Popular Science Monthly/Volume 29/July 1886/Literary Notices
Upland and Meadow. A Poaetquissings Chronicle. By Charles C. Abbott, M.D. New York: Harper & Brothers. Pp. 397.
The readers of the "Monthly" already know much of Dr. Abbott as a naturalist and antiquary; for he has not unfrequently visited our pages, bringing with him contributions, the fruit of his researches among the gravels of the Delaware, and of his rambles along the streams and through the swamps that happen to be near Trenton. An unreflecting reader might think, from the fullness of Dr. Abbott's budgets of Nature-lore, and the variety of interest which they contain, that there must be rare qualities in those particular gravel-beds and swamps, but the thought would not be justified. Presumably they are very much like the gravel-beds and swamps that may be found anywhere else, and the rare quality is in the observer. Dr. Abbott has also rare gifts at description, and the faculty of making his reader conceive the scenes and the curiosities almost as if he were along with his guide and looking at them. These merits of observing power and of description are well exemplified in this volume, which delineates what appear to be about a round year's rambles, with observations of animals and plants, and other objects of scientific interest. Keen observer as Dr. Abbott is, he found those things in the observations and histories of the old men he met that made him sorry that he could see so little, or that he had not lived in times when New Jersey nature was richer; he invariably wished, when he had talked with them, that he had been his own grandfather! Then there were men of his own time who could teach him better than he knew what to see. "To realize what a wealth of animal and vegetable life is ever at hand for him who chooses to study it, let a specialist visit you for a few days. Do not have more than one at a time, or you may be bewildered by their enthusiasm. I have had them come in turn—botanists, conchologists, entomologists, microscopists, and even archæologists. What an array of names to strike terror to the breasts of the timid!—yet they were all human, and talked plain English, and, better than all, were both instructive and amusing." The botanist found a plant not previously known to grow in New Jersey; the conchologist a diminutive bivalve with an enormous name, and microscopic shells whose tongues he had to examine and count their teeth; the entomologist chased insects with the speed of an express train, and caught kinds before unseen; the microscopist dipped up a pint-jar of muddy water, and, examining its contents at leisure, announced new infusoria, novel forms of imperceptible life, and gave to them startling names. So Dr. Abbott, in turn, resolved to be a botanist, a conchologist, a student of insect-life, a microscopist, and an archaeologist. Even in winter, he finds Poaetquissings full of life; birds that are supposed to have gone away to the South chirping around and seemingly not troubled by the cold or by any lack of food; fishes under the ice; witch-hazels and chickweed and whitlow-grass and sassafras and alder and skunk-cabbage and dandelion blooming with the snow all around, and other flowers coming in as February and March advance. As the changing season proceeds, there are more birds and more flowers, fields of various adventure, in climbing trees to get "bird's eye views," and experiments on birds with looking-glasses in different positions, and with chromos of cats. Nest-building time affords subjects of interest that could not be exhausted in a whole life of observations; and, as the season warms up and passes into summer and then into autumn, and so on to the beginning of winter again, these objects multiply or hold their own, and the problem becomes one of how among so many to select the few that we can give proper attention to. Thus Dr. Abbott has always his eyes full. The plants and birds are with him all the time. Besides these, he keeps company with squirrels and rabbits, toads, crawfish, field-mice, and insects—till, as we close the book with the moaning of the October east wind in the sobbing pines, we are fully agreed with what he has told us in the beginning, that he has "seldom seen a half-acre that was not a 'Zoo,' which the study of a lifetime would fail to exhaust." The London "Academy" pronounces this volume "the most delightful book of the kind which America has given us," and says that "it closely approaches White's 'Selborne.'" Higher praise than that it would be impossible to give, and it is deserved.
Flowers, Fruits, and Leaves. By Sir John Lubbock. London and New York: Macmillan & Co. Pp. 147. Price, $1.25.
Mr. Ruskin has lately lamented a lack of books to teach him natural history. In speaking thus, he ignored some most excellent delineations of the natural world by putting them in a class of which he spoke with contempt, and overlooked others that he might have found. The three lectures embodied in this volume would be helpful to a man honestly making his search. They describe, in the engaging and thoughtful way which is characteristic of all of the author's writing about his observations, what is going on in one department of Nature for the promotion of a particular purpose of its being, and which is visible to every one who will attentively look for it. They present the results of studies of those points in the form, structure, color, and economy of flowers, fruits, and leaves which appear adapted to secure the sound life of the plant and the perpetuation of its species. In flowers, the most conspicuous feature is the adaptation to attract insects and secure cross-fertilization by their agency; whereby the insects, in turn, by fertilizing the largest and most brilliant flowers, have contributed unconsciously, but effectually, to the beauty of our woods and fields. "If seeds and fruits can not vie with flowers in the brilliance and color with which they decorate our gardens and fields, still they surely rival—it would be impossible to excel—them in the almost infinite variety of the problems they present to us, the ingenuity, the interest, and the charm of the beautiful contrivances which they offer for our study and admiration." Of leaves, it seems clear that the innumerable differences between them have reference, "not to any inherent tendency, but to the structure and organization, the habits and requirements of the plants. Of course, it may be that the present form has reference, not to existing but to ancient conditions, which render the problem all the more difficult. Nor do I at all intend to maintain that every form of leaf is, or ever has been, necessarily that best adapted to the circumstances, but only that they are constantly tending to become so, just as water always tends to find its own level. But, however this may be, if my main argument is correct, it opens out a very wide and interesting field of study, for every one of the almost infinite forms of leaves must have some cause and explanation."
