Popular Science Monthly/Volume 27/August 1885/Literary Notices
Transactions of the New York State Medical Association for the Year 1884. Edited, for the Association, by Dr. Austin Flint, Jr. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 654. Price, $5.
The first meeting of the Association was held in the city of New York on the 18th, 19th, and 20th, of November, 1884, and was attended by two hundred and forty-two fellows. The titles of fifty papers to be read were entered on the official programme of the meeting, by members representing fifteen counties of the State, besides papers the titles of which were received after the programme was published. Of these papers, seventeen were on topics of surgery, fifteen on medicine, eleven on obstetrics and gynæaecology, three on ophthalmology, two on materia medica, one on physiology, and one on insanity. The present volume contains three papers, with the president's (Henry D. Didama, M. D., of Onondaga County) annual address, lists of officers and council, fellows, etc.; the "Articles of Incorporation and Constitution and By-laws"; the "Code of Medical Ethics"; the "Proceedings of the Annual Meeting"; and the "Report and Minutes of the Council."
Representative American Orators. To illustrate American Political History. Edited, with Introductions, by Alexander Johnston. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. 3 vols. Pp. 282, 314, 405. Price, $3.75.
The present generation of Americans is far behind the one that preceded it in a realizing knowledge of the political history of our country and of the principles on which our government is founded. The civil war and its sequences seem to have obscured the living knowledge of our earlier history, and left it nearly as colorless as some matter of a remote age; while the anomalous measures that have had to be devised to meet the unprecedented exigencies of the last twenty-five years have tended to consign the safe traditions of our old statesmen to oblivion, and contributed to the spread of novel and dangerous heresies. Hence we regard anything that will help to make living again among us the fundamental principles of American politics and the debates of the past, and the ultimate objects which our statesmen sought to reach, as of public benefit. We can conceive nothing better adapted to set these matters vividly before American youth than the orderly presentment of the best and most pertinent words of the best orators who took part in the shaping of them, such as Mr. Johnston has aimed to make in these three volumes. His compilation is divided into seven parts, illustrating seven epochs in our history: "Colonialism, to 1789"; "Constitutional Government, to 1801"; "The Rise of Democracy, to 1815"; "The Rise of Nationality, to 1840"; "The Slavery Struggle, to 1860"; "Secession and Reconstruction, to 1876"; and "Free Trade and Protection"; in all of which, except the last, a kind of chronological order is maintained. In each of these epochs the orators are presented, so far as is found practicable, on either side, whose voices were most potent in putting the issues into shape and molding opinion upon them. The earlier periods are represented, among other oraters, by Patrick Henry, Hamilton, Washington, Fisher Ames, Jefferson, Randolph, Quincy, Clay, Hayne, and Webster; the issues of the antislavery struggle by Phillips, Clay, Sumner, Douglas, Preston Brooks, Burlingame, Lincoln, Breckinridge, and Seward; and the periods of secession and reconstruction by other names equally prominent and representative; while the question of "Free Trade and Protection" is illustrated by Henry Clay's "The American System," and Frank Hurd'a "Tariff for Revenue only." Each of the groups of orations is preceded by an introduction giving the historical thread by which the speeches were connected, and describing the condition of the questions to which they related.
Afghanistan and the Anglo-Russian Dispute. By Theodore F. Rodendough. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 139, with Maps and Illustrations. Price, 50 cents.
This is a convenient hand-book for persons wishing to follow the Afghanistan question, which is yet, despite the seemingly smiling aspect of the negotiations, far from settled. It gives a plain view of the situation as it was at the moment when the recent passages between England and Russia began to be lively. It first relates the successive steps by which Russia has advanced during the last century and a half from the Ural into Central Asia, and to its present position near the Afghan frontier. This history is followed by accounts of "the British forces and routes," and "the Russian forces and approaches," and by a review of the military situation.
An Inglorious Columbus; or, Evidence that Hwui Shăn and a Party of Buddhist Monks, from Afghanistan, discovered America in the Fifth Century a. d. By Edward P. Vining. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 788, with Map. Price, $5.
