132 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



The next chapter, entitled Fatty Acids, 

 contains an account of these as they occur 

 in the various essential oils used in soap- 

 naaking. Chapter III, headed Materials, is 

 devoted to a consideration of the various raw 

 materials employed in tlie manufacture, the 

 methods of preparing them for use (refining 

 processes), and accounts and cuts of the 

 necessary machinery. Chapter IV deals with 

 the water used in soap manufacture, detailing 

 the undesirable impurities and giving meth- 

 ods for removing them. 



The ne.xt chapter, on The Manufacture of 

 Soap, gives an account of the essentials of 

 the art as it is practiced to-day. This is fol- 

 lowed by a chapter on Packing and Stamp- 

 ing. Chapter VII considers special soaps ; 

 Chapter VIII, toilet soaps, and Chapter IX 

 the perfumes commonly used. The next 

 chapter is an account of the methods used 

 for recovering the glycerin set free in the 

 process of saponification. The last chapter 

 consists of a systematic scheme of soap 

 analysis. 



The book, although not intended as a 

 popular treatise, contains much that is suited 

 to the untechnical reader, and for one with 

 a little chemical knowledge, who desires to 

 know something of the manufacture of this 

 important article, it is a good text-book. 

 The cuts and detailed descriptions also make 

 it valuable to the manufacturer. 



The Pursuit of Happiness. By Daniel G. 

 Brinton, LL. D. Philadelphia : David 

 McKay. Pp. 292. Price, $1. 



To seek for happiness and to be happy is 

 not only a legitimate aim in life, but, accord- 

 ing to Dr. Brinton, there is no higher object ; 

 it alone makes life worth living. The al- 

 truist may label this pure selfishness and 

 proclaim that our duty is to live for others; 

 the ascetic may extol self-abnegation as the 

 greatest of virtues ; yet if we are to diffuse 

 happiness, we must first be charged with it 

 ourselves " he wastes his life who devotes 

 his time to anything else than the pursuit of 

 happiness or the search for truth." These 

 quests may be identical, for the first step in 

 learning how to be happy is to get knowledge. 

 Even through " the yearning for joy " evo- 

 lution has come to us ; in groping for pleas- 

 urable sensation the ama-ba has developed 

 into man. The human individual attains hap- 



piness when his self-consciousness is brought 

 into harmony with his faculties and surround- 

 ings. This involves growth and action. Hap- 

 piness is not momentary pleasure, it is even 

 compatible with physical pain and mental 

 suffering if these enhance the realization of 

 self. To be happy, one must work and fight 

 as for the promised land. It follows that 

 there is an art of felicity whose laws we may 

 study. 



The author considers m detail what are 

 the conditions of happiness ; how far it de- 

 pends on Nature and fate, how far it may be 

 controlled by ourselves and by others, and, 

 finally, what are the consolations of afflic- 

 tion. 



On the whole he is a cheerful philoso- 

 pher, although his view of old age is somber 

 " a malady that is absolutely fatal," whose 

 pleasures are tolerable. To women he ac- 

 cords justice rather than flattery, for which 

 rare tribute they should be grateful. There 

 is excellent advice to be found in the book, 

 and, unlike many treatises that offer it, this 

 is entertaining and free from pretense or 

 cant of any sort. The range of topics, how- 

 ever, is wide and we meet strange maxims : 

 less than your best will often answer the 

 purpose, and good enough is good. We 

 query whether the author would be satisfied 

 to have these taken as the gauge of his 

 work. 



The Diseases of the Stomach. By Prof. C. 

 A. EwALD, M. D. Translated by Morris 

 Manges, M. D. New York : D. Appleton 

 & Co. Pp. 497. Price, $5. 



Tins is a translation of a work that has 

 gone through three editions in Germany, a 

 statement that implies intrinsic merit in a 

 work on a medical subject. This translation 

 has had the further advantage of the au- 

 thor's revision, and thus includes his most 

 recent studies on this subject. 



The work is arranged in a series of twelve 

 lectures as they were delivered in the au- 

 thor's course at the University of Berlin ; the 

 subjects include the methods of diagnosis 

 and the various diseases of the stomach. The 

 cliapter on the neuroses of the stomach is by 

 Prof. R. Ewald. 



The author is a clear and logical writer, 

 presenting all the facts that will assist the 

 clinician in making his diagnosis. But he 