Popular Government. By Sir Henry Sumner Maine. New York: Henry Holt & Co. Pp. 261. Price, $2.75.
This work consists of four essays, in which the author, as he did in his "Ancient Law," undertakes to do away with the a priori theories conceiving a law and state of nature antecedent to all positive institutions, and a hypothetical system of rights and duties appropriate to the natural condition with which he believes the discussion of the subject has been hampered, and to apply the historical method of inquiry to them. In the first essay, which is on the "Prospects of Popular Government," he assumes to show that, as a matter of fact, that system, since its reintroduction into the world, has proved itself to be extremely fragile. In the second essay, on the "Nature of Democracy," he gives reasons for thinking that, in the extreme form to which it tends, democracy is, of all kinds of government, by far the most difficult. In a third essay, on the "Age of Progress," he argues that the perpetual change which, as understood in modern times, progress appears to demand is not in harmony with the moral forces ruling human nature, and is apt, therefore, to lead to cruel disappointment or serious disaster. In the fourth essay, in which the Constitution of the United States is examined and analyzed, he aims to show that the birth of that law was in reality natural, from ordinary historical antecedents; and that "its connection with wisdom lay in the skill with which sagacious men, conscious that certain weaknesses which it had inherited would be aggravated by the new circumstances in which it would be placed, provided it with appliances calculated to minimize them or to neutralize them altogether." Its success, and the success of such American institutions as have succeeded, appear to him "to have arisen rather from skillfully applying the curb to popular impulses than from giving them the rein. While the British Constitution has been insensibly transforming itself into a popular government, surrounded on all sides by difficulties, the American Federal Constitution has proved that, nearly a century ago, several expedients were discovered by which some of those difficulties may be greatly mitigated, and some altogether over come."
Oceana; or, England and her Colonies. By James Anthony Froude. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Pp. 396. Price, $2 50.
Mr. Froude's mind has been occupied for many years with questions concerning the destiny of England and her colonies. Are they to remain substantially united, in spirit, aim, enterprise, and political structure, as they are now, each free to act for itself in its own concerns, but all combining for the propagation of Anglo-Saxon power and civilization, or are they destined to drop away from one another and become rivals? The question is one of great importance to Englishmen and to colonists, to us Americans as well as to them, and to all the world and all the friends of civilization and liberty. Many years ago, as a student of England's history, and believing in its future greatness, Mr. Froude imagined for himself the Oceana—a general Anglo-Saxon corporation—that might be. But, having no personal knowledge of the colonies, he could not make definite utterances, or form definite conceptions, concerning it; so he determined "to make a tour among them, to talk to their leading men, see their countries and what they were doing there, learn their feelings," and correct his impressions of what could or could not be done. He was then prevented from prosecuting his journey farther than to the Cape of Good Hope, and was not permitted to complete his design for ten years. "But," he says, "I do not regret the delay. In the interval the colonies have shown more clearly than before that they are as much English as we are, and deny our right to part with them. At home the advocates of separation have been forced into silence, and the interest in the subject has grown into practical anxiety. The union which so many of us now hope for may prove an illusion, after all. . . . However this may be, in the closing years of my own life I have secured for myself a delightful experience. I have traveled through lands where patriotism is not a sentiment to be laughed at," but an active passion, where "children grow who seem once more to understand what was meant by 'merry England.'" The book includes observations at sea, in the Cape Colony, in the several Australian colonies, New Zealand, and the United States, covering all the phases of the subject which was uppermost in the author's mind, besides many subjects not directly related to it. Of the United States, Mr. Froude expressses the opinion that "the problem of how to combine a number of self-governed communities into a single commonwealth, which now lies before Englishmen who desire to see a federation of the empire, has been solved, and solved' completely, in the American Union." In logical conclusion, "it is something to have seen with our own eyes that there are other Englands besides the old one, where the race is thriving with all its ancient characteristics," and, "let Fate do its worst, the family of Oceana is still growing, and will have a sovereign voice in the coming fortunes of mankind."
The Adirondacks as a Health Resort. Edited and compiled by Joseph W. Stickler, M. D. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 198. Price, $1.