The term "inglorious" is not intended to be applied to our Christopher Columbus, but, in the sense in which Gray, in his "Elegy," speaks of "some mute, inglorious Milton," to the Buddhist monk who, known only to a few special scholars, has failed to receive the universality of fame which should be his due. According to the author's statement, and as is known to Asiatic scholars, there is, among the records of China, an account of a Buddhist priest who, in the year 499 a. d., reached China, and stated that he had returned from a trip to a country lying an immense distance east. In the case of other travelers, whose narratives are also preserved in ancient Chinese literature, the accounts which we possess of their journeys were either written by themselves or their followers; but, in the case of Hwui Shăn, the interest excited in his story was so great that the imperial historiographer, whose duty it was to record the principal events of the time, entered upon his official records a digest of the information obtained from the traveler as to the country which he had visited. It is this official record, or rather a copy of it contained in the writings of Ma Twanlin, which is discussed in this work. But little doubt, if any, exists as to the authenticity of the record, but there are considerable differences of opinion respecting what country it was which the monks (who were missionaries of Buddhism) visited, and described as Fusang. Some of the critics believe it to have been Japan, others America. Mr. Vining believes it was Mexico, and, in adducing the considerations to support his belief, he transcribes, or makes a summary of, all the papers that have been written on the subject, except Mr. Leland's large book, which readers are advised to buy. He believes that the route followed by the priests, which is obscurely described in their itinerary, was from Japan, or the Asiatic mainland, along the course of the Aleutian Islands—"the land of the marked bodies"—to Alaska—"the Great Han"—and thence along the Pacific coast to the "land of the Fusang-tree," which plant is not yet identified, and the "country of women," in Mexico. Among the arguments relied upon to support this view, are the correspondences of distances, which, according to Mr. Vining's computations, are close enough; the description of the country of Fusang, the customs of its people, and the characteristics of its vegetation, which is faithful as to Mexico, and includes details that would not be true of any other country; accounts, in the traditions of Mexico, of the arrival of a party of men similar to what the Buddhist party must have been; and the state of civilization in Mexico at the time of the arrival of the Spaniards, which was such as might have grown up from an Asiatic implantation. On the other hand, the history of Japan is reviewed, for the purpose of showing that that could not have been the country visited. The book also contains a translation of that part of the "Chinese Classic of Mountains and Seas" which relates to lands east of China—a work which is thought to be the oldest geography of the world, and which has never before been translated into any European language.
Assyriology: Its Use and Abuse in Old Testament Study. By Francis Brown. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Pp. 96. Price, $1.
The author of this book is Associate Professor of Biblical Theology in Union Theological Seminary in this city. The purpose of the book is to utter a caution against too hasty and extensive generalizations upon the discoveries that are made, one at a time, amid much groping in the dark, among the ruins of the ancient empires of the East, and which often seem to have a bearing upon the records given in the Bible. It is human nature to grasp eagerly at evidence that seems to favor what one wants proved, and to reject obstinately what seems of an opposite character; and biblical scholars are prone to the fault. Professor Brown advises such to wait in matters of Assyriology for the results of searching criticism. The discoveries in that field, though undoubtedly destined in the end to be of vast importance, are, many of them—not all—as yet too fragmentary and uncertain to build anything on that must depend upon them. The cause of truth may be injured by overhaste; it can only be benefited by deliberation and careful examination.
Local Institutions in Virginia. By Edward Ingle. Baltimore: N. Murray. Pp. 127. Price, 75 cents.
This essay, constituting numbers two and three of the third series of the "Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science," is not inferior in interest and importance to any of the numbers of either series that has preceded it. Virginia was a "mother of commonwealths," and the results of her development and her policy were impressed, in one shape or another, and to a greater or less extent, in Kentucky and the States that were formed out of the Northwest Territory. The purpose of Mr. Ingle's study is to ascertain from what these results were developed, and hew. In pursuing it, he considers the character of the country and its settlers ("Virginia and the Virginians") "The Land Tenure of the Colony," "The Organization of the Hundred," "The Fortunes of the English Parish in America," "The County System of Colonial Virginia," and "The Town." Under the last head, the curious fact is developed that towns which in other States appear variously as the original form of settlement, of spontaneous growth, or as the ready creatures of speculation, were not natural to Virginia; and that the formation of them was the object of several laborious efforts, prosecuted against a chronic indisposition of the people to settle in them or to favor them at all.
Geology of the Comstock Lode and the Washoe District. By George F. Becker. Pp. 422, with Plates and an Atlas. Price, 111. Comstock Mining and Miners. By Eliot Lord. Pp. 451.
