Popular Science Monthly/Volume 26/March 1885/Literary Notices

LITERARY NOTICES.

INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC SERIES, VOL. XLVIII.

Origin of Cultivated Plants. By Alphonse De Candolle. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 468. Price, $2.

Although a thoroughly popular work interesting to everybody, this volume is nevertheless a monument of laborious and learned research. Its author is not only one of the most eminent botanists of the age, but he has been for many years especially devoted to this subject. He published an extensive work thirty years ago on "Geographical Botany," one chapter of which was devoted to the "Origin of Cultivated Plants," and he has since pursued the subject so systematically and perseveringly that the field is now his own. The present book, however, is entirely new, and gives what is known of the history of nearly all plants which are cultivated, either on a large scale for economic purposes, or in fields, orchards, and kitchen gardens.

The work, as may be supposed, has been one of very great difficulty. Lack of knowledge, doubtful statements, and, what is worse, long sanctioned and established error, have proved formidable difficulties in the way of research. Plants, like men, have not only traveled over the globe from region to region, undergoing changes in their migrations into new environments, but they have been directly modified by domestication, so that only thorough botanical knowledge can trace their lineage and throw light upon their origin. In some cases the original wild species are probably extinct, and in other cases the cultivated varieties have lapsed into the wild condition, so that the problem of identification is liable to be much obscured. But greater difficulties still have arisen from the fact that botany is a modern science of which the ancients knew very little, so that their descriptions are imperfect and untrustworthy. The embarrassments of the research are, moreover, heightened by that revolution in regard to the validity of evidence which science has wrought in recent times. All statements have to be questioned and sifted, and loose opinions thrown aside by the more exacting standards of proof which men of science now recognize. On these points, and with reference to the general plan of his inquiries, Professor De Candolle remarks:

I have always aimed at discovering the condition and (ho habitat of each species before it was cultivated. It was needful to this end to distinguish from among innumerable varieties that which should be regarded as the most ancient, and to find out from what quarter of the globe it came. The problem is more difficult than it appears at first sight. In the last century and up to the middle of the present, authors made little account of it, and the most able have contributed to the propagation of erroneous ideas. I believe that three out of four of Linnæus’s indications of the original home of cultivated plants are incomplete or incorrect. His statements have since been repeated, and, in spite of what modern writers have proved touching several species, they are still repeated in periodicals and popular works. It is time that mistakes, which date in some cases from the Greeks and Romans, should be corrected. The actual condition of science allows of such correction, provided we rely upon evidence of varied character, of which some portion is quite recent, and even unpublished; and this evidence should be sifted as we sift evidence in historical research. It is one of the rare cases in which a science founded on observation should make use of testimonial proof. It will be seen that this method leads to satisfactory results, since I have been able to determine 'the origin of almost all the species, sometimes with. absolute certainty, and sometimes with a high degree of probability.

The investigations of De Candolle assume a new and enlarged interest from the results of modern biological progress in regard to the transformations of species, and the vast periods of time during which organic development and mutations have been going forward. The great problem was fundamentally changed with the abandonment of the old view regarding the immutability of species. It was under the careful study of plants that that view first broke down, and from that time a radically new method has prevailed in the study of the vegetable kingdom. From this point of view the historical question of the origin of cultivated plants not only became a modern question, belonging, indeed, to the present age, and incapable of earlier solution, but it connects itself with vast periods of change, and is linked on to the largest considerations of the economy of life upon the earth. We quote some further instructive observations of our author in regard to important particulars of his research:

I have endeavored to establish the number of centuries or thousands of years during which each species has been in cultivation, and how its culture spread in different directions at successive epochs. A few plants cultivated for more than two thousand years, and even some others, are not now known in a spontaneous, that is, wild condition, or at any rate this condition is not proved. Questions of this nature are settled. They, like the distinction of species, require much research in books and herbaria. 1 have even been obliged to appeal to the courtesy of travelers or botanists in all parts of the world to obtain recent information. I shall mention these in each case, with the expression of my grateful thanks. In spite of these records and of all my researches there still remain several species which are unknown wild. In the cases where these come from regions not completely explored by botanists, or where they belong to genera as yet insufficiently studied, there is hope that the wild plant may be one day discovered. But this hope is fallacious in the case of well-known species and countries. We are here led to form one of two hypotheses: either these plants have since history began so changed in form in their wild as well as in their cultivated condition that they are no longer recognized as belonging to the same species, or they are extinct species. The lentil, the chick-pea, probably no longer exist in nature; and other species, as wheat, maize, the broad bean, carthamine, very rarely found wild, appear to be in course of extinction. The number of cultivated plants with which I am here concerned being 249, the three, four, or five species, extinct or nearly extinct, is a large proportion, representing a thousand species out of the whole number of phanerogams. This destruction of forms must have taken place during the short period of a few hundred centuries, on continents where they might have spread, and under circumstances which are commonly considered unvarying. This shows how the history of cultivated plants is allied to the most important problems of the general history of organized beings.

