LITERARY NOTICES. 



705 



An Elementary Course of Geometrical 

 Drawing : Containing Problems on the 

 Right Line and Circle, Conic Sections 

 and other Curves ; the Projection Sec- 

 tion and Intersection of Solids ; the De- 

 velopment of Surfaces and Isometric Per- 

 spective. By George L. Vose, A. M., 

 Professor of Civil Engineering in Bow- 

 doin College. Illustrated by Thirty-eight 

 Plates. Boston : Lee & Shepard. 



This seems to be an excellent introduc- 

 tion to the practice of geometrical drawing. 

 Its method has been used for several years 

 in classes with the most favorable results. 

 It was prepared for the use of the lower 

 classes in engineering schools, but parts of 

 it may no doubt be made excellent use of in 

 the high schools. The author claims that it 

 is well adapted for those who desire to pur- 

 sue this branch of study by themselves and 

 without a teacher. But he strongly recom- 

 mends pupils to commence with a master 

 wherever practicable, as they will thus save 

 time, and avoid the formation of bad habits, 

 so easy to get and so hard to lose. 



Among Machines. A Description of Various 

 Mechanical Appliances used in the Man- 

 ufacture of Wood, Jletal, and Other Sub- ' 

 stances. A Book for Boys. Copiously \ 

 illustrated by the author of " The Young j 

 Mechanic." New York : G. P. Putnam's 1 

 Sons. Pp. 335. Price, $1.75. 



On the extensive subject of machinery, 

 which would fill cyclopaedias, this volume 

 takes up only such parts as are assumed to 

 have a general interest, and concerning 

 which it is well that all active-minded boys 

 should be instructed. It treats of those 

 fundamental laws which underlie the sys- 

 tem of machinery, and upon which are 

 founded the various mechanical combina- 

 tions which have contributed so much to the 

 development of manufactures. The need of 

 understanding these principles would be ap- 

 parent, and we remember that hand process- 

 es ai'e rapidly disappearing by the substi- 

 tution of machinery, so that the mechanic 

 who has been trained to a special manipula- 

 tion hardly knows at what moment an un- 

 expected invention may undermine and de- 

 stroy his vocation. Each new victory and 

 invention is, moreover, but a step toward 

 others, and we are eveij day surprised to 

 observe how triumphant ingenuity haa 

 overcome difficulties hitherto supposed to 

 VOL. XVIII. 45 



be insurmountable, and which makes an in- 

 road upon the traditional handicraft labor, 

 and cheapens a product of general utility. 

 The author of this book, therefore, thinks 

 it a fit time to instruct the younger portion 

 of the community in the details of the 

 more ordinary machines with which they 

 may perhaps some day become closely and 

 personally interested. Twenty chapters are 

 devoted to the most important machines, 

 pi'ocesses, and mechanical arrangements in 

 the wide field of manufacturing industry. 



Telegraphic Determination of Longitudes 

 ON the East Coast ob' South America. 

 By Lieutenant - Commanders F. M. 

 Green, C. H. Davis, and Lieutenant J. 

 A. NoRRis, U. S. N., in 1878 and 1879. 

 Published bv order of Commodore Wil- 

 liam D. Whiting, U. S. N., Chief of the 

 Bureau of Navigation, Navy Department. 

 Washington: Government Printing-Of- 

 ficc. Pp. 87. 



The longitude of points on the east coast 

 of South America has been very uncertain 

 until recently, for the results obtained by 

 apparently trustworthy methods have dif- 

 fered by almost incredibly large quantities. 

 The extension of telegraphic cables gave the 

 opportunity to make more accurate deter- 

 minations from some well-determined point 

 in Europe by way of Madeira and the Cape 

 Verd Islands with the eastern South Ameri- 

 can coast. The connection was made from 

 Land's End by Carcavellos, at the mouth of 

 the Tagus, and the Brazilian submarine tel- 

 egraph. The determinations made by the 

 commission, combined with the determina- 

 tions of meridian distances made by Pro- 

 fessor Gould at Cordova, furnish a valu- 

 able system of longitudes embracing about 

 twenty stations in the interior. A curious 

 fact connected with this work is, that it has 

 given the first correct determination of the 

 longitude of Lisbon. 



The Relations of Science to Modern Life. 

 A Lecture delivered before the New 

 York Academy of Sciences. By Henry 

 C. Potter, D. D. Published by the 

 Academy. New York : G. P. Putnam's 

 Sons. Pp. 29. 



The author presents, in the easy, flowing 

 style of a popular lectui-e, a view of the ob- 

 ligations we are under to science in the com- 

 moner features of our domestic and social 

 life. 



