Popular Science Monthly/Volume 44/March 1894/Literary Notices
The Recrudescence of Leprosy, and its Causation. A Popular Treatise. By William Tebb. London: Swan, Sonnenschein & Co., 1893. Pp. 20-21 to 412.
In the first chapter of this polemic against vaccination the author states that leprosy has greatly increased and is still increasing, and he cites as evidence reports from various countries that the disease is more or less prevalent. We submit that there is no evidence of the increase of anything, disease or other, unless facts are given regarding the number reported each year for a series of years. What social economist would be recognized that stated the population of a country was increasing because he saw more children in the maternity hospitals? What financier would be regarded as authority that said the country was richer because he had so many thousands of dollars deposited in his bank, though he was ignorant of the amount of deposits of fifty years previous?
Let us cite an example. Leprosy is increasing in the United States because Dr. Blanc reported forty-two cases of leprosy in New Orleans in 1889. We have practical personal knowledge regarding leprosy in Louisiana, and it is a statistical fact that leprosy is less prevalent there to-day than it was one hundred years ago, and, whether the hereditary causation is always known or not, the disease only affects those having Creole ancestors. Dr. Allen's and Dr. Morrow's speculations regarding the increase of leprosy in this country are worthless, and are not accepted by the leading dermatologists.
No reference is made to the paper of Hansen, the discoverer of the lepra bacillus, who stated that his investigations among Norwegian lepers that had emigrated to the United States showed that the disease had died out among them.
An elaborate account of the increase of leprosy in India is given; and yet since the publication of this volume the Indian Leprosy Commission has made its report, and, while its figures suggest a decrease rather than an increase in the prevalence of the disease, the commission conservatively prefer to say that the leper population has remained stationary. This lack of the critical faculty in the author is only equaled by his ignorance of the etiology and pathology of disease. Contagion, inoculation, and predisposition have to him a meaning that is alien to that attached thereto by the medical profession.
Our personal experience in Norway and the United States justifies our statement that if the author's reference to other countries is no more accurate than to these two, then, as a work on leprosy, the book is useless.
Its real purpose, however, is to promulgate the theory that the leprosy that exists to-day is perpetuated by vaccination. We can not trespass upon the space of these columns to discuss so unsubstantial a theory. One swallow does not make a summer, nor do one or more cases of leprosy inoculated with supposed vaccine sustain the author's thesis.
General Thomas. By Henry Coppée, LL. D. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1893. Pp. 332. Price, $1.50. (Great Commanders Series.)
This volume of the series in no way falls behind the previous issues, either in the intrinsic interest of the man and his career, or in the style of treatment. General Thomas was born on July 31, 1816, in the southeastern portion of Virginia. Little is known of his early life. In his nineteenth year he began the study of law, but shortly afterward was offered a cadet appointment at West Point, which he promptly accepted. He was graduated in 1840, twelfth in his class. Thomas's first commission was that of second lieutenant in the Third Artillery. He joined his regiment on Governor's Island, New York Harbor, but was soon ordered south to take part in the Florida War, where he gained much distinction and slight promotion. After this he served at several of the Southern military posts. He was with General Taylor during the Mexican war, and was brevetted major for brilliant work.
His personal appearance, about 1850, is thus described: "He was cast in a strong and large mold, and had many of the personal traits of Washington, whom in his intellectual and moral character he greatly resembled." In 1851 he was detailed as instructor of artillery and cavalry at West Point, and while serving here was promoted to a captaincy. It was also during his residence here that he married Miss Frances L. Kellogg, of Troy. In 1355, while in California, he was appointed a major. In 1861 he was advanced to a colonelcy after the resignation of A. S. Johnston, Robert E. Lee, and W. J. Hardee, all of whom joined the Confederacy. General Thomas seems never to have wavered in his allegiance to the Union.
He was appointed brigadier general in 1861. He played an important part in the civil war, and his achievements in its various battles form most of the bulk of the book. He has been accused of being too slow and ponderous in his military manœuvres, but the biographer emphatically denies this and says that the foundation for these statements was derived from his great caution and clear-headedness in military matters. After the war he was appointed commander of the Military Division of the Pacific, where he served only a year, his death occurring suddenly in 1870 from apoplexy. This series has a double value for youthful readers, being really history, in the form of biographical story.
