LITER ART NOTICES. 



851 



the period of the rhythmic wave to be about 

 ten or eleven years ; and according to his 

 computations the period of depression in 

 which we are now supposed to be sinking is 

 to culminate in 1 887. Curiously enough, he 

 predicts it was a prediction when he wrote 

 it that "during the years of depression 

 into which we are now entering 1885, 

 1886, 1887 we may expect numerous 

 strikes, mobs, and troubles in our cities 

 among laboring classes, incident to such 

 times." While Mr. Smith's theory must be 

 classed in the long list of hypotheses very 

 much in need of proof, it is fair to say that 

 he does not write like a wild visionary, but 

 in the manner of a capable man who has 

 thought long and earnestly upon the ques- 

 tion he discusses. 



The Fitting-Schools. By G. von Taube. 

 New York : Gramercy Park School and 

 Tool-House Association. Pp. 86. 



The author is the originator and present 

 director of the Gramercy Park Tool-House, 

 and considers in this pamphlet the educa- 

 tional methods followed there which at- 

 tempt considerably more than simply to in- 

 troduce the tools, or to train a future me- 

 chanic. From the statements of his the- 

 ory of education we cite this about the 

 primary work, or purpose, of the Kinder- 

 garten, which "is generally accomplished, 

 nohcithstanding the school. The early cult- 

 ure of perceptions goes ahead according to 

 Nature's rules, even if the ABC remains 

 unmastered. And facing the fact that a 

 great deal of the very Kindergarten work is 

 not wisely (we should say philosophically) 

 arranged and conducted, we are obliged to 

 come to the conclusion that the knowledge 

 how to lose time wisely is the best maxim 

 to be followed at an early age of the child. 

 What has to be attended to is the disci- 

 pline of habits, that of steady preoccupa- 

 tion, a concentration of attention leading to 

 future thoroughness. Then the habit of neat- 

 ness, that of sociability, the early sympathy 

 toward a sufferer, a good, square, friendly 

 acquaintance with Mother Nature's object- 

 ive department. . . . Thus the creation of 

 a good motive in children depends greatly 

 upon careful early management, and the 

 spontaneous activity of the little ones is 

 made available to that effect." Arriving 



at the age of generalizations the study is 

 directed toward new and wider subjects a 

 higher analysis of life and its conditions. 

 In the conclusion "Education, let us be- 

 lieve, is a specialty, is a serious study ; not 

 a personal opinion on a light subject, but a 

 generalization, the inductions of which ex- 

 tend through centuries, whose truths call 

 for testimony of most mixed sciences. Edu- 

 cation, therefore, as a science, can no more 

 be mixed up with emotional ventures and 

 declamations than physics, chemistry, or 

 astronomy. The future of a generation, 

 embodying the dearest we possess on earth 

 our children is too serious a matter to 

 be settled off-hand, or to be indiscrimi- 

 nately and blindly deduced from a few 

 principles, even if these should be of the 

 highest kind." 



Anthropophagy, Historic and Prehistoric. 

 Bv General Charles W. Darling, Uti- 

 ca, N. Y. Privately printed. Pp. 47. 



The author, in his readings relating to 

 the origin and history of the human family, 

 was impressed with the frequent allusions 

 to man-eating among many of the peoples 

 of the world, and was prompted to collate 



I some of the references to the custom, in a 

 connected form. In doing this, he has en- 

 deavored to be faithful to the facts as re- 

 lated by historians and travelers. His rec- 



; ord begins with the Cyclopes of the Greeks, 

 and ends with the distressing incidents of 



j the Grecly Expedition. 



I Proceedings of the Sixth Meeting of the 

 Society for the Promotion of Agricult- 

 ural Science. 1885. B. D. Halsted, 

 Secretary, Ames, Iowa. Manhattan, Kan- 

 sas : State Agricultural College. Pp. 

 59. 



The society was organized in 1880, for 

 the purpose of bringing together those who 

 are interested in the applications of science 

 to agriculture, discussing the methods and 

 results of investigations, and providing for 

 publications relating to the same. The 

 present meeting was held at Ann Arbor, 

 Michigan. Among the papers recorded in 

 the report are "The Vitality of Seeds 

 buried in the Soil," by W. J. Beal ; " The 

 Demands made by Agriculture upon the Sci- 

 ence of Botany," by Charles E. Bessey ; " On 

 Some Redeeming Traits of Alkali Soils," 



