Popular Science Monthly/Volume 30/December 1886/Literary Notices
Letters and Journal of W. Stanley Jevons. Edited by his Wife. London and New York: Macmillan & Co. Pp. 473. Price, §4.
It is a most enjoyable treat to get a clear insight into the personality of a man who has made himself in any way distinguished, and to realize how like he, whom we have had to regard at a distance and as a kind of abstraction of the cause he is associated with, is to other men, and how fully he is in sympathy with all that is human. The enjoyableness is complete if the man's life has been happy and free from reproach. Such is the case with Professor Jevons as he presents himself in his letters and journal, in which his wife, supplying only such connecting links as were necessary, has wisely decided to give an account of his life in his own words as much as possible. They present him as a man of ordinary susceptibilities, with no extravagant or particularly marked tendencies in any direction, heartily enjoying his family life and his friends, fond of his baths, relishing active sports, entering enthusiastically into the volunteering movement which absorbed English attention while the world was waiting upon Louis Napoleon's nod, showing the musical as his strongest æsthetical taste, and patiently and persistently pursuing the work with which he gave life to the driest statistics and made the most abstruse social and economical facts luminous. The letters are full of good points, and show throughout the keen observer of men, facts, and events, of which the writer says but little, but that little going to the heart of the matter. After a residence of five years in Australia, Mr. Jevons visited the United States in 1859, two years before the beginning of the war. At Washington he "scrambled over the Capitol, the Washington Monument, the Smithsonian Institution, Lafayette Square, with Mr. Sickles's residence," and saw nothing more of the least interest in the American capital. New York he found a great but not very amusing city, while he admired the extreme convenience of the American hotels. Pittsburg was an intolerably smoky manufacturing town, and the great American towns generally were described as "mere collections of great warehouses, shops, wharves, and handsome dwelling-houses—in fact, merchants' offices and merchants' houses. The alpha and omega of the whole is trade." Mr. Jevons, as is well known, met an untimely death by what was called drowning while bathing in the sea at Galley Hall, near Hastings. His death is ascribed in this book to the shock of the cold water, which was no doubt too severe for his enfeebled health, and produced such an effect upon the weak action of his heart as to cause syncope and render him, after the first plunge, quite unconscious and powerless to help himself. The Rev. Robert Harley said of him, in the Royal Society, that he "was a man as remarkable for modesty of character and generous appreciation of the labors of others as for unwearied industry, devotion to work of the highest and purest kind, and thorough independence and originality of thought. The bequest which he has left to the world is not represented solely by the results of his intellectual toil, widely as these are appreciated, not only in England but also in America and on the Continent of Europe. A pure and lofty character is more precious than any achievements in the field of knowledge; and though its influences are not easy to trace, it is often more powerful in the inspiration which it breathes than the literary or scientific productions of the man." The editor of the "Spectator" said that he had other qualities than those of the philosophical thinker, "not always found in men of science, which make his character as unique as his intellect. At once shy and genial, and full of the appreciation of the humor of human life, eager as he was in his solitary studies, he enjoyed nothing so much as to find himself thawing in the lively companionship of his friends. Something of a recluse in temperament, his generous and tender nature rebelled against the seclusion into which his studies and his not unfrequent dyspepsia drove him. His hearty laugh was something unique in itself, and made every one the happier who heard it. His humble estimate of himself and his doubts of his power of inspiring affection, or even strong friendship, were singularly remarkable, when contrasted with the great courage which he had of his opinions; nevertheless, his dependence on human ties for his happiness was as complete as the love he felt for his chosen friends was strong and faithful. Moreover, there was a deep religious feeling at the bottom of his nature, which made the materialistic tone of the day as alien to him as all true science, whether on material, or on intellectual, or on spiritual themes, was unaffectedly dear to him." A bibliography of Mr. Jevons's writings, by the year and month, is given at the end of the volume.
The Origin of Republican Form of Government in the United States. By Oscar S. Straus. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1885. Pp.149. Price, $1.
This treatise is an enlargement of a lecture which attracted much favorable attention when delivered first in New York, and subsequently before the Long Island Historical Society in Brooklyn. The author's purpose is to examine into the reasons why the republican form of government was originally selected by the people of the American colonies upon their separation from the mother country, in preference to every other form of polity. He ascribes such selection "mainly to ecclesiastical causes which operated from the time the Pilgrims set foot upon our continent, and to the direct and indirect influence of the Hebrew commonwealth."
Mr. Straus makes out a much stronger case for his hypothesis than might at first be supposed. He has industriously collected a good deal of pertinent historical matter tending to exhibit the religious causes of the American Revolution, to indicate the controlling Biblical ideas which influenced in one way and another the minds of the founders of the republic, and to prove how potent those ideas really were in molding the scheme of the new government. He has also traced out and made very evident some striking analogies between the United States government as finally constituted, and the Hebrew state under the judges. He considers, indeed, that the Hebrew commonwealth was the first well-developed democratic republic. This is seen in the divisions of general governmental functions, in the preservation of the tribal governments in federation under a national administration, in the recognition of civil equality, in the elective franchise, and in the separation of church and state—which last is a fact usually overlooked by students of Hebrew history.