The purpose of this work is to show the benefit to be derived from a sojourn in the wilderness, in cases of pulmonary phthisis, acute and chronic bronchitis, asthma, hay-fever, and various nervous affections. The author regards it as a fact that climate plays a very important part in the treatment of certain morbid states of the system, particularly in catarrhal affections of the respiratory apparatus and various forms of nervous disease. He relates as of his own experience that he obtained immediate and permanent relief in bronchitis from a sojourn in the Adirondacks. He also met, while there, several invalids who, having been in a precarious state of health, had been similarly relieved during their sojourn. He accordingly requested various persons, who had tried a change of climate as a means of regaining health, to give him honest expressions of their experience while in the region of the Adirondacks. This book is compiled from their letters as they were sent to him.
What does History teach? By John Stuart Blackie. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Pp. 123. Price, 15 cents.
The substance of this book was delivered in two lectures before the Philosophical Institution of Edinburgh, the first of which related to the lessons taught for the state, and the second to those taught for the Church. In the former category is the teaching that the family is the basis of the state and society. From the history of the downfall of Greece is drawn the lesson of failure and disaster brought about by the want of unity between the several states; from the fate of the Roman Republic that of the evil engendered by the perpetual conflict between the aristocracy and democracy. From these lessons and other examples, the author deduces a conclusion favorable to the security afforded by the English system, as preferable to what a democracy can offer; yet there may be an exceptional case in the United States, where "the experiment of a great democratic republic for the first time in the history of the world for Rome in its best times, as we have seen, was an aristocracy will be looked on by all lovers of their species with the most kindly curiosity and the most hopeful sympathy. Here we have the stout, self-reliant, sober-minded Anglo-Saxon stock, well trained in the process of the ages to the difficult art of self-government; here we have a Constitution framed with the most cautious consideration, and with the most effective checks against the dangers of an overriding democracy; here also a people as free from any imminent external danger as they have unlimited scope for internal progress. Under no circumstances could the experiment of self-government on a great scale have been made with a more promising start. No doubt they have a difficult and slippery problem to perform." To the Church are taught the lessons of avoiding controversy and of making religion practical.
Transactions of the Anthropological Society of Washington. Vol. III. November 6, 1883, to May 19, 1885. Washington: Smithsonian Institution. Pp. 204.
The number and scope of the papers printed in this volume, and the breadth of the discussions upon them, show the Anthropological Society to be an active body and earnestly interested in its work. A considerable number of the papers relate to American anthropology, a branch of the science to which this society may properly devote special attention, and for the study of which it has great advantages in the inclusion among its members of so many persons who are or have been connected with the geological survey. Many of the papers and the discussions upon them relate directly or indirectly to the mounds and the mound-builders, and frequently call up the question whether the mound-builders were identical with our Indians, or were of an earlier and superior race. Much may be found here to have been said on both sides of this subject. Among the other papers are some by Mr. Lester F. Ward from the mental side of anthropological study; an address by Mr. E. B. Tylor on "How the Problems of American Anthropology present themselves to the English Mind"; an essay by Mr. F. A. Seeley on "The Genesis of Inventions"; and a presidential address by J. W. Powell on "From Savagery to Barbarism."
Essays on Educational Reformers. By Robert Hebert Quick. Syracuse, N. Y.: C. W. Bardeen. Pp. 330. Price, 1.50.
The author takes for the motto of his essays the words of Dr. Arnold: "It is clear that, in whatever it is our duty to act, those matters also it is our duty to study." Being a teacher, he considers it his duty to study what has been done to advance the art of teaching, and this he does by studying the lives of those who have introduced new features into the work of teaching and examining their work. In the list are included the schools of the Jesuits, Roger Ascham, Montaigne, Ratich, Milton, Comenius, Locke, Rousseau, Basedow, Pestalozzi, Jacolot, and Herbert Spencer. While the author differs from Mr. Spencer in some of his conclusions, he agrees with him "that we are bound to inquire into the relative value of knowledges, and if we take, as I should willingly do, Mr. Spencer's test, and ask how does this or that knowledge influence action (including in our inquiry its influence on mind and character, through which it bears upon action), I think we should banish from our schools much that has hitherto been taught in them." In a chapter of "Thoughts and Suggestions" a consideration of the ordinary methods of school-teaching leads to the conclusion that in subjects other than classics and mathematics they are very commonly a failure, and a failure the teaching "must remain until boys can be got to work with a will—in other words, to feel an interest in the subjects taught." To this end, and to make the instruction serve its purpose, the effort should be made to teach things rather than words, and of things, not the dry details of the outside, but those points which concern their essence.
The Late Mrs. Null. By Frank R. Stockton. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Pp. 437. Price, $1.50.
