LITERARY NOTICES. 



411 



irresistible interest to a purely scientific dis- 

 cussion. 



Professor Lyman has made an excellent 

 compend of what is known upon the sub- 

 ject of anaesthetics and their use. The book 

 covers the history, theory, and practice of 

 the topics discussed ; and not the least 

 merit of the treatment is its attractive style. 

 Dr. Lyman has not availed himself of the 

 ancient prerogative of medical science, to 

 be dull. The work of a learned physiolo- 

 gist and practitioner, it is properly classed 

 by its publishers among their standard 

 medical authors. 



A ItEr-ORT ON THE TEACHING OF CHEMISTRY 



and Physics in the United States. By 

 Frank Wigglesworth Clarke, S. B., 

 Professor of Chemistry and Physics in 

 the University of Cincinnati. Wash- 

 ington : Government Printing-Office. Pp. 

 219. 



This is No. 6 of the " Circulars of In- 

 formation " of the Bureau of Education for 

 18S0. It embraces the substance of the 

 replies to a schedule of questions which the 

 Commissioner of Education sent out in 1878 

 to the schools of the country relative to the 

 teaching of physics and chemistry, and cov- 

 ering the items of the courses of study, the 

 text-books used, the value of apparatus, the 

 library facilities and policy, the character 

 of examinations, and the cultivation of 

 original research. These replies were re- 

 ferred to Professor Clarke to digest and 

 collate. His report, the purpose of which, 

 in accordance with the design of the Com- 

 missioner of Education is, first, to state the 

 facts, and second, to point out defects and 

 remedies, includes a specific account of the 

 instruction given in all those schools, pub- 

 lic or private, of whatever grade, from which 

 sufficient information to form the basis of 

 such an account was received. In the pref- 

 atory parts of the descriptive chapters 

 assigned to the several classes of schools, 

 the author offers free general criticisms of 

 the methods, and his own views of their 

 defects, and the improvements of which they 

 are susceptible, in observations which are 

 of much value and interest. Passing the 

 question of the desirability of teaching the 

 sciences in primary and intermediate schools 

 as an open one, the expediency of teaching 

 chemistry and physics in secondary schools 



is regarded as generally admitted. Not 

 less than half a year should be given to 

 each, and "a year can usually be given 

 without difficulty." Instruction should be 

 general rather than special, and the text- 

 book should be supplemented by the knowl- 

 edge of the teacher, which ought to be 

 enough "to render him in a measure inde- 

 pendent of text-books." Normal schools 

 by the theory of their existence ought to 

 recognize the fact that their students may 

 be called upon to teach chemistry and phys- 

 ics, and endeavor to train them intelligently 

 in methods of instruction, and a few of 

 them do so. As to the colleges, in most 

 cases they teach chemistry and physics to 

 the same extent as the preparatory schools, 

 and in essentially the same way. "The 

 conclusion is obvious that the colleges ought 

 to do higher work. . . . The present repe- 

 tition or duplication of studies is clearly 

 wasteful, and ought to be abolished." With 

 a few honorable exceptions, the colleges 

 which are doing the best work in chemistry 

 and physics are those which have adopted 

 the elective system. The system of in- 

 struction in medical and related schools 

 needs, as a rule, much improvement, but, 

 " fortunately, a healthier state of affairs is 

 rapidly developing." Insufficient attention 

 to laboratory work or the neglect of it is a 

 chief defect in a large proportion of the 

 schools. Laboratory practice in physics is 

 necessarily limited in preparatory schools, 

 but a greater variety is attainable in chem- 

 istry, in numerous simple and ordinary ex- 

 periments, which are cheap, and ought to 

 be sought out and used. In the normal 

 schools the future teacher may be taught 

 the art of getting along with make-shifts, 

 and to construct simple apparatus out of 

 the commonest materials. 



Illustrations of the Earth's Surface. 

 Glaciers. By Nathaniel Southgate 

 Shaler, Professor of Paleontology, and 

 William Morris Davis, Instructor in 

 Geology, in Harvard University. Boston : 

 James R. Osgood & Co. Pp. 196, with 

 25 Plates and Descriptive Texts. Price, 

 810. 



This work is designed to be one of a 

 series of volumes of " Illustrations of the 

 Earth's Surface," to be entitled severally 

 "Glaciers," "Mountains," "Volcanoes and 



