Popular Science Monthly/Volume 15/May 1879/Literary Notices

LITERARY NOTICES.

Cooley's Cyclopædia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades, including Medicine, Pharmacy, and Domestic Economy: Designed as a Comprehensive Supplement to the Pharmacopoeia and General Book of Reference for the Manufacturer, Trades-man, Amateur, and Heads of Families. Sixth edition, revised and partly rewritten by Richard V. Tuson, F.C.S., Professor of Chemistry and Toxicology in the Royal Veterinary College. Vol. I. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 896. Price, $4.50.

The rapid development of the practical arts in all directions in recent years has made it lively for the book-makers, because no sooner is a formidable treatise finished on these subjects, no matter with what painstaking care to bring it up to date, than it quickly falls behind, and the author has to set himself to work to prepare for the inevitable new edition. Time is but the register of change; change brings improvements, and improvements antiquate cyclopædias. And so it begins to be understood that no literature is so perishable as that which deals with facts and solid realities. This would be discouraging for bookmakers and book-sellers, but for the circumstance that the old editions become soon worthless, and new ones indispensable. And it would be hard on the book-buyers, but for the fact that the new improvements are often so invaluable as to be cheap at almost any cost. We can not stop the growth of the arts in order to keep the treatises that we have bought perennially fresh.

Cooley's "Cyclopædia of Practical Receipts" is a work of high reputation, not only for its comprehensiveness and accuracy, but because it has been kept faithfully up to the times by its successive revisions; and a careful examination of the sixth edition shows that its standard of excellence has been strictly maintained. The title "Receipts" is in some respects unfortunate, as the work is by no means a mere receipt-book, and it makes no clap-trap claim on the ground that its receipts can be counted by the thousand. It abounds in important practical information of general interest in reference to the materials furnished by commerce and used in the arts, their preparation, and their purity, and is very full in illustrated directions for carrying on manipulations, and preparing numerous articles and products of general utility. The work is important to the chemist, the mechanic, the manufacturer, and the householder. It will be completed in two volumes, and the second may be expected to appear in a few months.

Health, and how to promote it. By Richard McSherry, M. D., Professor of Practice of Medicine, Maryland University, President of Baltimore Academy of Sciences, etc. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 185. Price, $1.25.

Dr. McSherry has here made both a readable and a useful little manual of hygiene. He has no hobbies, and does not profess to be the author of any new theories for the preservation of health, but he goes over the general ground of its conditions as affected by education, as related to the sexes, and as influenced by clothing, exercise, diet, and the habitual use of stimulants. Upon these topics there will be found much fresh information, with many judicious extracts from the best authorities, derived from wide and critical reading. The author's pages are enlivened with many personal references, and interspersed with acute observations calculated to please as well as to instruct the reader. The book will well repay perusal, and we heartily commend it.

After Death, what? or, Hell and Salvation, considered in the Light of Science and Philosophy. By Rev. W. H. Platt. San Francisco: H. Roman & Co. Pp. 209.

This is decidedly a lively volume. It is a sort of colloquial symposium; that is, it undertakes to present both sides of a controverted subject, or some of the issues of religion and science. Yet it differs from the symposium proper, in that the discussion is carried on conversationally, and still more that both sides are represented by one partisan. The book is written by a clergyman, and takes the form of a debate between a preacher and a skeptic. The skeptic seems a kind of poor stick, made to order for the convenience of the preacher, who cuffs him about in a very unceremonious way, and finally "converts" him.

