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POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



side, and does not make the mistake of pin- 

 ning his faith exclusively to one while sneer- 

 ing at the other. He begins by describing 

 *' the nervous mechanism at the disposal of 

 the mind," for he regards an elementary 

 knowledge of the action of brain and nerves 

 as a necessary groundwork for the pupil's 

 images of mental action. He then takes 

 up the faculties of mind in succession 

 consciousness, presentation, representation, 

 imagination, thought, emotion, and will. The 

 several ideas that he sets forth under each 

 subject are contained in distinct paragraphs, 

 each with its own heading. 



The scope of the book includes applied 

 as well as pure science. The consideration 

 of each of the faculties above mentioned is 

 followed by a chapter or part of a chapter 

 on the cultivation of that faculty. " Laws 

 are of little use," Mr. Halleck believes, " un- 

 less they are applied ; hence these chapters 

 are of the utmost importance to all who have 

 not passed the plastic age." He aims not 

 only to show his pupils how the mind acts, 

 but to aid them in making their own minds 

 act more efficiently. The volume is indexed, 

 and the chapter on the nervous system is 

 illustrated with several well-executed wood- 

 cuts. 



There can hardly be a volume in the 

 Library of Useful Stories that will touch 

 everyday life more closely than The Story of 

 a Piece of Coal does.* In telling this story 

 the author has so mingled scientific, tech- 

 nological, and general information about a 

 familiar substance as to produce a remarka- 

 bly readable little book one that is instruc- 

 tive without being oppressively learned. He 

 begins with an outline of what has been 

 learned about the formation of coal from 

 plants, and then tells how the coal beds lie 

 among other rocks and what sort of animal 

 remains are found between them. In the 

 next chapter he shows the relationship be- 

 tween peat, lignite, bituminous and anthra- 

 cite coals, graphite, and the diamond. Pass- 

 ing to the industrial side of his subject, Mr. 

 Martin describes the coal mine and its dan- 

 gers, the making of gas, and the preparation 



* The Story of a Piece of Coal. By Edward A. 

 Martin, F. G. S. Pp. 168, 16mo. London : George 

 Newnes, Ltd. Price, \s. New York : D. Apple- 

 on & Co. Price, 40 cents. 



of those many valuable products derived 

 from what was formerly the waste of the 

 gas works. The derivatives of petroleum, 

 which is closely related to coal, are also 

 dealt with. How long the coal supply of the 

 world is likely to last is a question that has 

 been anxiously asked, and we find some in- 

 teresting computations of the time in a chap- 

 ter describing the distribution of the de- 

 posits. The closing chapter is devoted to 

 the coal-tar colors, which were briefly re- 

 ferred to earlier in the volume. The thirty- 

 eight illustrations show many of the plants 

 and animals of the coal formations, and 

 some of the structures and apparatus used 

 in mining and gas-making. 



President Jordan, of Leland Stanford 

 Junior University, has collected into a vol- 

 ume * seventeen addresses relating to higher 

 education which were delivered at college 

 commencements and on other occasions. Sev- 

 eral of them have already appeared in print in 

 this magazine and other periodicals. In his 

 address to the class of 1895 of Stanford 

 University, which gives the title to the vol- 

 ume. President Jordan declares emphatically 

 in favor of individual education. " A misfit 

 education," he says, " is no education at all." 

 A training that enables each man to give 

 play to his strength is the best safeguard 

 against the seeming predominance of the 

 weak and ignorant in democracies. Among 

 the subjects whose broad aspects are pre- 

 sented in one or another of these addresses 

 are The Nation's Need of Men, The Higher 

 Education of Women, The Training of the 

 Physician, and The Practical Education. We 

 find in these pages stimulating and luminous 

 thoughts following each other in rapid suc- 

 cession. Thus in one place Dr. Jordan says, 

 after giving words of encouragement to the 

 poor student : " It is not poverty that helps a 

 man. ... It is the effort by which he throws 

 ofE the yoke of poverty that enlarges the 

 powers." In another place he warns against 

 mistaking the " cant of investigation " for 

 the true thing. As to a young man's chance 

 for a career, he affirms : " If he can do well 

 something which needs doing, his place in 

 the world will always be ready for him." To 



* The Care and Culture of Men. By David 

 Starr Jordan. Pp. 268, 12mo. San Francisco : 

 The Whitaker & Ray Co. $1.50. 