Altogether the book is an exceedingly interesting and useful study; and the thought presented strikes out a fruitful and an unusual line of comparison. The author is never dogmatic, but his spirit is always that of the careful student and the scientific inquirer. As a literary production the work is admirable; the style is clear, the diction elegant and finished, and the reader's interest is well sustained to the end.
Paralyses, Cerebral, Bulbar, and Spinal. A Manual of Diagnosis for Students and Practitioners. By H. Charlton Bastian. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 671. Price, $4.50.
This treatise is intended as an aid to the student or medical practitioner when brought face to face with cases of paralysis of different kinds. Instead of setting forth in the fullest manner all that is known of the several forms of the disease, as may be done in special treatises, the author's endeavor has been throughout to facilitate diagnosis; to explain and gather up the essential points to be borne in mind by the student or practitioner when he is called upon to decide as to the nature of any case of paralysis, and give a prognosis concerning it. The various forms of paralysis are now so numerous, and so many advances have been made in our knowledge in the directions of their origins, that some such aid to diagnosis may well be looked for by those for whom this work is intended. The signs of paralysis of the different cranial nerves have been pretty freely dealt with, because the recognition of such paralysis, either alone or in association with paralysis in other parts, is often a matter of the greatest importance. As a knowledge of nervous diseases of the kind now looked for can not be attained without something more than a superficial acquaintance with the anatomy and physiology of the spinal cord, a plenitude of details, especially of anatomical details, is necessary in such a treatise as the present one is intended to be. The comprehension and recollection of these details have been facilitated, as far as possible, by illustrations. The threefold division of the subject suggested in the title is followed in the text; and, to the sections there indicated, another is added on paralysis due to lesions of the cranial nerves. The general course of the discussion of the subject is outlined in a few pages of introduction. Paralyses of encephalic origin are then taken up, with reference, first, to the several conditions that cause them, and next to the diagnosis, or the clinical considerations favoring the existence of this or that causative condition. The pathological diagnosis is considered as applied, in the apoplectic stage, to primary and secondary comas, and again after or in the absence of an apoplectic stage. Under the head of regional diagnosis are discussed the regional or localizing value of special symptoms that may be associated with the paralysis, and the clinical indications favoring the diagnosis as referred to lesions in parts supplied by the cortical and the basal arterial systems, and by the vertebral and basilar arteries, respectively. In the sections on paralyses of bulbar origin, the regional diagnosis is treated with reference to the diagnostic indications derivable from a consideration of the blood-supply of the bulb. Paralyses due to lesions of the cranial nerves are described with reference to the particular nerves involved. The pathological diagnosis of paralyses of spinal origin is described with reference to extrinsic causes and intrinsic causes. In the last hundred pages, full and particular accounts are given of the spinal diseases associated with paralysis, together with tabular exhibits of the diseases and of their relative acuteness or chronicity.
The Butterflies of the Eastern United States. By G.H.French. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company. Pp. 402. Price, $2.
By "Eastern United States" is meant, for the purposes of this manual, all east of the western boundaries of Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana; and the region differs from the Atlantic province of Dr. Packard by the variance between State lines and a more sinuous line of elevation, and by the inclusion of the whole of Florida and the New England States and the exclusion of all of Canada. The book appears to have grown up in connection with the author's class-work in the Southern Illinois Normal University. It embraces a brief description of the several stages of butterflies and of methods of capture and preservation, an analytical key, and a more complete description of all the species that have been found in the region included. The introductory chapter describing the general characteristic and life of butterflies and methods of capturing and treating them is followed by an accentuated list of the butterflies of the Eastern United States, and this by the particular descriptions of genera and species. In the last part, the "preparatory stages," being often essential to a proper understanding of the relations that species bear to one another, and adding much to the interest of the study, are given so far as they are known.
The Industrial Situation and the Question of Wages. By J. Schoenhof. New York and London: G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1885, Pp. 157. Price, $1.
In the papers comprising this volume, Mr. Schoenhof has made a valuable contribution to current tariff discussion, in combating the wide-spread belief that high wages necessitate a high labor-cost in production, and therefore debar a country paying them from competing with a country in which wages are lower. Protectionists have worked assiduously to instill into the minds of the laboring classes the belief that the high rate of wages prevailing in this country is directly dependent upon the tariff, and that, once this prop gone, the laborer must sink to the condition of his European brother. And they have been so far successful that protection has been steadily able to hold its sway in spite of its manifest absurdities and the warring of conflicting interests.