Continuous-current Dynamos and Motors; their Theory, Design, and Testing. By Frank P. Cox, B. S. New York: W. J. Johnston Co. (Limited), 1893. Pp. 271. Price, $2.
This is an elementary treatise on continuous-current dynamos and motors, which deals not only with the theories and laws governing their construction and action, but also with the application of these to their construction and running in the shop and power house. The first four chapters treat of the general principles of the machines, and serve as an introduction and preparation for the succeeding portions. Chapter V has to do with the mathematics of the magnetic circuit; and here the author has carefully abstained from using the higher mathematics and has only assumed for his student a knowledge of algebra and elementary geometry. Chapter VI deals with the theory of windings, losses, etc., and Chapter VII of the special features in motor designing. Chapters VIII, IX, and X relate to the practical application of the previously stated laws. In Chapters XI and XII, testing and handling the completed machine occupy the attention. The last two chapters deal with the steam engine in its relation to electricity. There are four appendices on tests of irons, ampere turn tables, determination of sizes of wire for armatures and field coils, and on the calculation of belting.
Two German Giants: Frederick the Great and Bismarck. By John Lord, D. D., LL. D. New York: Fords, Howard & Hulbert, 1894. Pp. 173.
This is a brief account of the early years of these statesmen, followed by a consideration, more philosophical than historical, of their careers. Frederick the Great as the founder, and Bismarck as the builder, of the German Empire, are the aspects in which they appear, and while the author greatly admires their wonderful statesmanship and perseverance under the most overwhelming difficulties, he finds them both, and more especially Frederick, wanting in moral perception. He explains this by their absorbing ambition and love of country which led them to adopt that most dangerous of mottoes, that the end justifies the means. A character sketch of Bismarck by Bayard Taylor, written in 1887, is given, and also Bismarck's great speech on the enlargement of the German army in 1888. The book contains portraits of both Frederick and Bismarck.
Elementary Paleontology for Geological Students. By Henry Woods, B. A., F. G. S. New York: Macmillan & Co., 1893. Pp. 222.
This little book, which gives an elementary account of invertebrate paleontology, is one of a valuable series, the Cambridge Natural Science Manuals, which are edited by A. E. Shipley, M. A. The author has devoted most of his space to the treatment of those groups of fossil animals which are especially useful to the geologist, and but briefly considered those of interest mainly to the zoölogist. The author thus describes his method of treating the subject: "My plan has been to give, in each group, first an account of its general zoölogical features with a full description of the hard parts; secondly, the classification and characters of those genera which are important geologically; and, thirdly, a sketch of the present and past distribution of the group." For the use of those who wish to obtain a more extended knowledge of the subject, there is appended a list of some of the more important and easily accessible works on paleontology.
American Types of Animal Life. By St. George Mivart, F. R. S. Boston: Little, Brown & Co. Illustrated. Pp. 374. Price, $2.
A series of sketches of the various groups of animals which are either peculiar to America or have their most typical representatives here. It is intended to serve as an introduction to zoölogy, more particularly to the vertebrata, and more especially the mammalia. The first animals considered are the monkeys, to which thirty-five pages, containing several pictures, are devoted. The rarer and more striking forms are especially dealt with, and several amusing and instructive anecdotes related. Next comes the opossum, which is of peculiar interest to us, as it is a form of marsupial found only in America. It has been much studied by the zoölogist and geologist, because of its isolation from other marsupials, and is considered an important link in the evidence which connects the South American continent with Australia, as well as one of the many things indicating a close relationship between North America and the Europe of Tertiary times.
The turkey forms the subject of the third essay. He is so peculiarly an American institution, and, so far as we know, always has been, that, aside from his value as an edible, he deserves careful consideration. That this was appreciated so far back as Revolutionary times is shown by the fact that he was proposed as the national symbol by Franklin. The following extract is interesting in relation to the turkey's identification with holiday occasions:
"In 1666 twelve of these birds were presented to the French king Charles IX; and the first record of its appearance at a state banquet was at his wedding four year's later. Soon after that it seems to have become common in England, and already to have found its place as a family dish at Christmas dinners."
