LITERARY NOTICES. 



33 



kinetics of a particle, and the remainder is 

 given to the study of the kinetics of a rigid 

 body and a brief discussion of the funda- 

 mental principles of the kinetics of a system. 

 In the discussion of the motion of a particle 

 (impact, rectilinear motion) such fundamental 

 ideas as momentum, impulse, kinetic energy, 

 force, work, potential energy, and power are 

 gradually introduced and illustrated in an 

 elementary way. Then the general equations 

 of motion of a particle are discussed ; and 

 the principle of kinetic energy, that of angu- 

 lar momentum, and the principle of d'Alem- 

 bert are explained and applied first, to the 

 motion of a free particle, then to constrained 

 motion. In treating of the motion of a rigid 

 body, after the discussion of the fundamental 

 principles and of the theory of moments and 

 ellipsoids of inertia, the action of impulses 

 and the motion under continuous forces are 

 taken up separately. The last chapter, on 

 the motion of a system, is brief, but includes 

 the theory of Lagrange's generalized co-or- 

 dinates and of Hamilton's principle. 



A suggestive and useful little book pre- 

 pared by William C. Connell, and published 

 by G. P. Putnam's Sons, is The Currency 

 and the Banking Laws of the Dominion oj 

 Canada, considered with Reference to Cur- 

 rency Reform in the United States. It con- 

 tains the substance of an address delivered 

 at the American Bankers' Convention held 

 at New Orleans in 1891, in which financial 

 straits that have since occurred were pre- 

 dicted ; followed by the Banking Act of 

 Canada, given entire. This act is presented 

 as completely filling all the requirements of 

 the community in which it exists and flour- 

 ishes, and worthy of consideration in recon- 

 structing our own financial system. 



The Dynamics of Life (Blakiston & Son, 

 Philadelphia) presents the substance of an 

 address delivered before the Medical Society 

 of Manchester, England, in October, 1894, 

 by W. R. Gowers, M. D. In it are explained, 

 without the author assuming any claims for 

 novelty in conception, the operations of La- 

 tent Chemical Energy, the Dynamics of Mus- 

 cle, the Dynamics of Nerve, and the Dynam- 

 ics of Disease. Summing up the results of 

 his inquiry, the author observes that, search 

 as earnestly and thoroughly as we may, that 

 which we call life eludes our search and 

 resists our efforts. " We may, indeed, trace 



the relations to vitality of matter and of the 

 energy it bears their entrance into the do- 

 main of life, their exit, their effects." But 

 we see them only as shadows in the mist. 



In the Fifth Annual Report of the Mis- 

 souri Botanical Garden, for 1893, mention 

 is made of the destructive effects of drought 

 and extreme alternations of winter tempera- 

 ture on the lawns and the evergreens. The 

 Norway spruce has particularly suffered, and 

 it will be only a few years before all the 

 older trees will have disappeared. The old 

 red cedars and the arbor vitEes are also suc- 

 cumbing, and are being gradually removed. 

 A similar experience is recorded at the Har- 

 vard Botanic Garden. The year's additions 

 to the herbarium number 19,417 sheets. In 

 addition to the " Shaw Premiums " already 

 awarded annually, a gold medal has been in- 

 stituted for the introduction of a plant of 

 decided merit for cultivation not previously 

 an article of North American commerce. 

 The Garden and the School of Botany, en- 

 dowed by Mr. Shaw in Washington Uni- 

 versity, are working harmoniously together. 

 The volume, including the report, containg 

 the usual anniversary publications and sci- 

 entific papers on the Venation of Salix, by 

 Dr. N. M. Glatf elter ; the Tannoids, by J. C. 

 Beny ; the Sugar Maples, by Dr. Trelease ; 

 Gayophytum and Boisduvalla, by Dr. Tre- 

 lease ; Pomological Notes for 1892 and 1893, 

 by J. C. Whitten ; The Emergence of Pro- 

 nuba from Yucca Capsules, by J. C. Whit- 

 ten ; Plants collected in Southeastern Mis- 

 souri, by B. F. Bush ; Notes and Observa- 

 tions, by Dr. Trelease ; and more than forty 

 plates. 



The first of the two volumes of Lord 

 RayleigKs work on The Theory of Sound, 

 first issued in 1877, has come to a second 

 edition (Macmillan, $4). The work is a 

 mathematical presentation of the subject, 

 aiming to include the more important of the 

 advances made in modern times by mathe- 

 maticians and physicists. The present vol- 

 ume includes chapters on the vibrations of 

 systems in general, followed by a more de- 

 tailed consideration of special systems, such 

 as stretched strings, bars, membranes, and 

 plates. In the second edition are two new 

 chapters, dealing respectively with curved 

 plates or shells and with electrical vibrations. 

 Minor changes and new sections are inserted 



