S CIENTIFIC LITER A TUBE. 



565 



now before us, English Visible Speech in 

 Twelve Lessons (Volta Bureau, Washington, 

 50 cents), is intended as a first book for the 

 use of children, foreigners, and the deaf in 

 learning to read English. Each lesson is 

 accompanied by cuts showing the positions 

 of the vocal organs denoted by the new 

 symbols introduced in that lesson, and by a 

 page of directions for the teacher. There is 

 also a table of vowels occurring in foreign 

 languages. The first few readujg exercises 

 are adapted to children most of the others 

 to adults. 



Under the title Cheerful Philosophy for 

 Thoughtful Invalids, a little book of forty 

 pages has been published by William H. 

 Clarke, which is well calculated to aid those 

 bodily afflicted in rendering their lives " less 

 burdensome to themselves and more useful 

 to others." While it is religious in tone it 

 is not sanctimonious, and the practical appli- 

 cation of its encouraging counsel is shown in 

 several anecdotes (E. T. Clarke & Co., Read- 

 ing, Mass., 50 cents). 



According to the Report of the United 

 States Life-Saving Service, the number of 

 disasters within the scope of the service dur- 

 ing the year lS94-'95 exceeded that of any 



previous year by seventy-nine. This large 

 excess was in part due to the extension of 

 the service, but chiefly to the conditions of 

 weather which prevailed. The proportion 

 of loss of life and likewise of property was 

 smaller than in any year but one since the 

 general extension of the service on the sea 

 and lake coasts. The general superintendent 

 still finds it necessary to urge upon Congress 

 a more liberal and discnminating scale of 

 payment for district superintendents and 

 surfmen. 



The somewhat ambiguous title of The 

 Nursery Book denotes a guide to the multi- 

 plication of plants by Prof. L. H. Bailey, the 

 third edition of which appears in The Gar- 

 dencraft Series (Macmillan, $1). While there 

 is a short chapter devoted to methods of 

 sowing seeds, the book is mainly occupied 

 with grafting, cutting, and similar processes. 

 A special feature is the alphabetical Nursery 

 List, telling how every plant generally known 

 to gardeners is propagated. There are also 

 a glossary and an index. The descriptions 

 are illustrated with one hundred and fifty-two 

 cuts. For this edition, the author says, " the 

 entire volume has been thoroughly ransacked 

 and renovated." 



PUBLICATIONS EECEIVED. 



Agricultural Experiment Stations. Delaware 

 Collejje Station: The Increase of the San Jos6 

 Scale in Delaware during 1896. Michigan State 

 College: latteniug Lambs; Ffediug Corn Smut; 

 Pig Feeding. New York Station: Strawberries; 

 Milk, Fat, and Cheese Yield. Ohio State Univer- 

 eity: The College of Agriculture and Domeetic 

 Science. United States Department: Bibliogra- 

 phy of the More Important Contributions to 

 American Economic Entomology; Proceedings of 

 the Eighth Annual Meeting of ttie Association of 

 Economic Entomologists; A BacttiTial Disease of 

 the Tomato, Eggplant, and Irish Potato. 



Bulletins, Catalogues, Proceedings, etc. Field 

 Columbian Museum: Annual Report of the Direct- 

 or. Health, Rhode Island State Board of: Sev- 

 enteenth Annual Report. Iowa State University: 

 Bulletin from the Laboratories of Natural History, 

 Vol. IV, No. 1. Labor, Bulletin of Department 

 of, November, 1896. Minnesota Botanical Stud- 

 ies: Bulletin No. 9. Philadelphia Academy ot 

 Natural Sciences. Pp. 515-i:63 Peabody Educa- 

 tion Fund: Proceedings of Trustees at Thirty -fifth 

 Meeting Purdue Socitty: Proceedings of, 18.>6. 

 Smithsonian Institution: Annual Report of the 

 Board of Regents of, to July, 1894. Culin, Stew- 

 art: Mancala, the National Game of Africa. Gray, 

 Thomas: Smilhsonian Physical Tables. Mason, 

 O. T.: Primitive Travel and Transportation. Mc- 

 Guire, J. D.: A Study of Primitive Methods of 

 Drilling. Satoh, A. : The Wooden Statue of 

 Baron II Kamou-no-Kami Naosuke, Picmeer 

 Diplomat of Japan. True, F. W. : A Revision of 

 theAmerican Moles. Wilson, Thomas: TheSwas- 

 tica. Texas Academy of Science: Are we Con- 

 8ciou9 Automata ? Lnited States Army: Annual 



Report of the Chief of Engineers, 1896. United 

 States Fish Commission: Description of a Kew 

 Species of Shad from Alabama; A Check List of 

 the Fish and Fishlike Vertebrates of North and 

 Middle America. United States National Mu- 

 seum: Description of a New Genus and Four 

 New Species of Crabs from the West Indies; Pre- 

 liminary Diagnoses of New Mammals from the 

 Mexican Border of the Unit ^d States. 



Education, Report of the Commissioner of, 

 1894-'95. Vol. I. Pp. 1152. 



Farman, D. Auto-cars. New York: Macmil- 

 lan & Co. Pp. 249. $1.50. 



Hutchinson, H. N. Prehistoric Man and Beast. 

 New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp.298. $3. 



Keasbey, L. M. The Nicaragua Canal and the 

 Monroe Doctrine. New York: G. P. Putuame. 

 Pp. 6-21. 



Kelly, Mrs. M. A. B. Short Stories of our Shy 

 Neighbors. New York: American Book Co. Pp. 

 214. 50 cents. 



Keyes, Charles Rollin. Bibliography of Mis- 

 souri Geology. Pp. 533. 



Kipling, Rudyard. The Seven Seas. New 

 York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 200. 1.50. 



Labor, Twelfth Annual Report of the Connec- 

 ticut Bureau of. Pp. 315. 



Lanessan, J. L. de. Principes de colonisation 

 (Bibliotheque Scientifique Iniernationale). Paris: 

 Felix Alcan. Pp. 283. (5 francs. 



Library of the World's Best Literature (45 

 vols.). Vols. I and II. Edited by Churlea Dud- 

 ley Warner. Now York: The Interuatioiial Soci- 

 ety. Pp. each, 481. 



