Popular Science Monthly/Volume 25/July 1884/Literary Notices
The Past and Present of Political Economy. By Richard T. Ely, Ph.D. Baltimore: N. Murray. Pp. 64. Price, 36 cents.
This is a contribution to the "Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science," edited by Herbert B. Adams, and constitutes No. III of the second series. The scheme of publication is an important one, but it contains no contribution more valuable than this monograph on the present condition of political economy by Dr. Ely.
There is unquestionably a good deal of confusion of mind among general readers in regard to the present condition of the so-called science of economics. While the subject continues to rank, as it has long ranked, as a branch of science with its accredited text-books, and its status in the curriculum of higher collegiate study, on the other hand many articles have latterly appeared in the graver reviews questioning the soundness of its theories, the validity of its principles, and the trustworthiness of its guidance. A reaction has set in against the old forms of economical doctrine, which long passed current, and there are many who will be glad to understand the meaning of it. Is there no such thing as a science of political economy in the established sense of the term science? Are there no ascertainable laws in the economical division of social phenomena? Is political economy a legitimate but still an imperfect science; and are the controversies that have arisen over many of its doctrines but the necessary stages of its further and higher development?
In this perplexity of inquiry, Dr. Ely comes to give us an account of the situation, to trace the history of the subject, to show the changes that it has undergone, and report upon its present attitude in the world of thought. "We do not understand him as denying the possibility or even the present existence of such a science, but he assumes that diversion from the old views has proceeded so far, and become so distinctive, as to give rise to a new school, which aims to rival and replace the older expositions of the subject. He is an adherent of the new school, and of course, so far as that implies, a disbeliever in the old school, and, at the same time that he informs us, with undoubted fairness, of the features of contrast between them, he is also a strenuous advocate of the one and an adversary of the other.
The nomenclature of these parties who represent different views of political economy has become quite copious, and a reference to it will throw some light on the distinctive doctrines of the opposing partisans. The political economy which may be said to have originated with Adam Smith, and which was subsequently further developed by Malthus, Ricardo, Senior, and James and John Mill, is known as "the old school," and, as it originated in England, "the English school." With reference to the authority and wide acceptance of its teachings, it is referred to also as "the orthodox school" and "the classical school"; and, as some of the most vigorous of its propagandists had their headquarters at Manchester, it has been called "the Manchester school," while, with reference to its predominant method of inquiry, it has also been termed "the deductive school."
The rival system of political economy, which now claims attention as a "new school," is declared by Dr. Ely to have originated in Germany about 1850, being represented by three young German professors, Hildebrand, Knies, and Roscher; it is therefore known as "the German school." Protesting against the deductive character of the English political economy, and asserting induction to be the proper basis of economical method, it is known as "the inductive school"; while to bring the subject into rank with politics, jurisprudence, and theology, which are pursued by the historical method, the Germans designate it by perhaps its most characteristic title, "the historical school." It is claimed also that the new method is "statistical," "experimental," and even "physiological"—"to call attention to the fact that it does for the social body what physiology does for our animal bodies."
Dr. Ely devotes the first forty pages of his monograph to the older political economy, dividing his statement into several sections. Section I, "Introductory," offers some general remarks on the growing evidence of the unsatisfactoriness of the political economy of Adam Smith, and his English followers. Section II, "The Old School," pursues the same line of thought, with some critical examination of the leading doctrines that have characterized the English poliical economy. In Section III, "The Attractions of Economic Orthodoxy," Dr. Ely points out how, from the simplicity of the system, it was fitted to take hold of men's minds while they knew nothing of the real complexities and formidable difficulties of the subject. Because of its narrowness and deductive character, there came also to be great faith in the fundamental propositions of the science which were regarded as permanent truths; while the system was commended to the governing powers in state and society because things were to be left to themselves, and "no exertion, no sacrifice, was required on their part to alleviate the sufferings of the lower classes." In Section IV Dr. Ely discusses the "Merits of the Old School," which he recognizes were great, independently of the correctness of its doctrines. It did vast service as the pioneer in this field of research, and on this point we quote Dr. Ely's words: "Further, the present political economy in all parts of the world grew out of the classical political economy, and the former can not be comprehended until the latter has been mastered. It was, indeed, efforts to master, extend, and perfect the older school, as well as other causes, like later developments of industrial life, which gradually led to the most recent economic investigation. Nor does any one now doubt the continued and all-pervading—even if not all-controlling—influence of these motive powers which furnish Ricardo, Mill, and Senior, with their major premises; but this fact was not understood before the coryphei of the older political economy elucidated it, and they deserve great credit for what may be fairly termed their discoveries. It was, for example, a service of no mean order to point out all the ramifications of self-interest in economic life, to set in order the phenomena explained by this principle, and to show how it prompts men to the most diverse deeds, which, undertaken without a view to the welfare of others, nevertheless redound to the common good. And it must be confessed that no single principles have been discovered by the German school, which throw such a flood of light on the multifarious phenomena of economic life as do, for example, the Ricardian theory of rent and the Malthusian doctrine of population." Having made these concessions. Dr. Ely proceeds elaborately in Section V to discuss "The Decline and Fall of the Old School." He objects, first, "that the whole spirit of its practical activity was negative." He attacks the doctrine of laissez faire which he alleges grew out of that negative system, and has turned out to be a total failure. "It never held at any time in any country, and no maxim ever made a more complete fiasco, when the attempt was seriously made to apply it in the state." His chief illustrations of the break-down of this doctrine are education and the English factory system. He next arraigns "another favorite notion of the older economists, and one which leads to great hardship in real life, that taxes are shifted so as to be divided fairly between different employments in which capital is engaged." He then condemns "the supposition that self-interest is the chief force of economic life," which he maintains to be the leading premise of the English school. The doctrine of "equality of wages" is attacked as an error of the old economists, as is also the idea "of the natural laws of political economy," and the principle of "supply and demand.".
