Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 34.djvu/583

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LITERARY NOTICES.
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Okubo; and "Some New Cases of the Occurrence of Bothriocephalus liguloides, Lt.," by Isao Ijima, Ph. D., and Kentaro Murata. Five plates illustrate these papers. Part III is wholly occupied by an account of "A Magnetic Survey of all Japan," carried out, by order of the President of the Imperial University, by Prof. Cargill G. Knott, D. Sc, and Asst. Prof. Aikitsu Tanakadate. The paper is accompanied by maps showing lines of equal magnetic dip, of equal magnetic horizontal force, of equal magnetic total force, and of equal magnetic declination; also charts of diurnal variation of declination, and two plates representing instruments.

Great-Circle Sailing, by the late Richard A. Proctor (Longmans, 35 cents), is a pamphlet "indicating the shortest sea-routes and describing maps for finding them in a few seconds." The routes may be found by the aid of one chart and a few lines of directions, but two charts are more convenient, and a dozen pages of explanation and illustration are given in addition. To meet the difficulty that the true great-circle course would often carry a ship into inconveniently high latitudes, the author gives Mr. Towson's method of composite sailing, which consists in taking a great-circle course to touch the highest latitude deemed safe, then following this parallel to a second great-circle course which passes through the port of arrival. Charts for this mode of sailing, eighteen inches in diameter, reductions of which are given in the pamphlet, may be obtained of the publishers.

We have received from Messrs. Thomas Prosser & Son, New York, A Sketch of Alfred Krupp, by K. W. and O. E. Michaelis, to which is added A Visit to the Krupp Works at Essen, from the French of Captain E. Monthaye. The sketch makes prominent the sturdy character of the man in forcing his way to success over enormous obstacles. A portrait of Krupp and views of his works are given.

One of the most effective contributions to the literature of tariff reform which has been made during the past year of active discussion is the pamphlet on Relation of the Tariff to Wages, by Hon. David A. Wells, in the "Questions of the Day Series" (Putnam, 25 cents). Taking as a text a statement by Mr. Claine about "the condition and recompense of labor in Europe," Mr. Wells proceeds to show in catechetic form that the protectionists who try to work the "pauper labor" scare "either mean to deceive, or do not know what they are talking about." The scheme of his argument is, first, that the position of labor is more favorable in the United States than in Europe because of the exemption from enormous military and tax burdens, the abundance of fertile land and of means of communication and transportation, the diversity of soil and climate, and the intelligence and energy of the laborers in this country; secondly, that, in proportion to the work done, American laborers do not receive more wages than European; next, that restrictions of markets restrict the opportunities for labor; then, that wages have not been reduced heretofore by reductions in tariff rates; that only five or ten per cent of the bread-winners of the country are engaged in producing protected articles; and, finally, that our present tariff policy is certain to reduce wages. The subject is presented in the clear and vigorous style which marks all of Mr. Wells's economic writings.

The very readable character of the pamphlet by Henry J. Philpott, in the "Questions of the Day Series," makes its title, Tariff Chats (Putnam, 25 cents), a remarkably fit one. The author points out that the tariff is a tax, and that it favors trusts. He gives figures to show how much it raises the prices of certain woolen, cotton, and iron manufactures, and charges with supreme selfishness the few who are benefited by the tariff at the expense of the many. In a striking table he shows that our wealth, manufactures, wages, and various other interests, advanced far more from 1850 to 1860, under a low tariff, than from 1860 to 1870, or 1870 to 1880, under a high tariff. That the high tariff is not for the farmer's interest is shown by the much lower prices obtained for corn and wheat now than before 1860; and that the wages of the laborers in protected manufactures are governed by something else than the tariff is shown by the very different wages paid in different States of the Union all under the same tariff.

Sharing the Profits, a pamphlet, by Mary W. Calkins (Ginn), is a very interesting