From these considerations it will be seen that the present volume is of capital interest to all concerned with botanical science. It is an authoritative digest of facts to be nowhere else found, and has been executed with the strictest fidelity to the original sources of information. The fullness and minuteness of the references to works consulted greatly enhance the scientific value of the volume, and will undoubtedly be much appreciated by botanical students.

But, as we remarked at the outset, the book is entirely popular, and thoroughly intelligible to common readers. Its plan is simple. Part I consists of two chapters of general preliminary remarks as to I, "In what Manner and at what Epochs Cultivation began in Different Countries"; and II, "Methods for discovering or proving the Origin of Species." In Part II, the main portion of the work, the divisions are simple and practicable, as follows: I, "Plants cultivated for their Subterranean Parts, such as Roots, Tubercles, or Bulbs"; II, "Plants cultivated for their Stems or Leaves"; III, "Plants cultivated for their Flowers, or the Organs which envelop them"; IV, "Plants cultivated for their Fruits"; V, "Plants cultivated for their Seeds." At the close there in a valuable table summing up the general results, which is followed by a careful index. All the plants described are given under their common names.

It would seem that all intelligent people should desire to be informed concerning the history of such familiar things as the plants that are used for daily food; but the intellectual interest of the subject is heightened when we find that this common subject is involved largely in the progress of human civilization.

The New Philosophy. By Albert W. Paine. Bangor, Me.: O. F. Knowles & Co. Pp. 168. Price, $1.

Mr. Paine in this book presents a new theory respecting the connection of the two worlds in which he believes man has his existence, and their intimate relations to each other, based on the psychical and so-called spiritual phenomena which have recently attracted attention. lie supposes that man while an inhabitant of this world is composed of two factors, soul and body, each of which is complete in itself and separate from the other as regards constituent form, but corresponding with the other in all essential particulars, the body being permeated by the soul in every minutest part, and that the separation from each other is death, upon which the soul becomes wholly independent. He also proposes a theory of electricity, the essential feature of which is that that agent is closely related with the great law of spiritual existence.

Text-Book of Botany, Morphological and Physiological. By Julius Sachs, Professor of Botany in the University of Würzburg; edited, with an Appendix, by Sydney H. Vines, M. A., D. Sc, F. L. S., Fellow and Lecturer of Christ's College, Cambridge. Macmillan & Co. Second edition. Pp. 980. Price, $8.

We noticed this important work upon its first appearance, and recognized its position as foremost among the standard treatises on botanical science of the present day. The work is intended to put the student in full possession of the present state of knowledge upon the subject, and, besides describing the phenomena of plant life which are already accurately known, it indicates also very fully those theories and problems in which botanical research is at present especially engaged. Detailed discussions of questions of minor importance have been avoided, and the historical development of botanical views has also been omitted, that the entire space of the work may be devoted to a representation of the existing condition of the science.

No change in the plan of the work has been made in this new edition, nor any modification of its leading features. Some minor alterations and additions have been introduced, and something has been done to improve and perfect the translation. A few notes are appended to the volume, embodying some of the very latest results in botanical research. The work is elegant in form and complete in its treatment, and may be commended as the most adequate treatise for the thoroughgoing botanical student, and at the same time one of the best books we have for general reference in a library.

Rudimentary Society among Boys. By John Johnson, Jr. Baltimore: N. Murray. Pp. 56. Price, 50 cents.