We can not give the reasonings by which the older political economy is impeached in these several particulars, but their enumeration will suffice to inform the reader somewhat of the nature and extent of the indictment against the old system by which it is to be discredited and put aside to make place for another system.
In Section VI the new school is taken up and its various claims presented. Chief among these are that facts and statistics are to be more studied, that there is to be greater caution in theorizing, and especially in the use of deduction; and, above all, that the subject is to be dealt with historically. It seems to be denied that there are any principles of political economy to be taken as fundamental or universal, or as fitted to form the body of a science to be generally accepted like other sciences. The subject is said to involve changed conditions and constantly changing policy. "It is found that the political economy of to-day is not the political economy of yesterday, while the political economy of Germany is not identical with that of England or America. It is on this account that knowledge of history is absolutely essential to the political economist."
Now, while Dr. Ely's statements of the general case are most interesting and instructive, we can hardly acquiesce in the validity of his argument. Much of his criticism of the older political economy may be taken as well-based and wholesome, while his argument is overdone. We may freely concede that the earlier expositions of political economy were imperfect, and that much of its subsequent literature is open to objection. But science is self-corrective in time, and the labor of generations is necessary for the development of its principles, especially if they are of a complex kind, and dependent upon the advance of other sciences. But the foundations of the old political economy were well laid; the method was broad, valid, and as productive of important results as research in any other field. The correctness of the procedures has been attested by the discoveries of economic laws, worked out, if not into their final forms, at least into such clearness and certainty as to give them value for practical guidance. Granting that there is much need for revision, amendment, enlargement, what is this but the common condition of all progressive knowledge? To speak of the "decline and fall" of the English school of political economy savors of exaggeration, and seems no more proper than to speak of the decline and fall of any other branch of science when its errors are discovered, and it passes to a new stage of its development.
Dr. Ely, as we have seen, charges that the whole spirit of the old school is negative. "It was powerful to tear down, but it did not even make an attempt to build up." Yet in the department of science what can we mean by "building up" if it be not the organization and analysis of facts, the derivation of principles, and the establishment of a connected body of truths as accurate and verifiable as the nature of the phenomena and the condition of knowledge will admit. Is not this in the highest sense constructive work, and, making allowance for the necessary imperfections of the earlier stages of inquiry, it can not be intelligently denied that the English school of economists have established a body of positive truths which can never be subverted, although they may be much further unfolded. We think, indeed, that Dr. Ely's accusation against the English school may be turned with far greater propriety against the German school, which has made no discoveries, constructed no system, worked out no generalizations, and whose main stock in trade appears to consist in its attempts to demolish what the English economists have built up.
"We gather from Dr. Ely's argument that a very confusing and also a most mischievous error pervades the teachings of the new school—it does not discriminate between science and art, between economical principles and laws and the art of practical politics. The investigation of phenomena, the establishment of their relations, and the derivation of principles, is a sufficiently large subject to occupy distinctive attention, and science proper ceases when this important work is done. The results gained will be valuable in application, but this is a separate field of effort. Law-making may be helped by science, but to rank it as itself a part of economic science confuses important distinctions. That the German school should favor paternalism in government, and legislative interference with the business life of the people, should magnify the state, belittle individualism, and question the doctrine of natural human rights, is what we are prepared to expect, but when all this is put forward as political economy, and a warrant for the installation of a "new school" to replace a fallen system, the case seems somewhat strained. It is not so easy to take leave of the older idea of legitimate science in this field of thought. And yet the tendency of government to encroach upon the liberty of citizens, and regulate the private affairs of industry and business, although as old as political tyranny, is now coolly put forth as the discovery of a great master of political economy. Dr. Ely says that "Adolph Wagner, the Coryphasus of German economists," has discovered "the law of increasing functions of government"—"has shown how government has taken upon itself function after function, and how the operations of government trench more and more upon the domain of private industry." If the reader will here refer to what is said upon page 302 of this "Monthly," he will get further light upon the new school claim of what it considers a discovery in the progress of political economy.