The next twenty-five pages are about the bullfrog and his relations. The author speaks of him as follows: "The frog has special claims to our gratitude and commiseration on account of all it has done and suffered to increase our knowledge. In every physiological laboratory frogs are such ceaseless subjects of experiment that the animal may well be called the 'martyr of science.' What their legs can do without their bodies, what their bodies can do without their heads, what their arms can do without either head or trunk, what is the effect of the removal of their brains, how they can manage without their eyes, what effects result from all kinds of local irritations, from chokings, from poisonings, from mutilations the most varied: these are questions again and again answered practically for the instruction of youth."
The rattlesnake, "he exclusive possession of which will not excite the envy of other geographical regions," is next on the list. The serotine or Carolina bat is the representative of this family selected, because it is the only animal of this kind found in both the Old World and the New. The American bison gives the title to Chapter VII. It is of interest because of probable extinction in the near future. The raccoon, another peculiarly American product, is next selected as an introduction to the carnivores in general.
The sloth, the typical arboreal animal, is given thirty pages. "A marine animal and a quadruped" is studied in the sea lion in Chapter X. Whales and Mermaids is the title of Chapter XI. The last essay, entitled The Other Beasts, describes briefly the lemurs, rodents, and insect-eating animals, and then follows a recapitulation and summary of what has gone before. The book is extremely interesting, not only because of the good selection of individuals for description, but more, perhaps, because of Prof. Mivart's lively style, and his avoidance of anything which might be termed "dry." The book is well printed and nicely illustrated.
Dynamic Breathing and Harmonic Gymnastics. By Genevieve Stebbins. New York: Edgar S. Werner. Pp. 155.
This work is intended to set forth a peculiar system of combined mental and muscular calisthenics, part of which, at least, though perhaps of therapeutic value, seem unusually difficult. The following, entitled Yoga Breathing, occurs on page 86, and is a good example of the teaching of the book:
"1. Lie relaxed in an easy position. 2. Breathe strongly with vigorous vertical surging motion, with the same rhythm as in Exercise 1, which stretches the whole trunk like an accordion, and let the mind concentrate itself as follows:
"(a) Imagine the ingoing and outgoing breath drawn through the feet, as though the legs were hollow; (b) divert the same mental idea to the hands and arms; (c) to the knees; (d) to the elbows; (e) now breathe through the knees and elbows together. . . . (l) Complete this mental imagery, with breathing through the head and the whole organism in one grand surging influx of dynamic life."
And again, on page 2, under the heading Dynamic Breathing:
"To those, however, whose studies in life have enabled them to penetrate beneath or to rise above the bias of theological dogma on the one hand, and the speculative hypotheses of scientific schools upon the other, there will be no difficulty in reading between the lines of the present controversy between religion and science. . . ."
There are many other equally irrelevant passages in the book; and taken all together we do not see that it is likely to be of much service to the general reader. It contains a portrait of the author.
Ideale Welten in Wort und Bild (Ideal Worlds in Description and Picture). Ad. Bastian. 8vo. Three Parts. Pp. 791. Twenty-two Plates. Emil Felber, Berlin, 1892.
Adolphe Bastian, the Director of the Royal Ethnographic Museum at Berlin, is a veteran explorer, a wonderful collector, and an interesting writer. As the result of a journey to Farther India in 1890, we have this great work of nearly eight hundred pages—Ideale Welten. The book should particularly interest us, for the learned author has dedicated it to the Bureau of Ethnology in Washington and other ethnological workers throughout the Union, in memory of our celebration of the quadricentennial. The work consists of three parts, separately titled and paged—Reisen auf der vorderindischen Halbinsel, Ethnologie und Geschichte, and Kosmogonien und Theogonien. They are a model to every one who would make a journey productive to science. Few travelers know what things among any people are interesting to science; still fewer know how to get at them. Bastian goes to the heart of things, and although he gives much of general interest he aims particularly to secure knowledge of the philosophy and the religion of these Eastern peoples. Brahmanism and Buddhism are illuminated by his research, but it is particularly Jainism that he discusses. His work is undoubtedly a most important contribution to our knowledge of this curious religion. Twenty-two interesting plates, mostly copies of drawings or paintings made by Asiatics, give the Brahman, Buddhist, and Jainist ideas of heavens, earths, and hells.
