560 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



unnecessary details. Chapter I is an ear- 

 nest plea for the education of girls in this 

 vital subject of the quality of food ; II con- 

 siders water, tea, coffee, and cocoa; III, 

 cereal foods ; IV, milk, butter, and cheese ; 

 V, sugar ; VI, canned fruits and meats ; 

 VII, condiments ; VIII, perishable foods 

 and the means for preserving them ; IX, 

 other materials used in cooking ; X, princi- 

 ples of diet. Mrs. Richards regards scien- 

 tific housekeeping as " the duty of the rich 

 and the salvation of the poor." She tells 

 of a young woman who lived and flourished 

 " on corn-meal, cooked in various ways, for 

 a whole year, with only a dinner every Sun- 

 day at a friend's house. She kept well and 

 hearty on a peck of Indian-meal a month ; 

 so that her whole living cost only about ten 

 dollars a year, as she prepared it herself." 

 Twenty hours a week spent in making pies, 

 cakes, and puddings, at a cost of five dol- 

 lars, when an equivalent in fruit for dessert 

 can be had for three dollars, with fuel and 

 service saved as well as time, is given as 

 one of the instances of thoughtless waste 

 in which current household management 

 abounds. The excellent works put forth by 

 Mrs. Richards and her example of a life 

 devoted to high practical ends must help 

 on the time when housekeepers will respect 

 their calling, become intelligent and inter- 

 ested in it, and then we may hope that their 

 best thought will be devoted to its improve- 

 ment. 



Bulletin of the Scientific Laboratories 

 of Denison University, Granville, Ohio. 

 Edited by Professor C. L. Herrick. 

 Pp. 136, with Plates and Tables. Price, 

 $1.25. 



The editor, assuming that every well- 

 conducted institution of learning should 

 form a recognized center of scientific ac- 

 tivity, the " Bulletin " is intended to repre- 

 sent the life of the college in its scientific 

 departments. It contains papers, most of 

 them well and clearly illustrated, on the 

 " Osteology of the Evening Grossbeak " ; 

 " Metamorphoses of Phyllopod Crustacea"; 

 " Superposed Buds " ; " Limicole, or Mud- 

 living Crustacea " ; " Rotifers of America, 

 with Descriptions of a New Genus and Sev- 

 eral New Species " ; " The Clinton Group of 

 Ohio, with Descriptions of New Species " ; 

 " A Compcnd of Laboratory Manipulation," 



presenting in concise form the methods 

 .which have proved to be of greatest serv- 

 ice ; a condensed translation of Eugene 

 Hussak's tables for the determination of 

 rock-forming minerals ; and a brief account 

 of the natural history department of the 

 university. 



Food Consumption. By Carroll D. Wright. 

 Chemical Analysis and Treatment. 

 By Professor W. 0. Atwater. Boston : 

 Wright and Potter Printing Company. 



Pp. 90. 



This is the part of the report of the 

 Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics that re- 

 lates to the quantities, costs, and nutrients 

 of food materials. The investigation to 

 which it relates was undertaken in the con- 

 viction that much money is wasted in the 

 purchase of food that is lacking in the ele- 

 ments of nutrition, and that the incomes of 

 working-men might be made far more effect- 

 ive if their food were provided in accordance 

 with the results of scientific research. To 

 aid in determining this point, a number of 

 schedules of dietaries, giving qualities and 

 costs of food of people of limited incomes 

 were collected, and the constituents subject- 

 ed to analysis. The results of the analyses 

 are here presented in a comparative form, 

 as between the constituents themselves, and 

 as compared with other dietaries and recog- 

 nized standards. 



Hand-Book of Plant Dissection. By J. 

 C. Arthur, M. Sc, Botanist to the New 

 York Agricultural Experiment-Station; 

 Charles R. Barnes, Professor of Bot- 

 any in Purdue University ; and John M. 

 Coulter, Ph. D., Professor of Botany in 

 Wabash College, Editors of the "Bo- 

 tanical Gazette." New York : Henry 

 Holt & Co. 1866. 



By the method of this book, plants are 

 first subjected to " gross anatomy," as it is 

 called, or observation, with the aid only of 

 a hand-lens ; and then, passing to " minute 

 anatomy," every part is subjected to the 

 compound microscope. The apparatus, re- 

 agents, and materials required, have been 

 made as few as possible, and the directions 

 for their use are so clear and intelligible, 

 that they must have been derived from act- 

 ual and extended experience in giving this 

 form of instruction. The subjects selected 

 for study are common plants, to be found 



