LITERARY NOTICES. 



713 



sources on subjects and questions appropri- 

 ate to its sphere. The present number 

 contains a portrait of Dr. George W. Beard, 

 who was a leader in projecting the journal ; 

 the inaugural address of President Clark 

 Bell, of the Medico-Legal Society, in which 

 is embodied a review of the progress of 

 medical jurisprudence in the several coun- 

 tries of the world; reports on coroners, 

 medical. examiners, amendments to the lu- 

 nacy laws of New York, and on the Penn- 

 sylvania lunacy laws, and miscellaneous mat- 

 ters. 



Van Loan's Catskill Mountan Guiide for 

 1883. With Bird's-eye Views of the 

 Mountains, and Maps. Catskill, N. Y. : 

 Walton Van Loan. Pp.126. Price, 40 

 cents. 



Besides notices of the principal resorts 

 and attractions in the mountains, with di- 

 rections for reaching them, and directories 

 of hotels and boarding-houses, arranged by 

 towns, the " Guide " contains some well-con- 

 sidered and condensed notes, intended to as- 

 sist in geological observations in the Cats- 

 kill region. The whole would be a valua- 

 ble and desirable acquisition to tourists, but 

 for the sprawling advertisements that are 

 intruded among the reading-matter. In a 

 book to which a price is attached, the two 

 kinds of matter should occupy their sepa- 

 rate pages. 



Political Economy. By Francis A. Walk- 

 er. New York : Henry Ilolt & Co. Pp. 

 490. 2.25. 



This volume is the fifth of the " Ameri- 

 can Science Series," the principal objects of 

 which are defined to be " to supply the lack 

 of authoritative books whose principles are, 

 so far as practicable, illustrated by familiar 

 American facts, and also to supply the other 

 lack that the advance of science perennially 

 creates, of text-books which at least do not 

 contradict the latest generalizations." The 

 list of the works to be included in the series 

 shows that the publishers have made it a 

 rule to go to authors whose names carry 

 authority, and who speak as original inves- 

 tigators, having their facts at first hand. 

 Professor Walker's discussion, in this vol- 

 ume, of the questions included under the 

 general title of political economy in their 

 varied and complicated aspects and relations 



is full and rich in citations of authorities 

 and in illustrations, and covers such a mul- 

 tiplicity of topics that it would be impos- 

 sible, in an ordinary notice, to give even 

 an outline of it. It is conducted with such 

 clearness as to make the book quite read- 

 able and readily understood. After the in- 

 troductory chapter, or part, in which the 

 " Character and Logical Method of Political 

 Economy " are considered and its claims to 

 be ranked as a science and its relations 

 with other branches are discussed, the whole 

 subject is topically divided and treated 

 under the several heads of "Production," 

 " Exchange," " Distribution," " Consump- 

 tion," and " Some Applications of Economi- 

 cal Principles." The numerous questions 

 growing out of the labor agitation, the sub- 

 jects of the currency, paper money, bimet- 

 allism, protection vs. free trade, and other 

 economic topics now vital among us, receive 

 attention in their appropriate places. 



" Mastery." Useful Pastimes for Young 

 People. A Weekly Magazine. New 

 York : Mastery, 842 Broadway. Pp. 16. 

 Price, V cents a number, $3 a year. 



The character of this publication is well 

 indicated by the subordinate title. It is in- 

 tended not only to amuse and instruct, but 

 also to direct the natural bent of its readers 

 to some practical work ; and the numbers 

 we have seen of it seem well adapted to 

 these purposes. In two of them we have 

 a story illustrating the magical effects that 

 may be wrought through simple applica- 

 tions of modern scientific discoveries ; pa- 

 pers relating to natural history, astronomy, 

 and physiology ; and lessons and sugges- 

 tions regarding various arts and sports with 

 which youth may find it pleasant and per- 

 haps profitable to amuse themselves. 



A Visit to Ceylon. By Ernst Haeckel. 

 Translated by Clara Bell. Boston : 

 S. E. Cassino & Co. Pp. 337. Price, $2. 



A book from an author who has had 

 such an influence upon the scientific thought 

 of his countrymen as Herr Haeckel has ex- 

 erted must have a value of its own, even 

 though it be not directly scientific. The 

 " Visit to Ceylon " records the impressions 

 of a tourist ; yet not of the ordinary tourist, 

 who skims over a country and takes the 

 merest superficial view of everything, but 



