Popular Science Monthly/Volume 19/October 1881/Literary Notices

LITERARY NOTICES.

INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC SERIES.—NO. XXXIV.

The Sun. By C. A. Young, Ph. D., LL. D. With numerous Illustrations. D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 321. Price, $2.

The first thing we have to say about this attractive and admirable little volume is, that it was sorely needed. It was wanted, not only because of the great interest of the subject, but because we have no work in English that deals with it in any satisfactory shape for general use. Proctor's book on the sun, notwithstanding its author's astronomical reputation, is, after all, little more than the compilation of a professional book-maker. He has used his copious materials freely, and made his book too large and expensive, and too crowded with matter of secondary interest, to meet the popular requirement. It has, therefore, not been held as even worth stealing. The great treatise on the sun, of the late Father Secchi, of Rome, though written by an eminent astronomer who has worked at the subject extensively himself, is likewise too voluminous, and also too scientific, for general purposes, and it has accordingly not been thought worth translating into English. The book of the Frenchman, Guillemin, though small enough, is all too popular, and is so variously deficient as to have no true standing. A new book, compact inform, and thoroughly trustworthy for reading and reference, was greatly needed, because the knowledge that has grown up in recent years concerning the great central body of the solar system is not only of exceeding interest, but is such as well-instructed people can not afford to be without.

But it was no easy thing to get the book required. First-class scientific men are always pressingly occupied, and they very rarely take to book-making unless for the promulgation of their own views. The managers of the International Scientific Series have, therefore, been fortunate in securing a strong book on this subject, although they have had to wait a good while for it. Yet those who have been long and impatiently expecting it will now be rewarded for their waiting. Professor Young is an authority on "The Sun," and writes from intimate knowledge. He has studied that great luminary all his life, invented and improved instruments for observing it, gone to all quarters of the world in search of the best places and opportunities to watch it, and has contributed important discoveries that have extended our knowledge of it. The reader who glances at the summary of his life-work, given in an accompanying biographical sketch, will see why, of all men, he was perhaps the best prepared to report on the present state of solar knowledge. He, at all events, had the first qualification for the task, because he knew whereof he affirmed.

And he has executed the work in a manner worthy of the subject, and of his reputation. He has stated what is known about the sun in a form excellently suited for general apprehension. It would take a cyclopedia to represent all that has been done toward clearing up the solar mysteries. Professor Young has summarized the information, and presented it in a form completely available for general readers. There is no rhetoric in his book; he trusts the grandeur of his theme to kindle interest and impress the feelings. His statements are plain, direct, clear, and condensed, though ample enough for his purpose, and the substance of what is generally wanted will be found accurately given in his pages. The key to his treatment is contained in the following passage from the preface: "It is my purpose, in this little book, to present a general view of what is known and believed about the sun, in language and manner as unprofessional as is consistent with precision. I write neither for scientific readers as such, nor, on the other hand, for the masses, but for that large class in the community who, without being themselves engaged in scientific pursuits, yet have sufficient education and intelligence to be interested in scientific subjects when presented in an untechnical manner; who desire, and are perfectly competent, not only to know the results obtained, but to understand the principles and methods on which they depend without caring to master all the details of the investigation. I have tried to keep distinct the line between the certain and the conjectural, and to indicate as far as possible the degree of confidence to be placed in data and conclusions."

It is unnecessary further to dilate on the merits of this volume, especially as the readers of "The Popular Science Monthly" are not unacquainted with Professor Young's skill in scientific exposition; nor will it be possible, in any notice, to illustrate the richness of these pages in striking facts, felicitous illustrations, and lucid explanations, concerning the constitution, astronomical relations, and stupendous influence, of the solar body. There is an introduction on "The Sun's Relation to Life and Activity upon the Earth." This is followed by a systematic discussion of the main problems of solar phenomena, in a succession of chapters treating of "The Distance and Dimensions of the Sun," the "Methods and Apparatus for studying the Surface of the Sun," "The Spectroscope and the Solar Spectrum," "Sun-spots on the Solar Surface," "Periodicity of Sun-spots, their Effects upon the Earth, and Theories as to their Cause and Nature," "The Chromosphere and its Prominences," "The Corona," and "The Sun's Light and Heat." The concluding chapter is an excellent "Summary of Facts and Discussion of the Constitution of the Sun." An appendix is added, which has been contributed by Professor Langley, one of the most zealous and successful American cultivators of solar astronomy. It presents certain important views, which this investigator has reached, with regard to the light and heat of the sun.

