LITERARY NOTICES. 



559 



moner" of philosophy, and without 

 the aid of titles sways the thought of 

 the world more potently than any 

 other man of this generation. 



LITERARY NOTICES. 



Physics for University Students. By 

 Henry S. Carhart, LL. D. Boston : 

 Allyn & Bacon. Pp. 335. 



This is Part I, including mechanics light, 

 and sound, of a text-book, not a treatise, the 

 necessity for which has grown out of the 

 author's own needs as a teacher. The book 

 does not pretend to cover the subject, nor to 

 treat exhaustively those portions with which 

 it deals. It has been written with the no- 

 tion of giving the student a general survey, 

 and only those portions of the science of 

 most importance from this standpoint have 

 been selected for treatment. Rather more 

 space than is usual in an elementary book is 

 given to a consideration of simple harmonic 

 motion. The author explains this by point- 

 ing out its value in the study of alternat- 

 ing currents of electricity and in mechanics. 

 After the statement and explanation of the 

 various laws, the author has arranged prob- 

 lems for testing the student's knowledge. 

 The following, which is one of the experi- 

 ments given to illustrate surface tension, 

 will convey a fair notion of the simplicity 

 and clearness of the author's style : " Make 

 a ring of stout wire three or four inches in 

 diameter, with a handle. Tie to this a loop 

 of thread so that the loop may hang near 

 the middle of the ring. Dip the ring into a 

 good soap solution containing glycerin, and 

 obtain a plain film. The thread will float in 

 it. Break the film inside the loop with a 

 warm pointed wire, and the loop will spring 

 out into a circle. The tension of the film 

 attached to the thread pulls it out equally in 

 all directions." 



Electricity and Magnetism. By S. R. 

 Bottone. London and New York : 

 Whittaker & Co. Pp. 203. Price, 90 

 cents. 



Prof. Bottone, who is the author of sev- 

 eral other books on electrical subjects, has 

 here presented in small compass and popular 

 form an outline of what is known about 



electricity. " The work is not intended as a 

 text-book," he says in his preface, " hence 

 no recondite calculations and no mere enu- 

 meration of all the existing electro-mag- 

 netic appliances are introduced. . . . The 

 two old theories are sufficiently dwelt upon 

 to enable the reader to form an intelligent 

 conception of them, while very special stress 

 has been laid upon the modern and more 

 satisfactory ' molecular ' theory." The book 

 has evidently been prepared for adult read- 

 ers, as its language is not restricted to the 

 vocabulary of the young. There are one 

 hundred and two illustrations. 



The Rise and Development of Organic 

 Chemistry. By the late Carl Schor- 

 lemmer, LL. D., F. R. S. Revised edition. 

 Edited by Arthur Smithells, B. Sc. 

 London and New York : Macmillan & Co. 

 Pp. xxvii + 280. Price, $1.60. 



Much light is thrown upon any science 

 by tracing the successive discoveries through 

 which it has been built up. There is a 

 chance also to give such a story an attract- 

 iveness which a general treatise on the sub- 

 ject might never hope to possess. Prof. 

 Schorlemmer well improved this opportunity, 

 and one who has any knowledge of chem- 

 istry will be interested in his account, telling 

 when and by whom the principal advances 

 in this field have been made, and pointing 

 out the importance of each and its bearing 

 upon the state of the science at the time. 

 The vivacious movement of the author's 

 style and his occasional anecdotes relieve the 

 book from the dryness that might be thought 

 inseparable from it. The volume first ap- 

 peared some years ago, and the present edi- 

 tion has been revised partly by the author and 

 partly since his death by Prof. Smithells, who 

 has prefixed a biographical notice of Prof. 

 Schorlemmer. There is also a frontispiece 

 portrait of the author. 



How to Make and Use the Telephone. By 

 George H. Cary, A. M. Lynn, Mass. : 

 Bubier Publishing Co. Pp. 117. Price, 

 $1. 



This is a little workshop companion, 

 confining itself entirely to the practical 

 parts of the subject : the materials and sim- 

 plest methods of construction ; the parts 

 most liable to get out of order, and how to 

 discover and repair them ; the things not to 