In this paper the editor of the Johns Hopkins University "Studies in Historical and Political Science" has consented to include a plot a little outside of the field which it was first intended to cultivate in those studies, and he has decided wisely. The paper describes the spontaneous organization of a community, and the growth of laws and established customs among a group of boys just brought together, almost from the wild state, at the school with which he was connected; and gives a study, from actual contemporary observation, of the manner in which, in all likelihood, the primitive societies grew up and became fixed. The school was the McDonough School, near Baltimore, to which is attached a domain of eight hundred acres, giving ample privileges for nutting and bird's-nesting and rabbit trapping. In the beginning everything was common. The first to grasp a prize secured it. All is very different now. Conflicts came, and made rules necessary to avoid them. The rules were made by the boys' own action, as occasion arose for forming them; and now the property and the privileges are all parceled out, with fixed regulations for their tenure, transference, and descent. Classes have grown up of landlords and tenants, and there are monopolists and persons who have no estates. A system of credits has been developed, with something like banks. And the McDonough School has become the epitome of a State, with its laws, and its vested interests, and its business methods, all systematically regulated, and the regulations a living force. The successive steps that have led up to this condition, the reason for each new measure, and the effect of it after it went into operation, are graphically described in the essay.

Town and County Government in the English Colonies of North America. By Edward Channing, Ph. D. Baltimore: N. Murray. Pp. 57. Price, 50 cents.

This is another of that series of valuable studies in the development of our political history which the Johns Hopkins University is giving to the public in monthly monographs. It describes the manner in which the parochial, or town, and county organizations in the older colonies arose, from some or other of which the similar organizations of the newer States in their essential features were derived. The exact form which the local organization in each colony should assume is regarded as having depended upon the economic conditions of the colony; the experience in the management of local concerns which its founders brought from the mother-country; and the form of church government and local organization which was found expedient.

Prehistoric America. By the Marquis de Nadaillac. Translated by N. D'Anvers. Edited by W. H. Dall. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 566, with 219 Illustrations. Price, $5.

The author of this work was already well known to students of archæology by the book previously published by him on primitive men and prehistoric times, in which were described the stone age of Europe and the early resting-places of the ancient inhabitants of the Old World. The good-will with which that work was received has led him to supplement it by tracing the analogous period in America. In carrying out this study, he has made good use of the investigations which have been undertaken in the United States, to which he fittingly acknowledges his obligations. As a result he has given a methodical and comprehensive treatise, constituting, perhaps, the most adequate presentation of the whole subject that has yet been made in a single volume. The present translation has been made with the author's sanction, and, with his permission, has been so modified and revised by the editor—who is recognized as an expert in this branch—as to bring it into harmony with the results of recent investigation and the conclusions of the best authorities on the archaeology of the United States. In the final chapter the editor expresses his views as to the manner in which America was peopled, to the effect that it was done at different times by scions of different races. The completeness of the index deserves commendation.

The Eclectic Physiology. By Eli F. Brown, M. D. Cincinnati and New York: Van Antwerp, Bragg & Co. Pp. 189, with Plates.

This is a treatise prepared with special reference to its use in schools, and giving only such matter as seems needful to enable pupils fairly to master the subject, but with supplementary matter in notes. The study is made to proceed from the simplest, in a plain order of dependence, to the most complex parts: under each topic, attention is first given to the structure and use of parts; upon which the hygiene of the part follows closely. Attention is given to the care of proper sanitary conditions in the home, and to the discussion of habits; and the effects of narcotics and stimulants on the body and mind are set forth plainly and fully.

Icaria: A Chapter in the History of Communism. By Albert Shaw, Ph. D. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, Pp. 219. Price, $1.

The purpose in this book is simply to present in full the history of a single communistic enterprise, without going into the discussion of the merits or demerits of communism, or into the consideration of any topic aside from the narrative. The author submits two particular reasons why this story should be told: First, it has never been told before, except in the most meager and inaccurate way, and is besides a peculiarly romantic and interesting one; second, because "as an example of communism in the concrete, Icaria has illustrative value beyond all proportion to its wealth, membership„ and success. Host of the communistic societies of the United States might better be studied as religious than as socialistic phenomena. . . . Icaria is an attempt to realize the rational, democratic communism of the Utopian philosophers, hence its value as an experiment."

The Elements of Chemistry, Inorganic and Organic. By Sidney A. Norton, Ph. D. Cincinnati and New York: Van Antwerp, Bragg & Co. Pp. 504.