Professor Young's book is not written in rhyme, and does not profess to be "poetry." Perhaps it is inimical to poetry, as it deals with hard scientific material facts, and, if these are truly incompatible with poetic thought, the book will be open to the maledictions of all who consider error better than truth for the purposes of the poetic mind. But this, at any rate, may be said: no one can read Professor Young's book without recognizing very clearly that the sun, as interpreted by the science of to-day, is a far grander and more impressive object of thought than was the sun of a century or two ago. Milton traversed the universe of his time with intrepid imagination, but what was his conception of the "powerful king of day," compared with the conception of the sun which science has now shown to be true? The poetic imagination has never pictured anything to be compared with the sublimity and unspeakable grandeur of the all-regulating, life-giving star round which we are revolving, and which, so far as the human mind is concerned, science may be said to have created. Has not science, in this and kindred exploits, given a transcendent enlargement to the sphere of the imagination? We do not believe that ignorance is the mother of legitimate devotion or of genuine poetry; and those who think that the truth-seeking faculty in man, which, in a certain aspect, is simply occupied in extending the realm of wonder, and disclosing the beauty, the harmony, and the magnificence of Nature's operations, is the enemy of real poetry, have a good deal yet to learn about the subject. It will damage no sound poet to absorb the contents of Professor Young's book.

Chinese Immigration in its Social and Economical Aspects. By George F. Seward, late United States Minister to China. New York: Scribners. 1881. 8vo. Pp. xv-421. Price, $2.50.

Reserving for a possible future volume the question of "the political and commercial issues" involved in the Chinese question, Mr. Seward limits himself in the present work to its social and economical aspects, as those which are likely to determine the legislative action of the country. These aspects he considers under the following heads: 1. The number of Chinese in the United States; 2. The material results of Chinese labor in California; 3. Objections to Chinese immigration; and, 4. Fears of an overflowing immigration.

And—1. The number of Chinese in this country has been habitually over-estimated by the anti-Chinese partisans. In California it was common to hear it said, a few years ago, that there were "more Chinamen than voters" in that State The facts have been carefully studied by Mr. Seward from the customs statistics of arrivals and departures, and from the recent census; and it turns out that there are no more than ninety-seven thousand Chinamen in the United States, of whom one half live in California, where they form about one in seventeen of the population, and enjoying such provisional security of life and property as the other sixteen see fit to permit them. During the past few years the number of resident Chinese has somewhat diminished, owing in part to the resident Californian's conviction, which he has not failed to express in practice, that the pagan element in a Christian population should be discouraged. This conviction, if we may trust the evidence of Commissioner John A. Swift (p. 250), would seem to be increasing. "In 1852," says Mr. Swift, "the Chinamen were allowed to turn out and celebrate the Fourth of July. In 1862 they would have been mobbed. In 1872 they would have been burned at the stake." This spirit may be profitably contrasted with that of a memorial written by a Chinaman resident in this country (p. 245): "If the spirit be noble and good, although the man be poor and humble, we honor and love him. But we affirm that the people of your honorable country dislike the Chinese because they see the plain appearance and the patched clothes of our poor, and do not think how many spirits there are among us whom they could respect and love."

