132 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



ninety million miles or thereabout the au- 

 thor discourses pleasantly on that luminous 

 sphere that forms the destination of this 

 astronomical journey. 



The sun is considered as the source of 

 lteht. of heat, and of chemical action ; its 

 influence on living beings, on animals and 

 plants, is commented upon. The position of 

 the sun in the planetary world, its rotation, 

 its physical and chemical constitution, are 

 all studied in turn ; and, finally, there are 

 given the reasons why life is, must be, im- 

 possible upon its surface. Numerous illus- 

 trations are scattered throughout the text. 



History of California. By Theodore H. 

 Hittell. San Francisco : Occidental 

 Publishing Company. Pp. 799. Price, 



$5. 



The author of this history is a well- 

 known legal writer of California, who has 

 spent many years of industrious labor in its 

 preparation. His purpose has been to give 

 an account, and, at the same time, a pict- 

 uresque history of the State, a popular his- 

 tory, adapted to the use of those who have 

 not time to read a larger work, but who de- 

 sire at the same time a comprehensive re- 

 view of the subject, in which every branch 

 is treated in due proportion to its relative 

 importance as viewed with regard to the 

 whole. No other State, the publishers 

 claim, possesses so romantic a history as 

 California, and in no work on the subject 

 that we have observed has more effort been 

 made with greater success to present it in a 

 way which, while it does not lack in the es- 

 sential point of accuracy, shall make the story 

 interesting and pleasant in the reading. 

 Beginning with the very first account of the 

 country found in the older records, it traces 

 the development, illustrates the progress, 

 and shows how, step by step, the State be- 

 came what it is. The old voyages, with 

 their interesting incidents ; the heroic tale 

 of the early settlements ; the labors of the 

 missionaries, and their establishment of the 

 missions ; the lives and acts of the Span- 

 ish and American governors ; the changes 

 wrought in the condition of the country by 

 the revolution against Spain and Spanish 

 ideas ; the growth of the civil as opposed 

 to the ecclesiastical, and the popular as op- 

 posed to the monarchical power ; the strug- 



gles of individuals and factions ; and the 

 evolution of the new State, are related in a 

 plain, engaging style. In the present vol- 

 ume the first book is devoted to the stories 

 of the early voyagers ; the second book 

 covers the period of the Jesuit mission set- 

 tlements of Lower California, and closes 

 with an account of the Indians of that re- 

 gion ; the third book covers the period of 

 the Franciscan missions and the beginnings 

 of Alta California ; and the other books 

 include the history of the Spanish govern- 

 ors, the Northwest coast fur-trade, later 

 Northwest coast - voyages and discoveries, 

 overland expeditions and explorations, and 

 the Indians of Alta California. The second 

 volume, which will complete the work, is 

 promised soon. 



A Text-Book of Inorganic Chemistry. By 



Professor V. von Richter. Authorized 



Translation, by Edgar F. Smith, Ph. D. 



Philadelphia : P. Blakiston, Son & Co. 



Pp. 423. Illustrated. Price, $2. 



The fact alone that this volume bears 

 the imprint, " Second American from the 

 fourth German edition," would seem to be- 

 speak for this work a degree of merit not 

 common to many of the numerous produc- 

 tions that have appeared in this field of sci- 

 ence. A careful examination of its pages 

 confirms this impression. Usually text- 

 books on this subject present but a more 

 or less complete enumeration of facts. The 

 different elements are considered in turn : 

 their occurrence, modes of preparation, 

 properties, important compounds, etc., are 

 discussed ; but little effort is made to point 

 out the theories deduced from the observa- 

 tions and experiments. 



In this work, however, the inductive 

 method is followed throughout. Experi- 

 ments are given and carried out, with the 

 intention of drawing conclusions from them, 

 and of illustrating the close relation be- 

 tween the results obtained and the theories 

 founded upon them. 



The introduction briefly defines the prov- 

 ince of chemistry, refers to the principle of 

 the indestructibility of matter, the conser- 

 vation of energy, chemical energy, condi- 

 tions of chemical action, chemical symbols 

 and formulEe. The elements are classified 

 according to the law of periodicity, this 

 meaning simply that the properties of the 