Mr. Schoenhof points out the very obvious fact that it is only the cost of the labor entering into an article which has any bearing upon successful competition in the market. Now, the labor-cost not only may be low along with high wages, but, as a matter of fact, it generally is lowest where the wages are highest. This apparently anomalous state of things is due to the greater perfection of machinery and the greater skill and energy of the workmen in countries paying the higher wages. England, with considerably higher wages than is paid upon the Continent, is yet able to undersell its competitors there; and the United States is able to produce at a lower labor-cost than England. Here machinery has reached its greatest perfection, and the workman has acquired the highest degree of skill and capacity for turning out a large amount of work. The advantages which should accrue to this country from this state of things are, however, neutralized by the taxes upon the materials of production. With free raw materials, Mr. Schoenhof maintains that this country can compete successfully in the markets of the world with any other, and that it is manifestly to the interest of the working-man that we should have as extensive a market as possible. This is the guarantee to him of continuous employment, which is the essential thing for him. He has nothing to fear from a competition with the "pauper labor" of Europe, as already his labor embodied in the product is less than that of this same "pauper labor" in the competing goods of low-wage countries. The thing the American workman has most to fear is the limitation of the market for his productions, and this is just what protection is securing for him. In support of this general position, Mr. Schoenhof reviews the two staple manufacturing trades, those of metals and textile fabrics, and produces convincing evidence of the correctness of his view. The author writes clearly and to the point, and his reasonings and facts should have the attention alike of the manufacturer and his employé, who are both injured by the protection they persist in believing is for their good.
Architecture. Heating, and Ventilation of Institutions for the Blind. By J. F. McElroy. Adrian, Mich.: "Times and Expositor." Pp. 21.
The author is Superintendent of the Michigan School for the Blind, and this pamphlet contains his address before the last meeting of the American Association of Instructors for the Blind. The first point in the architecture of the institution is, that the building should be constructed primarily with reference to its internal requirements, to which the exterior should be only the dress. The internal arrangement should look to spacious and convenient accommodation, free ventilation, proper heating, healthfulness, and the suppression of disturbing noises.
Selections for Written Reproduction. Designed as an Aid to Composition Writing and Language Study. By Edward R. Shaw. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 102. Price, 75 cents.
Explaining the theory of his book, the compiler says: "One of the best means of language-training is reading a selection to a grade or class, and requiring them to reproduce it in writing. The value of such exercises consists in the natural and easy way in which the pupil gains a command of language. Written reproductions from memory form the best basis to lead into original composition, and what, moreover, is of the utmost importance, they give the pupil an opportunity by his own practice to discover his errors and inaccuracies, and to work out of them. Through careful and suggestive criticism by the teacher, all the principles of composition become known; not, of course, in a formulated way, but in that way which gives the pupil power to avoid errors without being hampered by rules." The aim has been to supply a series of exercises suitable for such reproductions. The book is divided into three parts, of which the first consists of selections purely narrative or descriptive in character, such as experience has proved are best adapted for beginners. In the second part, the selections contain quotations, and are more difficult of punctuation; and the third part contains matter adapted to advanced grammar grades and classes in rhetoric. Suggestions to teachers are given at the beginning of each part.
United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries. Report of the Commissioner for 1883. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 1206, with numerous Plates.
The Commissioner reports a great extension of the possibilities of usefulness of the Commission, by means of the steamers with which it has been furnished; and much has been attempted as well as accomplished. In addition to the regular work of the Commission, it has become possible to do a great deal for the advancement of science in general, especially by prosecuting researches into the general natural history of animals and plants. The very large collections made by the Commission, after setting aside a full series for the National Museum, have been divided into arranged, classified, and labeled sets, and distributed to colleges, academies, and other institutions of learning throughout the United States. Among the objects which the Commission hopes to accomplish are the continued acquisition of information respecting fresh-and salt-water fish; improvement of old methods and apparatus of fishing and the introduction of new ones; improvement in the pattern of fishing-vessels; to determine the extent and general character of the old fishing localities, and discover new ones; to improve methods of curing and packing fish for market; and continued increase in the supply of valuable fishes, etc., in the waters of the United States. The present report contains many articles of general value. Among them are accounts of the species of fish cultivated and distributed in 1883; accounts of the work of the steamer Albatross, by Lieutenant-Commanding Tanner, and of its results in natural history and biology, by A. E. Verrill and Katherine J. Bush, liberally illustrated; and reports on the propagation of food-fishes at the several stations. Doubtless, these papers, a large number of which are published as an appendix to the report, are all of great value to some persons; but they are not of equal value to all. It is not desirable that any one wishing for one or a few of them should be burdened with so unwieldy a volume as the one before us. It would perhaps be as well to publish many of them in separate volumes, accessible to the general public, as well as in the ponderous shape in which they now appear.
Fourth Report of the United States Entomological Commission. By Charles Y. Riley. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 550, with Plates.