The surveys upon which Mr. Becker's report is based were conducted by him as aid to Mr. Clarence King, and chiefly in the lower parts of the lode. Mr. King has already made the upper part familiar to geologists. In his work Mr. Becker had the assistance of Dr. Carl Barus, physicist, who made researches in the electrical activity of ore-bodies and in kaolinization, the results of which are incorporated here. In the report, the general account of the Comstock mines and the review of previous investigations of the lode are followed by chapters on the "Lithology of the Washoe District," with detailed descriptions of sections of the rocks prepared for microscopic examination; on the structural results of faulting, the occurrence and succession of the rocks, the heat-phenomena of the lode, and Dr. Barus's papers on "Kaolinization and on the Electrical Activity of Ore-Bodies." The relations of the minerals and the changes they have undergone are discussed very fully in the chapters on "Lithology" and "Chemistry," and the character and causes of the heat phenomena of the lode, with the various theories that have been proposed to account for them, as fully in the chapter on that subject. These heat-phenomena are one of the most famous peculiarities of the Comstock Lode, and distinguish it from all other mines and excavations under the earth's surface. The unusually high temperature was manifested in the upper levels, and has increased with the depth. The present workings are intensely hot; and, during the winter of 1880-'81, the water in one of the levels reached a temperature of 170° Fahr., at which food may be cooked, and the human epidermis is destroyed. The rapidity of the ventilation required to reduce the temperature of the air is something unknown elsewhere, yet deaths in ventilated workings from heat alone are common, and there are drifts which without ventilation the most seasoned miner can not enter for a moment. The origin of this high temperature has been attributed to the kaolinization of the feldspar in the country rock and to residual volcanic activity. No positive evidence is adduced that it is due to kaolinization, and the results of Dr. Barus's experiments on the thermal effect of the action of aqueous vapor on feldspathic rocks, so far as they have been carried out, were wholly negative. No heating effect due to this cause could be detected with an apparatus delicate enough to register a change of temperature of one thousandth of a degree C. On the other hand, there is much geological evidence pointing to a deep seated source of heat, probably of volcanic origin, or solfataric. The floods of waters which have been met in the mines can not be accounted for by any hypothesis connected with the rainfall of the district. Mr. Becker proposes a theory that the Comstock fissure taps water-ways leading from the crests of the great range of the Sierra Nevada. Under this theory, if the heat is conveyed to the lode by water from great depths, the variations in temperature are readily explained, by supposing variations in the distribution of the heated water.
Mr. Lord's volume—"Comstock Mining and Miners"—is chiefly historical, and has a peculiar interest in that it describes an episode in the development of one of the most important American enterprises, and relates one of the most wonderful stories in mine working that it has ever been given to tell. The dangers faced by the miners from the extreme heat and other causes are vividly sketched. "The service demonstrates anew how elastic are the limits of human endurance when men are drawn on by some masterful passion. The bounds of possibility then confine their achievements but not their attempts. . . . Death alone has the power to say to miners, ' Thus far shall ye go and no farther! '—for no endurable suffering will bar their progress; nor will the loss of life even make them pause, unless the scourge of heat shall strike them down like a pestilence. Of late years heat has killed strong men in almost every deep mine in the lode, and in some mines the deaths so caused have been frequent." The ultimate effect of this extreme heat on the miner's constitution, even when it does not result in immediate death, is also to be considered; and, besides this, all the ordinary dangers of deep mining exist here in aggravated forms.
Contributions to the Fossil Flora of the Western Territories. Part III. The Cretaceous and Tertiary Flora. By Leo Lesquereux. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 283, with 60 Plates.
This, although published under the direction of Major Powell, is the eighth volume of the Hayden reports. It contains, first, descriptions of the cretaceous flora, including a large number of new species, some representing rare and very remarkable plants, accompanied with general remarks on the geology of the Dakota group, and on the character of the plants with regard to climate and their affinities with plants of succeeding geological periods. The second part contains a revision of the plants of the Laramie group. The third part reviews the floras of the White and Green River regions, which are separated into two groups. The relations of these plants with the flora of the Gypses of Aix, France, which is generally regarded as of the lowest Miocene or Oligocene, are indicated. The fourth part relates to Miocene plants described from specimens obtained from the Bad Lands, California, and Oregon. The plants of the cretaceous Dakota group, as known mostly from their detached leaves, are striking from the beauty, the elegance, and the variety of their forms, and from their size. The multiplicity of forms recognized for a single species is quite as marked as it might be upon any tree of our forests. In analyzing the leaves by detail, "we are by-and-by forcibly impressed by the strangeness of the characters of some of them, which seem at variance with any of those recognized anywhere in the floras of our time, and unobserved also in those of the geological intermediate periods. Not less surprised are we to see united in a single leaf, or species, characters which are now generally found separated in far-distant families of plants." The flora of the Laramie group (Eocene) is quite distinct from the cretaceous. The Green River group includes the famous Florissante Basin, of which we have already given some account. The Miocene plants, which are described by groups according to where they occur, have not been sufficiently recovered to authorize any reliable conclusion regarding their relative stage in either group.