Dr. Ely objects to the English school, not only that it is deficient in facts and data, indulges too much in theory and neglects history, but also that it is narrow and ignores the wide range of social phenomena with which it is connected; and he refers to Professor Ingham's address, in which it is maintained that political economy must in future be considered from the point of view of social science, or as a branch of the more comprehensive subject of sociology. But, granting that the old system is more or less open to these objections, do they really stand against the English school of to-day, and has the German school met them in any adequate or systematic way? History is, of course, important; but scholars may dig in history to the end of time to no purpose if they can not reduce their results to organized knowledge. We have the living facts all before us and all around us, open to immediate observation, to be directly studied in their actual relations, and, until the positive and palpable realities of experience are first mastered and reduced to valid method, it is useless to go back into distant ages to study these same phenomena in the vague representations of a history written in utter ignorance of the bare fact of the existence of such a subject as political economy. As well turn the anatomist away from his actual dissections to get help from history by the study of old Arabian treatises, or cutting up Egyptian mummies. History is important; but it is of very subordinate importance, and must be preceded by the scientific investigation of actual facts and laws wherever these are accessible to study. German erudition may add to the rubbish-heaps of chaotic lore regarding the economic life of ancient peoples; but the question remains how German scholars are grappling with the problems of present economic experience. We fail to find evidence that they are making much headway in this direction. Can it be that they have fled to history, "in order to ally themselves with the great reformers in politics, in jurisprudence, and in theology," because of incompetence to deal with this vast subject as it stands in our modern civilization by the strictly scientific method? Whatever view we may take of the extent of the law of evolution, it is at any rate the key of human progress and of social history. Has the historical school recognized it? On the contrary, we must look to England for the thinkers who have made this vast step in the advance of historical method. The monumental work, which complies with all Dr. Ely's requirements, which consists wholly of systematized data and abstains entirely from theory, which considers economical facts in connection with all the other elements of society, which classifies the comprehensive results of investigation with the simple view of drawing scientific conclusions, and which is, moreover, grounded upon the principle of historical development, is an English enterprise—a system of descriptive sociology representing the elements of society in seventy-two communities, past and present, civilized and uncivilized, and treating of civilizations extinct, decayed, and still flourishing. But this valuable contribution to comparative sociology, though prepared with immense labor from his own point of view, and making an epoch in the progress of social science, is not even referred to in Dr. Ely's monograph.
Practical Essays. By Alexander Bain, LL. D. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 338. Price, $1.50.
Those who are familiar with the intellectual individuality of Professor Bain and the range of his studies will be prepared to form some idea of the scope and character of this volume of essays, which is in great part a reprint of articles first contributed to reviews. But the title of the volume indicates a characteristic which might not readily be inferred from the quality of Professor Bain's previous works, many of which are scientific and speculative, while the papers which make up this book are of an eminently practical kind. There is much novelty and originality in many of the suggestions made, but the topics selected, and their mode of treatment, will be found useful and helpful to a large number of readers. The first two essays, on "Common Errors of the Mind," are especially of this practical character, and derive interest from the thorough psychological preparation of the writer. The next two essays have an educational bearing; the one on "Competitive Examinations," and the other on the "Classical Controversy." The fifth article is of particular practical interest to students as delineating the mode of treating philosophical questions in debating societies. Dr. Bain considers "The University Ideal" in his sixth article; and the seventh, which is perhaps the most interesting of all, is a chapter omitted from the author's "Science of Education," and is mainly devoted to the methods of self-education by means of books. This essay abounds in instructive suggestions. The eighth article is on "Sectarian Creeds and Subscription to Articles." The subject is English, and is handled without reservation. The concluding paper of the volume is devoted to the procedure of deliberative bodies, and what may be called the economics of business in such associations; and in this country of multitudinous Legislatures, and where the complaint of non-accomplishment of deliberative work is so general, the hints here given will be found important.
James and Lucretia Mott: Life and Letters. Edited by their Granddaughter, Anna Davis Hallowell. With Portraits. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Pp. 556. Price, $2.
Aside from the charming interest of this volume as a biographical study, it will be found instructive as a record of social experiences during the last half-century that will be increasingly appreciated in the future. It might properly be called "The Life and Times of Lucretia Mott," because it deals fully with her public influence so as to become a valuable chapter in the history of a peculiar religious denomination, which is closely connected with the great anti-slavery reform that was full of such eventful issues to the country.