Domestic Economy. By I. H. Mayer, M. D. Lancaster, Pa.: Published by the Author. Pp. 283.
This is a work on thrift in the household, rather disconnected, but containing much valuable information. It deals not only with the actual outlay, but also with the facts and behavior which determine and modify the necessity for outlay in special directions. Among the subjects discussed are: The Home—its location, both as regards sanitation and ready accessibility; Education; Recreation; Time its use and misuse; Fuel; Clothing; Pets and Pests; Food; Drink; Mother and Child; Exercise; and Accidents.
Outlines of Forestry. By Edwin J. Houston, A. M. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1893. Pp. 254. Price, $1.
The general conclusion seems to be that, unless something in the way of intelligent and ordered action is attempted toward the preservation of our forests, they will soon be things of the past, so far as commercial value is concerned, and that their destruction will profoundly modify the climate of large sections.
This interesting little book bears directly on the important question of the function of forests in determining climate, and the means of preserving and replacing them. It is a question which is of increasing importance in all countries as they advance in population and manufacture, and has been more or less under discussion in this country for some years past. In view of these facts, it becomes desirable that there should be not only concerted action between large landowners and the Government, under the supervision of especially qualified men, but also that each individual farmer shall appreciate the value of his "wood lot," not simply as a "wood pile," but also and even more as a "wood lot," as an important factor in determining, in common with those of his neighbors, the climate and fertility of the region, and hence indirectly his own and his neighbors' prosperity. The latter function is the one which this book is intended to fulfill; it is a primer of forestry. The first five chapters give a brief description of plant physiology and soil formation. These are followed by some pages on the forest's enemies and the forces tending to its destruction. Then comes a consideration of the effect of vegetation on rainfall, drainage, climate, and the purity of the atmosphere. These preliminary discussions are followed by a consideration of the methods by which a barren country may be timbered, or a section from which the forests have been removed may be retimbered. An appendix contains lists of trees suitable for replanting in different portions of the United States.
Inorganic Chemistry for Beginners. By Sir Henry Roscoe, F. R. S., assisted by Joseph Lunt, F. C. S. New York and London: Macmillan & Co. Pp. 241 Price, 75 cents.
In this little text-book Roscoe has treated the elementary principles of chemistry more fully than in his Elementary Lessons, while he has restricted the descriptions of elements and their compounds to a few typical examples. In the first portion of the book the basal principles of chemistry are taught in eight chapters or lessons, with the aid of carefully described experiments. At the end of each lesson is a summary under the heading "What we have learned," and a set of questions on the lesson. The rest of the volume is devoted to descriptions of selected elements and their compounds. Nonmetallic Inorganic Chemistry would be a more exact title for the book, as no metals are included among the elements described. There are a hundred and eight cuts of apparatus, etc. The chief characteristic of this text-book is that it boldly abandons the idea of covering the whole ground, which most schoolbook writers cling to, and aims chiefly to impress the principles of the science upon the pupil's mind. Enough descriptive matter is used to illustrate these principles, but not so much as to obscure the main purpose of the book.
British Locomotives; their History, Construction, and Modern Development. By C. J. Bowen Cooke. New York: Macmillan & Co. Pp. 381. Illustrated. Price, $3.
The usual books on this and kindred subjects are either so technical as to be incomprehensible to the general reader, or so popular as to be of no considerable value to any one. Mr. Cooke has attempted to strike a happy medium, and while giving the mechanical construction and action of locomotives, accurately and in detail, he does so in untechnical language, and assists his text with carefully prepared drawings and diagrams. An idea of the scope of the work may be gathered from some of the chapter headings: Early History; Action of the Steam in the Cylinder; Valve Motion; The Boiler; General Details; How an Engine is put together; Classification of Engines; Brakes; Compound Locomotives; Combustion and Consumption of Fuel, and Engine Drivers and their Duties. The book is nicely printed and fully illustrated.