Madam Row and Lady Why. By Charles Kingsley. New York: Macmillan & Co. Pp. 321. Price, 50 cents.
This book, which now appears in a convenient volume of the series of "Globe Readings from Standard Authors," is described in the title-page as "First Lessons in Earth-Lore for Children." It presents, in the form of a pleasing allegory, the workings of the geological agencies that have contributed to the shaping of the globe, and the present appearance of its surface, and their results; the operations being supposed to be performed by a "Madam How," under the direction of a mysterious "Lady Why."
Photo-Micrography. By A. Cowley Malley, F. R. M. S. Second edition. London: H. K. Lewis, 136 Gower Street, Pp. 166.
Drawing can not be wholly relied upon for the representation of minute microscopic objects, because of the difficulty of seeing such delicate things accurately, and of commanding the pencil to give a perfectly correct reproduction of what is seen. At the best, a drawing is apt to show evidence of preconceived notions of the structure in the mind of the observer. Photography, though not infallible, always accurately returns what is sent to the plate, and is almost universally true. In the present work, the author gives the methods he has himself adopted, and the most applicable parts of the methods used by others; and, by showing the facility of their application, he hopes to make photo-micrography more popular, and place it within the reach of all. In this second edition have been incorporated the advances that have been made in microscopy, and the more recent improvements in photography. Descriptions of the wet collodion and gelatino-bromide processes, and of the best methods of mounting and preparing microscopic objects for photomicrography, are given.
The Occult World. By A. P. Sinnett. Second American, from the fourth English edition, with the Author's Corrections and a New Preface. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Pp. 228. $1.25.
The readers of "The Popular Science Monthly" have already been informed, to some extent, respecting the doctrines of the theosophists, of which this may be considered one of the text-books. Among their beliefs is that in the existence among some privileged or specially instructed classes of persons of mysterious knowledge and power which are hidden from the mass of mankind, to which are referred and by which may be explained many wonderful things in ancient and modern lore, the reality of which appears supported by evidence we can not despise, but belief in which, so contrary are they to our ideas of nature, taxes the most credulous. The "science" which represents this knowledge and power has made some advances since the first edition of "The Occult World" was published, and its votaries believe that they have received additional confirmation of its reality. The new developments are given in the form of additional matter and notes, the original text of the book having been changed but little.
Russia under the Tzars. By Stepniak, author of "Underground Russia." New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Pp. 381. Price, $1.50. .
This book is divided into three parts. In Part I, "The Past," is shown how the original fundamental principle of the Russian Government was the sovereignty of the people, full, free, spontaneous, and indisputable in the highest possible degree, as it still is in the Mir, or the rural communes; and how Czarism gained a footing, and gradually crushed that sovereignty entirely out within the empire at large, and in all the great centers. Part II, "Dark Places," is made up of the relations of incidents in the lives of political suspects and their experiences with the police. In Part III "Administrative Exiles" are described, a number of features characterizing the despotism of the military and the police, and the measures of administrative repression which the Government is compelled to adopt in its struggles against the forces of human nature to which it has set itself in opposition.
Third Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey, 1881, 1882. By J. W. Powell, Director. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 564, with Plates.