The history of the Society of Friends, when it comes to be philosophically written, will be full of instructive interest. That the denomination is declining, is very well known; but it has been a power in the religious and social life of the community, and has unquestionably exerted a liberalizing influence upon the stringent dogmatism of the more orthodox denominations. Mystical, devout, narrow in many things, rejecting religious forms, and yet tenaciously clinging to religious form, the Society of Friends has still been more protestant than the Protestants, and it was in advance of most other sects in working free from the iron dogmas of the old theology. The split that occurred in the society in this country about 1828, in which a large division of the membership organized into an independent society under the leadership of Elias Hicks, was but the result of a growing liberality in the bosom of the denomination. That division, moreover, precipitated the question as to how far it was justifiable for Friends to enter into co-operation with the outside world for philanthropic objects. The society had always been deeply pervaded by the anti-slavery feeling, and had entered its formal protests against the system of African oppression in a much more emphatic way than other religious denominations. There was, therefore, a strong sentiment within the society that drew it into sympathy with the anti-slavery movement which began to take definite and organized shape in the North about 1830. But, notwithstanding the traditional impulses and vigorous tendency of the body to join in the general movement, there grew up an active policy of resistance against new alliances, and a determination to hold the denomination within its old sectarian limits of exclusiveness, under which it preferred to bear its testimonies in its own way. It was in this crisis of the denominational affairs that Lucretia Mott came forward upon the scene, and bore that conspicuous and influential part in bringing the Society of Friends into active participation in the anti-slavery struggle which has made her reputation, and for which she will be remembered in the future. To all interested in these reminiscences the present volume is peculiarly attractive. Its chief subject must be deemed fortunate in her biographer; for, while the book is a loving tribute to personal excellences, and a vivid and charming delineation of character, it has been written with a clear appreciation of the importance of faithfully representing the circumstances and conditions in which Lucretia Mott accomplished her public work. A large portion of the volume consists of letters which have an historic interest as throwing light upon questions, motives, tendencies, and states of mind of individuals, and of masses, in the stirring and exciting times of the early antislavery conflict. Lucretia Mott was first of all, and in her whole nature, a reformer, but she was also from the beginning to the end a Quaker, and that she was a good deal of a politician, or at all events of a tactician, is shown by the shrewd and skillful course by which she succeeded in maintaining her position in the society in a time of revolution, and when there was a strong disposition to disown her, as many other prominent abolitionists were disowned because of their affiliations with non-religious societies. Her liberality of thought in religious matters was an early trait, and is marked throughout her career. She was sympathetic with advanced ideas, and, although neither philosophic nor hardly original in her bent of mind, she had an intuitive sympathy with the pioneers of liberal inquiry, and always spoke of their work with cordial and hearty appreciation. We congratulate the author of the book on the admirable performance of her agreeable task.
Property and Progress, or a Brief Inquiry into Contemporary Social Agitation in England. By W. H. Mallock. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 248. Price, $1.
Whatever we may think of Mr. Mallock as a philosopher aiming to get at the valuation of life, or as a constructor of social hypotheses, we must grant that at any rate he is a brilliant critic and an effective controversialist. In this volume he overhauls the peculiar socialistic doctrines of Mr. Henry George and Mr. H. M. Hyndman, exposing their fallacies and characterizing their influence with much acuteness of reasoning and equal bluntness of speech. Those interested in these subjects will find the book more than readable. It consists of articles first contributed to the "Quarterly Review," and reprinted without substantial alteration. The writer's aim in the discussion is thus stated: "One of the principal features by which Continental politics have been, during modern times, distinguished from those of England, has, during the last few years, developed itself in England also. I refer to the attempts being now made by extreme radicals on the one hand, and avowed socialists on the other, to identify politics in the minds of the poorer classes with some wholesale seizure, in their behalf, on the property, or on part of the property of the richer; to represent the accomplishment of such a seizure as the main task incumbent on a really popular government, and to madden the people with a conviction that, until the seizure is made, they will be suffering a chronic wrong.
"When we consider the squalor and misery that exist in the heart of our civilization, it is not surprising that language of this kind should sound to many like a new social gospel. The aim of the present volume is to examine, accurately and calmly, into the exact amount of truth underlying this appeal to the sympathies, and to enable the reader to judge whether our contemporary social agitators are men of science, revealing to us new social possibilities, or merely quacks beguiling us with new delusions—whether, in other words, they are the best friends of the people, or whether they are practically their worst and their most insidious enemies."
The Story of the Coup d'État. By M. de Maupas. Translated by Albert D. Vandam. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 487. Price, $1.75.
The history of the coup d'état, the great crime by which Louis Napoleon converted France from a republic into an empire, will ever be of memorable interest, from the character and consequences of the event; but the main interest of the present volume is derived from the fact that it is written by one who was not only himself in the affair, but one of its master-spirits. M. de Maupas was chief of the police in Paris, and as such had control of the operations by which the usurpation of Louis Napoleon was carried out. It may be that there is not much in the volume in the way of revelation, or that was not more or less known before, but it is an important contribution to the historic literature of that period, from its detailed, circumstantial, and systematic account of the transaction.
The Ellipticon; an Exposition of the Earth's Astronomy and the Equation OF Time. By J. L. Naish, B. A. Two-page Chart. New York: J. L. Naish, 43 East Twelfth Street.