Text-book of Elementary Biology. By H. J. Campbell, M. D. New York: Macmillan & Co., 1893. Illustrated. Pp. 284. Price, $1.60.
This book belongs to the series of Introductory Science Text-books which this firm is now publishing, and is one of its most important volumes. The subject is one about which students should have something more than vague ideas; and yet, unfortunately, this is about the extent of their ordinary biological knowledge at the time of graduation. Biology lies at the root of human physiology, and this in turn should dictate that self-care and self-preservation upon which all our other actions in life depend. The scheme of the book is, first, a discourse on living as distinguished from non-living matter; followed by an examination into the properties and characteristics of protoplasm. Then the cell in its various forms, followed by a chapter on embryology. The tissues, both animal and vegetable, are next discussed; and finally there are several pages pointing out the differences between plants and animals, which sum up as follows:
"We have thus seen that there is no single attribute of animals which is not shared by some plants; and, on the other hand, there is no plant characteristic which is possessed by plants alone; hence it is necessary to allow that plants and animals are fundamentally identical, and, in fact, are only divisions of a single vital stock." An elementary examination follows of the forms of life usually considered in introductory text-books—the amœba, yeast plant, vorticella, tapeworm, leech, etc.
Dr. Campbell has given us a work well suited to beginners, and hence an important addition to our text-books on the subject. The book is well printed and illustrated.
A Review of the Systems of Ethics founded on the Theory of Evolution. By C. M. Williams. New York and London: Macmillan & Co. Pp. 681. Price, $2.60.
We have in this volume a substantial contribution to the literature of its subject. It consists of two parts, the first being a presentation of the most prominent systems of evolutionary ethics, under the names of their respective propounders, while the second is a general examination of the whole field. The authors whose views are set forth are Darwin, Wallace, Haeckel, Spencer, Fiske, Rolph, Barratt, Stephen, Carneri, Höffding, Gizycki, Alexander, and Ree. Mr. Williams must be a hero-worshiper who sees all wisdom in Darwin, else he would not have lugged in the great biologist's name at the head of this list. He calls Darwin "the first laborer in this line," and says that "a review of evolutional ethics must, therefore, in order to start with the proper origin of the science, begin with Charles Darwin." He gets together ten pages of extracts from Darwin's works, the first four pages of which relate to nothing but instinct and heredity. These are from the Origin of Species, which appeared in 1869, and the essay on Instinct prepared for that work, but not published till after Darwin's death. Then follow quotations from the Descent of Man, some of which do relate to ethics, but the date when that book appeared (1871) is much too late to be taken as "the proper origin of the science." Quotations from A. R. Wallace beginning in 1871 come nest, and are followed by some from Haeckel beginning in 1874. 'Having thus examined the theories of what our author calls "the great original authorities," he proceeds with "writers who have turned these theories to account and elaborated them." In this second group of writers he places Herbert Spencer first, and says, "In treating of Mr. Spencer's work, it is necessary to begin with a book which made its appearance before the publication of the Origin of Species, namely. Social Statics (1851)." Mr. Williams's designation of Darwin as "the first laborer in this line" needs no further comment. The views of Spencer are then presented as found in his Social Statics (both the 1851 and the recently revised edition), his Collected Essays, The Man versus the State, The Principles of Psychology, the several divisions of The Principles of Ethics, and one or two minor writings. By letting Spencer speak for himself in quotations our author secures a nearly correct representation of his ethical theory, but he states that Spencer in the original Social Statics "advocates the nationalization of land," and neglects to say that Spencer has since repeatedly abjured this doctrine, and leaves nothing in the revised edition that can be construed as supporting it. More space is found needful for Spencer, forty-eight pages, than for any other writer represented. John Fiske is taken up next, and the theories of the other authors noticed follow in the order in which they are named above.
The treatise which forms the second part of this work is one in which a wealth of data has been used, and a highly instructive and suggestive result has been attained. The author begins by examining the operation of heredity and variation in evolution, and passes next to a consideration of intelligence and "end." Among the other topics considered are the mutual relations of thought, feeling, and will in evolution, egoism, altruism, and conscience. There is an interesting chapter on The Moral Progress of the Human Species as shown by History, in which the morals of ancient Greece and Rome and mediæval England are shown to have been far below modern standards. In the closing chapter, on attainment of the ideal, the author touches upon a variety of considerations, and ends with some helpful words on the transition from the belief in a personal immortality to the expectation of persisting after death only as an influence upon those remaining in life.