This volume contains the reports of progress for the year of the heads of the divisions of the survey, and six monographs on special features of the survey. The administrative reports are, that of Mr. Clarence King, prepared for him in his absence by Dr. Carl Barus, on the "Determinations of the Physical Constants of Rocks"; of Mr. Arnold Hague, on "Operations in the Division of the Pacific"; of Mr. C. K. Gilbert, of the "Division of the Great Basin, chiefly relating to the Survey of the Quaternary Lake Bonneville"; of Mr. T. C. Chamberlin, on the "Survey of the Glacial Moraine, from the North Border of Dakota to the Atlantic"; of Mr. S. F. Emmons, of the "Division of the Rocky Mountains"; of Mr. G. F. Becker, on the "Comstock Lode and the Washoe District"; of Mr. Lester F. Ward, on "Vegetable Paleontology"; and of Messrs. J. Howard Gore and Gilbert Thompson, on "Triangulations and Topographical Surveys." The "accompanying papers" are those of Professor O. C. Marsh, on "Birds with Teeth"; of Roland D. Irving, on the "Copper-bearing Rocks of Lake Superior"; of Israel C. Russell, on the "Geological History of Lake Lahontan"; of Mr. Arnold Hague, on the "Geology of the Eureka District"; of Mr. T. C. Chamberlin, on the "Terminal Moraine"; and of Dr. C. A. White, on the "Non-Marine Fossil Mollusca of North America." Mr. Hague's preliminary report promises much interesting information when the papers are published in full, concerning the lithological structure of the volcanic cones of Mounts Rainier, Hood, Shasta, and Lassen's Peak, which play so important a part in the geology of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Ranges. Mr. Chamberlin's paper reveals the interesting facts that the glacial moraine formation consists, not of a single moraine, but of a group of three or more concentric and rudely parallel ones, that sometimes coalesce and sometimes separate, so as to occupy a belt occasionally twenty or thirty miles in width; that the individual moraines, instead of being sharp ridges, consist of a broad belt of irregular, tumultuous hills and hollows, giving rise to a peculiar knob-and-basin topography; that the massiveness of the moraine finds its development in great width rather than in abrupt and conspicuous height; that throughout a considerable portion of its course, instead of pursuing a direct or moderately undulatory line, it is disposed in great loops, formed at the margins of ice tongues, between which re-entrant portions formed extensive intermediate moraines; and that these ice-tongues occupied the great valleys of the interior, and manifestly owed their origin to topographical influences. Mr. Becker mentions the interesting fact that in the caves above the ore bodies, on Ruby Hill, the crystals of aragonite are still in process of rapid formation; and Mr. Curtis is conducting accurate experiments to ascertain the rate of growth and the physical and chemical conditions attending their formation.
Tables to facilitate Chemical Calculations. Compiled by W. Dittmar, F. R. S. Second edition. London: Williams & Norgate. Pp. 43, small 4to. Price, 5 shillings.
This little volume contains tables of atomic weights, analytical factors, logarithms, reciprocals, physical constants of gases, etc., together with rules for gasometry, a chapter on the arithmetic of gas analysis, and other minor data, of value for daily reference in the laboratory. Its utility to the analyst is obvious, although, to a well-trained chemist, much of the matter contained in it is too familiar to need quotation in this form. To the elementary student, on the other hand, works cf this character are of questionable value. The pupil who works out his analysis by the aid of factors too often fails to learn the principles upon which they depend, and does not acquire that command of stoichiometry which every good chemist should have. Of its kind, however, and in its proper place, the volume appears to be satisfactory. It is announced as being preliminary to a forthcoming work upon chemical arithmetic, which, when issued, will replace it.
Contributions to North American Ethnology. Vol. V. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. about 400, with Plates.
In this volume are bound up the monographs of Mr. Charles Rau, on "Cup-shaped and other Lapidarian Sculpture in the Old World and in America"; of Dr. Robert Fletcher, on "Prehistoric Trephining and Cranial Amulets"; and of Dr. Cyrus Thomas, on the "Manuscript Troano." The last two works have already been fully noticed by us. Mr. Rau's paper relates to some curious kinds of rock-sculptures, which are described as "cups" of various sizes, rings surrounding the "cups," or independent of them, and other designs, which have been found on rocks, and on and near megalithic stones and buildings, in various parts of Europe, and similar figures which have been discovered in America. The origin and purpose of these designs have been variously accounted for. Some persons regard them as Phœnician Baal sculptures; some as originating at a remote period in the history of the Aryan race; some as having a phallic significance; some as direction-marks, etc. Mr. Rau suggests that some of the smaller cup-stones may have been used for cracking nuts, and others as paint-cups. Another class of American relics coming under this category consists of stones of larger size, on which several cup-like cavities are worked out. They usually occur as flat fragments of sandstone without definite contours. The cups are either on one of the flat surfaces or on both, and their number on a surface varies, so far as has been observed, from two to ten. They are irregularly distributed, and generally measure an inch and a half in diameter, but sometimes less. According to Colonel Charles Whittlesey, these stones occur quite frequently in Northern Ohio, more particularly in the valley of the Cuyahoga River, while he is not aware of any having been found in the mounds. He believes the holes were sockets in which spindles were made to revolve, and calls the stones "spindle-socket stones," but Mr. Rau does not agree with him. A bowlder in the rooms of the Society of Natural History, of Cincinnati, which was found near Ironton, Ohio, weighing between one thousand and twelve hundred pounds, contains one hundred and sixteen of these cups. A bowlder found at Niantic, Connecticut, has six cups, with a number of lines, which may be natural. Stones, bearing figures resembling these, appear worked into the walls of churches, and the designs may be found even in holy-water fonts. Altogether, the cup-stones present a curious field of inquiry. Mr. Rau considers the forms more or less related, and as having a similar origin and meaning; as to what these are, he is inclined to agree with M. Rivett-Carnac, in attributing to them a significance like that indicated in the Siva figures of India.