Mr. Stockton is the author of "Rudder Grange," a short story, or episode, of domestic life, which has been commended in the "Monthly" as full of harmless though somewhat extravagant fun; and he is well known as the successful author of other sketches which furnish enjoyable—though idle—reading. In "The Late Mrs. Null" he attempts a more elaborate story, or "his first novel."
Hobbes. By George Croom Robertson. Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood & Sons. Pp. 240, with Portrait.
This is the tenth in the series of "Philosophical Classics for English Readers," by various authors, edited by Dr. William Knight, and has been preceded by volumes on Descartes, Butler, Berkeley, Fichte, Kant, Hamilton, Hegel, Leibnitz, and Vico. Whatever may be the merits of Hobbes's work, he has, as the author observes, left a broad mark in the history of the English mind. It is sought in this book to bring together all the previously known or now discoverable facts of his life, and to give some kind of fairly balanced representation of the whole range of his thought, instead of dwelling only upon those humanistic portions of it by which he has commonly been judged. The account of his "System" has been imbedded in the "Life," because, "more than of any other philosopher, it can be said of Hobbes that the key to a right understanding of his thought "is to be found in his personal circumstances and the events of his time." If a man's influence, the author observes in the concluding chapter of the book, and after having related the controversies he provoked, "is to be measured not least by the opposition that he arouses, we have already had proof that few thinkers have left a deeper trace upon their time than Hobbes." It was not only at home that he exerted influence or called forth strenuous hostility, but abroad as well. In England, so far as he has exerted an influence in philosophy proper, "it has been of the indirect kind wrought through psychological science. As psychology has a voice in the determination of ultimate philosophical notions that belongs to no other positive science, Hobbes has done more for philosophy by promoting the positive investigation of mental functions than by the abstract definitions of his own 'First Philosophy,' acutely conceived as these always were; when the accidental features of Hobbes's ethico-political ideas—due to time and circumstances and personal temperaments—are discounted, it is not difficult to understand how it should have been philosophical results of the school of Bentham that first gave them effective currency"; and, finally, it should be said that, "with enemies and friends alike, Hobbes's power has been due not least to the rare excellence of his literary style."
Appalachia. March, 1886. Pp. 108. Price, 50 cents. Register of the Appalachian Mountain Club, for 1886. Boston: Appalachian Mountain Club. W. B. Clarke and Carruth. Pp. 40.
The Appalachian Mountain Club was organized in January, 1876, and reorganized and chartered in April, 1878. Its objects, as specified in the By-Laws, are to explore the mountains of New England and the adjacent regions, both for scientific and artistic purposes; and, in general, to cultivate an interest in geographical studies. Its list of members has gradually grown, and now includes six hundred and ninety-three names of members of all classes. It is in relations of correspondence and exchange of publications with seventeen American societies and surveys, and fifteen Alpine clubs, and fifteen geographical societies abroad, besides single exchanges. Its periodical, "Appalachia," is usually published twice a year, four numbers constituting a volume. From the official reports, published in "Appalachia," it appears that the club held thirteen meetings during 1884—nine regular, two special, and two field meetings—the average attendance upon which was more than one hundred. The topographical department of the club is engaged upon a manuscript map of the White Mountains, on a scale of 15000 from data already collected by members. Besides official reports, and reports of the meetings of the club, which themselves embody some papers of interest, the present number of "Appalachia" contains special papers on "The Tripyramid Slides of 1885"; "Earthquakes in New England"; "A Day in Flume Mountain and a Night in the Wilderness"; "Middlesex Fells"; "Accurate Mountain Heights"; and "Mountain Meteorology."
Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission. Vol. V, for 1885. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 494.
While the present volume of the "Bulletin" does not contain any long and elaborate monographs on some special branch of fish-culture like those which have given unusual value to some of the previous volumes, it is filled with numerous brief articles and extracts from correspondence, reporting progress, or embodying information of practical value. Under the heading of "A Foreigner's Opinion of American Fish Culture," Sir Lyon Playfair is quoted as saying: "There is an essential difference between the mode of proceeding of the Government of the United States and that of our own country in relation to fisheries. We have had commissions without end, on some of which I have served. Vast bodies of contradictory evidence have been obtained from fishermen, who, I agree with Huxley, know less about fish than the community. Our commissions have led to little useful result. The American commissioners act in a different way. They put questions directly to Nature and not to fishermen. They possess scientific methods, and not those of 'rule of thumb.' They make scientific investigations into the habits, food, geographical distribution of fishes, and into the temperature of the seas and rivers in which they live or spawn. Practical aims and experiments are always kept in view."
The Order of Creation; The Conflict between Genesis and Geology. New York: The "Truth-Seeker" Company. Pp. 178. Price, 75 cents.
