Popular Science Monthly/Volume 31/August 1887/Literary Notices

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LITERARY NOTICES.

The Problem of Evil. An Introduction to the Practical Sciences. By Daniel Greenleaf Thompson, author of "A System of Psychology." London: Longmans, Green & Co. 1887. Cloth. 8vo. Pp. 281.

"The Problem of Evil," though modestly heralded by its author as "An Introduction to the Practical Sciences," and not assuming to present a complete exposition of ethical science, is in reality a noteworthy contribution to that department of philosophical inquiry. Aiming to clear the way for a popular understanding of the scienentific method as applied to moral and social problems, Mr. Thompson's treatment of his topic is less technical and systematic than readers of "A System of Psychology" would naturally be led to expect. The present work, however, loses little, if anything, in value to the philosophical student on this account, while its more popular style, and the practical nature of many of the questions herein discussed, will doubtless render it more attractive to the general reader, and introduce its author to many new acquaintances among thinking people.

The question presented in the earlier chapters of this book, and ably discussed in all its various phases throughout the succeeding pages, is none other than the great problem of all the theologies and moral philosophies: How shall we interpret the startling but undeniable fact of moral evil? How may we most wisely strive for its abatement and cure?

After briefly and fairly stating the chief theological explanations of evil—"those which look to a supernatural source and cause"—and expressing his dissent from this method of approaching the subject, our author proceeds to define moral evil as "pain caused by human volition" (p. 17); and to investigate briefly its causes and offices in the human economy. "Pain," he concludes, "is a universal concomitant of mind, so far as we are able to make mind a subject of science." As we are unable to trace, scientifically, the origin of mind or life, we are therefore baffled in our attempt to disclose the ultimate origin of evil. The practical problem, accordingly, to which we should turn our attention is, How may we seek for its elimination by the most effectual means? In other words, How may we best strive for the advancement of human happiness?

Readers of "A System of Psychology" will be prepared to find our author in accord with utilitarian theories of ethics. The psychological and philosophical elements involved in the problem of evil, however, are assumed, or briefly sketched, rather than presented in the form of a complete argumentative exposition, in the present work the philosophical foundations of this study having been laid by the author in the work—before mentioned. From the standpoint of a rational utilitarianism, he criticises with great acuteness and force what he terms the "Æstho-Egoistic" philosophy of Thomas Hill Green, and other representatives of the intuitional school. In the "subjective feeling or consciousness of self-satisfaction," which expresses the summum bonum of intuitional ethics, he discovers an ideal which is essentially egoistic. His own interpretation of utilitarian ethics, on the other hand, issues in an altruism which is widely removed from the alleged "selfishness" of the hedonistic philosophers. The "Chief Ideal Good "being" the existence of all individuals without pain, presentative or representative, during this period of existence," right conduct is that which tends toward this ideal, and right volition is the will to act according to its requirements (p. 71).

The four chief methods of reducing evil are found to be—1. "The Control of Material Forces," through industrial effort and scientific discovery and investigation; 2. "Security and Justice," through political action; 3. "Direct Altruistic Effort"; and, 4. "The Development of Individual Character," through education and moral training. The chief hindrances to this work are—1. The artificial morality of supernatural theology; 2. The unwarranted elevation of institutions above the individual; 3. The notion that social ends are more perfectly realized through the concentration of power in organizations; and, finally, the formation and retention of egoistic ideals of life.

In the section on "The Great Theological Superstition," Mr. Thompson criticises unsparingly, but in no dogmatic tone, the theological doctrine of sin. The idea that there can be a sin against God other than a violation of the rights and happiness of individual men, is found to be untrue, immoral in its implications and results—one of the chief obstacles, indeed, to human progress. Man's "sin against God, if it exist, is in his sin against his fellows"; in other words, theological sin, per se, is a fiction of the imagination; the only reality which can answer in any way to this conception is natural moral evil. Incidentally Mr. Thompson condemns the laws against blasphemy, the exercise of temporal power by the Church, the Pharisaical self-righteousness which he conceives to be the outcome of theological supernaturalism, the "baleful dogma" of eternal punishment, and the mystical conception of "spirituality," as something other than simple goodness, stimulating men to altruistic endeavor.