The Lenapé and their Legends: with the Complete Text and Symbols of the Walam Olum. By Daniel G. Brinton. Philadelphia: D. G. Brinton. Pp. 262.
In the present volume, which is the fifth in his "Library of Aboriginal American Literature," Dr. Brinton has grouped a series of ethnological studies of the Indians of Eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland, around what is asserted to be one of the most curious records of ancient American history—the "Walam Olum," or Red Score. The interest in the subject excited by his inquiries into the authenticity of this document prompted him to a general review of our knowledge of the Lenapé, or Delawares, of their history and traditions, and of their languages and customs. This study disclosed the existence of manuscripts not mentioned in the bibliographies. Whether the Walam Olum be genuine or not—concerning which Dr. Brinton does not express a decisive opinion, though his inquiries have resulted favorably to its being regarded as an oral reproduction of a genuine native work, repeated to some one indifferently conversant with the Delaware language, who wrote it down to the best of his ability—it is believed that there is sufficient in the volume to justify its appearance, apart from that document.
The Philosophic Grammar of American Languages, as set forth by Wilhelm von Humboldt. By Daniel G. Brinton, M. D. Philadelphia: McCalla & Stavely. Pp. 51.
The philosophy of language owes much to Wilhelm von Humboldt, who was its substantial founder. The American languages occupied his attention for many years, and he wrote to Alexander von Rennenkampff, in 1812, that he had selected them as the special subject of his investigations. He was often accustomed to draw illustrations of his principles from them, and in every way showed a high appreciation of their importance. In the present essay, Dr. Brinton has given a general exposition of Humboldt's views on these languages, and studies of them, and has added the translation of an unpublished memoir by him on the American verb, which was originally read before the Berlin Academy of Sciences, and of which only the manuscript is preserved in the Royal Library at Berlin.
The Protestant Faith; or Salvation by Belief. By Dwight Hinckley Olmstead. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 77. Price, 60 cents.
The author styles this work "An Essay on the Errors of the Protestant Church," those errors consisting, in his vision, principally in the imposition of an intellectual belief in certain doctrines as a fundamental condition of salvation.
Man's Birthright, or the Higher Law of Property. By Edward H. G. Clark. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 133. Price, 75 cents.
This work seems to be the result of an attempt by the author to edit the "Ownership and Sovereignty" of Mr. David Reese Smith. The theory of that book was judged correct, but very inadequately presented; hence this attempt to redress, rearrange, and elaborate it from beginning to end. Mr. Clark accepts Henry George's theory of the right of each generation to own the soil, but differs from him as to the manner in which it is to be carried out. He announces the true law of ownership to be: "Mankind as a whole own the entire wealth of the world, natural and fabricated; but every individual in the world can command and control any piece of that wealth according to his normal purchasing power, which is the exact index of the value of his labor, his skill, his pecuniary ability. But, if he wishes to set aside for his private uses any portion of the general wealth, whether the piece of property contains his own labor or that of some one else, then he must pay on that piece of property the rest of the people's share of value bound up in it; and, if every other member of society pays his appropriate share of such values, exact justice is reached in every respect." This share is calculated to be an ad valorem tax on the property of every generation, exactly proportioned to the death-rate of the population.
Hegel's Æsthetics: A Critical Exposition. By John Steinford Kedney. Chicago: S. C. Griggs & Co. Pp. 302. Price, $1.25.
This is the fourth volume of Messrs. Griggs & Co.'s series of "German Philosophical Classics," the design of which is to present, under the editorial supervision of competent American scholars, the more essential parts of the important works of the masters of German thought. Hegel's "Æsthetics" is one of the most important works on the subject in existence, but it is voluminous. In the present adaptation, the first part, which gives the fundamental philosophy of the whole, is reproduced faithfully, but in a condensed form, with criticisms by the editor interspersed. A translation of the second part, which traces the logical and historical development of the art-impulse, being easily accessible (D. Appleton & Co.), the editor has substituted for it an original disquisition having more immediate regard to present æsthetic problems, but in a line with Hegel's thought. Of the third part, all the important definitions and fundamental ideas are given, but the minute illustrations and the properly technical part are omitted.
The Invalid's Tea-Tray. By Susan Anna Brown. Boston: J. R. Osgood & Co. Pp. 67. Price, 50 cents.