So valuable a book should not have been issued without an index.
On the Old Frontier, or the Last Raid of the Iroquois. By William O. Stoddard. Pp. 340. Price, $1.50. New York: D. Appleton & Co.
This is a novel dealing with frontier life in Revolutionary times, when most of the fighting men were with Washington in the East, and the frontiers were therefore very weakly garrisoned. It describes the motives and nature of a raid by the Indians on a settlement known as Plum Creek.
The hero is a boy, who was stolen by the Indians when very young and brought up among them. He finally escapes and makes his way to Plum Creek, where he is adopted by the gunsmith of the settlement. He is able, by reason of his Indian training, to render valuable assistance to the settlers during the skirmishes preceding the concentrated attack, and just at the last, when the fort is about to fall into the hands of the Indians, he appears with a detachment of United States troops and saves its inmates, besides giving the death blow to the Indian raids. He then discovers a relative in the commanding officer of the soldiers, and learns that his family, which he had supposed were massacred at the time of his abduction, are alive, and mourning his early demise. The characters speak in dialect, and the book is well illustrated.
The story is "a fiction founded on fact."
After an interval of seven years the first volume of the History of the Theory of Elasticity, by the late Isaac Todhunter, has been followed by the two parts of Volume II (Macmillan, $7.50). The manuscript that Dr. Todhunter left has been edited and completed by Prof. Karl Pearson, the physical and technical branches of the subject being wholly the work of the editor, likewise the general history of the subject after the date at which Dr. Todhunter left it. The present volume covers the period from Saint-Venant to Lord Kelvin. It carries the analysis of individual memoirs completely to the year 1860, but after that point the editor has found it practicable to deal with the work of certain elasticians only. These are the two just named, with Boussinesq, Rankine, F. Neumann, Kirchhoff, and Clebsch. Although the part since 1860 is only the framework of what Prof. Pearson hoped to make it, the work is a monumental one. The number of the memoirs included in the thirteen hundred pages of the second volume by no means measures the work expended upon this part of the history. The study and analysis of many other memoirs were involved in the task. A systematic index, carefully prepared by Prof. Pearson, is appended.
We have received Part I (Kinematics) and Part II (Dynamics and Statics) of An Elementary Treatise on Theoretical Mechanics, by Prof. Alexander Ziwet, of the University of Michigan (Macmillan, $2.25 a volume). The work owes its existence mainly to the difficulty of finding a good modern text-book suited to the requirements of the American student. While it is intended first of all as an introduction to the science of theoretical mechanics, the author has aimed to make it serve as a preparation for the applications in engineering practice, and to bring out the utility of the purely mathematical training. To keep the whole work within reasonable bounds, the more advanced parts of the subject had to be strictly excluded. A third part (Kinetics) will complete the treatise.
The Book of the Fair, published by the Bancroft Company, Chicago and San Francisco, is intended to reproduce and preserve, by engraving and letterpress, all the characteristic features of the recent exposition at Chicago. The publishers claim that it is the only work attempting to reproduce the exposition in this way entire. "It confines itself," they say, "neither to art alone on the one side nor to dry statistics on the other, but aims to present hi attractive and accurate form the whole realm of art, industry, science, and learning, as here exhibited by the nations, so far as can be done within reasonable limits." The work will consist of one thousand pages of twelve by sixteen inches, will be issued in twenty-five parts of forty pages each, at the price of a dollar a part, and will contain more than a thousand illustrations, many of them full page.