The theory of the origin of the book we are half inclined to infer may be something like this: Rev. W. H. Platt is Rector of Grace Church, San Francisco, which is no doubt a sound and we trust a prosperous orthodox establishment. It is quite likely that, in that city of hoodlums, Chinese pagans, and wicked doubters, some graceless persons have poked fun at the Grace Church people about their antiquated, superstitious notions of hell. Now, even the regenerate are liable to suffer from lingering remnants of pride, and do not like to be made fun of; and so, we may suppose, they turned to their shepherd, Rev. W. H. Platt, for protection. Whereupon, it may be further assumed, he rose in some wrath and resolved to give these scoffing skeptics more scientific hell than they had ever had of the theological sort. We vaguely conjecture this situation from the first paragraph of the book: "The scientist boldly asks the preacher why he continues to preach the old-fashioned hell. 'Do you not know,' he says, 'that intelligent people now laugh at your lake of fire and brimstone, your devil with horns and dragon-tail, and all that sort of stuff?'" The discussion is thus launched, and the author proceeds to get such abounding proofs of hell out of the most modern science as must raise the spirits of his desponding flock. The advance of science does not trouble him; he accepts its latest conclusions in the most liberal spirit, but finds them all subservient to his purpose. After proving immortality on scientific grounds, He goes on to establish that—

The law of affinity proves a hell.
The law of association proves it.
The law of growth proves it.
The law of propagation proves it.
The law of involution proves it.
The law of evolution proves it.

This is a pretty strong programme, but what does the Rev. W. H. Platt really mean by "hell"? One is led to suppose from the way he starts off that he means to stick to the literal, old-fashioned notion, and not yield to any amelioration of modern theology in regard to this important term. Indeed, he gives a side-thrust at Mr. Beecher by putting a passage from Beecher's San Francisco lecture into the mouth of his skeptic as follows: "'Any way,' said the skeptic, 'the old creed and religion must give way. There is just as certainly a change in the whole religious thought of the race as that the sun shines. Doctrines taught fifty years ago are neither taught now as they then were nor believed as they then were believed.'" This the preacher stoutly denies. But, when he says "antipathy of evil to good is hell," is he not making a new definition that would have been scouted by orthodox theologians half a century ago? Again, he says, "'Suffering makes all places hell—just as mental suffering is greater than bodily suffering so its hell is worse,' said the preacher. 'We have been taught that hell is a locality, and so it is. The shadow and the beam each have its place. But as a village is nothing to an empire, to a continent, to a hemisphere; as the center is nothing to a circumference; as a point is nothing to all space, so is the placed hell of past teachings as nothing to the unplaced hell of science. To the evil 'all places are hell.' Hell is in the presence of broken law, whether in mind or matter, in time or eternity.'"

A quarter of a century ago this would have passed for flat Universalism.

The Reign of God not the Reign of "Law." By Thomas Scott Bacon. Baltimore: Turnbull Brothers. Pp. 400. Price, $1.50.

A prosy, unreadable book by a very devout but foolish man, who is in a state of anxious alarm at the progress of science, and proposes to resist it by clinging with increasing desperation to the most literal orthodox interpretation of Scripture. We do not by any means intimate that the author is a fool; on the contrary, he is what is called "learned"; that is, he quotes strange lingos all through his text, and has, no doubt, been through college. He can not be strictly said to be ignorant of nature, but he is in a far worse state of mind than that of simple ignorance. There would be some hope of teaching a Digger Indian many elementary truths concerning natural things, because he has no fatal prepossessions respecting them; but this enlightened Christain has got his head so filled with the details of a great theological system, and is so palsied with fear lest it should be disturbed, that no real knowledge of nature can get entrance or hospitable reception in his mind. For example, in his chapter on our present geology and astronomy, he insists that "we may yet find that God chose to do all that work of creation in twenty-four, or in one hundred and sixty hours of our present time, which it is absurd to doubt that he could do." Of what use are proofs to an intellect in such a condition as this? When many years ago the fossil shells of marine life were found on the tops of high mountains, and the question arose how they came there, the monks readily replied that they were created at first in their fossil forms with the divine intention of testing men's faith in the power of God to do things exactly as he pleased. This is now regarded as sufficiently absurd, and is often quoted to illustrate the stupidity of the monks; but their frame of mind survives in our author. In a foot-note he says: "Indeed, it is far more rational to think that the eternal Lord made in a moment of time all this nature, and with its suggestiveness to the merely worldly mind of long processes of creation, meaning this as one of those mysteries of spiritual discipline which we find everywhere else, and which are greater than all matter, thus trying and training our faith in him." What a notion of the Deity!