2. The results of Chinese labor in California are considerable. In railroad-building, in farming, fruit-culture, and the reclamation of swamp-lands, in mining and manufacturing, and in such special industries as cigar-and shoe making and laundry work, they have been of particular service. Governor Low estimated that four fifths of the grading oh the Central Pacific Railroad was done by Chinese laborers. Mr. Charles Crocker, one of the builders of that road, testified before the Congressional investigating committee: "If I had a big job of work that I wanted to get through quickly, and had a limited time to do it in, I should take Chinese labor to do it with, because of its greater reliability and steadiness, and their aptitude and capacity for hard work. They are equal to the best white men." On this point, however, there is some discrepancy in the evidence, one estimate being that three Chinamen are needed to do the work of two first-rate white laborers. In domestic service the Chinese hold an unquestioned place. No one who has had experience of them will underrate their intelligence and faithfulness. A great want of the American community is that of good house-servants. To what is the lack of supply due? To our liberal institutions, the spirit of which makes domestic service of any kind seem degrading in American eyes, and even after a short term of residence in the eyes of the European immigrant. But, in the case of the Chinese immigrant, who, it is complained, does not "assimilate" with us, this moral condition is not set up. This lack of assimilability may be owing to our inquisitorial treatment of him; but it will be time enough to decide whether he will assimilate, or wishes to assimilate, with us, when we shall have admitted his rights as a human creature. Meanwhile, as Mr. Seward might have pointed out, it is precisely because he does not assimilate that he makes the best house servant that our community has yet seen. He has no thought of becoming an alderman or a mayor, or of being promoted from the kitchen to Congress. He comes to do the day's work for the day's wages; he does it faithfully and contentedly, and there the matter ends. If American politicians have taken pleasure in the rapid assimilation of the Celtic contingent in our immigration, American housekeepers, on the other hand, would welcome a class of servants a little less in haste to assimilate, and a little more disposed to serve. If the American home is in danger of extinction, as some foreign critics have predicted, and our families are to be driven into hotels for the lack of cooks and chambermaids, it will not be because a race of real servants could not be brought from China.

3. The main objection to Chinese immigration, as already intimated, is political, and not social. Political equality, political availability, have been made the test, and unjustly so. Mr. Seward reviews other grounds of objection in detail, and concludes by saying: "I dispute earnestly the statement that they are a servile class; that they interfere with the labor of our people; that they send money out of the country; that they have set up a quasi government of their own upon our soil; and that they do not accommodate themselves to the requirements of our life." That they are a vicious people has been argued from their sexual immorality, which, however, is not greater than would be expected in a celibate community like that of the Chinese in California.

4. As to the fear of an overflowing immigration of the Chinese, in case immigration should be freely permitted, the fact is that the Chinese are not, and never have been, a migratory people, but are, on the contrary, more strongly attached to their native soil than the people of any Western nation—except, perhaps, the French. They have not even "settled up" their own outlying districts, as Formosa, central and northern Manchooria, and the vast regions of inner Mongolia. And it is to be added that the demand for Chinese labor in California lessens yearly as the country is cleared up. The whole question is one that could safely be left to the operation of natural laws, social and economic. As it stands, it has been sadly muddled by governmental interference.

Mr. Seward does not deal with the philosophic aspects of the question, though they are constantly suggested by his book. One can not leave it without perceiving, for instance, the strong side of the Chinese conservatism. The rulers of China see that conservatism, ancient routine, the established order of things, mean a condition of stable equilibrium for the people, or, in the terminology of our day, that the individual nation is adjusted to its environment; and they wisely refuse to break up this adjustment by the too hasty introduction of foreign works or devices of any kind. At the present writing the Chinese policy seems to us a sounder one than that of Japan, where the changes introduced within twenty years are such as to imperil the institutions which had been perfecting themselves for many centuries. But inquiries like this are outside of the province of this work; meanwhile, Mr. Seward has given us a full, intelligent, and temperate treatment of the whole question of Chinese immigration, which, he thinks, within bounds, would be wisely encouraged.

Discovery of Palæolithic Flint Implements in Upper Egypt. By Professor Henry W. Haynes. Pp. 5, with Seven Plates.