This publication contains the articles by Mr. Gladstone and Professor Huxley which have already appeared in the "Monthly," together with Professor Max Müller's and M. Réville's replies to those parts of Mr. Gladstone's observations which bear upon what they have respectively said on the subject in controversy or upon theories to which they adhere; together with a reply by Mrs. E. Lynn Linton to a phrase used by Mr. Gladstone to convey his regret that some writers appear to him to rejoice at the thought that they have got rid of the belief in God.
Wonders of European Art. By Louis Viardot New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Pp. 335. Price, $1.
This volume is a translation of the second series of the "Merveilles de la Peinture," by M. Viardot, the first part of which has been already published as "Wonders of Italian Art" in Messrs. Scribner's series of "Wonders of Art and Archæology," to which this selection also belongs. It embraces notices of the Spanish, German, Flemish, Dutch, and French schools, in which M. Viardot has critically examined many thousands of the most celebrated paintings.
Elements of Universal History. By Professor H. M. Cottinger. Boston: Charles H. Whiting. Pp. 336. Price, $1.50.
This history is designed for higher institutes in republics and for self-instruction. It presents the story in an easy, flowing style, adapted to attract and hold attention, and the matter is grouped in periods, at the close of each of which is a series of exercises and review questions. The author has failed to avail himself of the recent researches in extremely ancient history, without which no text-book even can now be considered complete, and the picture of Egypt and the Oriental monarchies, whose history is assuming definite form and importance, will be presented in erroneous colors.
Scriptures, Hebrew and Christian. Arranged and edited for Young Readers. By Edward T. Bartlett and John P. Peters. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Vol. I. Pp. 545. Price, $1.50.
The object of this work is to serve as an introduction to the study of the Bible. It is intended to be good for other than young readers; but the wants of that class have been especially had in view. The story is told in the words of the Bible, but with considerable condensation and rearrangement; the purpose having been to bring all that relates to a single event together, and to avoid repetitions. The compilers have endeavored to utilize the best results of critical scholarship; and the merit of what is called the "higher" criticism is recognized to an extent that might astonish some of the more obstinate sticklers for the old. The present volume contains the Hebrew story from the creation to the exile. A second volume will bring the account down to the time of Christ, and a third volume will be made from the New Testament.
The Story of Chaldea. By Zénaïde A. Ragozin. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 381. Price, $1.50.
This history belongs to the "Story of the Nations" series, a series that is designed for the instruction of the young, and is also good for the old. The history of Chaldea has an interest of its own, because that nation competes with Egypt and China for the honor of being the most ancient nation of which any real historical record has come down to us. It has given us also the oldest positive authentic date in history—3800 b. c. for the date of the reign of Sargon I, as established in a record left by Nabonidus, the last king of Babylon. The present volume relates the history of this nation from the earliest times—the times preceding the dim age of Sargon—to the rise of Assyria, in which that other Sargon, mentioned by Isaiah, plays no unimportant part. The story itself is preceded by an introduction in which are given accounts of Mesopotamia and its mounds covering the ruins of ancient palaces and temples; Layard and his work; the ruins; and the grand library of Assurbanipal at Nineveh, in which are found accounts of that even then extremely ancient period which forms the main subject of the book, to which accounts the books of the Old Testament afford the only parallel.
Did Reis invent a Speaking Telephone? Pp. 18. On Telephone Systems. Pp. 28. By Professor Amos E. Dolbear, College Hill, Mass.
In the first of these pamphlets, Professor Dolbear presents his own testimony and that of several other electricians and professors and students of physics of known reputation, based on their personal examination and experiments, to the effect that Reis's telephone embodied with considerable success the principle of the transmitter. The second pamphlet contains a lecture delivered before the Franklin Institute in December, 1885, in which the various systems of telephone construction and manipulation are examined and compared.
Notes on Certain Maya and Mexican Manuscripts. By Cyrus Thomas. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 64, with Plates.
The manuscripts examined are the "Tableau des Bacab," a plate of the "Borgian Codex," and a plate of the "Fejervary Codex," all of which are supposed to be calendars. The symbols of the cardinal points are then considered in detail. The object of the study is to deduce some clew as to the connection of the Mayas with the other peoples of their region. On this point the author concludes: "That all the Central American nations had calendars the same in principle as the Mexican, is well known. This of itself would indicate a common origin not so very remote; but when we see two contiguous or neighboring peoples making use of the same conventional signs of a complicated nature down even to the most minute details, and that of a character not comprehensible by the commonalty, we have proof at least of a very intimate relation."
Railroad Terminal Facilities for Handling Freights at the Port of New York. By Gratz Mordecai. New York: "Railroad Gazette." Pp. 68, with Maps.
Mr. Mordecai presents a detailed study of the present terminal facilities of all the railroads centering in New York, with descriptions and maps, for the purpose of preparing a way for the consideration of how they may be improved; or how consolidated into a well-regulated and progressive combination; and he adds suggestions of some particular points in which improvement is desirable and feasible.