A dainty volume, as becomes a book of recipes of dishes designed to tempt the dainty appetite of an invalid. It contains fifty or more such recipes, of those things which arc considered best adapted to the invalid's condition, most nourishing or most easily digested, according as that condition may require; for the serving of which "the first requisite is absolute neatness." Also, the author says, "vary the meals as much as possible, and let each little delicacy be a surprise. Have the hot things really hot, and the cold ones perfectly cold; and offer only a very small quantity of food at a time, or you will never be able to tempt the capricious appetite of an invalid."
Materials for German Prose Composition. By C. A. Buchheim. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 252. Price, $1.25.
This book consists of selections from modern English writers, to be translated into German, to aid in which work grammatical notes are furnished, with idiomatic renderings of difficult passages, a general introduction, and a grammatical index. It has been the compiler's purpose to furnish a practical and theoretical guide to persons who, having a full knowledge of German accidence, and of the rules of the order of words, desire to gain skill in translating from English into German. The extracts have been made from the body of the author's work, with deliberate avoidance of "hackneyed" passages, and from the more modern authors. The matter is graduated into four parts, beginning with easy, detached sentences and minor extracts, and rising to more difficult passages and those involving idiomatic construction.
On Oxygen as a Remedial Agent. By Samuel S. Wallian, M. D. New York: Trow's Company. Pp. 52.
Dr. Wallian holds that oxygen stands at the head of the list of natural agencies for the removal of disease, and that "it is quite time we should practically realize, for we already theoretically admit, that this omnipresent, almost omnipotent, and yet commonplace element, can not be replaced, scarcely supplemented; that there is no known alterative, eliminator, or disinfectant comparable with it; . . . and that the original, normal, and only unobjectionable and universally efficient antiseptic is pure oxygen. . . . As a therapeutic agent, oxygen is not yet popular, nor yet the fashion; although for years enterprising quacks have been gathering a generous harvest, from honest dupes who have sickened of cruder quackery, by broadcast heralding of the magic virtues of some impossible 'compound' of it. Is it not high time that its intelligent use should be undertaken at the hands of legitimate and competent physicians, who have no secret wares to hawk about the country?"
Sanitary Suggestions. How to disinfect our Homes. By B. W. Palmer, M. D. Detroit, Mich.: George S. Davis. 1885. Pp. 58. 25 cents.
Ethical Culture. Four Lectures. By Samuel Burns Weston. Philadelphia. 1885. Pp. 70. 20 cents.
The Abdominal Brain. By Leila G. Bedell, M. D. Chicago: Gross & Delbridge. 1885. Pp. 45.
A New Philological Theory. By Professor A. J. Mogyorosi, Allegany, N. Y. Buffalo: Lockwood & Ough, Printers. 1885. Pp. 11.
Foul Brood. Its Management and Care. By D. A. Jones. Press of "Canadian Bee Journal," Beeton, Ontario. Pp. 82. 10 cents.
Shall we hang the Insane who commit Homicides? By Clark Bell, Esq., of New York. Reprinted from the "Medico-Legal Journal." Pp. 40.
Illinois State Board of Health. Sanitary Schedule of the State Sanitary Survey.
The Biogen Series. No. 2. The Demon of Darwin. Coues. Pp. 64. No. 3. A Buddhist Catechism. Olcott. Pp. 84. 75 cents each.
The Composition of American Wheat and Corn. By Clifford Richardson. Washington: Government Printing-Office. 1884. Pp. 98.
Proceedings of the Modern Language Association of America, 1884. Baltimore. 1885. Pp. 100.
Actinism. By Professor C. F. Himes, Ph. D. Reprinted from the "Journal of the Franklin Institute," May, 1885. Pp. 22. Illustrated.
The Periodical Cicada. By Charles V. Riley, Ph. D. Washington: Government Printing-Office, 1885. Pp. 46. Illustrated.
Public Health in Minnesota. The Official Publication of the State Board of Health. Monthly. Vol. I, No. 2, April, 1885. Pp. 8.
Remarks upon Chipped Stone Implements. By F. W. Putnam. Salem, Mass. 1885. Pp. 8. Illustrated.
Bulletin of the Brookville Society of Natural History of Franklin County, Indiana. O. M. Meyncke & C. F. Goodwin, Editors. No. 1. 1885. Published by the Society. Pp. 45.
The "Sanitary Monitor." J. T. Winn, M. D., Editor. Monthly, Richmond, Va. Vol. I, No. 1, May, 1885. Pp. 14. $1 a year.