Health Primers: No. 1, Exercise and Training; No. 2, Alcohol, its Use and Abuse; No. 3, The House and its Surroundings; No. 4, Premature Death, its Promotion or Prevention; No. 5, Personal Appearance in Health and Disease; No. 6, Baths and Bathing. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1879. Pp. 96 each. Price, 40 cents.

The deep and widespread interest that has of late years been taken in matters pertaining to the preservation of health has caused the publication, among much that is good, of a great deal that is bad on the subject of hygiene. This has usually appeared in the shape of crude and untrustworthy compilations, that when made the basis of practice have been productive of positive injury, and have led to a general distrust of all hygienic teaching. These Primers originated in a desire to change this state of things by supplying, in a form suited to the wants of the general reader, trustworthy information capable of practical use on the more important every-day questions relating to personal and family hygiene. Their preparation has been undertaken by several eminent medical and scientific men in London; the choice of topics and critical supervision of the work being intrusted to an able and responsible committee.

The series, when complete, will consist of fifteen volumes; six of these have now been published, and, as will be seen from the titles given above, they are all on subjects of the first importance. The writer in every case has been selected for his special acquaintance with the subject he was to treat, and as a consequence each Primer is filled with substantial and useful information, presented in a simple and elementary form, that brings it within the reach of the average reader.

Some idea of the valuable practical information contained in these volumes may be gained from the following résumé of the contents of those already published:

No. 1, on "Exercise and Training," is illustrated, and deals first with the "General Principles" of the subject; this is followed by "The Exercise suitable for Different Ages, Sex, and Physical Conditions"; and the Primer closes with a chapter on "Training," in which the relations of different dietaries to exercise, the amount of exercise required, its due regulation, etc., are considered. In No. 2, on "Alcohol," the properties of this substance are first described in an "Introduction"; then come, the forms in which it is used as a beverage; its effects when taken sparingly and in excess; the diseases it gives rise to; and its right use, if used at all. No. 3, on "The House and its Surroundings," opens with a chapter pointing out the common defects observed in houses; treats next of site and construction; then of drainage; water-supply; closets and plumbing; warming and lighting; bedrooms, kitchen, etc.; and the operations of purification. No. 4, on "Premature Death," begins with a statement of the proportion of people who die before their time; this is followed by a description of the principal causes of premature death; and, lastly, we are told what to do to secure a reasonable length of days. In No. 5, on "Personal Appearance in Health and Disease," the form and size of the body, with their healthy variations, are first described; the changes that take place in the fatty layer or tissue are next discussed; then the changes observed in the bony framework; the changes in the organs due to development, etc.; artificial alterations of shape; color and changes of color; and, lastly, temperament and habit. No. 6 treats of the "Physiological Action of Baths"; varieties of baths; bathing localities; and the uses of the bath.

Draper's Scientific Memoirs. New York: Harper & Brothers. 1878.

We briefly noticed this interesting work some months ago, with the intention of recurring to it again at a favorable opportunity, to enforce some points not then considered. Meantime there has appeared a review of the volume in the "London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine," that is both so authoritative and so pertinent that we can not do better than transfer it to the columns of "The Popular Science Monthly." Dr. Draper contributed numerous articles descriptive of his important researches to the pages of that magazine at the time his investigations were made. Many of the results which he reached were at once accepted as valid advances in the fields of Physics, Chemistry, and Physiology. But, in regard to the study of the radiations and the new results attained in that field, matters took a different turn. There was a long series of quiet preliminary inquiries that paved the way for the splendid demonstrations of spectrum analysis, but which were unappreciated and thrown into the shade after that brilliant discovery. A new epoch seemed to be suddenly created, and men cared little to know who had gone before and prepared for it. Unfortunately, this condition of things was favorable to the misappropriation of results gained by pioneer laborers. As the conductors of the "Philosophical Magazine" were of course aware of what had appeared in their pages, and were familiar with the early history of this train of researches, we had not much doubt that they would speak to the point when the time came. Our readers will observe that in the subjoined notice of Dr. Draper's work they have done so, thus decisively confirming the positions that we have formerly taken in regard to the priority of Dr. Draper in the investigations that led up to spectrum analysis.

