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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



to admit that one principal object which he 

 kept before his mind in the preparation of 

 the book, was to show the inadequacy and 

 unsatisfactoriness of a prevailing system 

 of psychology which may be indicated by 

 the word phenomenalism." By phenome- 

 nalism we suppose he means corporealism, 

 or the psychology which takes organic con- 

 ditions into account in studying mental ef- 

 fects. But he "shows the inadequacy" 

 of that method chiefly by ignoring it, and 

 if disembodied spirits want a text-book of 

 psychology adapted to their circumstances, 

 the present work may be recommended to 

 them as so well suited that it would not 

 need revision to free it of any sublunary 

 dross. 



The Influence op Music on Health and 

 Life. By Dr. H. Chomet. Translated 

 from the French by Mrs. La.ura A. 

 Flint. 242 pp. Price, $1.25. G. P. 

 Putnam's Sons. 



An elegantly-printed little volume, with 

 an attractive title, which is suggestive of a 

 most interesting class of scientific ques- 

 tions. But the contents of the book are 

 sorely disappointing. The questions we 

 expected to meet are not considered, and 

 the little science there is is bad. In a chap- 

 ter devoted to "The Nature and Origin of 

 Sound," the current physical explanation 

 of the phenomena is rejected, and a sono- 

 rous or musical fluid is resorted to. The 

 author says : " Why do not all the ex- 

 tended cords of a musical instrument, such 

 as a piano, violin, violoncello or guitar, 

 repeat together the tone or cry of the voice 

 which utters sounds above them ? Why, 

 of all the cords of the same instrument, do 

 those only which are in unison with this 

 voice produce sound ? Did not the noise, 

 the sound, the sonorous wave, as they 

 choose to call it, which escapes from the 

 mouth, strike, disturb, and agitate all the 

 strings ? Yes, but the sonorous fluid did 

 not find all of these its Leyden jar, nor in 

 any the capacity for being charged with the 

 sonorous fluid. This, I think, is the expla- 

 nation of the phenomenon that can never 

 be explained by the theory of the molecular 

 vibration of the bodies, or of the undula- 

 tions of the air." Where such crude no- 

 tions are entertained, we cannot expect a 

 very refined analysis of the relations of 



music to the nervous system; nevertheless, 

 the volume contains a good deal of infor- 

 mation in which the lovers of music may be 

 interested. 



Tables for the Determination of Min- 

 erals by mosE Physical Properties 

 ascertainable by the Aid of such Sim- 

 ple Instruments as Every Student in 

 the Field should have with Him. 

 Translated from the German of Weis- 

 bach. Enlarged and furnished with a 

 Set of Mineral Formulas, a Column of 

 Specific Gravities, and one of the Char- 

 acteristic Blow-pipe Reactions. By Per- 

 sifor Frazer, Jr., A. M., Assistant Ge- 

 ologist of the Second Geological Survey 

 of Pennsylvania, lately Professor of 

 Chemistry in the University of Pennsyl- 

 vania. 117 pages. J. B. Lippincott & 

 Co. Price, $2.00. 



This is a very valuable little hand-book 

 for the student of practical mineralogy, and 

 an immense amount of careful and accurate 

 information has been condensed into its 

 pages. It grew out of the necessities of 

 practical teaching in the school of Freiberg, 

 and has been revised and adapted for use in 

 this country by an experienced American 

 geologist, and it is a guide to practical work 

 which every student of minerals will find 

 indispensable. The method of study to 

 which it is tributary is thus indicated in a 

 passage from the translator's introduction : 



" Every one who has had the good fortune 

 to study at the Eoyal Saxon Mining Acade- 

 my, in Freiburg, will bear witness to the effi- 

 cacy of the system there pursued for in- 

 structing young students in the art of distin- 

 guishing mineral species on the spot, by the 

 aid of a tolerable memory, and an intelligent 

 observation of a few of their most striking 

 physical properties both brought to the 

 highest point of perfection of which they 

 are capable by judicions cultivation, and 

 kept in their best condition by assiduous 

 daily exercise. 



" The method of practical instruction 

 pursued there, and which has been intro- 

 duced by Freiberg graduates into many 

 schools in this country, requires merely a 

 cabinet of unlabeled minerals, and a pro- 

 fessor who can determine not one who has 

 learned them. Each student, of a class of 

 ten or more, places a tray of such minerals 

 before him, and occupies the two hours de- 

 voted to " Praktische Uebung" in discov- 

 ering, by the aid of the knife, the streak- 

 tablet, the file, and the magnifying-glass, 