MM. Brugsch, Mariette, and Chabas, have denied that any palæolithic implements occurred in Egypt; M. Arcelin, Dr. Hamy, M. Lenormant, the Abbé Richard, and Sir John Lubbock, have asserted that they have found them. The general impression has been that the stone implements of Egypt, which were always used ceremonially in the embalming process, were all neolithic, and of historic times. The author went to look for himself, and claims that he found near Cairo, and near Helouan, in the desert, and in the valley west of Thebes, palæolithic implements of the true St. Acheul type, with the other forms that usually occur with them, some of which were exhibited in Paris, and have been referred to in articles by M. de Mortillet and himself, which have been published in "The Popular Science Monthly." Sixty illustrations of the implements are given in the plates to the present work.

A Memorial of Joseph Henry. Published by order of Congress. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 528.

A public commemoration of the services of Joseph Henry in behalf of the Smithsonian Institution and of scientific progress in America was held, under the auspices of the Regents of the Institution in conjunction with the two Houses of Congress, on the 16th of January, 1879. The present volume contains the verbatim report of the proceedings on the occasion, published under the direction of Congress, together with the addresses which were delivered at other memorial meetings, of Princeton College, and several scientific societies. In the memorial services at the Capitol, Professor Asa Gray, in behalf of the Board of Regents, gave a brief statement of the life, studies, experiments, discoveries, and general scientific work of Professor Henry; Professor W. B. Rogers made a special review of his electrical studies and discoveries. Mr. Garfield showed how, when all others had failed, he solved the true meaning of Smithson's bequest in a way of which the world has recognized the correctness, and Mr. S. S. Cox how he had labored to give that meaning effect; and General Sherman bore testimony to Professor Henry's personal qualities as a scientific teacher and guide; while the Hon. Hannibal Hamlin demonstrated the satisfactory manner in which he had managed the financial and material interests of the institution, and the excellent condition in which he left it. To these minutes are added a memorial discourse by Samuel B. Dodd, and reminiscences by Professor Cameron, at Princeton College; the discourse of President Welling, of Columbian University, before the Philosophical Society of Washington; the discourse by William B. Taylor before the same body on "The Scientific Work of Joseph Henry," full and elaborate enough to make a volume by itself; and addresses by Professor J. Lovering, Professor Simon Newcomb, and Professor A. M. Mayer, before the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences, and the American Association, respectively. The special subject of the last address is "Henry as a Discoverer," The recognition of the simplicity, gentleness, and strict integrity of Professor Henry's character is a distinct feature in all of the addresses.

Anniversary Memoirs of the Boston Society OF Natural History. Published in Celebration of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Society's Foundation, 18301880. Boston: Published by the Society. Pp. 635, with 44 Plates. Price, $10.