The Requisite and Qualifying Conditions of Artesian Wells. By Thomas C. Chamberlin. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 48, with Plate.
This is one of the papers of the United States Geological Survey. While the basal principles of artesian wells—by which are meant only those that flow at the surface—are simple, the real problems they present are complex. Success or failure is determined by a combination of various conditions rather than by the application of simple principles. It is the purpose of the paper; to-elucidate those conditions.
Report of the Commissioner of Education for 1883–'84. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 1214.
The present report contains the usual fullness of special information concerning educational affairs in the United States, and general reports of those of other countries, down to June 30, 1884. The Commissioner remarks upon the improved character of the information brought to his office, and the growth of closer sympathy between the office and those actively engaged in educational work. It is observed that there has been no considerable improvement in methods or progress of education in any quarter of the country during the year to which the aid of the office has not been invoked. Clearer views and more intelligent counsels are also observable with respect to the most critical problems that have been under consideration. The total enrollment of pupils in the public schools of the States and Territories is 10,738,192, and in the private schools, 606,517; in secondary and preparatory schools, 271,215; in 236 women's schools, 30,587; in 370 universities and colleges (collegiate pupils), 32,767; in 255 normal schools, 60,063; in 221 business colleges, 44,074; in 354 Kindergartens, 17,002; in 92 schools of science, 14,769; in 146 theological schools, 5,290; in 47 law schools, 2,686; in 145 schools of medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy, 15,300; in 31 training-schools for nurses, 579; in 59 schools for the deaf and dumb, 22,515; in 31 schools for the blind, 2,319.
A Manual of Mechanics. By T. M. Goodeve. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 228. Price, $1.
This manual is designed to be an elementary text-book for students of applied mathematics. It consists of clear, condensed statements of the principles and problems of mechanical science. Elementary principles and definitions are given in an introductory chapter. The chapters that follow treat of "The Parallelogram of Forces"; "The Lever, Parallel Forces, and Couples"; "The Center of Gravity"; "The Conversion of Motion"; "The Principle of Work—Friction"; "Simple Machines"; "The Laws of Falling Bodies—Energy, Motion in a Circle, the Pendulum"; "Elementary Mechanism" (including the crank and connecting-rod, cams, the heart-wheel, escapements, ratchet-wheels, wheels in trains, the winch or crab, pulley-blocks, the steelyard, lifting-jack, etc.); "Truth of Surface, Strength of Materials, the Lathe"; and "Elementary Mechanics of Liquids and Gases."
Evolution. By Charles F. Deems, LL. D. New York: John W. Lovell Company. Pp. 108. Price, 20 cents.
The author—a well-known minister—whose training and mode of thought have been largely theological, professes that in his examination of the theory of evolution, of which this essay is a part of the fruit, he has endeavored to avoid all dogmatism and special pleading. "His aim has been to ascertain for himself just what is the posture of the hypothesis at this time, without much regard as to how it stood in the past, or any regard to its possible future, or any care for the effect which the result of his honest study might have on any scientific, philosophical, or theological opinion previously held by him." He assumes that there is no religious reason for the acceptance or rejection of evolution, and there are no valid sentimental objections to it; but the result of his investigation is the Scotch verdict, "not proven."
The Choice of Books, and other Literary Pieces. By Frederic Harrison. London and New York: Macmillan & Co. Pp. 447.
This volume consists of essays and lectures, written by the author at various times during the last twenty years, and which deal solely with books, art, and history, as distinguished from politics, philosophy, or religion; and which do not touch on any controversy except "the perennial problems presented to us by literature and the study of the past." About one third of the matter is in print for the first time. We have been interested in the essay which gives the name to the volume, and find it pregnant with valuable lessons. The burden of it is, that in the present multiplication of books it is impossible to master a fraction of those which may be helpful to us; then why should we waste our time over reading of any other kind? A short review of all literature, ancient and modern, follows, with hints as to the lots from which we can make the most judicious selections. Among the other "pieces" are a dialogue on "Culture"; "The Life of George Eliot"; "Historic London"; "The Æsthete"; "Bernard of Clairvaux"; "A Few Words" about the eighteenth and about the nineteenth centuries; and two articles—on Froude's "Life of Carlyle," and "Histories of the French Revolution"—which first appeared in the "North American Review."
Poetry as a Representative Art. By George Lansing Raymond. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 346. Price, $1.75.
The author of this essay is Professor of Oratory and Æsthetics in the College of New Jersey. The work, while it is complete in itself, in the sense that it develops from beginning to end the whole subject of which it treats, is in other senses only one of a series of essays which Mr. Raymond has written, respecting the various arts in their functions of representation, of which he gives a tolerably full list. He sustains the conclusion that while poetry is not, in a technical sense, a useful art, its forms have their uses, and many uses and practical ones, at the basis of which lies "the interpretation of the meaning of nature, natural and human, by those who have learned to interpret it, while striving to have it convey their own meanings." His points and principles, as he deduces them in detail, are copiously illustrated with citations from the poets.