This report is essentially a revised edition of the Commission's Bulletin No. 3, and is the final report on the cotton-worm, together with a chapter on the boll-worm. The cotton-worm investigation was begun in the spring of 1878, under an appropriation of five thousand dollars, and has been conducted with the purpose of getting at the exact truth, and for practical ends. Hence purely entomological knowledge has been subordinated to that which may be made of practical use to the planter; and descriptive matter and technical discussions have been for the most part excluded from the body of the work and printed at the end of the volume in notes. The wider application than that to the special object of the research of which many discoveries are susceptible is illustrated in the modern very general use by farmers and fruit-growers, in all parts of the country, of pyrethrum in the field, of petroleum emulsions, and of the cyclone spraying-nozzle, all of which have had their origin in this investigation. The report gives a full account of the cotton-worm, its character, habits, and history; of the influences that affect it, its natural enemies, the preventive measures to be taken against it, and the remedies, and machinery, and devices for accomplishing its destruction; a chapter on the boll-worm; and a number of special reports in the Appendix.
Duffy's Wave-Motor as a Source of Power for Various Purposes. By Terence Duffy. San Francisco: 948 Gerry Street. Pp. 15.
Mr. Duffy has sought an invention to utilize the enormous energy of waves as a source of power, and for the movement of mechanism. He has devised a buoy, with internal arrangements and machinery by which a set of pumps shall be set in motion by the undulations to which it is subjected, to supply a reservoir of compressed air; this air to be applied to any purpose for which it may be desired. Among the applications suggested in the pamphlet are the generation of electricity; signal, relief, and light stations; propulsion of vessels; and the movement of machinery on shore. The structure of the buoy, with all its chambers and mechanism, and the application to these purposes, are set forth in the pamphlet. We see nothing in the text, however, from which we are enabled to affirm that the author has set up one of his buoys and put it to an experimental test.
The American Journal of Biology. Quarterly. Edited by H. D. Valin, M. D.Chicago: Published by the author. $1 a year.
The "Journal," according to the editor's prospectus, is devoted to the study of life and mind in its widest sense, and will consist mainly of articles written especially for its pages by persons competent to treat the subject. Each number is intended to contain sixty pages. The present number is published with only forty-four pages, but with a promise to make up the deficiency in the next number, which will consist of seventy-six pages. It contains papers on "The Laws of Life outlined," "Origin of Flowers," "Nature of Animal Colors," "Nature of Light," "Development of the Eye," and "Nature of Sight," and selections.
Mechanics of the Girder. A Treatise on Bridges and Roofs. By John Davenport Crehore, C. E. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Pp. 575. Price, $5.
In this purely technical treatise, the necessary and sufficient weight of the structure is calculated, not assumed; and the number of panels and height of girder that render the bridge-weight least for a given span, live load, and wind-pressure, are determined. The book is presented just as it was left at the author's death, in October, 1884, with the carrying out of only a few examples in the twelve classes of girders still remaining to be done. Of these examples, the post-truss promised to yield the most prolific results; and it may be possible, the editor hopes, "before another edition is published, to complete this calculation at least, if not to introduce other examples from the later classes. However, the a priori method of the author is fully set forth previous to the tenth chapter; and it is believed that no one else has as yet published any so satisfactory results from this method, if, indeed, the method has been hitherto attempted with any degree of success." The work has been prepared for the press under the supervision of Professor John N. Stockwell, who has also undertaken the task of completing the remaining examples for future editions.
Bulletin of the United States Geological Survey. Nos. 21, 28, and 29. Washington: Government Printing-office. Pp. 80, 59, with Plates and Map, and pp. 24, with Plates.
No.27 is an account of the work done in the division of Chemistry and Physics, mainly during the year 1884-'85. Among the papers are one on "Topaz from Stoneham, Maine"; a memoir, by F. A. Gooch, on the separation of titanium and aluminum; investigations by C. Barus and V. Strouhall on electrical resistance and density, and oxide films on steel; and miscellaneous analyses. No. 28 is an account of the gabbros and associated hornblende rocks occurring in the neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland, by Professor George Huntington "Williams, of Johns Hopkins University. No 29 is a memoir on the fresh-water invertebrates of the North American Jurassic, by Charles A. White, M. D.
Disinfection and Individual Prophylaxis against Infectious Diseases. By George M. Sternberg, M. D. Concord, N. H. Pp. 40.
This essay is published by the American Public Health Association as one of the four papers on as many subjects of public sanitation, for which the prizes offered by Mr. Henry Lomb, of Rochester, New York, were awarded. The author, who has long been pursuing a scientific and practical study of all that relates to microbic infections, has in it explained the nature and office of disinfection and disinfectants, with the value and effect of the different substances in general use, and directions for application and for individual prophylaxis against the infectious diseases which man is liable to contract. The essay is designed for general use, and is, therefore, free from technicalities, and is for sale at "a price covering the cost," which we do not find specified.
