels, and the various beds superimposed upon them, we think he is justified in taking exception to the views expressed by Professor Whitney that "it is evident that there has been no unfolding of the intellectual faculties of the human race on this continent which can be parallelized with that which has taken place in Central Europe. We can recognize no palæolithic, neolithic, bronze, or iron ages." Dr. Abbott shows conclusively that the evidences of a true palæolithic and neolithic age are as marked in that section of the country he has examined as can be found in the valley of any European river.
The chapter on "Palæolithic Implements," and the contributions of Professor H. C. Lewis on "The Antiquity and Origin of the Trenton Gravels," with which the volume closes, will be of great value to those interested in this question.
It is impossible to do justice to this work in the limited space of a book notice. It is sufficient to say that the work as a contribution to the archæology of Eastern North America is by far the most important of any that has appeared in this country. The student will be greatly aided by the careful way in which the various implements arc classified and named.
How Persons afflicted with Bright's Disease ought to live. By Joseph F. Edwards, M. D. Philadelphia: Presley Blakiston. Pp. 87. Price, 75 cents.
The author believes that, in many instances, persons afflicted with Bright's disease may, by proper management, enjoy comfort and comparative good health for many years, and even outlive thousands around them who are in vigorous health. The object of his treatise is to define the conditions of the proper life with which this may be accomplished. These conditions are summed up in the avoidance of whatever will irritate the kidneys and attention to keeping up the general health. The skin should be kept in good condition by regular bathing, a proper degree but no excess of exercise should be practiced, the food should be suitable and abundant, the clothing always comfortable; alcohol and tobacco and other stimulants should be avoided.
The Figure of the Earth. An Introduction to Geodesy. By Mansfield Merkiman, Professor of Civil Engineering in Lehigh University. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Pp. 88. Price, $1.50.
This work embraces the substance of "familiar talks" on the size and figure of the earth which were delivered, in 1879, to the students of civil engineering in Lehigh University. They were afterward published, with considerable extensions and improvements, and this is another revision. Its aim is to give the history of scientific investigation and opinion concerning the figure of the earth, and at the same time furnish an introduction to the science of geodesy that will possess desirable qualities for engineering students and engineers. The illustrative examples are generally from American surveys.
Rugby, Tennessee. By Thomas Hughes. London: Macmillan & Co. Pp. 168. Price, $1.
This book is put forth as the best answer which the founders of the Rugby colony can make to the questions that are asked them, chiefly in the United Kingdom, concerning their settlement. The first part answers questions respecting the class of persons for whom the place is intended. They are young men of good education and small capital. The second part consists of the letters written by Mr. Hughes last fall to the London "Spectator," reprinted without alteration. The third part, Mr. Killebrew's report, describes the natural situation and condition of the land without coloring, apparently hiding no defects. The glossary answers questions definitely and in short.
Pharmacology and Therapeutics; or, Medicine Past and Present. The Goulstoman Lectures, delivered before the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1877. By T. Lauder Brunton, M. D., F. R. S. London: Macmillan & Co. Pp. 212.
The object of these lectures was to show how the progress of therapeutics is aided by an exact knowledge of drugs obtained by experiments. The history of medicine in the past, with the course of the empiric and dogmatic systems, is reviewed, and the development described of rational and scientific methods of study, culminating in the application of the systematic investigation of the properties of drugs as illustrated especially in the case of strychnia, curare, casca, and other remedies, the adoption of which has given a new aspect to modern pharmacology and therapeutics. The rationale of the operation of many remedies, as brought out by the new methods of investigation, is also briefly discussed.
Further Notes on the Pollination of Yucca and on Pronura and Prodoxus. By C. V. Riley Pp. 33.
Fourteenth Annual Report of the Trustees of the Peabody Museum of American Archæology and Ethnology. Vol. III. No. 1. Cambridge 1831. Pp. 41.
Noxious and Beneficial Insects of the State of Illinois. Fifth Annual Report. By Cyrus Thomas. Ph.D. State Entomologist. Springfield, Illinois. 1881. Pp. 232.
Report on the Statistics of Grape-Culture and Wine-Production in the United States for 1880. By William McMurtrie, Ph.D. Washington: Government Printing-Office. 1881. Pp. 101.
The Nature of the Existence of Matter. By Edward Randall Knowles. Pascoag, R.I. 1881. Pp. 7.
The Manuscript Troano. By Professor Cyrus Thomas. Reprint from "The American Naturalist." Pp. 16.
Free Trade vs. Protection. By Henry J. Philpott. Des Moines, Iowa, State Leader Co. 1881. Pp. 21.
Ethylene Bichloride as an Anæsthetic Agent, pp. 12; and Convulsions due to Depression of Spinal Reflex-Inhibitory Centers, pp. 5. By Edward T. Reichert, M.D. Reprints from the Philadelphia "Medical Times," 1881.
Catalogue of the Phænogamous and Vascular Cryptogamous Plants of Indiana. By Professor Charles R. Barnes. Crawfordsville, Indiana. 1881. Pp. 38.
"Journal of the American Chemical Society," Vol. III, Nos. 1-6, January to June, 1881. New York: The American Chemical Society.
Bacteria. By Dr. Ferdinand Cohn. Translated by Charles S. Dolley. Rochester, New York. 1881. Pp. 30.
Remarkable Change in the Color of the Hair in a Patient under Treatment by Pilocarpin, etc.; and Case of Membranous Croup treated Successfully by Pilocarpin. By D. W. Prentiss, M. D. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co. 1881. Pp. 15.
A Dictionary of Music and Musicians, a. d. 1450-1881. Edited by George Grove. D. C. L. London and New York: Macmillan & Co. 1881. Part XIV. Richter to Schoperlechner. Price per part, $1.
Subjects and Questions pertaining to Political Economy, Constitutional Law, Current Politics, etc. New York: The Society for Political Education. 1881. Pp. 24. 10 cents.
A Short History of the Bible. By Bronson C. Keeler. Chicago: The Century Publishing Co. 1881. Pp. 120.
Elements of Geometry. By Simon Newcomb. Pp. 399. $1.75. English History for Students. By Samuel R. Gardiner. LL. D. Pp. 424. $2.25. The Wandering Jew. By Moncure D. Conway. Pp. 200. $1.50. New York: Henry Holt & Co. 1881.
Report of the Commissioner of Education for 1870. Washington: Government Printing-Office. 1881. Pp. 757.
Manual of Sugar Analysis. By J. H. Tucker, Ph. D. New York: D. Van Nostrand. 1881. Pp. 353. $3.50.
The Harrogate Waters. By George Oliver, M. D. London, Eng.: H. K. Lewis. 1881. $1.50.
The Land of the White Elephant. By Frank Vincent, Jr. New York: Harper & Brothers. 1881. $3.50.
An Artistic Treatise on the Human Figure. By Henry Warren, K. L. Edited by Susan N. Carter. Pp. 82. 50 cents. Animal Physiology for Schools. By J. Milner Fothergill. Pp. 112. 75 cents. The Autobiography of Mark Rutherford. Edited by Reuben Sharpcott. Pp. 218. $1, Bacon. By Thomas Fowler, M. A., etc. Pp. 200. $1.25. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1881.
Principles of Chemical Philosophy. By Josiah Parsons Cooke. Boston: John Allen. 1881. Pp. 023. $2.50.
The Publishers' Trade List Annual for 1881. New York: F. Leypoldt. September, 1881. $1.50.