The Fisheries and Fishing Industries of the United States. By George Brown Goode, and a Staff of Associates. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Section 1, Text. Pp. 895. Section 2, 277 Plates.
This elaborate report has been compiled under an arrangement between the United States Fish Commission and the Census Bureau, to prepare as exhaustive an investigation of the objects of the work as possible. The scheme of the investigation as drawn up by Mr. Goode embraced the natural history of marine products; the fishing grounds; the fishermen and fishing towns; apparatus and modes of capture; products of fisheries; preparation, care, and manufacture of fishery products; and economy of the fisheries. The present volumes) relate to the natural history of aquatic animals. For the preparation, the coast, lakes, etc., of the country were mapped off into twenty-four districts, each of which was assigned to a "field assistant" investigator; while another body of assistants were employed in the office.
Kinnear, B. O., M. D. Remarks on Neuro-Dynamic Medicine. Boston: Cupples, Upham, & Co. Pp. 24. Dangers of Careless application of Heat to the Spine. New York: Trow's Printing and Bookbinding Company. Pp. 14.
Corthell, E. L, C. E. Exposition of Errors and Fallacies in Rear-Admiral Ammen's Pamphlet on Nicaragua Canal and Eads Ship Railway. Washington: Gibson Brothers. Pp. 52.
Jameson, J. F., Ph. D. Introduction to the Study of the Political and Constitutional History of the States. Pp. 82. Bandall, D. B. A Puritan Colony in Maryland. Pp. 48. Baltimore: N. Murray. 50 cents each.
Martin, H. N. and Brooks, W. K. Studies from the Biological Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University. Vol. Ill, Nos. 5 and 6. Pp. 48 and 84, with Plates. 50 cents and 60 cents.
The Political Science Quarterly. March, 1886. Vol. I, No. 1. Boston: Ginn & Co. Pp. 152. 75 cents, $3 a year.
Bulletins of the United States Geological Survey, No. 24. List of Marine Mollusca. Pp. 336. No. 25. Present Technical Condition of the Steel Industry. Pp. 85. No. 26, Copper-Smelting. Pp. 107.
Lewis T. H. Ancient Rock Inscriptions in Eastern Dakota. Pp. 3, with Plate. The Monumental "Tortoise Mounds" of "Decoodah." Pp. 5.
Richards, Edward. Principles and Methods of Soil Analysis. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 66.
Munroe, Charles E. Notes on the Literature of Explosives. No. 10. Pp. 18.
Comfort, George F. Modern Languages in Education. Syracuse, N. Y.: C. W. Bardeen. Pp. 40. 25 cents.
Mills, T. Wesley, Montreal. Innervation of the Heart of the Slider Terrapin. Pp. 12.
Smith, Edgar F., and Knerr, E. B. Substitution Products obtained from Salicylic Acid. Pp. 7.
Mays, Thomas J. The Analgesic Action of Theine. Pp. 28.
Lloyd, James Hendrie. M. D. Faith-Cures. New York: Trow's Printing and Bookbinding Company. Pp. 12.
Nipher, Francis E. . and Springer. Frank. Address on the Condition of the State University of Iowa. Pp. 22.
Crocker, Uriel H. The Depression in Trade and the Wages of Labor. Boston: W. B. Clarke and Carruth. Pp. 31.
Transactions of the New York Academy of Sciences. February, 1886. Pp. 16.
Zoological Society of Philadelphia. Directors' Report. Thomas Hackley, Secretary. Pp. 18.
Becker, George F. Cretaceous Metamorphic Rocks of California. Pp. 10.
Committee of the Franklin Institute. Report on Water-Gas. Pp. 57.
Richardson, Clifford. Report on the Composition and Properties of American Cereals. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 82.
Wilder, Burt G. Biological Section Address, American Association. Pp. 18. Paper on Serrulæ of Amia. Pp. 3. Anatomical Technology as applied to the Domestic Cat. Specimen pages. Memorial Address on Louis Agassiz, June 17, 1885. Pp. 6.
Koesting, Professor Gustav. Observations on the Academic Study of Romance Philology. American Modern Language Association. Pp. 32.
International Electrical Exhibition. Reports on Electro-Medical Apparatus, and Applications of Electricity to Artistic Effects, etc., and to Musical Apparatus. Pp. 23 and 13.
Yale College Observatory. Report for 1884-'85. Pp. 23.
Orton, Professor Edward. Sectional Address, Geology and Geography, American Association. Salem Press, Mass. Pp. 27. Relation of the State to the Health of the People. Columbus (O.) Gazette. Pp. 20.
Lazenby, W. R., Columbus, O. Report of the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station. Pp. 256.