In the section on "The Institutional Fetich," a rational individualism is maintained as a higher ethical ideal than that which sinks the individual in the mass, and emphasizes institutions at the expense of personal liberties. "Man is the measure of all things." Institutions are made for man, not man for institutions. Authority must give way to the right of private judgment. The doctrine that "the family, the state, the Church, exist superior to any considerations of utility," must be condemned as inimical to the highest development of human character, and as an obstacle to the moral advancement of the race. The principle of authority in the family has resulted in the degradation of woman and the ignoring of the rights of children. "The husband owes to the wife just as many duties as she to him." "Children are to be worked for as human beings having their own independent ends, which are to be respected." "The doctrine of authority has been from the beginning, and is to-day, a stumbling-block in the way of woman's liberty and advancement."—These sentences strike the key-note of Mr. Thompson's liberal and humane treatment of these important social problems, which we can only thus briefly outline within the limits of this review. The divine authority and perfect character of the state is of course condemned as an irrational dogma. The right to agitate against an existing social order is strenuously affirmed. "Any system which does not permit the title of a governing power to be questioned by the governed, in the light of what is best for the general happiness, is a system of rule by force and fear, disguise it as you may under high-sounding phrases, as 'inherent sacredness,' or 'divine authority.'"

Under the head of "The Socialistic Fallacy," the questions of the "Co-operative Idea," "Socialism," "The Political Party," "Industrial Co-operation," are treated with great clearness and in an admirable spirit, as the reader will agree, even if he does not find himself wholly in accord with our author's conclusions. He cries "Halt!" to the active socialistic tendencies of our time, believing that they must ultimate, if successful, in an increase of egoism and restriction of individual liberty, which would be fatal to the highest ethical advancement of the race. Not in individualism, but in egoism, he affirms, is to be found the most serious obstacle to our moral progress.

Finally, the root of existing moral evil is found in the continued elevation of the egoistic ideal as an incentive to human action. War and the militant system are condemned as outgrowths and perpetuators of this ideal. The injustices and immoralities of our industrial system are referred to the predominance of egoism in our industrial methods; and the relief for all these social evils is indicated in the two rules:

1. "Aim at the minimum of extrinsic restraint, and the maximum of liberty for the individual."

2. "Aim at the most complete and universal development of the altruistic character."

While Mr. Thompson is in general accord with the English utilitarian school of philosophy, he is evidently an independent and original thinker—no mere servile follower of sect or leader. In many respects his conclusions agree with those of Mr. Herbert Spencer; but he is no imitator of Mr. Spencer's style, and he does not hesitate to express a frank disagreement with his opinions upon occasion—as in the matter of state education, which Mr. Thompson advocates, while Mr. Spencer condemns. A multitude of the pressing problems of our social life are suggested and discussed in this compact volume, with such frankness, sincerity, ability, and good feeling, that we can heartily commend it not only to the professional scholar, but to all thoughtful men and women. The interest which it will awaken will doubtless bespeak far Mr. Thompson's larger work—"A System of Psychology"—a wider circle of readers than it has hitherto had in this country.

The Factors of Organic Evolution. By Herbert Spencer. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 76.