The Relation of Hospitals to Medical Education. By Charles Francis Withington, M. D. Boston: Cupples, Upham I &Co. Pp.47.
Dr. Withington starts out with the I proposition that measures not distinctly contemplated by the founder of a trust may, in the course of time or by changes in conditions and circumstances, become necessary to the truest fulfillment of the spirit of the trust. Among such measures is the use of hospitals as aids in medical education. Two objections may be brought against this view: one, that while the advancement of medical education is for the advantage of all men, there is no special obligation resting upon hospitals more than upon the general medical profession to contribute to it; and that the use of a hospital for such purposes may be in conflict with the comfort and wellbeing of the persons under treatment. These objections are answered: First, it is held that, since hospitals possess certain facilities for the advancement of medical science, having relation to important elements in medical education that are not enjoyed elsewhere, they are under a peculiar obligation to second this work; next, the possible conflict between the interests of medical science and those of the individual patient is considered, and the latter's indefeasible rights are defined; and in a third section the factors increasing the educational value of hospitals are discussed.
The Journal of Physiology. Edited by Michael Foster, M. D. Vol. VII. Nos. 3 and 4. Cambridge, England. Pp. 164. Price, $5 a volume.
Dr. Foster has the co-operation in conducting the "Journal of Physiology," in England, of Professor W. Rutherford, of Edinburgh, and Professor J. Burdon-Sanderson, of Oxford; and in the United States, of Professor H. P. Bowditch, of Boston; Professor H. Newell Martin, of Baltimore; and Professor H. C. Wood, of Philadelphia. The numbers appear, not at rigidly fixed times, but at varying intervals, which are determined by the supply of material. The two numbers now under notice contain fifteen articles descriptive of original physiological research, by W. M. Bayliss and J. R. Bradford, J. W. Barrett, C. A. Mac-Munn, M. Greenwood, S. Pallitzer, Sydney Ringer, F. W. Ellis, Francis Warner, W. D. Haliburton, and R. Norris Wolfenden. The papers of most general interest are, perhaps, those of S. Pallitzer on "Curare," and R. Norris Wolfenden on "The Nature and Action of the Venoms of the Indian Cobra and the Indian Viper."
First Annual Report of the Forest Commission of the State of New York for the Year 1885. Townsend Cox, Sherman W. Knevals, and Theodore B. Basselin. Commissioners. Albany: The "Argus" Company. Pp.362.
The commission was appointed in pursuance of an act of the Legislature of May 15, 1885, and held its first meeting on the 23d of September of the same year. Its functions, as defined in the act constituting it, are to have the care, custody, control, and superintendence of the forest preserve; maintain and protect the existing forests and promote the further growth of forests; also to have charge of the public interests of the State with regard to forests and tree planting, and especially with regard to forest fires in every part of the State; and it is given power to make these functions effective. The forest preserve of the State consists of various tracts of State lands in eleven counties in the Adirondack region and three counties in the Catskills. The part known as the Adirondack region covers a territory circular in its general outline and about one hundred miles in diameter, having its center near the northeast corner of Hamilton County. With but little exception, it is an unbroken wilderness, reaching from Lake Champlain westward to the valley of the Black River. That part of the Catskills which belongs in the forest preserve is situated about forty miles west of the Hudson, and occupies the northwest corner of Ulster County, together with parts of the adjacent counties. The Adirondack region proper contains more than four million acres, of which the State has acquired title to more than eight hundred thousand acres. In the Catskill region the State owns more than five hundred thousand acres. These amounts do not include the county lands in the Adirondacks and Catskills. Not all the land is forest-land. Much of it is abandoned and partly cleared farming-lands, much burned lands, and a large percentage of it abandoned timber-lands through which the lumberman has passed, taking all of the valuable soft timber and much of the hard. As years go on, and these woods are protected from spoliation and damage, the young, soft-timber trees will grow up and the forest assume its primitive condition. The rest of the territory is clothed with the dense original growth. Many good roads traverse the region, but few railroads penetrate the wilderness to any considerable extent, and none cross it. The forest preserve is made up of many disconnected plots, more in some counties than in others; plots ranging from a few acres up to many thousands, surrounded usually by lands owned by individuals, and in many cases inaccessible by roads. In other cases individual lands are entirely surrounded by State lands. Among the causes which tend to decrease the area of the forest-lands within the counties of the forest preserve are mentioned fires—the most frequent and the most destructive of them all—windfalls and land-slides, lumbering, tanning—which is the occasion of considerable waste—manufacture of wood pulp, charcoal-burning and roasting ores, railroad-building, and farming. Although the forestry enterprise was at one time an object of opposition from the people of the Adirondack counties, a better acquaintance with the subject has wrought a modification in their feelings, and the report mentions as a matter worthy of note and congratulation that the commission is to-day receiving a hearty and intelligent support from the lumbermen and land-owners of the Adirondack region and the Catskills. Appended to the report are a list of the books and magazine articles pertaining to forestry to be found in ten of the large public libraries of the country, and a list of lands in the forest preserve, with a map of the Adirondack lands.