The Boston Society of Natural History, having completed its fiftieth year in 1880, celebrated the event by a jubilee meeting on the 28th of April, and by the publication of this noble volume, containing the history of the Society and a number of special scientific papers. The book is a worthy memorial of the work of one of the oldest and most active of American scientific societies, and does justice to the part which that body has taken in the promotion of scientific research and the extension of scientific knowledge in the United States. The history of the Society is given from year to year, and by periods of ten years each, with a minuteness of detail which records every gift of specimens, every trouble from the ravages of insects in the museum, and even such matters as the passage of a resolution forbidding smoking in the room—things which may seem superficially of little interest, but which are instructive enough to justify their place, for they show how the life of the Society was maintained, what mistakes it made, and what difficulties it had to encounter. These features and accidents are such as are common to all similar societies, and this frank setting of them forth, as lessons of experience by which other bodies may be guided to the wisest management, is a good work. The present Society was preceded by the Linnæan Society of New England, which was founded in 1814, and was the first organized effort to excite the interest of the American public in natural science. It had a successful and prosperous career for several years, but finally died out because it depended entirely upon the voluntary effort of men whose time was already wholly occupied with their own business for its maintenance and the care of its collections. The museum—a fine one for the period—was given to Harvard College, which promised to provide a building for it and did not, and consequently it was nearly all lost. The Boston Society of Natural History was founded in 1830, on the same plan as the Linnæan Society, and by the same leading men, and would probably have met the same fate, but that it came into the possession of a fund sufficient to put it on a firm footing and enable it to employ special curators for its collections. Its early history is an epitome of the earlier development of scientific thought in this country, and, in its later history, it has kept pace with the broadest expansion of that thought. Its contributions to knowledge, as related in the yearly records, appear important and valuable when regarded in detail, and give, when summed up, occasion for satisfaction that we have had such a body laboring so long and so industriously to lead the public to higher objects of study, and that its vigor is still waxing. Not the least important of the works of the Society has been the institution of the practical scientific lectures to teachers, with object-illustrations, for the purpose of introducing better methods of instruction into the public schools. Besides the annals of the meetings and work of the Society, the memorial contains notices of the lives and labors of its members, officers, and benefactors, who have died during its existence, accompanied with nine portraits. In the "special scientific papers" are included articles on "The Classification of Lavas," by N. S. Shaler; the "Species of Planorbis at Steinheim," by Alpheus Hyatt; "The Devonian Insects of New Brunswick," by S. H. Scudder; "The Cedar-Apples of the United States," by W. G. Farlow; "A Structural Feature in Deep-Sea Ophiurians," by Theodore Lyman; "The Development of the Squid," by W. K. Brooks; "Limulus Polyphemus," by A. S. Packard, Jr.; "The Milkweed Butterfly," by Edward Burgess; "The Development of Double headed Vertebrates," by Samuel F. Clarke; "The Tongues of Reptiles and Birds," by C. S. Minot; "A Special Anatomical Study in Birds," by E. S. Morse; "The Crania of New England Indians," by Lucien Carr; and "The Feeling of Effort," by William James.

Indigestion, Biliousness, and Gout in its Protean Aspects. Part I. Indigestion and Biliousness. By J. Milner Fothergill, M. D., Member of the Royal College of Physicians of London. New York: William Wood & Co. Pp. 320. Price, $2.

This is a book for the medical profession, and a very valuable one, as it is based upon the latest scientific knowledge brought to the test of practice. Physiology and animal chemistry have made sure and very important advances in late years, so that the fundamental changes of digestion, nutrition, and excretion are far more clearly understood than formerly. Physiology, treating of the normal operations of the living system, is the basis of all knowledge of perverted or diseased action, and this book is written from a strictly physiological standpoint. It opens with an excellent history of the processes of natural digestion in their several stages, including, of course, the constitution of foods, and their transformations under the influence of the digestive secretions. From this point the author passes on in successive chapters to the consideration of Primary Indigestion, Artificial Digestion, Ferments, Tissue Nutrition, Secondary Indigestion, Diet and Drink, the Functions of the Liver, Liver Disturbance, Biliousness, and the medicinal and Dietetic Treatment of Liver Derangements. The subject will be pursued in another volume devoted to the consideration of Gout.

The author holds that disturbances of digestion are terribly on the increase in the present day, and he adds a valuable appendix on "the failure of the digestive organs at the present time," and on the "failure of nutrition in children."

We have said that this volume has been made for physicians, but it would be a mistake to infer that it had been exclusively prepared for them, and will not be of great value to non-professional readers. The information it contains ought to be widely diffused, and persons of ordinary intelligence can learn a great deal from it that will be of the highest practical use. It can not, of course, be mastered without study, but no subject will better repay careful attention. The general ignorance in relation to foods, their composition, preparation, and physiological effects, and the causes of indigestion in its various forms, is something lamentable, and the daily practice that results from this ignorance is almost heathenish. There are, moreover, abundance of quackish books on these subjects which so mislead people that they are worse than nothing. It is, therefore, important that the circulation of really valuable volumes on such topics as the one before us should be in every way promoted.

Ranthorpe. By George Henry Lewes. New York: William S. Gottsberger. Pp. 326. Price, 75 cents.

