was had by galleries, the use of which had previously been a puzzle to the explorers. We have also in Professor F. Adler's preface, in which the writer makes comparisons between the ruins of Tiryns and other monuments of prehistoric Greece, and deduces the significance in some points of the whole, a few suggestions which open to us new conceptions of the capacity and arts of the heroes. Many of the blocks of the upper citadel must weigh from 12,000 to 15,000 kilogrammes-even middle-sized stones weigh from 3,700 to 4,000 kilogrammes—and their transport, to their exact place on a high and rocky site, was only possible with the aid of many technical devices and a host of workmen. These figures prove that the citadel can not have been built in a hurry, in the sight of an enemy, or as the first stronghold of an invasion based on maritime supremacy. In fact, "the colossal walls tell every one able to read the language of stones that their erection can only have been effected in a long period of peace, by a ruler with unusual sources of power, and who had trained workmen under his permanent control." There are other facts that point to these buildings being second structures on the site; and, reviewing all the sites, "a real primitive architecture is nowhere to be found; even in Troy the first steps of development are long past. Within certain limits, the materials are already under control, and worked variously, according to the available means and the ends required. A moderate but yet very fruitful store of detail forms is already gathered, so as to cover the gradually elaborated shapes of rooms with significant adornments full of meaning. In some peculiarly favored places, the domain of the higher monumental architecture has already been entered upon with decisive success. In the face of such extended and yet closely connected achievements, which form a consistent whole, the attempt to search for the roots from which arose this early bloom of the art of building is doubly attractive." Other suggestions may be found relative to the development of forms of architecture in stone from models afforded by the primitive wooden structures, and to the connection of this early European with already old Egyptian art.
Brain-Rest. By J. Leonard Corning, M. D. Second edition. New York; G. P. Putnam's Sons.
This little book, which may be regarded as a supplement to the same author's treatise on "Brain Exhaustion," published by D. Appleton & Co., and already noticed in the "Monthly," deals with the important question of the reinvigoration of the brain after exhausting mental labor or after disease. Dr. Corning has made a special study of the subject, and his book contains many facts and suggestions which brain-workers may find of service, and by the help of which they may be able to avoid or remedy to some extent the great danger to which their method of life exposes them.
Report of the Committee of the Citizens' Association on the Main Drainage and Water-supply of Chicago. J. C. Ambler, Secretary: Rooms, 35 Merchants' Building, Chicago. Pp. 32.
The report shows that the water-supply from the lake is always liable to contamination from sewage entering the lake anywhere within the present district. Hence, all sewage whatsoever in this district should be diverted from the lake as its outfall. The flood-waters of the Desplaines and the North Branch may be diverted to the lake north of this district, or through Lake View township, and the South Fork may be connected with the lake by a conduit. But the main reliance for drainage should be by conveyance to the Illinois River. The general plan suggested by the committee may be carried out step by step, to the gradual improvement of the sanitary condition, and without creating a debt or requiring an extraordinary tax-levy.
National Conference of State Boards of Health. J. N. McCormack, of Kentucky, Secretary. Pp. 63.
This pamphlet, which is a reprint from the Report of the Illinois State Board of Health for 1885, contains an account of the organization of the Conference in connection with the meeting of the American Public Health Association at Detroit, Michigan, in November, 1883, and the reports of its first meeting at St. Louis, in October, and the adjourned meeting, at Washington, in December, 1884.
