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Cragin, Francis W., Editor. Bulletin of the Washburn College Laboratory of Natural History, Topeka, Kansas. Nos. 1 to 7. Pp. 212, with Plates.
Cuthbertson, Archibald. How to prevent and cure Nervous Diseases. New York: William E. Jenkins. Pp. 50. 25 cents.
Dawson. George M. Recent Observations on the Glaciation of British Columbia and Adjacent Regions. Pp. 4.
Fiske, John. The Critical Period of American History, 1783-1789. Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Pp. 368. $2.
Gardner, E. C. Town and Country School Buildings. New York and Chicago: E. L. Kellogg & Co. Pp. 128.
Hale, Edwin M., M.D., Chicago. The Cat and its Diseases. Pp. 16.
Harland, Marion, Editor. "The Home-Maker." Monthly. Nos. 1 and 2. New York: The Home-Maker Company. Pp. 80 each. 20 cents, $2 a year.
Hittell, John S. A Code of Morals. San Francisco: The Bancroft Company. Pp. 51.
Holbrook. M. L. Eating for Strength. New York: M. L. Holbrook Company. Pp. 236.
Hydrographic Office, U.S. Navy Department. Pilot Chart of the North Atlantic Ocean. November, 1888. Sheet.
Iowa State Board of Health. Monthly Bulletin. October, 1888. Pp. 16.
Kay, David. Memory: What it is and how to improve it. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 334. $1.50.
Keen, W. W., M.D., Philadelphia. Three Successful Cases of Cerebral surgery. Pp. 43.
Michigan, Agricultural College of. Experiment Station. Bulletins Nos. 40 and 41. Pp. 37 and 8.
Mills, T. Wesley, Montreal. Squirrels: Their Habits and Intelligence. With an Appendix, by Dr. R. Bell, on the Red Squirrel. Pp. 14.
Nettleship, R. L. Works of Thomas Hill Green. Vol. III. Miscellanies and Memoir. New York: Longmans, Green & Co. Pp. 479. $7.
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Parloa, Maria. Miss Parloa's New Cook-Book. Boston: Estes & Lauriat. Pp. 56.
Proctor, Richard A. Old and New Astronomy. Parts VI and VII. New York: Longmans, Green & Co. Pp. 124.
Riley, Charles V. Report of the Entomologist, Department of Agriculture. Pp. 179. with Plates. Insect Life. November, 1888. Pp. 44. Washington: Government Printing-Office.
Rogers, James E. Thorold. The Economic Interpretation of History. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 517.
Salomon, Otto. The Slöjd in the Service of the School. Translated by William H. Carpenter. New York: Industrial Education Association. Pp. 28. 20 cents.
Schoppell's Modern Houses. No. 10. New York: Co-operative Building Plan Association. Pp. 24. 25 cents.
Serviss, Garrett P. Astronomy with an Opera-Glass. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 154. $1.50.
Shufeldt, R. W., M.D. Osteology of Arctic and Subarctic Water-Birds. Pp. 39. with Five Plates. The Osteology of Habia Melanocephala. Pp. 7.
A Tax-Payer. True or False Finance. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 41. 25 cents.
Wakefield, George W., Sioux City, Ia. Evolution of the Humane Sentiment (Poem). Pp. 7.
Ward. Prof. Lester F., Washington. Our Better Halves. Pp. 10.
Fast Ocean Passages,—It was about fifty years ago, with the introduction of iron ships and the screw-propeller, that the era of rapid steamboat traveling began. The paddle-wheel steamer Great Western sailed from Bristol, England, April 8, 1838, and reached New York April 23d. This was welcomed as a great achievement, for the passage across the Atlantic had been made in half the time formerly required. Two years later the Cunard steamers began to sail, the pioneer vessel being the Unicorn, a little craft, which made the passage from Liverpool to Boston, via Halifax, in sixteen days. Improvements in the new method of navigation were made in rapid succession. In 1845 the Great Britain—the original ocean screw-steamer—left Liverpool July 26th and arrived at New York August 10th. In May, 1851, the Pacific crossed the Atlantic in nine days, nineteen hours, and twenty-five minutes. The usual time for the passage was still ten or eleven days in 1859. It is only within the last ten years that the speed of ocean-steamers has become phenomenal and their size enormous. The strictly modern class of steamships may be said to have begun with the Arizona, built in 1879, which made the Atlantic passage in the fastest time then on record, attaining a speed of twenty and one third statute miles an hour. In the same year was launched the Alaska, which in 1882 was the first vessel to cross the ocean in seven days, gaining thereby the title of "greyhound of the Atlantic"; but still fleeter "ocean greyhounds" soon appeared. The Oregon outstripped the Alaska, running at the rate of twenty-two miles an hour, and in 1884 was herself eclipsed by the Umbria, making twenty-three and a half miles an hour. Then came the City of Rome, which made the eastward passage in six days, twenty-two hours, and twenty-five minutes; and in February, 1887, the Etruria came to the front with a record of six days and nineteen hours from Liverpool to New York. The Umbria and the Etruria have made several reductions on this time, and the present best record is held by the Etruria, which made the passage from Queenstown to New York in September, 1888, in six days, one hour, and fifty minutes; but we may expect a still further re-