Descriptions of some Peculiar Screw-like Fossils from the Chemung Rocks. By Professor John 8. Newberry. Reprint from the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. Pp. 4. Illustrated.
Local Institutions of Maryland. By Lewis W. Wilhelm, Ph. D. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University. 1885. Pp. 120. $1.
Sixth Annual Report of the Archæological Institute of America. Cambridge: John Wilson & Son, 1885. Pp. 48.
Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. Smithsonian Institution, 1885. Vol. II. Pp. 195.
Bulletin of the United States Geological Survey, No. 2. On the Quaternary and Recent Mollusca of the Great Basin, with Descriptions of New Forms. By R. Ellsworth Call. Washington: Government Printing-Office. 1884. Pp. 56. Illustrated.
Transactions of the Society for the Promotion of Medical Science in Japan. Tokio, May, 1885.
Bulletin of the Des Moines Academy of Science Des Moines, la. Published by the Academy. Vol. 1, No. 1. 1885. Pp. 57.
Medical Thoughts of Shakespeare. By B. Rush Field, M. D. Easton, Pa. 1885. Pp. 86.
The Ohio State Sanitary Association. Proceedings of the Second Annual Meeting. From "The Sanitarian," May, 1885. Pp. 64.
Architectural Studies, Part I. Twelve Designs for Low-Cost Houses. New York: William T. Comstock. 1885.
International Electric Exhibition of 1884. Reports of the Examiners of Sections V, VI, and VI [I. Electric Lamps. Carbons for Arc-Lamps. Philadelphia: The Franklin Institute. 1885. Pp. 12. Illustrated.
Healthy Foundations for Houses. By Glenn Brown. New York: D. Van Nostrand. 1885. Pp. 143. 50 cents.
Lectures on the Science and Art of Education. By the late Joseph Payne. Syracuse: C. W. Bardeen, 1885. Pp. 281. $1.
Practical Botany. By F. O. Bower, and Sidney H. Vines, with a Preface by W. Thiselton Dyer. London: Macmillan &, Co. 1885. $1.50.
Matilda, Princess of England. A Romance of the Crusades. By Mme. Sophie Cottin. From the French by Jennie W. Rann. 2 vols. New York: W. S. Gottsberger. 1885. $1.75.
Talks Afield about Plants and the Science of Plants. By L. H. Bailey, Jr. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 1885. Pp. 173. $1.
History of the Surplus Revenue of 1837. By Edward G. Bourne. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1885. Pp. 161. $1.25.
Forests and Forestry of Poland, Lithuania, the Ukraine, and the Baltic Provinces of Russia. Compiled by John Croumbie Brown, LL D. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd. 1885. Pp. 276.
An Elementary Treatise on Hydro-Mechanics. By Edward A. Bowser, LL. D. New York: D. Van Nostrand. 1885. Pp. 298. $2.50.
List of Tests. By Hans M. Wilder. New York: P. W. Bedford. 1885. Pp. 88. $1.
Lessons in Elementary Practical Physics. By Balfour Stewart, F. R. S, and W. W. Haldane Gee. Vol. I. General Physical Processes. London: Macmillan & Co. 1885. Pp. 291. $1.50.
Properties of Matter. By P. G. Tait, R. S. E. Edinburgh: A. & C. Black. 1885. Pp. 320. $2.25.
The Q. P. Index Annual for 1884. Bangor: Q. P. Index, Publisher. 1885. Pp. 78.
The Magnetism of Iron and Steel Ships. By T. A. Lyons. Washington: Government Printing-office. 1884. Pp. 181. Illustrated.
A Manual of the Theory and Practice of Topographical Surveying by Means of the Transit and Stadia. By J. H. Johnson, C.E. New York: John Wiley & Sons. 1885. Pp. 111. $1.25.
Commercial Organic Analysis By Alfred H. Allen, F. C. S. Vol. I. Philadelphia: P. Blakiston, Son & Co. 1885. Pp. 476. $4.50.
The French Revolution. By Hippolyte Adolphe Taine, D. C. L. Oxon. Translated by John Durand. Vol. III. New York: Henry Holt & Co. 1885. Pp. 509. $2.50.
Christian Thought. Lectures and Papers on Philosophy, Christian Evidence, Biblical Elucidation. Second Series. Edited by Charles F. Deems, LL. D. New York: Phillips & Sons. 1885. Pp. 476.
Contributions to the Knowledge of the Older Mesozoic Flora of Virginia. By William Morris Fontaine. Washington: Government Printing-Office. 1883. Pp. 143. With Fifty-four Plates.