There are not many novels that survive their generation; they generally fall into an early and deserved oblivion. Mr. Lewes was not eminent as a novelist, his efforts in this direction being, indeed, regarded rather as failures than successes; but, after the lapse of a generation, his first essay of this kind reappears in a new and American edition. Mr. Lewes began with novel writing, went on into dramatic composition, passed from this to philosophy, and finally emerged in the field of science. His novels, therefore, do not embody the results of his long and varied studies, but they have the interest of being his first and freshest intellectual work. "Ranthorpe" was written at the age of twenty-five, though it was published five years later, in 1847. He says, in the preface, after acknowledging the defects of the book: "That the faults are not more numerous is owing to the admirable criticisms of two eminent friends, who paid me the compliment of being frankly severe on the work submitted to their judgment. Sensible of the kindness in their severity, I have made them what, for an author, must be considered as a magnificent acknowledgment—I have adopted all their suggestions"!

It is not difficult to explain why "Ranthorpe" was not a success in the ordinary sense of a popular novel; but the explanation will probably give the reason why it has been since recalled to the attention of the reading world. It was of too didactic a quality to suit the tastes of novel-readers in search of mere sensation. It is full of moralizings, and, although the topics are secular enough, it is rather preachy. But there is a good deal of wisdom in it that is not without its use. The hero of the book runs a literary career, goes first into poetry and fails, then into the drama, and his tragedy is d——d. The main interest of the volume is in the copious side discussions on the causes of failure in literary adventure, and we have a vivid and readable illustration of ideas which the author subsequently developed in his review articles on "The Principles of Success in Literature." From this point of view the book is instructive, while the plot keeps up the reader's interest in the usual way.

Sewer-Gas and its Dangers; with an Exposition of Common Defects in House Drainage, and Practical Information relating to their Remedy. By George Preston Brown. Chicago: Jansen, McClurg & Co. Pp. 242. Price, $1.25.

This work is the result of investigations made by an impartial inquirer in the city of Chicago into the extent to which sewer-gas is responsible for sickness and discomfort. An amazing prevalence of defects of all kinds in the construction and working of the house-drains was discovered, of which the dwellers in the houses generally seemed unconscious. The conditions were not exceptional or peculiar to Chicago, but may be considered as general and common to all large towns in which the improvements suggested by the most recent experience and knowledge have not been adopted. Many particular defects are described, and cases of sickness that were traced to them noticed. Illustrations are given of bad drainage in actual houses whose appearance promised a better condition. The dangers which bad sewers and drains entail are forcibly presented; and suggestions are given for remedying and preventing the evils which they occasion.

The Wilderness-Cure. By Marc Cook, author of "Camp Lou." New York: William Wood & Co. Pp. 153. Price, $1.

"Camp Lou" was a magazine article which related how the author, being in a decline with lung-disease, was restored to health by camping in the Adirondacks. It called out more inquiries for minor details than the writer could answer individually, and he has therefore put all the information that was sought in the questions in this little volume. The book describes the "Wilderness" country and the conditions of the camp; considers the practicability of weak persons wintering in the region described, furnishes a summary of several cases that have been treated in the method recommended, or one like it, and considers the questions of necessary outfit and expense.

A Text-Book of Anatomy, Physiology, and Hygiene. By J. T. Scovell. Terre Haute, Indiana: Moore & Langen, Printers. Pp. 88, with six plates.

This work is designed as a text-book, to be supplemented with the study of other works more completely discussing the points considered, of which a partial list is given. It presents the principles of the science plainly, clearly, and briefly, in well-framed sentences, and is arranged after a logical classification of the divisions and subdivisions of the subject. In addition to this, the section on hygiene is practical. The illustrations are given in engravings in separate plates.

PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

Extra Census Bulletin. Report on the Cotton Production of the State of Louisiana. By Eugene W. Hilgard. Illustrated. Washington: Government Printing-Office. 1881 Pp. 9a.

Studies in Astronomy. By Arthur K. Bartlett. Published by the author. Battle Creek, Michigan. Pp. 56. Price, 35 cents.

"The Utah Review." Rev. Theophilus Hilton, A.M, Editor Vol. I, No. 1. July, 1881. Salt Luke: H. P. Palmerston & Co. Monthly. Pp. 31. $2 a year.

