Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 10.djvu/647

This page has been validated.
LITERARY NOTICES.
629

graphical interests, to answer, by leading articles, communications, notes, etc., all the questions which come up in the experience of librarians, and to form "an inspiration that will keep them up to their profession."

The coöperative system ought to work with as much benefit in libraries as it does in other cases; and if, by mutual assistance, their condition can be improved, the good influence will extend to the people who use them. It was for the purpose of helping on in this good work that the Library Journal was undertaken. There is a large band of associate editors, representing the leading libraries of the country, who should be able to make this periodical valuable to all interested in the subject.

Report of the Exploring Expedition from Santa Fe to the Junction of the Grand and Green Rivers in 1859, under the Command of Captain J. N. Macomb; with Geological Report by Prof. J. S. Newberry. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 152.

The larger part of this work is occupied with Prof. Newberry's geological report. This was originally written and prepared for publication in 1860, but did not appear on account of the rebellion. Accompanying it is a map of the region, with eleven water-color sketches, showing the characteristic scenery, and eleven drawings, three of scenery and eight of fossils. The report concludes with descriptions of the cretaceous, carboniferous, and triassic fossils collected on the expedition.

Forest-Culture and Eucalyptus-Trees. By Ellwood Cooper. San Francisco: Cubery & Co. Pp. 238. Price, $1.50.

A lecture by the author on "Forest-Culture and Australian Gum-Trees" occupies the first part of this little book. To it are appended four essays by Frederick von Müller, of Austria, discussing various subjects relating to forest-culture, the desirableness of planting trees, etc. The cultivation of trees is a matter of considerable importance, and this work is intended to impress it upon the public attention.

The "Fifth Annual Catalogue of the Santa Barbara College" takes up the last thirty pages of the book.

Vaccination as a Preventive of Smallpox. By W. C. Chapman, M. D. Toledo: Brown & Faunce. Pp. 91.

There is found to be an inverse ratio between vaccination and small-pox, and the average amount of deaths from smallpox has been only two in a thousand in those countries where vaccination has been rendered compulsory. Its importance is now universally admitted, though it is not so generally acted upon, and for this reason any fresh reminders cannot fail to be beneficial. While advancing nothing absolutely new, Dr. Chapman presents the existing knowledge in a manner which affords a full understanding of the subject. After giving a history of its earliest application and development, he discusses the following questions: "Does vaccination protect the system from contagion of smallpox? Why does the protective power of vaccination become so impaired as to render revaccination advisable? What causes have prejudiced the public against the operation of vaccination? What measures should be instituted to enforce a due appreciation of the benefits of vaccination?"

Rules for a Printed Dictionary Catalogue. By Charles A. Cutter, Librarian of the Boston Athenæum. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 89.

This pamphlet forms the second part of the United States Government report on the public libraries. In many of our smaller cities and towns the value of the libraries is greatly impaired, since there is no direct way of discovering their contents, or of being able to find a book on a given subject. As the libraries enlarge and outgrow their catalogues, these difficulties increase. Mr. Cutter goes into the minutest details of classification in this essay, laying down 203 rules which he expands and illustrates. The work is, perhaps, a little too thorough to be altogether practical in the hands of many librarians. If the directions were not quite so numerous, and some of the details had been suppressed, it might have been more effective. A librarian will, however, be better able to utilize the books under his charge if he make himself familiar with the rules given by Mr. Cutter.