In J. E. Mulholland's revision of Dr. Arnold's First and Second Latin Book and Practical Grammar the labors of the editor have been directed, first, to the removal of all errors; second, to a change of exceptional Latin expressions, which are declared out of place in an elementary work; third, to simplicity of design, so that subjects should not be prematurely thrust upon the attention of the pupils; and, fourth, to a more consistent arrangement of the parts of the Second Book. In the revision of Arnold's Practical Introduction to Latin Prose Composition, by the same editor, the matter on the Sequence of Tenses, hitherto scattered throughout the work, has, by means of references, been unified, and that on Conditional Propositions has, by the removal of much verbiage and some errors, been arranged so as to be comprehensible to the ordinary student. Also, whereas in the old book reference was merely made to certain works on Synonyms, in this edition, the works quoted not being commonly in the hands of pupils, the proper word is given. (Both of these books are published by the American Book Company. Price, $1 each.)
The Inductive Greek Primer of Drs. W. R. Harper and C F. Castle is designed for a beginner's Greek book and to meet the wants of younger pupils as well as of those for whom the Method is adapted. It differs from the Method in that the lessons are shorter; the notes are more copious and elementary; the exercises are simple; the pupil's knowledge of Latin grammar is drawn upon to illustrate and facilitate his knowledge of Greek grammar; the pupil is taught to read Greek in the order of the original; the first occurrence of words is specially indicated in both the text and the vocabulary. The volume articulates with the Greek Prose Composition of the same authors. (American Book Company. Price, $1.25.)
In a book entitled The Gospel of Paul, the author, Charles Carroll Everett, Professor of Philosophy in Harvard Divinity School, presents an interpretation of Paul's doctrine of the atonement which he believes to be new; not a theory of his own "of a possible scheme of atonement, to which some of Paul's words may be made to fit more or less loosely. I mean a statement which has nothing in it of my own, but which is based wholly upon an examination of the words of Paul, these being taken in their most natural and direct signification." This interpretation forced itself upon him when he first began the serious reading of the New Testament, and all his subsequent study has confirmed its truth; and while it is remote from our habits of thought, it does not, the author believes, contradict our moral sense, and he hopes it "may do something to reconcile the New Testament and the conscience of the Christian world." (Published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Price, $1.50.)
The edition of the Æneid (six books) and Bucolics of Vergil prepared by President W. R. Harper and Instructor F. J. Miller is intended to present the Latinity of the author in as suggestive and accessible a form as possible, and to afford stimulus and material for the study of the poet from a literary point of view. The plan of the studies is inductive throughout. In the Introduction are given a series of studies for developing important principles of syntax, and a new presentation of the Vergilian verse and principles of quantity. Materials for literary study are provided in a bibliography; a list of topics for investigation; an account of the Royal House of Troy; Rhetorical Study; and notes of various kinds. The Eclogues are introduced at the request of teachers who desire to give their classes more than the first six books of the Æneid. (This edition of Vergil is published by the American Book Company. Price, $1.50.)
President W. R. Harper, of the University of Chicago, and James Wallace have prepared a handsome, compact edition of Xenophon's Anabasis for class-room use, with suitable illustrations and other aids to enhance interest and facilitate the study of the noble classic. The text is that of the recension of Arnold Hug. The notes are brief and elementary, supplemented by references to the grammars and to the historical introduction which precedes the text. The first occurrence of words is indicated by special type. Great pains have been taken with the vocabulary. Guides are furnished for etymological study. Maps of Greece and of the route of the Anabasis and the retreat are inserted. Three of the books have been edited for sight-reading. Tables of paradigms are given. The Historical Introduction, Bibliography, and Itinerary are rich in information and can not but contribute much to make the story seem real. (American Book Company. Price, $1.50.)
For his book of Logarithmic Tables, Prof. George William Jones, of Cornell University, has compared the figures of the principal larger tables, and applied every known test for accuracy, computing anew where there was doubt; has sought, by similar examinations of standard tables and by consultation, to secure a plan that would promote rapid and easy use; has employed such type and adopted such arrangement as would so far as possible prevent straining of the eyes; and presents the work at the small cost of seventy-five cents. The tables are preceded by a satisfactory set of explanations, and include logarithms of numbers, trigonometric functions, addition-subtraction logarithms, prime and composite numbers, squares, cubes, square and cube roots, reciprocals, quarter-squares, Bessel's coefficients, binomial coefficients, and errors of observation. (Published by the author at Ithaca, N. Y., and by Macmillan & Co.)