Report of Field Experiments with Fertilizers. By Professor W. O. Atwater. 1880. From the Report of the Connecticut Board of Agriculture. Pp. 56.

First Annual Report of the Astronomer in charge of the Horological and Thermometric Bureaus of the Winchester Observatory of Yale College. By Leonard Waldo. New Haven. 1881. Pp. 32.

"The Journal of the American Agricultural Association." Vol. I, No. 1. Joseph H. Reall, Editor. New York. Published by the Association. 1881. Pp. 260.

Report on Hawaiian Leprosy. By A. W. Saxe, M.D. Illustrated. Santa Clara, California. 1881. Pp. 26.

To the English-speaking Populations in America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Oceanica, concerning Testimonials on "Origin, Progress, and Destiny of the English Language and Literature." By John A. Weisse, M.D. New York: J. W. Bouton. 1881. Pp. 49.

Proceedings of the California Pharmaceutical Society and College of Pharmacy, and Report of the Twelfth Annual Meeting held at San Francisco, January 13, 1881. San Francisco: Joseph Winterburn & Co. 1881. Pp.. 66.

The Reasoning Faculty of Animals. By Joseph P. James. Reprint from "The American Naturalist." Pp. 12.

A Great Lawyer. By Charles C. Bonney. Chicago: Legal News Co. 1881. Pp. 12.

"The Hour-Glass: A Popular Weekly Illustrated Journal." Chicago: Everett W. Fish & Co. Vol. I, No. 4. July 30, 1881. Pp. 6. 50 cents a year.

Report of Professor Spencer F. Baird, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, for the Year 1880. Washington: Government Printing-Office. 1881. Pp. 83.

On Maximum Synchronous Glaciation. By W. J. McGee. Salem, Massachusetts. 1881. Pp. 65.

A Memoir upon Loxolophodon and Uintatherium. By Henry F. Osborn, Sc.D. Accompanied by Stratigraphical Report of the Bridge Beds in the Washakee Basin. By J. B. McMaster, C.E. Illustrated. Princeton, New Jersey. Pp. 54.

Report of the Chief of the Bureau of Statistics for Three Months, ending March 31, 1881. Washington: Government Printing-Office. 1881. Pp. 100.

The University of Texas. By Professor Alexander Hogg. Pp. 7.

Circulars of Information of the Bureau of Education. Nos. 6 and 7, 1880, and 1 and 2, 1881. Washington: Government Printing-Office. 1881.

Fashion in Deformity. By Professor W. H. Flower. London: Macmillan & Co. 1881. Pp. 85. 75 cents.

The Foreigner in China. By L. N. Wheeler, D.D. Chicago: S. C. Griggs & Co. 1881. Pp. 268. $1.25.

The Bible and Science. By T. Lauder Brunton, M.D. F.R.S. London: Macmillan & Co. 1881. Pp. 415. $2.50.

A Sketch of Ancient Philosophy, from Thales to Cicero. By Joseph B. Mayor, M.A. Cambridge: University Press. 1881. Pp. 254. 75 cents.

Botany. Outlines of Morphology, Physiology, and Classification of Plants. By W. R. McNab, M.D., F.L.S. Revised for American Students by Charles E. Bessey, Ph.D. Pp. 400. $1.10. And English History for Young Folks. By S. R. Gardiner. Revised for American Students. Pp. 457. $1. New York: Henry Holt & Co. 1881.

The Microscope and its Revelations. By William B. Carpenter. Sixth edition. Philadelphia: Presley Blakiston. 1881. Pp. 882, $5.50.

Catalogue of 1,098 Standard Clock and Zodiacal Stars. Prepared under the Direction of Professor Simon Newcomb. Pp. 314.

Indigestion and Biliousness. By J. Milner Fothergill, M.D. New York: William Wood & Co. 1881. $2.

The Ancient Bronze Implements, Weapons, and Ornaments of Great Britain and Ireland. By John Evans, D.C.L., F.R.S. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1881. Pp. 509. Illustrated. $5.