The two parts of which this essay consists were originally published in successive numbers of "The Nineteenth Century," and also of "The Popular Science Monthly." They are now given in a single volume, together with some passages of considerable length which were omitted, for the sake of brevity, from the magazine publication. Mr. Spencer believes that though mental phenomena of many kinds are explicable only as resulting from the natural selection of favorable variations there are others, still more numerous, which can not be explained otherwise than as the results of the inheritance of functionally-produced modifications. Not only the conceptions we form of the genesis and nature of our higher emotions and moral intuitions, but our sociological beliefs, are profoundly affected by the conclusions we draw on this point. "If a nation is modified en masse by transmission of the effects produced on the natures of its members by those modes of activity which its institutions and circumstances involve, then we must infer that such institutions and circumstances mold its members far more rapidly and comprehensively than they can do if the sole cause of adaptation to them is the more frequent survival of individuals who happen to have varied in favorable ways." Considering the effects which the acceptance of one or other of these hypotheses must have on our views, life, mind, morals, and politics, the question which of them is true, Mr. Spencer adds, "demands, beyond all other questions whatever, the attention of scientific men."

The Ruling Principle of Method applied to Education. By Antonio Rosmini Serbati. Translated by Mrs. William Grey. Boston: D. C. Heath & Co. Pp. 363. Price, $1.50.

Rosmini proposed to apply to education the principles which were independently worked out by Froebel into the Kindergarten—the principles, as the translator describes them, on which Nature herself works. He contemplated a complete treatise on pedagogy, to be worked out in departments corresponding with the several stages of the unfolding and building up of the pupil's mind, having in view, however, not only the child at school, but, to use the words of Francesco Paoli, "the adult and the old, the whole race, in short, because in the man, at every stage of life, there is something of the child; there is a new development going on within him, which requires to be guided and assisted that it may reach a successful issue, and the man learn to educate himself." With this view, he divided his subjects into periods computed by the degrees of cognition which the human mind successively attains in its intellectual development. The first of these periods begins at birth, and includes about six weeks, during which no definite cognitions can be assigned to the child, except that primary and fundamental one of being; the second begins with the first smile and tears, with the simple perception of things as subsisting constituting its cognitions, to which correspond the volitions, which have these things as their object. The third period is marked by the acquisition of speech, which shows that the child has attained the power of analysis and abstraction, with volitions having sensible qualities as their object. The fourth period shows itself in the aptitude to learn to read, and is characterized by the exercise of the faculties of judgment and comparison, and by the development of the moral sense, which was already existing in the germ. Thence are developed conscience, synthetic cognitions, and the free use of the reason. The executed work of Rosmini was terminated at this period; but he left notes from which it appears that he had intended to treat of four other periods, each marked by the development or perfecting of its peculiar faculties. We miss much by not having the completion of a work so well planned, but, "fortunately, the earlier part, which is preserved to us, contains the fundamental principles both of method and practice, which remain the same for all periods of life, and of which only the application varies with the varying degrees of individual development."

Text-Book of Zoölogy; for Junior Students. By Henry A. Nicholson, Regius Professor of Natural History in the University of Aberdeen. Fourth edition. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 388. Price, $1.60.

Professor Nicholson introduces the study of animals by some general considerations of the scope of zoölogy, the conditions of life, classification, and the distribution of animals in space and in time. The present edition of the work has been thoroughly revised and brought up to the present standard of zoölogical knowledge. Recent additions to our acquaintance with the existing or extinct fauna of the world have been noticed in the text, and some fresh illustrations have been added. The scope of the work does not allow space for long descriptions of extinct animals, but those whose characteristics throw light on the relations of living species are briefly described. The definitions of important divisions are printed in italics, and the book is copiously illustrated. A glossary and an index are appended.

Watson's Phonographic Instructor. By John Watson. New York and London: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 144.

The chief peculiarities in the method of teaching Pitman's phonography, which is embodied in this manual, are that vowel-placing and reading are postponed until considerable speed has been attained in writing the consonant outlines of words. When this point has been reached, the author claims that the pupil has become so well acquainted with word-forms that he can read the bulk of his writing without vowels. The pupil is then taught to place a vowel-mark here and there where it will do the most good, until he learns to use as many vowels as a reporter must use. Ability to read comes almost insensibly. A key to exercises occupies twenty-four pages of the volume, and several other pages are devoted to model outlines, contractions, and select phrases, but the author deems reading-lessons useless.