Intending his treatise to be used as a text-book, not as a manual for reference. Professor Norton has endeavored to select such chemical phenomena as represent the cardinal principles of the science, giving preference to those which are easily reproduced by the student, and which enter into the affairs of common life. He invites students to experiment, and encourages them, if they can not afford artistically made apparatus, to extemporize apparatus with bottles and tumblers and connecting tubes. The most essential thing in experimenting, he says, is the experimenter, who should know what he proposes to do, what are the means at his command, and how he intends to use them; and, chemistry being exact in its methods, he must remember that careless manipulation will not secure good results, and that such words as neutral, acid, basic, and excess, must not be neglected. In nomenclature, the rules of the London Chemical Society are observed; in notation, a flexible plan has been adopted; and, in the descriptions of elements, Mendelejeff and Meyer's classification has been followed.

Report of an Archæological Tour in Mexico, in 1881. By A. F. Bandelier. Boston: Cupples, Upham & Co. Pp. 826, with Twenty-six Plates.

The report is one of the papers of the Archaeological Institute of America, in cooperation with which Mr. Bandolier made his explorations, and is the second of the American series of its special reports. Besides the notes of the explorer's travel, it embraces his studies of and observations upon the archæological relics in the city of Mexico, the mounds of Cholula, and the interesting ruins of Mitla, all richly illustrated, largely from photographs.

Science in Song; or, Nature in Numbers. By William C. Richards. Boston: Lee & Shepard. New York: Charles T. Dillingham. Pp. 131.

An attempt to present various facts and principles of science in verse. Among the special topics sung in measured numbers are steam, electricity, the spectroscope, magnetism, various chemical elements, heat, astronomical phenomena, etc. The verse has considerable life and merit as verse, and the author's success justifies his belief that philosophy and poetry in union are not incongruous. The singer's bias is decidedly against the doctrine of evolution, which he appears to believe—mistakenly, as both sides are coming to conclude—is in some way hostile to the foundations of his religious faith.

Reports of the Meetings of the Scientific Associations held in Montreal and Philadelphia, as given in "Science." Cambridge, Mass.: "Science" Company. Pp. 112.

Accounts of the proceedings of the recent meetings of the British and American Associations at Montreal and Philadelphia, with abstracts of the more important and interesting papers, including the presidential and vice-presidential addresses, were published in the consecutive numbers of "Science," from August 29 to October 3, 1884. These six numbers are here combined in a bound volume under the title given above, which, besides the abstracts mentioned, contains considerable other matter of scientific interest.

Representative British Orators, with Introductions and Explanatory Notes. By Charles Kendal Adams. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Three volumes, pp. 318, 308, and 376. Price, $3.75.

The object of this publication is to help show the great currents of political thought that have shaped the history of Great Britain during the past two hundred and fifty years, by bringing together the most famous of those oratorical utterances that have changed, or have tended to change, the course of English history. While the orations included—from masters of English oratory—are great as rhetorical efforts, it is not for this that they are given, but for their political significance. Eliot and Pym formulated the grievances against absolutism out of which the Parliamentary revolution grew; Chatham, Mansfield, and Burke had to do with the principles of the foundation of American independence; Mackintosh and Erskine championed the freedom of juries and of the press; Pitt expounded the policy of continuous opposition to Napoleon; Fox pleaded for peace; Canning inaugurated the English foreign policy; Macaulay cogently advocated the "Reform Bill" revolution; Cobden brought on the blessing of free trade. In our own generation, Bright denounced the foreign policy of the empire; Beaconsfield expounded the principles of the Conservatives; and Gladstone formulated, as he now conspicuously represents, the doctrines respecting home and foreign affairs of the Liberals. It is the speeches in which are clearly declared these several principles, and which "at one time or another have seemed to go forth as in some sense the authoritative messages of English history to mankind," that are here brought together.

An Elementary Treatise on Analytic Mechanics. By Edward A. Bowser, LL. D. New York: D. Van Nostrand. Pp. 511.

Professor Bowser's work is designed as a text-book for students of scientific schools and colleges who have received training in the elements of analytic geometry and the calculus. The analytic method has been chiefly employed, though geometric proofs have been introduced where such were deemed preferable. The book consists of three parts: Part I, with the exception of a preliminary chapter, is devoted to statics; Part II is occupied with kinematics; and Part III treats of the kinetics of a particle and of rigid bodies. For the attainment of that grasp of principles which it is the special aim of the book to impart, numerous examples are given at the ends of the chapters.