Dr. Draper here brings together the scattered memoirs and essays that he has written during the past forty years on subjects connected with radiation and radiant energy. They are thirty in number, and, for the most part, are simply reprints; but in a few cases the original memoirs are condensed, and in one or two cases the article here given is the substance of a considerable number of detached articles. Most of them have already appeared in our pages; the earliest of them, on subjects relating to photography, appeared in 1840. "I have endeavored," the author tells us, "to reproduce these memoirs as they were originally published. When considerations of conciseness have obliged me to be contented with an abstract, it has always been so stated, and the place where the original may be found has been given. Sometimes, the circumstances seeming to call for it, additional matter has been introduced; but this has always been formally indicated under the title of 'Notes,' or included in parentheses" (p. x.).

It is probably known to our readers that Count Rumford made a donation to the American Academy of Arts and Science (similar to that which he made to the Royal Society) for rewarding discoveries and improvements relating to light and heat made in America. The Academy has been rather chary of bestowing its honors, and had only awarded its Rumford Medal four times before it made the award in 1875 to Dr. J. W. Draper "for his researches in radiant energy." This circumstance has determined the selection of articles in the present volume. It comprises the researches on which the award was founded.

The President's statement of the grounds of the award is given in the Appendix, and may be summarized as follows:

(a.) Independent discovery of Moser's images.

(b.) Measurement of the intensity of chemical action of light, by exposing to the source of light a mixture of equal volumes of chlorine and hydrogen.

(c.) Application of Daguerreotype process to taking portraits.

(d.) Application of ruled glasses and specula to produce spectra for the study of the chemical action of light.

(e.) Investigation of the nature of the rays absorbed by growing plants in sunlight.

(f.) Discussion of the chemical action of light, and proof that rays of all wavelengths are capable of producing chemical changes.

(g.) Researches on the distribution of heat in the spectrum.

And, finally, an elaborate investigation, published in 1847, by which he established the following facts, which we will give in the words of the award:

1. All solid substances, and probably liquids, become incandescent at the same temperature.

2. The thermometric point at which substances become red-hot is about 977° Fahr.

3. The spectrum of an incandescent solid is continuous; it contains neither bright nor dark fixed lines.

4. From common temperatures, nearly up to 977° Fahr., the rays emitted by a solid are invisible. At that temperature they are red; and the heat of the incandescing body being made continuously to increase, other rays are added, increasing in refrangibility as the temperature rises.

5. While the addition of rays, so much the more refrangible as the temperature is higher, in taking place, there is an increase in the intensity of those already existing. The award then proceeds as follows: Thirteen years afterward Kirchhoff published his celebrated memoir on the relations between the coefficients of emission and absorption of bodies for light and heat, in which he established mathematically the same facts, and announced them as new.

We are, of course, aware that this is rather a burning question; but, whatever may be thought of the justice of these claims, there can be no doubt that the fact of their having been made on behalf of Dr. Draper by so distinguished a body as the American Academy of Arts and Science ought to be known, and that its judgment will receive at least respectful consideration whenever the early history of spectroscopic science comes to be written. And it is impossible not to draw attention to this fact in a notice, however brief, of Dr. Draper's volume; for, plainly, one of the motives of its publication is to assert his claims to priority of discovery in regard to the points above quoted. In fact, the four memoirs which bear 'directly on the subject of spectrum analysis are printed first in the volume, and are followed by a note in which Dr. Draper complains, though in very decorous language, that he has received considerably less than justice at the hands of M. Kirchhoff; and, by way of showing that he has tangible grounds for complaint, he makes the following quotations (p. 85) from M. Jamin's "Cours de Physique," in which results that he had previously established are formally attributed to M. Kirchhoff:

M. Kirchhoff has deduced the following important consequences:

Black bodies begin to emit at 977° Fahr. red radiations, to which are added successively and continuously other rays of increasing refrangibility as the temperature rises.