Railway Practice: Its Principles and Suggested Reforms Reviewed. By E. Porter Alexander. Pp. 60. Price, 75 cents. The Interstate Commerce Act: An Analysis of its Provisions. By John R. Dos Passos. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 125. Price, $1.25.

Both of these books belong to the "Questions of the Day" series. The essay of Mr. Alexander appears to have been prepared with especial reference to Mr. T. F. Hudson's book and the articles of Mr. Ely on railroad questions, and to the Reagan bill. The three solutions offered by these persons disagreeing radically in principle, and being also at odds with the methods of reform which the railway managers themselves have instituted, there is some confusion in the premises from which the different parties start. The author's effort is to find means for removing the confusion. There must be a few principles at least settled by actual test and put beyond question or dispute to constitute what we might call the present state of the science of railway management. He therefore takes up the most important questions of railway management, and examines them in the light of those principles. Mr. Dos Passos gives in his book a systematic and detailed analysis of the provisions of the Interstate Commerce Act, preceded by a history of legislation on the subject, and supplemented by the text of the act itself. His exposition is as lucid as the law, which is far from being free from obscurities, will permit a commentator to make it.

A New Basis for Chemistry: A Chemical Philosophy. By Thomas Sterry Hunt, M. A., LL. D. (Cantab.). Boston: Samuel E. Cassino. Pp. 165.

From time to time since 1848 the author has been publishing portions of a theory of chemistry, designed to fill more perfectly the place occupied by the atomic hypothesis. The solution of one problem, namely, that of the relation of equivalent weight to specific gravity in liquids and solids, which was necessary to a complete chemical philosophy, was wanting till 1886, so that in the present volume the author first presents as a whole his new basis for chemistry. The several parts of the theory are set forth largely in quotations from the author's earlier writings. Professor Hunt agrees in the belief that such matter as forms the substances called elements on the earth exists in stars and nebulæ in a still more elementary and tenuous form. From this primary matter he deems all known substances to be formed by greater or less degrees of condensation. He regards chemical combination as an interpenetration of masses, by which "the uniting bodies come to occupy the same space at the same time," and names solution as the type of such union. What we are accustomed to call the liquid and solid states of a substance, he regards as polymers of the corresponding vapor, whose equivalent weights are as much higher as their densities are greater than that of the vapor. He deems the atomic theory unnecessary for explaining the law of definite proportions, and, from its making combination consist in juxtaposition, untenable. His views are supported by his studies in mineralogy, which have shown that the hardness of isomeric species and their indifference to chemical reagents increase with their condensation.

Brazil, its Condition and Prospects. By C. C. Andrews. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 352. Price, $1.50.

Brazil, the only other country on the Western Continent approaching our own in extent, and with 13,000,000 inhabitants, is to us well worth knowing. Yet there are few people in the United States to whom the information in this volume would not have the charm of novelty. The author gained his acquaintance with Brazilian affairs and customs during a residence of three years in Rio Janeiro as United States consul-general. His pages teem with facts in regard to routes of travel, houses, markets, conveyances, religion, business customs, the emperor, special localities, climate, foreign commerce, education, government, literature, agriculture, animals, slavery, immigration, and a host of other topics. The impression which the book conveys is that Brazil is not an especially desirable country for an American to emigrate to. It is difficult for a stranger to procure desirable lands for agriculture or stock-raising, and foreigners who attempt professional careers must struggle with jealousy and suspicion, besides formidable competition. The seclusion of young women seems to be still practiced with almost Oriental strictness on the plantations, as witness the following extract:

Presently the senhora reappeared, leading one very modest looking damsel of about eighteen or nineteen years of age, and closely followed by three others, apparently somewhat younger. All appeared to be overwhelmed with intense shyness, and an almost hysterical desire to laugh. After a formal and separate introduction of each one—be it noted that the lady was here introduced to the gentleman—they all retired back again into the secret chamber, and their papa once more turned the key upon them. At this time we were ignorant of the custom, which I afterward found to be so general in these out-of-the-way parts, of keeping the women, or rather the daughters of the family, locked up like wild beasts.