University of Pennsylvania, Biological Department, and Auxiliary Department of Medicine. Catalogue and Announcements, 1885-1886. Pp. 32.
Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences. Proceedings, Vol. IV., 1882-1884. Pp. 347.
Shufeldt, R. W., M. D., U. S. N. Contribution to the Comparative Osteology of the Trochilidæ, Caprimulgidæ, and Cypselidæ. Pp. 32, with Plates.
Superintendent H. A. Kinney and others. Outlines and Suggestions to the Teachers of Harrison County, Iowa. Missouri Valley, Iowa. Pp. 26.
Sabbrin, Celin. Science and Philosophy in Art. Philadelphia: William F. Fell & Co. Pp. 21.
Dolbear, Amos E. On the Conditions that determine the Length of the Spectrum. Pp. 2.
Cowan, Frank. Australia. Greensburg, Pa. Pp. 40.
Hall, G. Stanley, and Jastrow, Joseph. Studies of Rhythm. Pp. 8.
Penhallow, D. P. Variation of Water in Trees and Shrubs. Pp. 12. Physical Characteristics of the Ainos. Pp. 10.
Brookville (Ind.) Society of Natural History. Bulletin, A. W. Butler and A. N. Crecraft, editors. No. 2. Pp. 52.
Kunz, George F. New York. Mineralogical Notes. Pp. 24.
Cornell University Proceedings in Memorial of Louis Agassiz and Hiram Sibley. 1885. Pp. 38.
Pierce, C. S., and Jastrow, Joseph. On Small Differences of Sensation. Pp. 11.
Cassell's National Library. No. 11. She Stoops to Conquer, and the Good-natured Man. By Oliver Goldsmith. No. 15. Selections from the Table-Talk of Martin Luther. No. 16. The Wisdom of the Ancients and the New Atlantis. By Lord Bacon. No. 17. Francis Bacon. By Lord Macaulay. No. 18. Lives of the English Poets, Waller, Milton, Cowley. By Samuel Johnson. No. 19. Thoughts on the Present Discontents, and Speeches. By Edmund Burke. Pp. 190-192. 10 cents each.
Q. P. Index Annual. 1885. Bangor, Me. Pp. 40.
Brooks, Henry M. The Olden Time Series. No. 1, Curiosities of the Old Lottery, pp. 73; No. 2, Days of the Spinning-Wheel, pp. 99; New England Sunday, pp. 65. Boston: Ticknor & Co. 50 cents each.
Sully, James. Teacher's Hand-Book of Psychology. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 414. $1.50.
The Wealth of Households. Oxford (England): at the Clarendon Press. Pp. 151. $1.25.
Tilden, William A. Watts's Manual of Chemistry Organic. Philadelphia: P. Blakiston, Son, & Co. Pp. 662.
Lewis, A. H., D.D. A Critical History of the Sabbath and Sunday in the Christian Church. Alfred Centre, N. Y.: American Sabbath Tract Society. Pp. 583. $1.25.
Thoughts by Ivan Panin. Boston: Cupples, Upham, & Co. Pp. 85. 50 cents.
Letters and Journal of J. Stanley Jevons. Edited by his Wife. London: Macmillan & Co. Pp. 473. $4.
Starr, Louis, M.D. Diseases of the Digestive Organs in Infancy and Childhood. Philadelphia: P. Blakiston, Son, & Co. Pp. 835, with Colored Plate. $2.50.
Walloth, Wilhelm. The King's Treasure-House. A Romance of Ancient Egypt New York: W. S. Gottsberger. Pp. 353.
First Annual Report of the Commissioner of Labor. Industrial Depressions. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 435.
Report of Operations of the United States Life Saving Service to June 30, 1885. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 423.
Clarke, I. Edwards. Industrial and High Art Education in the United States. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 842.
Flint, Austin, M.D. Medicine of the Future. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 37. $1.
Hammond, William A., M.D. A Treatise on Diseases of the Nervous System. Eighth edition, with Corrections and Additions. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 945. $5.
Outlines of Geology. By James Geikie. LL.D., F.R.S. London: Edward Stanford. 188(5. Pp. 427, with 400 Illustrations.
George, Henry. Protection or Free Trade. New York: Henry George & Co. Pp. 350.
Curtmann, Charles O., M.D. Dr. F. Beilstein's Lessons in Qualitative Chemical Analysis. St. Louis, Mo.: Druggist Publishing Company. Pp. 200.
Wilder, Salem. Life: Its Nature, Origin, Development, and the Psychical related to the Physical. Boston: Rockwell & Churchill. Pp. 350. $1.50.
Behrends, A. J. F., D.D. Socialism and Christianity. Hew York: Baker & Taylor. Pp. 303. $1.50.
Macleod, Henry Dunning. The Elements of Economics. Vol. II, Part 1. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 376. $1.75.