This chart is an attempt, by means of graphic diagrams and an explanatory text, to make clear the difficult astronomical problem of the equation of time. It contains on one side six representations of the terrestrial and celestial sphere, intended to illustrate the relations of the ecliptic and the equator, motion in the ecliptic and in the equator, and mean and apparent time; and on the other side a section-view of the celestial sphere as regarded from the north pole of the ecliptic—the ellipticon—on which are given the position of the sun, the equation of time, and other elements of the problem, for each day of the year.
History of the Literature of the Scandinavian North. By Frederik W. Horn, Ph. D. Revised by the author, and translated by Rasmus B. Anderson. Chicago: S. C. Griggs & Co. Pp. 500. Price, $3.50.
The inhabitants of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Iceland once spoke a common language, and were closely alike in manners and customs. Hence the remnants of their early compositions which have been preserved in writing are treated in this work as forming a single literature. After giving an account of the ancient collections of poems known as the Elder and Younger Edda, the author goes on to trace the development of the Skaldic poetry, and follows this with an account of the Sagas. As the present language of Iceland has varied less from the original tongue than either the Swedish or the Dano-Norwegian, an account of the modern Icelandic literature naturally follows the chapter on the Old Norse. In the second division of the book, the literatures of Denmark and Norway are taken up together; the first two chapters trace their progress through the "Middle Age" and the "Age of the Reformation." Then follows "The Period of Learning" (1560-1700), characterized by the supremacy of the Latin language and of theological learning. The next fifty years are described as the time of Holberg. Of this powerful writer of comedies the author says: "He not only cleared the ground, and winnowed away a vast amount of rubbish which had hindered the development of intellectual life, but, what was of chief importance, the barriers were thrown down which had for centuries separated the people from the learned class, and which the Reformation, with its fresh breath sweeping through the northern lands, had not been able to remove." The period from 1750 to 1800 is called "The Age of Enlightenment," during which appeared Johannes Ewald, whom the author rates as "one of the greatest lyric poets of the North—perhaps even the very greatest." With the present century begins the period of modern Danish literature, whose foremost representative is Oehlenschläger. During this time have appeared also the well-known names, H. C. Andersen, Paluden-Müller, Oersted, Steenstrup, Rask, and Madvig. The literature of Norway since 1814, when that country obtained its independence, is treated in a separate chapter. In Swedish literary history, after the period of the Reformation, came "The Stjernhjclm Period" (1640-1740), which was the time of "Sweden's golden age." Then follow the "Dalin Age" and the "Gustavian Period," bringing the history to 1800. Other Swedish writers of the present century to whom prominence is given are Almquist, Fredrika Bremer, Rydberg, Von Braun, and Runeberg. There is appended to the volume a comprehensive catalogue by Thorwald Solberg, of the Library of Congress, of important books and magazine articles relating to the Scandinavian countries, their language and mythology, which have appeared in English.
Life and Times of the Right Hon. John Bright. By William Robertson, author of "Old and New Rochdale." London, Paris, and New York: Cassell & Co., Limited. Pp. 588. Price, $2.50.
"One anecdote of a man is worth a volume of biography," said Channing; and, in conformity to this dictum, the author's plan has been, "besides resetting gems that adorn Mr. Bright's speeches, to weave into the biography interesting information which is not generally known, and which has been collected especially and solely for this work.'* The extracts from speeches are numerous, embracing Mr. Bright's utterances on a wide range of subjects, from the temperance question, on which he made his first public speech at the age of nineteen, to the land-troubles in Ireland. The book is a very readable account of the career of one of the most highly esteemed of living states.
The Evidence for Evolution in the History of the Extinct Mammalia. By E. D. Cope, of Philadelphia, Pa. Printed at the Salem Press, Salem, Mass. Pp. 19.
Local Government and Free Schools in South Carolina. By B. James Ramage. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University. Pp. 40. Price, 40 cents.
This is the twelfth of the valuable series of "Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science." It traces the development of the peculiar political system by which South Carolina was distinguished before the war from the aristocratic plan of the original settlement in the province, under the influence of Locke's "Fundamental Constitutions," as a county palatine, with its lords proprietors, palatines, and its nobility of landgraves and cassiques. This scheme was short-lived, and gave way to the parish organizations in the coast country. Afterward the upper country was settled, and evolved a county system of local government. Then the county system and the parish system clashed, and the district system, which lasted till after the war, was formed for the whole State. This, in turn, was remodeled, and the name "district" was changed to "county" after the war. The second part of the pamphlet is devoted to the history of "Free Schools in South Carolina," with the design of showing that the State had earlier and more liberal provisions for free education than it has been supposed to have had.
