LITERARY NOTICES. 



705 



make a journey productive to science. Few- 

 travelers know what things among any peo- 

 ple are interesting to science ; still fewer 

 know how to get at them. Bastian goes to 

 the heart of things, and although he gives 

 much of general interest he aims particu- 

 larly to secure knowledge of the philosophy 

 and the religion of these Eastern peoples. 

 Brahmanism and Buddhism are illuminated 

 by his research, but it is particularly Jainism 

 that he discusses. His work is undoubtedly 

 a most important contribution to our knowl- 

 edge of this curious religion. Twenty-two 

 interesting plates, mostly copies of drawings 

 or paintings made by Asiatics, give the 

 Brahman, Buddhist, and Jainist ideas of 

 heavens, earths, and hells. 



Domestic Economy. By I. H. Mater, M. D. 

 Lancaster, Pa. : Published by the Author. 

 Pp. 283. 



This is a work on thrift in the house- 

 hold, rather disconnected, but containing 

 much valuable information. It deals not 

 only with the actual outlay, but also with the 

 facts and behavior which determine and 

 modify the necessity for outlay in special 

 directions. Among the subjects discussed 

 are : The Home its location, both as regards 

 sanitation and ready accessibility ; Educa- 

 tion ; Recreation ; Time its use and misuse ; 

 Fuel ; Clothing ; Pets and Pests ; Food ; Drink ; 

 Mother and Child ; Exercise ; and Accidents. 



Outlines of Forestry. By Edwin J. Hous- 

 ton, A. M. Philadelphia : J. B. Lippin- 

 cott Co., 1893. Pp. 254. Price, $1. 



The general conclusion seems to be that, 

 unless something in the way of intelligent 

 and ordered action is attempted toward the 

 preservation of our forests, they will soon be 

 things of the past, so far as commercial value 

 is concerned, and that their destruction will 

 profoundly modify the climate of large sec- 

 tions. 



This interesting little book bears direct- 

 ly on the important question of the function 

 of forests in determining climate, and the 

 means of preserving and replacing them. It 

 is a question which is of increasing importance 

 in all countries as they advance in population 

 and manufacture, and has been more or less 

 under discussion in this country for some 

 years past. In view of these facts, it be- 

 TOL. XLIV. 53 



comes desirable that there should be not only 

 concerted action between large landowners 

 and the Government, under the supervision of 

 especially qualified men, but also that each 

 individual farmer shall appreciate the value 

 of his " wood lot," not simply as a " wood 

 pile," but also and even more as a " wood 

 lot," as an important factor in determining, 

 in common with those of his neighbors, the 

 climate and fertility of the region, and hence 

 indirectly his own and his neighbors' pros- 

 perity. The latter function is the one which 

 this book is intended to fulfill ; it is a primer 

 of forestry. The first five chapters give a 

 brief description of plant physiology and 

 soil formation. These are followed by some 

 pages on the forest's enemies and the forces 

 tending to its destruction. Then comes a 

 consideration of the effect of vegetation on 

 rainfall, drainage, climate, and the purity of 

 the atmosphere. These preliminary discus- 

 sions are followed by a consideration of the 

 methods by which a barren country may be 

 timbered, or a section from which the for- 

 ests have been removed may be retimbered. 

 An appendix contains lists of trees suitable 

 for replanting in different portions of the 

 United States. 



Inorganic Chemistry for Beginners. By 

 Sir Henry Roscoe, F. R. S., assisted by 

 Joseph Lunt, F. C. S. New York and 

 London : Macmillan & Co. Pp. 24 L 

 Price, 75 cents. 



In this little text-book Roscoe has treated 

 the elementary principles of chemistry more 

 fully than in his Elementary Lessons, while 

 he has restricted the descriptions of elements 

 and their compounds to a few typical exam- 

 ples. In the first portion of the book the basal 

 principles of chemistry are taught in eight 

 chapters or lessons, with the aid of carefully 

 described experiments. At the end of each 

 lesson is a summary under the heading 

 " What we have learned," and a set of ques- 

 tions on the lesson. The rest of the volume 

 is devoted to descriptions of selected ele- 

 ments and their compounds. Nonmetallic 

 Inorganic Chemistry would be a more exact 

 title for the book, as no metals are included 

 among the elements described. Ther^ are a 

 hundred and eight cuts of apparatus, etc. 

 The chief characteristic of this text-book is 

 that it boldly abandons the idea of covering 



