LITERARY NOTICES. 



135 



ual by Benjamin G. Conklin, the lessons in 

 which are intended to cover the last two 

 years of the primary course, and are graded 

 to suit the capacity of pupils as they ad- 

 vance. A picture is given, or a passage to 

 be read ; followed by a heading. Things to 

 Notice, under which are included '' develop- 

 ment questions," which the pupil is to an- 

 swer in his own language, and the deductions 

 from his answers ; and Things to Do a title 

 which covers varied exercises, all intended 

 to be of a nature to interest the pupil. The 

 aim throughout the book is to lead the pupil 

 to see and think for himself, and when he 

 has mastered it he will have undergone a 

 course of training in observation and original, 

 spontaneous, literary composition. (Ameri- 

 can Book Company. Price, 35 cents.) 



The Presentation of the Life and Educa- 

 tional Works of Johi Amos Comenius, Mo- 

 ravian bishop, the famous educator, by S. S. 

 Laurie, is believed by the author to be the 

 most complete and, so far as he knows, the 

 only complete account of Comenius and his 

 works that exists in any language. In pre- 

 paring it, the author has gone through all of 

 Comenius's didactic writings, and has writ- 

 ten the whole from original sources. The 

 volume contains the life and a synopsis of 

 the principal features of the works of Come- 

 nius. The publisher, C. W. Bardeen, Syra- 

 cuse, N. Y., has furnished the present edition 

 with headlines, five portraits, and a bibliog- 

 raphy, with photographic reproductions from 

 early editions of the works of the bishop. 



The idea of presenting the handbook 

 Three Hoads to a Co7n)nission hi the United 

 States Army (D. Appleton & Co.) was sug- 

 gested to the author. Lieutenant W. P. Burn- 

 ham, when, shortly after assuming the duties 

 of Professor of Mihtary Science and Tactics 

 at St. John's Military School, Manlius, N. Y., 

 he was surprised to find so much interest 

 manifested in the army, and more so to find 

 how little was known of its real workings. 

 The most remarkable impressions were en- 

 tertained regarding the character, hardships, 

 and privations of the rank and file of the 

 army. The fact that a commission could 

 easily be obtained from the ranks was not 

 comprehended, many not knowing that such 

 a thing was possible in time of peace. The 

 author has endeavoi'ed to throw sufficient 

 light on these points. The character and 



extent of the examinations for obtaining a 

 commission from the ranks of the army 

 were considerably changed in 1891 and 1892. 

 The rules governing the examinations are 

 taken from the official records of the War 

 Department, which are based on acts of Con- 

 gress. The three roads to a commission de- 

 fined and explained in the book are those 

 from the Military Academy, from the army 

 by the appointment of meritorious soldiers, 

 and from civil life the least frequented of 

 the number. 



Science Stories (J. R. Osgood, Mcllvaine & 

 Co., London) is a collection of descriptive es- 

 says relating principally to the habits and vari- 

 ous features of the existence of different ani- 

 mals and plants, originally contributed by the 

 author, Daniel Wilson, to the Glasgow (Scot- 

 land) Herald. They are reproduced with the 

 view of encouraging " that popular interest 

 in science which is, happily, a feature of our 

 modern life." 



The American Mental Arithmetic has 

 been pi-epared by Mr. M. A. Bailey for a 

 drill book in which the principles of written 

 arithmetic, except as applied to large num- 

 bers, shall be concisely stated and illustrated. 

 Among its features are the placing of prin- 

 ciples and illustrations in parallel columns ; 

 the beginning of each subject at the top of 

 a page ; the systematic placing of explana- 

 tions and directions under exercises ; the 

 prominence of the combination method ; the 

 indication of the number of seconds that 

 should be required for the solution of each 

 example; the introduction, in factoring, of 

 the conception of numbei's severally prime 

 to each other; the method of presentation 

 of the metric system ; the teaching of per- 

 centage without rules or formulas ; and prac- 

 tical exercises at various places of business. 

 (American Book Company. Price, 35 cents.) 



In the Commercial Arithmetic of Head- 

 master /S. Jackson (Macmillan & Co.) it is 

 assumed that the i-eader has a competent 

 knowledge of elementary arithmetic, and 

 therefore the theoretical portions of the 

 work are limited to the methods which are 

 best adapted for commercial calculations. 

 An endeavor has been made to give full and 

 accurate information on all commercial sub- 

 jects of first-rate importance. Certain meth- 

 ods of readily saving labor are suggested. 

 Emphasis is laid on the immense superiority 