Voice, Song, and Speech: A Practical Guide for Singers and Speakers. By Lennox Browne, F. R. C. S. Ed., author of "The Throat and its Diseases," "Medical Hints on the Singing Voice," etc., and Emil Behnke, author of "The Mechanism of the Human Voice," etc. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 322. Price, $4.50.
This work deals mainly with the physiology and hygiene and the acoustics of the voice. The need of a scientific basis for the production, cultivation, and preservation of the voice is insisted on in the first chapter, and strikingly illustrated by directions given to pupils by some authorities. For instance, "To focus the sound; to direct the voice toward the roof of the mouth—against the hard palate—against the upper front teeth—into the head—to the bottom of the chest; to lean the tone against the eyes! to sing all over the face!" The laws of sound bearing on the voice are next stated, after which the anatomy of the vocal organ is described at length, and the respiratory action is explained. Under vocal hygiene, the proper mode of breathing is described, and cases are given which show the loss of vocal power resulting from a waist deformed by constriction. A chapter on the laryngoscope, its use, and teachings, follows. Voice-culture is taken up under the headings "Breathing, Attack, Resonance, Flexibility, and Registers." Directions are given for the "Daily Life of a Voice-User," and there are chapters on "Ailments of the Voice-User" and "Defects of Speech." As this work is the joint production of a vocal surgeon and a voice-trainer, who have been in the habit of collaborating in the treatment of patients and pupils, the authors believe that it possesses a completeness which is seldom attained by a specialist in a single department. The volume is illustrated with photographs of the larynx and the soft palate in various positions, and with numerous woodcuts.
The Güegüence: a Comedy Ballet in the Nahuatl-Spanish Dialect of Nicaragua. Edited by Daniel G. Brinton, A. M., M. D. Philadelphia: D. G. Brinton. Pp. lii-94. Price, $2.50.
This is the fourth volume of Dr. Brinton's "Library of Aboriginal American Literature." The play which is presented in it is the only specimen of the native American comedy known to the editor. It is of comparatively recent origin, and is composed in a mixed dialect, a jargon of low Spanish and corrupt Aztec, or Nahuatl. It bears marks of its native composition in both its history and spirit, and illustrates the sort of humor popular with the tribes from whom it has been obtained, so that it is of considerable anthropological value. The piece is one of several kinds of bailes or dramatic dances common among the Nahuas or Aztecs of Nicaragua, and pictures the devices which an elder of the tribe employed to escape the censure of the alguacil before whom he was brought up for discipline. Its chief literary character is a coarse, rollicking humor, and it contains some music of no little merit. The most valuable part of the book is the introduction, in which Dr. Brinton precedes the history and a minute analysis and criticism of the play with accounts of the Nahuas and Mangues of Nicaragua, their "bailes" or dramatic dances, and their musical instruments and music.
The Cinchona-Barks. By Friedrich A. Fluckiger, Ph. D., Professor in the University of Strasburg, and author of "Pharmaceutical Chemistry." Translated by Frederick B. Power, Ph. D., Professor of Pharmacy and Materia Medica in the University of Wisconsin. Philadelphia: P. Blakiston, Son & Co. Pp. 101. Price, $1.50.
This treatise comprises a statement of the botanical position of the cinchonæ, with descriptions of the most important species, an account of cinchona-culture and the collection of the barks, the varieties of bark, their appearance and structure, together with some statistics of the industry. In the section on the quantitative estimation of the alkaloids, the translation has a somewhat more detailed description of the author's method of assay than was given in the original, and a more explicit account of the process of Squibb, as recently improved. The method of De Vrij has been added, and also his process for the determination of crystallizable quinine in the mixed alkaloids. A history of the cinchona-barks follows, and a list of about forty titles in the recent literature of the subject completes the volume. It is illustrated with eight lithographic plates and one woodcut.
Scientific Papers of the Vassar Brothers' Institute, and Transactions of its Scientific Section, 1881-1883. Le Roy C. Cooley, Ph. D., Chairman. Poughkeepsie, N. Y. Pp. 118.
The Vassar Brothers' Institute was organized in the spring of 1881, and the scientific section in June of the same year. The present volume of its Transactions embraces the proceedings of thirteen stated meetings up to April 18, 1883, with the chairman's report of the work of the section, and nine papers on subjects of interest in various fields of science. The objects of the Institute are to pursue such scientific researches as may come within the opportunities of its members, and to found a suitable museum. Its proceedings bear evidences of life and vigor.
The Gospel according to Saint Matthew. Revised Version. Fonetic edishun. St. Louis: publislit bai T. R. Vickroy. Pp. 88. Price, 50 cents.
This phonetic edition of Matthew is commended by its editor to those who have occasion to teach adults to read. The value for this purpose of print in which the use of letters is logical and uniform is attested by the superior readiness with which the reading of English has been taught in "Freedmen's schools," and is being taught to-day in certain schools of France from books in phonetic spelling. Dr. Vickroy explains in an appendix the values of the thirteen new letters which he uses.