All substances begin to be red-hot at the same temperature in the same inclosure.

The spectrum of solids and liquids contains no fixed lines.[1]

Now, it may be said with very little qualification that what is here attributed to M. Kirchhoff is to be found distinctly stated in the first memoir in the volume before us, which was published by Dr. Draper in 1847. By experimenting with a strip of platinum heated by the transmission of a current whose force could be regulated, he ascertained that the temperature at which red rays are first radiated is 977° Fahr. He also ascertained that platinum, brass, antimony, gas-carbon, and lead became incandescent at the same time with the iron barrel in which they were gradually heated, and that the apparent exceptions presented by chalk, marble, and fluor-spar were due to phosphorescence. By raising the temperature of the platinum wire and analyzing with a prism the light emitted, he proved that the length of its spectrum gradually increased with the temperature until at 2130° Fahr. the full spectrum of daylight was attained; and it is clear that he regarded the result thus obtained as being generally true. That the spectrum of the incandescent platinum contained no dark lines had indeed come out only incidentally in the course of the investigation; still it was not by any means a point seen but not observed; for, in consequence of observing it, he resorted to a comparison of the spectra of incandescent platinum at different temperatures with the spectrum of daylight in order to determine their extent, instead of fixing their extent by the dark lines of the spectra themselves, which he had ascertained to be non-existent. On the whole, the above statement breaks down at nearly every point. What is therein referred to M. Kirchhoff was certainly ascertained before by Dr. Draper. Whether Dr. Draper was the first person to observe all these points is a very different question, and one we would by no means prejudge; indeed, without going beyond the limits of the first Memoir, it is pretty plain that the temperature of incandescence was known with considerable accuracy before Dr. Draper's experiment with the platinum wire; and it certainly was believed (if not proved) that the temperature was the same for all bodies.

Habit and Intelligence. A Series of Essays on the Laws of Life and Mind. By Joseph John Murphy. New York: Macmillan & Co. Pp. 583. Price, $5.

The first edition of this work appeared nearly ten years ago. It was favorably received, and the author has been encouraged to pursue still further the line of thought there opened. This second edition is so nearly rewritten as to be practically a new work. Several chapters have been removed, and others condensed and modified, while much new matter has been added. It is obvious that there are two chief elements in this change: first, the progress of the subjects, or the increase of our actual knowledge concerning them; and, second, the author's own progress in mastering them. He is occupied by the most tangled and obscure of modern investigations, upon many of which the intellect of the world has but just fairly entered; these he discusses from an independent point of view, putting forth his own conclusions freely and fully. These are such as to merit attention; and the reader who desires to be thoroughly up in modern biological and psychological discussion will find much in Mr. Murphy's volume to repay attention.

The National Dispensatory: Containing the Natural History, Chemistry, Pharmacy, Actions, and Uses of Medicines, including those recognized in the Pharmacopoeias of the United States and Great Britain. By Alfred Stillé, M. D., LL. D., Professor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine and of Clinical Medicine in the University of Pennsylvania, etc., and John M. Maisch, Ph. D., Professor of Materia Medica and Botany in the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, Secretary to the American Pharmaceutical Association. In one very handsome octavo volume of over sixteen hundred closely-printed pages, with over Two Hundred Illustrations. Extra cloth, $6.75; leather, raised bands, $7.50. Philadelphia: Henry C. Lea.

The range of the sciences connected with materia medica and therapeutics is not only a very wide but also an ever-shifting one, growing by constant accessions of facts and material, condensing by sifting and discarding, and appropriating all that which has proved of real and more than ephemeral value. Pharmacopœias and compendiums of materia medica, in order to keep pace with both accessions and restrictions, and with general progress, have therefore to be revised or rewritten from time to time.