Controlling Sex in Generation. By Samuel H. Terry. Second edition. With an Appendix of Corroborative Proofs. New York: Fowler & Wells Company. Pp. 209.

In order to more fully corroborate the views advanced in the body of this work, the author has added in this edition an appendix, consisting of extracts from "The Popular Science Monthly" and other periodicals, letters from cattle-breeders, etc, and a chapter in answer to objections.

The Cremation of the Dead. By Hugo Erichsen, M. D., with an Introductory Note by Sir T. Spencer Wells. Detroit: D. O. Haynes & Co. Pp. 264. Price, $2.

In this book the subject is considered from the æsthetic, sanitary, religious, historical, medico-legal, and economical points of view. The author is a warm advocate of cremation, and closes with a prediction that it will make more progress in the United States than in any other country of the world. The text is illustrated with several views and plans of crematoriums, urns, etc.

A Junior Course of Practical Zoölogy. By A. Milnes Marshall, M.D., F. R. S., assisted by C. Herbert Hurst. London: Smith, Elder & Co. For sale by G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York. Pp. xxiv-440.

This book is a laboratory manual designed as a guide to a practical acquaintance with the elements of animal morphology. In almost all cases the descriptions of animals are so arranged that the whole dissection can be performed on a single specimen. Strict uniformity of treatment has not been specially aimed at; thus the more difficult portions of the subject are treated at considerable length, while systems of subordinate educational value, such as the muscular, occupy little space. Few illustrations have been introduced lest the student should give too little attention to the drawings which he must make from his own dissections. The animals selected for description are amœba, and three other protozoa, hydra, liver-fluke, leech, earthworm, fresh-water mussel, edible snail, crayfish, cockroach, lancelet, dog-fish, rabbit, fowl, and pigeon.

Sanitary Examinations of Water, Air, and Food. By Cornelius B. Fox, M. D., F. R. C. P., London. With 110 Illustrations. Second edition. Philadelphia: P. Blakiston, Son & Co. Pp. 563. Price, $4.

The reliability of Dr. Fox's sanitary work led to the expansion of his pamphlet on "Water Analysis" into a volume containing sections on examinations of air and food, in 1878, and has now brought this volume to a second edition. The chief new features of this edition are the extension of water and air examination in the direction of those biological methods that have been introduced of late years, and that are deemed by German and French sanitarians as important as the chemical analysis. Recently devised improvements in the examination of milk are also recorded.

Due North: or Glimpses of Scandinavia and Russia. By Maturin M. Ballou. Boston: Ticknor & Co. Pp. 373.

The author visited Copenhagen and Elsinore, in Denmark, traveled over much of Sweden and Norway, saw the midnight sun, had a glimpse of Finland, visited St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Nijni-Novgorod, and spent a few days in Poland. His sketches of all these parts include accounts of scenery, buildings, people, customs, sites having historical interest or interesting by personal association, and observations on moral, social, political, and religious conditions. His view of the Czar and his government is decidedly more favorable than those which we are accustomed to hear expressed.

The True Doctrine of Orbits: An Original Treatise on Central Forces. By H. G. Rush, of New Danville, Pennsylvania. Pp. 133.

The author endeavors, by mathematical demonstrations, to prove that the orbits of the planets, and even of the comets, are not elliptical, as the Newtonian astronomy supposes, but circular.

Report of the Proceedings of the American Historical Association. Third Annual Meeting, April 27-29, 1886. Herbert B. Adams, Secretary. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 104. Price, $1.

