can be proved easily. If a round bullet be dropped into a glass of water from the height of a few feet it will be seen that when the bullet touches the bot tom a large bubble of air will become detached and rise to the surface. In this case the bubble will usually be from ten to twenty times the size of the bullet. Now, a Mauser bullet traveling at high speed is said to carry before it a bubble of com pressed air of large dimensions. Experiments made by a surgeon who fired a pistol ball into a glass of water showed the bubble to be one hundred times the size of the ball. From the appearance of the wounds and from these experiments it is concluded that the mass of air driven by a Mauser bullet ex plodes in the body of the wounded man with suffi cient force to cause extensive laceration. This destructive air bubble is well known to surgeons under the name of projectile air."
LITERARY NOTES. THE narrative of the Boer War is continued in SCRIRNER'S MAGAZINE for May, with another bril liant article alleged mistakes from ofH.the J. Whigham, British generals who reviews in strategy the and tactics, and discusses many much-disputed points in the campaign. In fiction this number contains '• Egg Island," a story of a marvelous adventure on a yacht in the southern hemisphere. It is an ab sorbing tale of a mystery. There is also another O'Connor story, called " Princess Royal," which re veals that delightful Irishman in a most ingenious situation. AMONG the timelier articles in THE CENTURY for May is an essay by Andrew Carnegie entitled •• Pop ular Illusions About Trusts." The writer contends that the popular welfare is increased by trusts; also, that such aggregations of productive capital are usually short-lived. " The only people who have reason to fear trusts," he says, '• are those who trust them." An editorial in the same number entitled '• The Real Danger of Trusts." while agree ing with Mr. Carnegie as to the material advantages of such combinations, sets forth wherein they are a menace to the independence of the individual and the state. The sense of humor that gave piquancy to Richard Whiteing's story of social contrasts, "No. 5 John Street," is conspicuous in his treat ment of •• Parisian Pastimes " this month. In the second and last of his profusely illustrated papers on •' The National ' Zoo ' at Washington. Ernest Seton-Thompson. author of " The Biography of a Grizzly," dwells particularly on the opportunities such a reservation offers to wild animals to retain
321
the habits of exercise, etc., on which their happi ness and health depend. '-A Word of Warning to Young Actresses " is addressed especially to wouldbe actresses or amateurs who have been dazzled by the glare of the footlights and fancy the. stage a royal road to wealth and fame. It is an authorita tive word, for it is uttered by one of the most suc cessful of actresses. Miss Clara Morris. QUITE appropriate to the May number of the NEW Ln'i'iNCOTT, the title of the complete novel, "April Showers," by Alice Brown, author of the delightful '• Tiverton Tales." The title fits the story, too. in which clouds and sunshine chase each other in quick succession. Miss Brown is, like Mary E. Wilkins. a New England woman, clever and forcible, and her characters are drawn from the same soil. The difference in treatment of this love story makes the comparison interesting, and we wonder whether Miss Brown has not some time lived where the wind is tempered, and the summers are long, for it seems as if she had been able to re tain much of that atmosphere in bleaker Yankee land. S. R. Crockett's story, called " The Troubler of Israel," cannot be excelled in humor and tender ness, and is entirely worthy of the author of " The Stickit Minister." HEXKV D. SEDGWICK. JK., in the May ATLANTIC, under the title " Nations and the Decalogue," treats the habitual called statesmanship insincerity among and nations, selfishness and of exposes what its is weaknesses and wickednesses, believing that nations as organisms have outlived their usefulness, and "lag superfluous in these latter days. He sees the signs of a coming break-up among the nations, and the amalgamation of them all into one cosmopoli tan brotherhood. Under the title, '• A Nation in a Hurry," Eliot Gregory contributes a delightfully vi vacious satire on the American habit of haste in all things. The paper is a capital specimen of the wit and humor of Mr. Gregory's forthcoming book. " The Ways of Men," and will arouse pleasant anticipations thereof. torial Is the comment REVIEW onOF Admiral REVIEWS Dewey's for May candidacy, there is edi-, on the government of Puerto Rico under the law recently passed by Congress, on the proposed government of Alaska, and on the developments of the month in financial and industrial circles. Other topics treated in " The Progress of the World " are the rush to Cape Nome, fox breeding in Alaska, the April elections, the epidemic of strikes, the opening of the Paris fair, the military operations in South Africa, and the Delagoa Bay award.