In the United States, where there as yet is no legally authorized Pharmacopœia, and the existing one is but the voluntary work of delegates from a number of medical and pharmaceutical societies and colleges, the "United States Dispensatory," of Professors Wood and Bache, for more than forty years has been the unrivaled standard in this special and important branch of the healing art, and as such has, to a very large extent, overshadowed the "Pharmacopœia." Since the appearance of the fifth decennial revision of the "United States Pharmacopœia" in 1873, and the failure of the "United States Dispensatory" to embrace in time its improvements, alterations, and additions in the way of a new commensurate edition, the want became more and more patent of a new critical digest, supplementing the Pharmacopœia, representing the advanced state of materia medica, and discarding the bulk of obsolete material. The announcement some years ago that Professors Stillé and Maisch, of Philadelphia, had engaged in the preparation of such a work was therefore received with the more satisfaction and confidence, as both authors are recognized authorities in their respective departments. The result of their joint labor has now made its appearance in the above named volume, containing 1,540 pages, 88 pages of indexes, and 201 illustrations.

The practical importance of the objects of this work, the elaborate and comprehensive treatment of the immense material, embracing the natural history, chemistry, pharmacy, and the actions and uses, of the entire domain of the present materia medica, in a concise and lucid style, and commensurate with the advanced state of the kindred sciences, make the "National Dispensatory" at once a complete digest of its kind in the English language and a creditable publication of the American press.

Without entering in detail upon a critical survey of this voluminous work, of its many excellencies and comparatively slight and few shortcomings, it affords us special pleasure, in justice to its intrinsic value, its importance, and its prospective usefulness, to add our unqualified approval of the masterly way in which the authors have accomplished their task, and have succeeded in furnishing for general use, and to the professions of pharmacy and medicine in particular, a complete and trustworthy guide both for ready reference and for study. In this connection we hope that it may prove an effectual impetus to, and become largely instrumental in, the better, more correct, and more thorough study of pharmacology so much needed by pharmacists, druggists, and physicians, and at the pharmaceutical and medical schools of our country.

The publisher deserves due credit for the good style in which the book has been brought out. If shortcomings in this respect can be pointed out, they consist mainly in the comparative inferiority of quite a number of the woodcuts. While a few of them—as, for instance, on pages 314, 645, 866, and 1161—are equal to the excellent illustrations of the corresponding standard works of the French, and in particular of the German literature, others are less satisfactory, and in not a few cases inadequate to such an elaborate work and to the present state of xylography. Future editions can remedy this want, and in this respect enhance the value of the work by a liberal addition of pharmacognostical illustrations.


PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

Fasting Girls: Their Physiology and Pathology. By Wm. A. Hammond. M.D. New York: Putnams. 1879. Pp. 76. 75 cents.

Fashions of the Day in Medicine and Science. By H. S. Constable. Kingston-upon-Hull: Levy & Co. 1879. Pp. 300.

Sewer Gases. By A. de Varona. With Plates. Brooklyn: "Eagle" print. 1879. Pp. 157. 75 cents.

Mixed Essays. By Matthew Arnold. New York: Macmillan & Co. 1879. Pp. 347. $2.

Life and Letters of Frances Baroness Bunsen. By A. J. C. Hare. Two vols, in one. With Portraits. New York: Routledge & Sons. 1879. Pp. 516 and 486. $5.

The Teacher. Hints on School Management. By J. R. Blakiston. New York: Macmillan & Co. 1879. Pp. 106.

The Color-Sense. By G. Allen. Boston: Houghton, Osgood & Co. 1879. Pp. 294. $3.50.

Aids to Family Government. By B. Meyer. New York: Holbrook. 1879. Pp. 208. $1.

A Voyage with Death, and other Poems. By A. Welcker. Oakland, Cal.: Strickland & Co. Pp. 78.

Report of the New York City Board of Education. 1878. Pp. 419.

The Grocer's Manual. By P. H. Felker. Claremont, N. H.: Claremont Manufacturing Co. 1878. Pp. 312.

Chesapeake Zoölogical Laboratory. Session of 1878. With Plates. Baltimore: Murphy print. 1879. Pp. 170.

