Baxter on " The Social and Economic Influences of the Bicycle." The October number of Harper's Magazine is of unusual interest. Its illustrated articles include "The Baptismal Font of America," by Frank H. Mason; "Tiger Hunting in Mysore," by R. Caton Woodville; " Paris along the Seine," by Theodore Child, and the second paper on " A Collection of Death Masks," by Laurence Hutton. President Charles F. Thwing contributes an interesting arti cle on " Education in the West; " James Russell Lowell's papers on English Dramatists *r- con tinued, the subject in this number being " Beau mont and Fletcher." The fiction includes further chapters of " The World of Chance," by William Dean Howells, and '. Jane Field," by Mary E. Wilkins. The complete novel in Lippincotts Magazine for October is entitled " The Kiss of Gold," and is written by Miss Kate Jordan. Other interesting contents of this number are " The Carnival at St. Louis," by James Cox; " Old Paris," by Sigmund J. Cauffman; "James Russell Lowell," by Richard Henry Stoddard; and " Men of the Day," by M. Crofton. One or two short stories and the usual amount of poetry serve to fill out an unusually interesting issue. The October Atlantic opens with an able pa per by James C. Carter, entitled " Mr. Tilden." He gives an interesting resume' of Samuel J. Tilden's place in public life. Mrs. Deland, in " The Story of a Child," gives some delightful passages in the life of her heroine. Alexander Brown, author of the " Genesis of the United States," has a paper on " The English Occupancy of North America," and incidentally endeavors to put Cap tain John Smith back into his rightful obscurity. Mr. Hale's amusing papers on " A New England Boyhood " are continued; and Boston Common, and his associations with it, forms the subject of this new instalment. Professor Shaler writes on a subject of the day, namely, " The Betterment of our Highways; " and Mary A. Jordan has an article on " The College for Women." If it were possible to shut all the strong interest of the month between the light covers of a monthly magazine, the October Cosmopolitan would do it.
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As usual, the illustrations are more numerous and varied in character than those of the other leading magazines; the articles are as short and as much to the point as is consistent with literary finish; and one has the sense of a vigorous and newly appreciative grasp even of subjects which in them selves are familiar. Perhaps this quality of vigor and freshness is most conspicuously displayed in the three articles contributed by Henry Cabot Lodge. John A. Cockerill, and Murat Halstead, of which the themes are, respectively, " As to Certain Accepted Heroes," " Phases of Contemporary Journalism," and " Liberal Tendencies in Eu rope." In these, we venture to say, the reader will find new thought, in phrase that cuts its way and insists on being quoted. But, after all, this strong individuality is noticed throughout the cur rent number, in about the degree which the public has learned to expect.
BOOK NOTICES. The American Probate Reports, containing re cent cases of general value decided in the courts of the several States on points of probate law, with notes and references by Charles Fiske Beach, Jr., of the New York Bar. Vol. VII. Baker, Voorhis & Co., New York, 1892. Law sheep. $5.50 net. This last volume of this excellent series of Re ports contains over one hundred reported cases cov ering almost every subject of Probate Law. Mr. Beach's notes and references give additional value to the work. The Law of Bank Checks in the United States, as determined by the leading courts of this coun try and of England, with references to American and English decisions. By Henry C. Van Schaack of the Denver Bar. The Chain & Hardy Co., Denver, Colorado, 1892. One vol. Law sheep. $3.50. In a small volume of 290 pages, Mr. Van Schaack has very clearly and concisely stated the law relating to the important subject of bank checks. His work seems to have been done thoroughly and conscien tiously, and this treatise should find favor not only with the legal profession, but also with bank officers, to whom it will prove a valuable assistant. The typographical part of the book is excellent.