Report of the United States Entomologist for the Year 1885. By Charles V. Riley. Washington: Government Printing-office. Pp. 150, with Plates.
In the report we find an essay on silk-culture, followed by notices, under the heading of "Miscellaneous Insects," of the destructive locusts or grasshoppers; the periodical cicada (or seventeen-year locust); the leather beetle, a new enemy to boots and shoes; the garden web-worm, the darksided cut-worm, the strawberry weevil, and the pear-midge. The "reports of agents" include notices respecting locusts at various points, insects affecting the fall wheat, the causes of destruction of the evergreen and other forest trees in Northern New England, and experiments in apiculture. Under the latter head Mr. Nelson W. McLain records, among other matters, experiments which he made to ascertain whether bees do harm to fruit. His bees were tempted with grapes, while other food was withdrawn from them, and the conditions of a severe drought were produced upon them. "They daily visited the fruit in great numbers, and labored diligently to improve the only remaining source of subsistence. They inspected and took what advantage they could of every opening at the stem or crack in the epidermis, or puncture made by insects which deposit their eggs in the skin of grapes. They regarded the epidermis of the peaches, pears, plums, and other fruits having a thick covering, simply as subjects for inquiry and investigation, and not objects for attack. If the skin be broken or removed, they will, in case of need, lap and suck the juices exposed. The same was also true of the grapes if the skin was broken by violence or burst on account of the fruit becoming overripe; the bees lapped and sucked the juices from the exposed parts of grapes and stored it in the cells for food. They made no attempt to grasp the cuticle of grapes with their mandibles or with their claws. So, in every experiment, bees were found not able to puncture the skins of fruits, or even to take advantage of punctures made by other insects, unless they were of considerable size."
Report of the Proceedings of the American Historical Association. Second Annual Meeting. By Herbert B. Adams, Secretary. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 73. Price, 50 cents.
The meeting was held at Saratoga, New York, from the 8th to the 10th of September, 1885, and was attended by fifty members, representing various parts of the country, many institutions of learning, and several historical societies. The meeting of the American Social Science Association at the same time and place, and the attendance of several American librarians whose meeting was in session at Lake George, are mentioned as features adding to the interest of the occasion; and the organization of the American Economic Association under the same roof with, and in the reading-rooms of, the American Historical Association, at hours not conflicting with the latter's appointments, was another notable event in the records of the conventions. All of these bodies are in harmony with one another, and to a certain extent co-operative and complementary of each other's efforts. The report contains abstracts of the papers that were read at the meeting: By President Andrew D. White, on "The Influence of American Ideas upon the French Revolution"; by Goldwin Smith, on "The Political History of Canada"; by Jeffrey R. Bracket, on "Certain Studies in the Institution of African Slavery in the United States"; by Justin Winsor, on certain old maps; by Professor Tuttle, of Cornell University, on new materials for the history of Frederick the Great of Prussia; by Professor Emerton, of Harvard University, on Janssen's account of the Protestant Reformation, and the work of Luther; by Bishop Robertson, on "The Purchase of Louisiana, and its Effects upon the American System"; by Miss Lucy M. Salmon, on "The History of the Appointing Power of the President"; by John Addison Porter, on "The City of Washington: its Origin and Administration"; by Mr. Irving Elting, on "Dutch Village Communities on the Hudson River"; by Dr. Josiah Royce, on "The Secret History of the Acquisition of California"; by Dr. J. F. Jameson, on the study of the constitutional and political history of the individual States; by Dr. Edward Channing, on his index of maps bearing on our early history; by President White, on "The Development of the Modern Cometary Theory"; by General Cullum, on the disposal of Burgoyne's troops after the Saratoga Convention of 1777; by the Hon. Eugene Schuyler, on "Materials for American History in Foreign Archives." The reading of several of these papers was followed by interesting discussions. Davis R. Duvey made a report on a proposed "History of American Political Economy," which had been undertaken by Dr. Ely, Mr. Woodson Wilson, and himself. An historical map of Pennsylvania, by Mr. P. W. Sheafer, was exhibited and described. The Association recommended the organization of local historical societies, and the careful collection and preservation by them of everything which is or may become of historical interest, or a source of historical knowledge; it passed a testimonial resolution in honor of Leopold von Ranke, whom it elected its first honorary member; and it suggested to the Government the advisability of cataloguing all documents relating to the history of the United States down to 1800, existing in the official and private archives of Europe, and of copying and printing the most important of them.
The Grammar-School Reader. A Monthly Magazine. Vol. I, No. 1. Chicago and Boston: Interstate Publishing Company. Pp. 48. Price, 15 cents; §1 a year.