The Medical Directory of Philadelphia for 1884. Edited by Samuel B. Hoppin, M. D. Philadelphia: P. Blakiston, Son & Co. Pp. 205. Price, $1.50.
This volume contains lists, arranged both alphabetically and by streets, of the physicians, homœopathic physicians, dentists, and druggists, of Philadelphia, with information in regard to the hospitals and other charitable institutions, medical colleges, ambulance service, coroner, and quarantine. It gives also the State regulations in regard to dissection, the registration of medical practitioners, and the registration of births, marriages, and deaths.
Bulletin of the Philosophical Society of Washington. G, K. Gilbert, Secretary. Washington: Judd & Detweiler. Vol. VI. 1883. Pp. 168.
The "Bulletin" is published by the co-operation of the Smithsonian Institution. The present volume contains the minutes of the society for 1883, and the minutes of the mathematical section from its organization to the close of the year. A number of valuable papers are contained in the volume, among which we mention especially only the annual address of the President, J. W. Powell, on "The Three Methods of Evolution."
D. Appleton & Co. will publish shortly a volume by the author of "Conflict in Nature and Life," entitled "Reforms, their Difficulties and Possibilities," The penetrating and judicial spirit exhibited in the author's first work will lead many readers to look to the promised volume with no little expectation.
"The Outlines of Psychology, with Special Reference to the Theory of Education," by James Sully, now in the press of D. Appleton & Co., is the kind of book that has been long wanted by all who are engaged in the business of teaching and desire to master its principles. In the first place, it is an elaborate treatise on the human mind, of independent merit as representing the latest and best work of all schools of psychological inquiry. But of equal importance, and what will be prized as a new and most desirable feature of a work on mental science, is the educational applications that are made throughout in separate text and type, so that, with the explication of mental phenomena, there comes at once the application to the art of education.
One of the most fascinating popular scientific books ever written is Dr. Charles C. Abbott's "Rambles about Home," soon to be issued by D. Appleton & Co. Readers of the early volumes of "The Popular Science Monthly" know how interesting Dr. Abbott's sketches are, and this book will surely impel many to spend their first leisure hours in the country in watching the animal life about them.
Professor John Trowbridge, of Harvard University, has written a text-book for schools, which D. Appleton & Co. have in preparation. It is entitled "The New Physics," and admirably carries out the principles of the new education, in requiring the pupil to become familiar with the properties of matter and the phenomena of force by performing experiments for himself.
A new series of science text-books, each of which is the work of an able specialist, is being brought out by D. Appleton & Co. The "Physiology," by Roger S. Tracy, M. D., Sanitary Inspector of the New York City Health Department, and the "Chemistry," by Professor F. W. Clarke, Chemist of the U.S. Geological Survey, are now ready. Before September 1st will be issued the "Zoology," by C. F. Holder, and J. B. Holder, M. D., Curator of Zoölogy of the American Museum of Natural History, New York; and the "Geology," a new elementary book, by Professor Joseph Le Conte, of the University of California. Other volumes are to follow soon.
Proceedings, etc., of the Chautauqua Society of History and Natural Science. William W Henderson, Secretary. Jamestown, N. Y. Pp. 11.
The Glacial Period in the Chautauqua Lake Region. By Hon. Obed Edsou. Jamestown N Y.: Chautauqua Society of History and Natural Science. Pp. 18.
Massachusetts State Agricultural Experiment Station, Bulletins No. 7, 8, and 9. Insects injurious to the Apple; Fodder and Fodder Analysis; Insects injurious to Farm and Garden Crops. Pp. 12 each.
Exhibition of Education at the World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition, Preliminary Circular. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 11.
Transactions of the New York Academy of Sciences, Index to Vol, II. Albert E, Leeds, Corresponding Secretary, Hoboken, N. J. Pp. 18.
Dictionary of the Action of Heat upon Certain Metallic Salts. J. W, Baird and Professor A. B. Prescott. New York: Bermingham & Co, Pp. 68.
Reports of Division of Entomology, U. S. Department of Agriculture. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 102.
Samuel Adams, the Man of the Town-Meeting, By James K. Hosmer, Baltimore: N. Murray Pp. 60. Price, 35 cents.
Physiographic Conditions of Minnesota Agriculture. By Professor C. W. Hall. Minneapolis, Minn, Pp. 15.
Zoölogical Society, Philadelphia. Twelfth Annual Reports. Pp 25. with Plates.
The Bible an Exact Science. By Philip T. West Topeka, Kansas: George W. Crane & Co. Pp. 56.
Alabama Weather Service, April, 1884. By E. H. Mills, Jr., Director, Auburn. Pp. 6. with Charts.
The Exhalation of Ozone by Flowering Plants By J. M. Anders, M. D., Ph. D. Pp. 14.
Remarks on the Bag-Worm, pp. 83; Notes on North American Psyllidæ, pp. 12; Canker-Worms, pp. 82; The Army-Worm, pp. 68. By C. V. Eiley. Ph. D., Washington.
