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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



raneous in the great producing countries, 

 and whether, as to duration, severity, and 

 periodicity, they had been similar in such 

 countries. The outline also comprehended 

 the collection of data relating to the varia- 

 tion of wages in different countries and in 

 different parts of this country, variations in 

 the cost of living in the same localities, and 

 in the cost of production, with all such al- 

 leged causes of industrial depressions as 

 might offer opportunity for illustration 

 through classified facts, and the sugges- 

 tion of remedies for depressions. Five 

 agents were employed in the investigation 

 in foreign countries Great Britain, France, 

 Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy 

 and fifteen in this country. The results of 

 their inquiries are given in detail, and sum- 

 marized in this report. 



Socialism and Christianity. By A. J. F. 

 Behrends, D. D. New York : Baker & 

 Taylor. Pp. 308. Price, 81.50. 



Dr. Behrends was invited by the Trus- 

 tees of the Hartford Theological Seminary 

 to deliver a course of lectures before the 

 students of that institution on the " Social 

 Problems of our Time." This book is the 

 fruit of his studies on the subject, in which 

 he spent a year. In the constructive part 

 of his work, he claims that he has been 

 careful to maintain an independent posi- 

 tion. "I have copied from no one, and 

 have frequently found myself in agreement 

 and at variance with the most opposite 

 schools of thought. The method of criti- 

 cism was fixed for me in my conception of 

 Christianity, and in my settled conviction 

 of its adequacy to solve the pending social 

 problem." In the successive chapters are 

 considered social theories and their history, 

 the assumptions and economic fallacies of 

 modern socialism, the rights of labor, the 

 responsibilities of wealth, the personal and 

 social causes of pauperism, its historical 

 causes and its cure, the treatment of the 

 criminal classes, and " Modern Socialism, 

 Religion, and the Family." The last-named, 

 the closing chapter, is marked by an extend- 

 ed discussion of the true doctrine of the 

 family, which " grew out of the deepening 

 conviction that, in all radical and permanent 

 social reform, a high view of the sanctity 

 of marriage must lead the way." 



Political Science Quarterly. Edited by 

 the Faculty of Political Science of Co- 

 lumbia College. March, 1866. Boston: 

 Ginn & Co. Pp. 152. Price, $3 a year ; 

 75 cents a single number. 



The " Political Science Quarterly " is in- 

 tended to furnish a field for the discussion 

 of political, economic, and legal questions 

 the latter heading embracing chiefly ques- 

 tions of constitutional, administrative, and 

 international law, from the scientific point 

 of view, and by a scientific method. Such 

 topics will be preferred as are of present 

 interest in the United States, but no topics 

 will be excluded which can throw light upon 

 the problems and tendencies of our own coun- 

 try. The present number contains an intro- 

 ductory article on " The Domain of Politi- 

 cal Science," by Professor Munroe Smith ; 

 " The American Commonwealth," by Pro- 

 fessor John W. Burgess ; " Collection of 

 Duties," by Frank J. Goodnow ; " American 

 Labor Statistics," by Professor Richmond M. 

 Smith ; " Legislative Inquests," by Frederick 

 W. Whitridge ; " The Berlin Conference," 

 by Daniel De Leon; and reviews of new 

 books. 



Persia : The Land of the Imams. By James 

 Bassett. New York ; Charles Scribner's 

 Sons. Pp. 343. Price, $1.50. 



The author is a missionary of the Pres- 

 byterian Board of Missions, and gives in this 

 work a narrative of travel and residence dur- 

 ing fourteen years, or from 1871 to 1885. 

 In the first eleven of the sixteen chapters 

 of the book, he gives narratives of extended 

 tours, and such information as seemed to 

 him to be profitable and interesting. The 

 itineraries include the journey from Con- 

 stantinople to Persia by way of Trebizond 

 and Erzeroum, and to Oroomiah, with ac- 

 counts of the Nestorians; from Oroomiah 

 to Teheran, with a description of that city ; 

 a journey to Ispahan ; from Teheran to the 

 Black Sea and back ; and from Teheran to 

 Mashhad. In the remaining chapters is 

 given a general review of Persian affairs, 

 including facts which the author obtained 

 in his travels, chiefly from his own observa- 

 tions. They relate to the general account 

 of the country and its social and economical 

 condition, its government, the prevailing 

 religions, and the condition and prospects 

 of missionary work there. Concerning the 