The membership of the Association has grown since its organization in September, 1884, from forty to four hundred and twenty-two members, seventy-eight of whom are life-members. The third meeting was held in Washington, and the discussions included such topics as the capture of Washington in 1814, and the campaigns of our late war, besides many others of a more general character, and some bearing upon what used to be called the philosophy of history. Among the achievements claimed for this meeting are the friendly reunion of military historians from the North and from the South; the peaceful discussion of the campaigns before Washington, and in the Valley of Virginia; the historical representation of the new South and the Northwest, as well as of the Northern States and Canada; the treatment of almost every branch of our American history; the meeting of the youngest historians with the very oldest—Mr. Bancroft; the mingling of representatives from various historical schools; and the presence of Congressmen and visitors from different parts of the Union. "It was a veritable national convention, in the political center of the United States, for the furtherance of American history and of history in America."


PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

Henderson, C. Hanford. Philadelphia. Notes on the Modifications of the Bessemer Steel Process. Pp 9.

Miles, Manly, Lansing, Mich. The Microbes of Nitrification.

"The Ottawa Naturalist," June, 1887, Ottawa, Canada. Pp. 16. $1 a year.

"Civics." Vol. I, No. 1. June, 1887. Quarterly. Pp. 56. $1 a year.

Stoney, Wilbur L., Goshen, Ind. The Circulation of the Blood: A Theory. Pp. 3.

Outerbridge. A. E., Jr. A New Process of casting Iron and other Metals upon Lace, Embroideries, Fern-Leaves, and other Combustible Materials. Pp. 4.

New York Ladies' Health Protective Association. Memorial to Mayor Hewitt on Street-Cleaning. Pp. 12. Memorial on Slaughter-Houses. Pp. 7.

Cooper Union. Twenty-sixth, Twenty-seventh, and Twenty-eighth Annual Reports of the Trustees. Pp. 44.

Oliver. Charles A., M. D. A New Series of Berlin Wools for Color-Blindness Tests. Pp 41. A New Series of Metric Test Letters and Words for Accommodation Tests. Pp. 1.

Groh, Israel W. Is the God of Israel the True God? New York: Truth-Seeker Company. Pp. 79.

Bell, Clark. Seventh Inaugural Address as President of the Medico-Legal Society of New York. Pp. 13. Insanity and the Care of the Insane Pp. 48

Foerste, A. F., Denison University. "Flint Ridge" Bryozoa. Pp. 18, with Plate.

Allen Gymnasium, Boston. Circulars for 1886 and 1887.

Hubbell, Alvin A. . M. D., Buffalo. N. Y. Congenital Occlusion of the Posterior Nares. Pp. 16

West, James H. The Work of a True Church. Chicago. Pp. 14.

Bell, A. N., M. D. The Physiological Conditions and Sanitary Requirements of School-Houses and School-Life. New York: Medical Society of the State of New York. Pp. 83.

Romero, Señor Don Matias. Speech on the Birthday of General U. S. Grant. Pp. 16.

Campbell, M. M., Topeka, Kansas. Open Letter No. 1 and Open Letter No. 2. To American Rulers, and to all who write or read American Literature

"The Woman's Argosy," June, 1887. Monthly. Chicago and New York. Pp. 64, with Plates. $3 a year.

Davis, W. M., Cambridge, Mass. Water-Vapor and Radiation. The Foehn in the Andes; and other Meteorological Papers.

Upton, Winslow, Providence, R. I. An Investigation of Cyclonic Phenomena in New England. Pp. 54.

Nimmo, Joseph Jr., Huntington. L. I The Interstate Commerce Act, Third and Fourth Sections. Pp. 8.

Woman's Medical College of the New York Infirmary. Nineteenth Annual Catalogue and Announcement. Pp. 19.

Ohio State University, School of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, 1886-'87.

Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station, Columbus. Report for 1886. Pp. 316

Peabody Museum of American Archæology and Ethnology, Cambridge, Mass. Twentieth Annual Report of the Trustees. Pp. 84.