This Is the highest of a series of three monthly readers which the Interstate Publishing Company have projected. The other readers of the series are the Primary, twenty cents a year, and the Intermediate, thirty cents a year. The present number is filled with lively articles and stories. In the department, "Ways to do Things," is an illustrated paper on "Knots, Hitches, and Splices," which the young constituency of the "Readers" might turn to practical advantage.
The Hygiene of Nature; or. Natural Selection and Immunity from Disease. By Dr. Romaine J. Curtiss. Joliet, III. Pp. 18.
An argument to show that Nature removes epidemics and such diseases as work great destruction for a course of years and then nearly disappear, by her own processes, constituting a natural selection, while sanitation is not entitled to the credit it claims for the extinction of such disorders. Applying his doctrine to the history of the epidemics of the middle ages, and to the shortness of life during that epoch. Dr. Curtiss says: "We find that when an epidemic prevailed it destroyed everybody who had not sufficient vital resistance. . . . Those who could sufficiently resist the disease, or who could acquire a resistance, lived and bequeathed the resistance to their children. In time, by this process, each generation acquired more and more resistance to each of the epidemics, and in time there was nothing left for the parasites of the great European epidemics to do except to acknowledge the survival of the fittest, whose name is Man." This immunity may be lost by atavism; and, when so lost, there will be a liability to the recurrence of great epidemics.
Easy Lessons in French. According to the Cumulative Method. By Adolph Dreyspring. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 142. Price, 70 cents.
We have already expressed appreciation of the merits of Professor Dreyspring's "Cumulative Method" in German, and of the happy application which—so far as books can go—he has made of it. With that application living in the schools, it was, as the author well says, a foregone conclusion that the system should in time be adapted to the acquisition of the French language. The present book represents the first step in such adaptation. The distinctive features of the method are presentation of the normal phases of the language first; selection of its elementary material, with special reference to what is usually in sight; development of the first needs of speech, as manifested by the simplest ordinary inquiries; unfolding the language out of itself; a vocabulary within reasonable bounds; a constant revolving of the accumulating material under ever varied forms and new combinations; and special care to interest the student and to preserve his enthusiasm for the study. The author maintains that his method is a decided revolt from the old practices, and that, as an initiatory step, it strenuously avoids the declensional and verbal pabulum usually administered to students. It opens its attacks upon points in the language offering the least resistance, such as nouns, adjectives, and prepositions, with the connective is; and it gives the preference to the descriptive power of speech over the volitive. Illustrations are given as aids to the lessons, and to make them more attractive and impressive. In the use of the work, the author insists on repetition, distinct and loud reading, and faithful practice of the verb-drill; when, he believes, its merits will not fail to be recognized.
The Three Systems of Life Insurance. By Mervin Tador. Chicago: Bureau of Life-Insurance Information. Pp. 236. Price, §2.
The author of this book is Actuary of the Insurance Department of Illinois, and Manager of the Bureau of Life-insurance Information. He has written it, he says, for the general public and for life-insurance agents and solicitors; and upon the suggestion of many letters which have been received at the Bureau, asking for information in a wide range of inquiry upon subjects involving the elementary principles of life insurance. The "three systems" mentioned in the title are designated as "The Level Premium," "The Natural Premium," and "The Assessment" systems, each of them having advantages peculiar to itself, and being adapted to the wants of different classes of insured. The merits and workings of each are explained in detail, and their especial adaptations are elucidated. Besides the matter bearing immediately upon these points and also upon endowment, tontine, and semi-tontine insurance, the book contains the two leading mortality tables in use in this country; definitions and explanations, with illustrative examples, of the technical terms and expressions often used by agents and solicitors; articles on the failures of life-insurance companies, and their expenses in comparison with those of fire-insurance and railroad companies; interest and discount tables; an explanation of the construction of mortality tables; an article on the law of mortality and the wonderful precision with which it operates; and much other matter appropriate to the general subject of the book.
A Directory of Authors, Including "Writers for the Literary Magazines. Compiled by W. M. Griswold. Bangor, Maine: Office of the "Monthly Index." Pp. 16. Price, 50 cents.
This edition contains the additions and emendations to the list of authors published in the first edition of the Directory. Five hundred and ninety-six names of authors are enrolled, only the names of many of them being given, the accounts of whom can be found in the former edition. The compiler acknowledges that his Directory is incomplete—it is not within human possibilities to give such a work an approach to perfection till after many repeated efforts. He depends upon the authors themselves to remedy its defects, by furnishing him answers to the inquiries which he has sent out in his circular.
A New Philosophy of the Sun. By Henry Raymond Rogers, M. D. Dunkirk, N. Y. Pp. 27.
This is the substance of a paper which was read before the Chautauqua Society of History and Natural Science. It presents a theory that the sun is not hot or brilliant, but is simply a propagator of force—presumably electric force—the working of which in our atmosphere produces the calorific and luminous manifestations commonly regarded as solar.