Elements of English Speech. By Isaac Bassett Choate. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 220. Price, 81.

Perhaps this book may be briefly described as a volume of essays on topics in the English language. The first four chapters are devoted to demonstratives, prepositions, connectives, and nouns, dealing with the functions of these parts of speech, and giving the histories of many words, with illustrative quotations from early English poems. The next four chapters deal with verbs and their conjugation. Certain causes of changes in pronunciation of the Latin and English languages are next considered, and the original meanings of some familiar words are shown.

T. Lucreti Cari de Rerum Natura (T. Lucretius Cams concerning the Nature of Things). With an Introduction and Notes. By Francis W. Kelsey. Boston: John Allyn. Pp. 385. Price, $1.75.

The entire poem of Lucretius is here published, in Latin, with explanatory notes on the first, third, and fifth books, which are chosen for comment because they contain the gist of the poet's doctrine and a greater number of fine passages than the others. An analysis of the subject-matter given in the introduction will facilitate the reading of the remaining books. Besides the notes and the analysis, the editor gives essays in the introduction on "Lucretius as a Man," "Lucretius as a Philosopher," and "Lucretius as a Poet." The second essay includes reviews of philosophy among the Romans in the poet's time, and of epicureanism up to his time, and as set forth by him.

Country Cousins: Short Studies in the Natural History of the United States. By Ernest Ingersoll. New York: Harper & Brothers. Pp. 252.

Many animal families are represented in these sketches of "Country Cousins"; the squirrel, shrew, elk, and a number of our birds are visited in their homes, and there is an account of "rattlesnakes in fact and fancy." A description is given of Professor Agassiz's sea-side laboratory on Penikese Island, which furnishes an introduction to several chapters on sea-creatures, including the life and tribulations of the oyster, and sketches of other mollusks, devil-fishes, and seals. There are also accounts of the caverns at Luray and at Pike's Peak, a chapter on the shell-money of the native Americans, and one on village naturalists' clubs. The volume is handsomely illustrated.

Land and its Rent. By Francis A. Walker, Ph. D., LL. D. Boston: Little, Brown & Co. Pp. 232. Price, 75 cents.

This volume contains the substance of four lectures delivered in Harvard University, in May, 1883. While the author differs from most American economists upon the relation of wages to the interest of capital and to the profits of business management, he claims to be, in his view of the origin of rent and its influence upon the distribution of wealth, "a Ricardian of the Ricardians." He first presents the economic doctrine of rent, and then considers attacks upon the doctrine by Bastiat, Carey, and Leroy-Beaulieu. He expresses a high opinion of Bastiat's noble purpose and able writing, but says that, "as a constructive economist, he made a dead failure, while his views regarding the land are especially erroneous." Attacks upon the practice of individual appropriation of land, by J. S. Mill and Henry George, are next examined, and the propositions of the latter are emphatically condemned. In the concluding chapter Dr. Walker offers some suggestions regarding that tenure of the land which is best suited to advance the interests of society as a whole.

Public Relief and Private Charity. "Questions of the Day," No. 13. By Josephine S. Lowell. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 111. Price, paper, 40 cents.

Starting with the conviction that it is for the best interests of all that the indigent members of any civilized community be kept from desperation or death by the produce of those who work, the writer goes on to show that care within the walls of institutions is much more economical, and has a better moral effect, than out-door relief. Copious extracts from reports and addresses, testifying to the evil results of out-door relief practice in England, are given, and are supplemented by similar testimony from Continental and American observers. For each county three departments are recommended, namely: for the care of children, care of public dependents, and reduction of crime. Special attention is directed to the importance of removing children from the influence of vicious parents, and the labor-test as a preliminary to aiding able-bodied adults is insisted on.

The Human Body. By H. Newell Martin and Hetty Cary Martin. New York: Henry Holt & Co. Pp. 261, with Plates. Price, 90 cents.

This is a "beginner's text-book" in anatomy, physiology, and hygiene. It attempts to present accurately, and, at the same time, in such a way that children can understand them, those facts concerning the structure and actions of the living human body which it is desirable, for practical purposes, that every one should know. The broad facts of human anatomy and physiology are presented, but little more is introduced than is necessary to make clear the reasons, as regards the preservation of health, for following or avoiding certain courses of conduct. Prominence is given to matters which are usually within the easy control of each individual. The dangers attending the use of stimulants and narcotics are forcibly presented.

