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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



be thought of. The problem was solved by 

 making thorough examinations of single 

 mounds and single groups, selecting such as 

 were most typical, over the whole area ; so 

 that, by a careful examination of these typical 

 structures in the various districts, the end, it 

 was thought, might be secured of collecting 

 the data necessary to an understanding of 

 the more general and more important prob- 

 lems relating to the mounds and tbe mound- 

 builders. The exhaustive examination of 

 many single groups and the study of local 

 problems are left to the future. Accurate 

 and full descriptions and measurements are 

 given of all the mounds and groups exam- 

 ined. The collections made include pottery 

 of most of the known varieties, and some 

 that are new, showing most of the known 

 types of textile impressions and some that 

 are unusual ; polished and pecked celts from 

 mounds ; stone pipes, which so supplement 

 others that the whole evolution of forms may 

 be traced from the earliest known ; copper 

 articles, including two new types, " decidedly 

 the most important yet discovered " ; en- 

 graved shells ; specimens of textile fabrics 

 and mattings ; and chipped flint implements, 

 stone axes, discoidal stones, gorgets, etc. 

 (Published at the Government Printing Office, 

 Washington.) 



In the preparation of his Elements of Me- 

 chanical Drawing the author, Gardner C. 

 Anthony, has aimed, as in the other num- 

 bers of his Technical Drawing Series, to pro- 

 vide a text-book rather than a copybook, a 

 treatise in which principles should be estab- 

 lished and methods suggested, but freedom 

 permitted in their application. It is intended 

 that the student should first thoroughly mas- 

 ter the principles, and then, unaided, apply 

 them to the solution of the problems, receiv- 

 ing such instruction as his special case may 

 demand. The system has been successfully 

 applied by the author and others in teaching 

 various classes. The present work concerns 

 geometrical problems, conic sections, projec- 

 tion, the development of surfaces, the inter- 

 section of surfaces, screw threads and bolt 

 heads, bolts, and isometric and oblique pro- 

 jection. (Published by D. C. Heath & Co., 

 Boston. Price, $1.50.) 



In Tlie Natural History of Hell, a discus- 

 sion of some of the relations of the Christian 

 plan of salvation to modern science, including 



a chapter on miracles and a scientific exami- 

 nation of the theory of endless punishment, 

 John Phillipson undertakes a scientific dem- 

 onstration of the natural necessity of endless 

 punishment for wrongdoing, inevitable unless 

 arrested by some agency outside of Nature. 

 The argument is based upon the conception 

 of the never-ending endurance and transmis- 

 sion of the picture and the consequences of 

 every action. Under this view there is a 

 necessity for some plan of salvation outside 

 of natural law. Here science stops. (Pub- 

 lished by the Industrial Publication Compa- 

 ny, New York. Price, 25 cents.) 



Expositions of Buddhism have come to 

 us in two works. Of The Gospel of Bnd- 

 dha, according to the old records, by Dr. 

 Paul Cams (Open Court Publishing Com- 

 pany, Chicago), the bulk of the contents is 

 derived from the old Buddhist canon. Many 

 passages, including the most important ones, 

 are literally copied from translations of the 

 original texts, rendered rather freely in some 

 cases to make them intelligible to the pres- 

 ent generation ; others have been rearranged ; 

 and still others are abbreviated. The few 

 original additions embody ideas for which 

 prototypes may be found somewhere among 

 the traditions of Buddhism, and are giv.en as 

 elucidations of the main principles of the 

 doctrine. For those who want to trace the 

 Buddhism of the book to its foundation a 

 table of references is appended, directing to 

 the sources of the various chapters and point- 

 ing out parallelisms with western thought. 



A Buddhist Catechism (G. P. Putnam's 

 Sons) is an introduction to the teachings of 

 the Buddha Gotamo, compiled from the holy 

 writings of the southern Buddhists, with ex- 

 planatory notes for the use of Europeans, by 

 Subhadra Bhikshu. It is a concise repre- 

 sentation of Buddhism, according to the Cey- 

 lonese Pali manuscripts of the Tipitakam, 

 which are regarded as the oldest and most 

 authentic sources. It contains the funda- 

 mental outlines of the doctrine, with the 

 omission of the legendary, mystic, and occult 

 accessories with which Buddha's teachings 

 have been adorned or encumbered in the 

 course of centuries. 



The third part of the Elementary Treatise 

 on Theoretical Mechanics of Alexander Ziwet 

 (Macmillan & Co., $2.25) is on kinetics. 

 About half of the volume is devoted to the 