A Navajo Skull, with an Additional Note on the same. By Professor Sir William Turner. Pp. 4, with Plate, and 2; Osteology of Conurus Caroliniensis. Pp. 16, with Plate. By R. W. Shufeldt, M. D.
The first and second of these monographs relate to the examination of the skull of a Navajo Indian of about forty years of age, who came to his death by a gun-shot wound of the head. The third paper is an investigation of the bony structure of the Carolina parrot.
Garrison, F. Lynwood, Philadelphia. The Microscopic Structure of Car-Wheel Iron, pp. 7. The Microscopic Structure of Iron and Steel, pp. 12.
Martin, Lillie J., Indianapolis, Ind. Chemistry in the High-Schools. Pp. 12.
Hale, Horatio. The Origin of Languages, and the Antiquity of Speaking Man. Pp. 48.
Jastrow, Joseph, Johns Hopkins University. The Perception of Space by Disparate Senses. Pp. 16.
Bell, Clark. Report on Classification of Mental Diseases. Pp. 14.
Packard. S. W., Chicago. Review of the Anti-Saloon Republican Convention. Pp. 16.
Crothers, T. D., Hartford, Conn. Temperance, Parties, and Politics. Pp. 3.
Peabody Museum of American Archæology and Ethnology. Eighteenth and Nineteenth Annual Reports of the Trustees. Cambridge, Mass. Pp. 128.
Agricultural College of Michigan. Notes on Tomatoes. Pp. 15.
Levermore, Charles H. The Town and City Government of New Haven. Baltimore: N. Murray. Pp. 108. 50 cents.
Munroe, Charles E. Index to the Literature of Explosives. Part I. Baltimore: Isaac Friedenwald. Pp. 42. 50 cents.
Dulles. Charles W., M. D. The Mechanism of Indirect Fractures of the Skull Philadelphia: P. Blakiston, Son & Co. Pp. 55, with Plates.
Smith, Eugene A., Ph. D., State Geologist. Geological Survey of Alabama. Bulletin No. 1. Pp. 86, with Nine Plates.
Commissioners of Fisheries, State of New York. Fourteenth Report. Albany: Weed, Parsons & Co. Pp. 209.
Sechrist. S. P. Sechrist's Hand-Book and Railway Equipment and Milease Guide. Monthly. Cleveland, Ohio: J. B. Savage. Pp. 190.
Bell. Alexander Melville. English Line Writing (Phonetic). New York: Edward S. Werner. Pp. 52. 60 cents.
Stephenson, F. B., M. D. Arabic and Hebrew in Anatomy. Pp. 10. Sydenham and Hahnemann. Pp 6.
Stowell. T. B. The Vagus Nerve in the Domestic Cat. pp. 16. The Trigeminus Nerve in the Domestic Cat pp. 20.
Commissioner of Pensions. Annual Report, to June 30, 1886. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 70.
Grey, Maxwell. The Silence of Dean Maitland. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 372. 50 cents.
Holbrook. M. L., M.D. How to strengthen the Memory. New York: M. L. Holbrook & Co. Pp. 152. $1.
Wilson. George. A Hand-Book of Hygiene and Sanitary Science. Philadelphia: P. Blakiston, Son & Co. Pp. 520. $2.75.
United States National Museum. Proceedings. Vol. VIII, 1885. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp 729, with Plates.
Smithsonian Institution. Report of the Board of Regents for 1884. Washington: Government Printing-office. Part II. Pp. 458.
McLennan, the late John Ferguson. Studies in Ancient History. New York: Macmillan & Co. Pp. 387. $4.
Ayer, N. W. and Son American Newspaper Annual, 1886. Philadelphia: N. W. Ayer & Son. Pp. 1010. $3.
Brown, Walter Lee. Manual of assaying Gold, Silver, Copper, and Lead Ores. Chicago: E. H. Sargent & Co. Pp. 487. $2.50.
Rosenkranz, Johann Karl Friedrich. The Philosophy of Education. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 286. $1.50.
Mallock, W. H. The Old Order changes. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 513. $1.
Anders, J. M., M.D. House-plants as Sanitary Agents. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company. Pp. 334. $1.50.
Owen, Catherine. Ten Dollars Enough. Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Pp. 279. $1.
Bert, Paul. First Series in Scientific Knowledge. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company. Pp. 370. 60 cents.
Johnson, J. B., C.E. The Theory and Practice of Surveying. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Pp. 683.
Bancroft. Hubert Howe. History of the Pacific States of North America. Vol. XXIV. Oregon. Vol. I. 1834-1848. San Francisco: The History Company. Pp. 789.
Gore. J. Howard. Elements of Geodesy. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Pp. 282.
Reed, Lieutenant Henry A. Topographical Drawing and Sketching, including Applications of Photography. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Pp. 129, with Plates. $3.50.