Principal Characters of American Jurassic Dinosaurs; Parts VII and VIII. Pp. 8 and 12. with Plates. Principal Characters of American Cretaceous Pterodactyls; Part I, Pp. 4, with Plate. A New Order of Extinct Jurassic Reptiles. P. 1. by Professor O. C. Marsh, Yale College, New Haven, Conn.
A New Theology. By the Rev. Philip S. Moxom Pp. 20.
On the Classification of the Sciences. By H. M. Stanley. London. Pp. 10.
Wages and Trade in Manufacturing Industries In America and in Europe. By J. Schoenhof. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 25. 15 cents.
Report of Bureau of Statistics, Treasury Department, U. S., October-December, 1888. Washington: Government Printing Office, Pp. 160.
Geology of the Lead and Zinc Mining District of Cherokee County, Kansas. By Erasmus Haworth. Oskaloosa, Iowa: Herald Printing Co. Pp. 47.
"American Meteorological Journal," May, 1884, Monthly. M. W, Harrington, Editor. Detroit, Mich.: W. H. Burr & Co, Pp, 89. $8 a year.
Fire-Proof Buildings with Wooden Beams and Girders and Dolman's Dampers. New York: William H. Dolman. Pp. 18.
On a Carboniferous Ammonite from Texas. By Professor Angelo Heilprin, Philadelphia. Pp. 8.
"Home Science." May, 1884. Monthly. New York: Selden R. Hopkins. Pp. 112. $2.50 a year.
Report on the Cotton Production of Georgia. By E. H. Loughridge, Ph.D., Berkeley, Cal. Pp. 184 with Lithological Maps.
Recent Improvements in Astronomical Instruments. By Simon Newcomb. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 28.
Coefficients for correcting Planetary Elements. Pp. 48. Investigations of Corrections to Greenwich Planetary Observations. Pp. 56. Development of the Perturbative Function. Pp. 200. Washington: Bureau of Navigation, Navy Department.
Peabody Museum of American Archæology and Ethnology. Sixteenth and Seventeenth Annual Reports, Vol. Ill, Nos. 8 and 4. Cambridge, Mass. Pp. 234.
Archæological Institute of America. Reports 1883-'84. Cambridge: John Wilson & Son. Pp. 118.
Geological History of Lake Labontan, Nevada. By Israel Cook Russell. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 40.
Synopsis of the Fishes of North America. (Bulletin U. S. National Museum.) By David S. Jordan and Charles II. Gilbert. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 1018.
Beiträge zur Kenntniss der Kobalt-, Nickel- und Eisenkiese (Contributions to the Knowledge of Cobalt, Nickel, and Iron Gravels). By Leroy W. McCay, Freiberg, Saxony.
Beiträge zur Anatomie Ancylus fluviatalis (O. F. Muller) and Ancylus lacustris (Geoffrey). (Contributions to the Anatomy of Ancylus, etc.). By Dr. Benjamin Sharp, of Philadelphia. Würzburg, Germany.
Medicinisch-Chirurgisches Correspondenz-Blatt für Deutsch-Americanische Aerzte (Medical and Surgical Correspondence Leaf for German-American Physicians), Monthly. Dr. M. Hartwig, Buffalo, N.Y. Pp. 48. $2.50 a year.
Property and Progress, by W. H. Mallock. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 243. $1,
Whirlwinds, Cyclones, and Tornadoes. By William Morris Davis. Boston: Lee & Shepard. New York: Charles T. Dillingham. Pp. 90.
The Book of the Beginnings. By R. Heber Newton. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 811. 40 cents.
Geological Excursions. By Alexander Winchell, LL. D. Chicago: S. C. Griggs & Co. Pp. 234. $1.50.
Warren Colburn's First Lessons (in Arithmetic). Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Pp. 216. 35 cents.
Lecture Notes on General Chemistry. By John T. Stoddard, Ph.D. The New Metals. Northampton, Mass.: Gazette Publishing Company. Pp.
Home and School Training. By Mrs. H. E. G. Avey. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co. Pp. 192.
Truths and Untruths of Evolution. By John B. Drury, D.D. New York: Anson D. F. Randolph & Co. Pp. 140. $1.
Lectures on the Science and Art of Education. By Joseph Payne. New York: E. L. Kellogg & Co. Pp. 256. $1.
Fifth Avenue to Alaska. By Edward Pierrepont. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 329, with Maps. $1.75.
The Bible analyzed in Twenty Lectures. By John R. Kelso. New York: Truth-Seeker Office. Pp. 883. $3.
Government Revenue. By Ellis H. Roberts. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Pp. 389. $1.50.
The Franco-American Cookery-Book. By Felix J. Déliée. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 620. $4.
Key to North American Birds. By Elliott Coues, Ph.D. Boston: Estes & Lauriat. Pp. 863. $10.50.