Bermuda: An Idyl of the Summer Islands. By Julia C. R. Dorr. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Pp. 148, with Maps. Price, $1.25.

The author spent a spring in Bermuda, and in this book records her experiences and observations in a pleasant and instructive manner. She gives personal adventure, geography, history, pictures of life and descriptions of scenery, character-sketches, and a little natural history, gossip, and useful information, judiciously proportioned and pleasantly mingled. These qualities make the work as good a guide as the visitor would wish to carry with him, or, if he does not wish to go, a most agreeable companion for his "fireside travel"—the imaginary journey he might take while sitting before his fireplace.

Vocal and Action Language. By E. N. Kirby. Boston: Lee & Shepard. Pp. 163. Price, $1.25.

Mr. Kirby's hand-book has grown up in the class-room, and is designed to supplement, not to supplant, the work of the teacher. He insists on physical training as one of the fundamentals of vocal culture, and gives descriptions of the respiratory and vocal organs, based upon Dr. Martin's "The Human Body," with cuts from that work. Vocal development, orthoepy, and vocal expression, are considered successively, and then follows expression by action, not only by the arms, but also by the head, trunk, and legs. Some general directions for public speaking, and several selections, with the elocutionary analysis marked, are added.


PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

A Directory of Writers for the Literary Press in the United States. Compiled by W. M. Griswold, A. B. Bangor. Me.: Q. P. Index, publisher. 1884. Pp. 25. 50 cents.

"United States Publications. Monthly Catalogue." Vol. I. No. 1. January. 1885. J. H. Hickcox. Washington, D. C. Pp. 22. $2 a year.

Proceedings of the American Society of Microscopists. Seventh Annual Meeting'. Buffalo: Bigelow Brothers, printers. 1884. Pp. 300.

Mind in Medicine, By Rev. Cyrus A. Bartol, New York: M. L. Holbrook, publisher. 1884.

Moeris. The Wonder of the World. By F. Cope Whitehouse, M. A. New York: John Wiley & Sons. 1855. Pp. 16. Illustrated.

"Bulletin of the New England Meteorological Society." Nos. 1 and 2. November and December, 1884.

Obstructions of the Gall-Duct, with Remedial Operation suggested. By J. McF. Gaston, M.D. Pp. 27.

"Journal of Mycology." W. A. Kellerman, Ph. D., Editor. Manhattan. Kansas. Vol. I, No. I. January, 1885. Monthly. Pp. 16. $1 a year.

Notes on the Progress of Mineralogy in 1834. By H. Carvill Lewis. Philadelphia. January, 1885.

Sunlight. Short Letters to the Editor of the Belfast "Northern Whig." By the author of "The Beginnings." Pp. 66.

Circulars of Information of the Bureau of Education. No. 6, 1884 Rural Schools. Washington: Government Printing-Office. 1884. Pp. 96.

Conspectus of the Medical Colleges of America. Sessions of 1884-'85. Illinois State Board of Health. Springfield, Ill. 1384. Pp. 96.

The Composition and Methods of Analysis of Human Milk. By Professor Albert R. Leeds, Ph. D. Pp. 27.

Quarterly Report of the Chief of the Bureau of Statistics for the Three Months ending September 30, 1884. Washington: Government Printing-Office. 1885. Pp. 249.

The Genesis of the Merrimack Valley. By Samuel D. Lord. Concord, N. H. 1885. Pp. 17.

The Fucoids of the Cincinnati Group. By Joseph F. James. Reprint from the "Journal of the Cincinnati Society of Natural History" for October, 1884, and January, 1885. Pp. 2.5. Illustrated.

"Journal of the New York Microscopical Society." Edited by Benjamin Braman. Vol. I. No. 1. January, 1885. New York. Pp. 32. Nine numbers to the year; subscription price, $1.

The Next Step of Progress: A Limitation of Wealth. By John H. Keyser. Pp. 50. Price 20 cents.

Notes on the Condition of Zoölogy Fifty Years ago and To-day. By Professor E. S. Morse. Salem, Mass. 1334. Pp. 9.

"The West-American Scientist." C. R Orcutt, San Diego, Cal. Vol. I, No 2. January, 1885. Monthly. Pp. 8. 50 cents a year.