Native Flowers and Ferns of the United States. By Thomas Meehan. Parts 21, 22, 23, 24. Boston: Prang & Co. 50 cents each.

Report of the Ontario Institution for the Blind (1878). Toronto: Robinson print. Pp. 29.

American Chemical Journal. Edited by Ira Remsen. Vol. I., No. 1. Baltimore: Innes & Co. print. Pp. 76. $3 per volume, 50 cents per number.

Journal of Physiology. Supplement to Vol. I. London and New York: Macmillan. Pp. 62.

Nests and Eggs of American Birds. By E. Ingersoll. Part I. With Plates. Salem, Mass.: Cassino. Pp. 20. 50 cents.

Report of the Western Pennsylvania Institution for the Deaf and Dumb (1878). Pittsburg; Stevenson, Foster & Co. print. Pp. 55.

The Silkworm. Washington: Government Printing-office. 1879. Pp. 31.

D'Unger's Cure for Dipsomania. Chicago: The Author. Pp. 16.

Organon of Science. By J. H. Stinson. Eureka, Cal.: Ayres print. Pp. 193.

Statistics of the Treasury Department (September, 1878). Washington: Government Printing-Offlce. Pp. 117.

Economic Monographs; International Copyright; Free Trade; Hindrances to Prosperity; Honest Money and Labor; National Banking. New York: Putnams. 1879. 25 cents each.

Report of the Eastern Penitentiary of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: McLaughlin Brothers print. 1878. Pp. 130.

Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Vol. HI., Part II. With Plate. Philadelphia: The Academy. 1876. Pp. 114.

Observations of the Solar Eclipse of July 29, 1878. By L. Waldo. With Plates. Cambridge: Press of J. Wilson & Son. 1879. Pp. 60.

Improved Dwellings for the Laboring Classes. With Plates. New York: Putnams. Pp. 45. 30 cents.

Structure of the Gorilla. By H. C. Chapman, M. D. With Plate. From "Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences." Pp. 10.

American Clinical Lectures. Edited by E. C. Seguin. M. D. Vol. III., No. 11. New York: Putnams.

Valedictory Address at the Jefferson Medical College. By Dr. J. A. Meigs. Philadelphia. 1879. Pp. 26.

Adulteration of Milk. By H. A. Mott, Jr. New York: Trow print. Pp. 69.

Turbine Wheels. By W. P. Trowbridge. New York: Van Nostrand. 1879. Pp. 88. 50 cents.

Anchor Ice and Public Water Supply. From "Proceedings of the Civil Engineers' Club of the Northwest." Pp. 7.

Triassic Formation of New Jersey. By J. C. Russell. From "Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences." Pp. 35.

Burdsal's Sulphate of Soda Deposits in Colorado Denver: "Times" print. Pp. 8.

Papers by the Phi Eta Scientific Society. Troy: The Society. 1879. Pp. 69.

The Evidence of the Senses. By W. G. Stevenson, M. D. Poughkeepsie. 1878. Pp. 15.

Neurility. By 8. V. Clevenger, M. D. Pp. 24.

Homœopathic Yellow Fever Commission. New York: Boericke & Tafel. Pp. 32.

The Mint Bureau. Speech of J. M. Glover, M. C. Washington. 1879. Pp. 19.

Improved Method of ringing a Bell in an Exhausted Receiver. By J. R. Baker. From "Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science." Pp. 4.

Damiana. By J. J. Caldwell, M. D. Pp. 8.

Rainfall, Percolation, and Evaporation. By Professor L. Stockbridge. Boston: Rand, Avery & Co. 1879. Pp. 38.

  1. The above quotation is, we presume, to be found on pp. 463, 464, vol. iii., edition of 1866. If so, it is not exactly a quotation, but is made up of parts of a much larger statement. We may also observe that Memoir I. of the present volume is not in all respects an exact verbal reprint of this Memoir published in our "Journal" for May, 1847. This does not, however, affect the point at issue.