Putnam, F. W. Conventionalism in Ancient American Art. Pp. 12, with Plates.

Rotch, A. Lawrence. Results of Meteorological Observations at Blue Hill Observatory, Mass. Pp. 45, with Plates.

"Social Science." Vol. I, No. 1. Weekly. New York. Pp. 16. $3 a year.

Queen, James W., & Co., Philadelphia. "Microscopical Bulletin and Science News," Edward Pennock, Editor. Monthly. Pp. 16. 25 cents a year.

Eggleston, E. R., Mount Vernon, Ohio. Malaria: Its Origin and Cause as a Factor in the Production of Disease. Pp. 8.

Indiana Signal Service, H. A. Huston, Purdue University, Lafayette, Director, "Bulletin" for May, 1887. Pp. 8.

Austen, Peter T., Ph. D., Rutgers College, New Brunswick, N. J. The Study of Analytical Chemistry. Address to Class of '06, Rutgers Grammar-School. Pp. 3.

Buller, Nicholas Murray, Ph. D. The Effect of the War of 1812 upon the Consolidation of the Union. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University. Pp. 30. 25 cents.

"The American Weekly," San Francisco. Pp. 16. 10 cents, $3 a year.

Vasey, George. Grasses of the South. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 63.

Pohlman, Julius, Buffalo, N. Y. The Niagara Gorge. Pp. 2. The Human Teeth viewed in the Light of Evolution. Pp. 6.

Engelmann, George J., M. D. . St. Louis. The Use of Electricity in Gynecological Practice. Pp. 149. Galvanic and Faradic Electricity in the Treatment of Uterine Displacements. Pp. 30.

Board of Education, Rochester, N. Y. Thirty-ninth Annual Report. Pp. 189.

Kneass, Philadelphia. "Magazine for the Blind." May, 1887. Pp. 16. 30 cents, $3.50 a year.

Moury, William A., Editor. "Common-School Education Monthly," Boston, Eastern Educational Bureau. Pp. 40. 15 cents, $1 a year

"Medical Classics." Vol I, No. 1. June, 1887. Medical Classics Company, New York. Pp. 16.

"American Journal of the Medical Sciences," I. M. Hays, Philadelphia, and Malcolm Morris, London, Editors Quarterly. Philadelphia: Lea Brothers & Co. Pp. 304. $5 a year.

Lewis, T. H., St. Paul, Minn. Snake and Snake-like Mounds in Minnesota. Pp. 3.

"Home Knowledge," Robert A. Gunn, Editor. June, 1887. New York: Home-Knowledge Association. Pp. 64. 20 cents, $2 a year.

Tidy, Dr. C. Mevmott The Treatment of Sewage New York: D. Van Nostrand. Pp. 224. 50 cents.

Johnson, Virginia W. The House of the Musician. Boston: Ticknor & Co. Pp. 256. 50 cents.

Wiley, John, & Sons, New York. Practical Works and Text-Books on Civil, Mechanical. Mining, and Marine Engineering, etc. Catalogue and Descriptions. Pp. 175.

Wellcome, Henry S. The Story of Metlakabtla. New York: Saxon & Co. Pp. 483. $1.50.

Heermans, Forbes. Thirteen Stories of the Far West. Syracuse. N. Y.: C. W. Bardeen. Pp. 268.

Brown, John Allen. Palæolithic Man in Northwestern Middlesex. London: Macmillan & Co. Pp. 204, with Plates.

Greenwood, J. M. Principles of Education Practically Applied. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 192. $1.

White, James C, M. D. Dermatitis Venenata Action of External Irritants upon the Skin. Boston: Cupples & Hurd. Pp. 216.

Hubbard, Bela. Memorials of a Half-Century. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 581, with Plates.

Smithsonian Institution. Annual Report of the Board of Regents to July. 1885. Part I. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 996

Powell, J. W., Director. Fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology—1882-'83. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 532.