Christianity a Reward for Crime. By O B. Whitford, M.D. New York: The Truth-Seeker Company. 1885. Pp. 29.

Man in the Tertiaries. By Edward D. Cope. 1884. Pp. 15.

Report of the Executive Committee of the Niagara Falls Association. January, 1885. Pp. 43.

The Part of Jesus and of the Apostles. By Dr. G. M. Rabbinowicz. Translated from the French by Philip Zadig. San Francisco, Cal.: J. B. Golly & Co. 1884. Pp. 213.

Studies from the Biological Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University. Edited by H. Newell Martin and W. K. Brooks. Vol. III, No. 2. December, 1884. Baltimore: N. Murray. Pp. 70. 60 cents.

Fourth Annual Report of the Astronomer In charge of the Horological and Thermometric Bureaus of the Observatory of Yale College. 1883 and 1884. By Leonard Waldo. Pp. 18. And Report for the year 1883-'84 of the Board of Managers of the Observatory of Yale College. Pp. 19.

Maryland's Influence upon Land Cessions to the United States. By Herbert B. Adams. Part I; Third Series Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science. Baltimore, January, 1885. Pp. 101. 75 cents.

Heavy Ordnance for National Defense. By Lieutenant William H. Jaques. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1885. 25 cents.

Comparative Study of German. By William W. Valentine. Richmond, Va.

Annual Report of the Hydrographer to the Bureau of Navigation for the Year ending June 30, 1884. Washington: Government Printing-Office. 1884. Pp. 19.

Reports of Observations and Experiments in the Division of Entomology, United States Department of Agriculture. By C. V. Riley. Entomologist. Washington: Government Printing-Office. 1884. Pp. 102.

Steam-Boilers as Magazines of Explosive Energy. By Professor R. H. Thurston. 1884. Pp. 26.

Description of Carcharodon Carcharias. By W. G. Stephenson, M. D. Poughkeepsie, N. Y. 1884. Pp. 8. Illustrated.

On the Iron-Ores of the Juragua Hills, Santiago, Cuba. By James P. Kimball. 1884. Pp. 36, with Maps.

Note on a Peculiar Form of Pulmonary Congestion. By A. H. P. Leif, M. D. 1885. Pp. 15.

Report on the Industrial, Social and Economic Conditions of Pullman Ill. By the Commissioners of the State Bureau of Labor Statistics. 1884. Pp. 27.

The Pororóca. By John C. Branner. B. S. Boston: Printed by Rand, Avery & Co. 1885. Pp. 12.

Notes on the Psychology of the Chimpanzee. By Dr. C. Pitfield Mitchell. 1885. Pp. 16.

The Distribution of Products. By Edward Atkinson. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1885. Pp. 300. $1.25.

Stories by American Authors. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. 1885. Pp. 180. 50 cents.

A Popular Exposition of Electricity. By Rev. Martin S. Brennan. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1885. Pp. 191. 75 cents.

The Wane of an Ideal. A Novel. By La Marchesa Colombi. From the Italian by Clara Bell. New York: W. S. Gottsberger. 1885. Pp. 260. 90 cents.

Shadows. By John Wetherbee. Boston: Colby & Rich. 1335. Pp. 287.

Geonomy. By J. Stanley Grimes. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co. 1885. Pp. 116.

Egypt and Babylon. By George Rawlinson, M. A. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. 1885. Pp. 329. $1.50.

One Hundred Years of Publishing—1785-1885. Philadelphia: Lea Brothers A; Co. 1885. Pp. 20.

Annual Report of the Chief Signal Officer to the Secretary of War for the Year 1883. Washington: Government Printing-Office. 1884. Pp. 1,164.

Sixth Annual Report of the Illinois State Board of Health. Springfield, Ill. 1884. Pp. 324.

Memoir upon the Formation of a Deaf Variety of the Human Race. By Alexander Graham bell. Pp. 86.

Researches on Solar Heat and its Absorption by the Earth’s Atmosphere. A Report of the Mount Whitney Expedition. By S. P. Langley. Washington: Government Printing-Office. 1884. Pp. 242.

The Story-Hour. For Children and Youth. By Susan H. Wixon. New York: The Truth-Seeker Company, 1885. Pp. 222. Illustrated.