SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE. 



423 



and carries him through the period of his 

 wonderful popularity and brilliant accom- 

 plishments to the close of the Crimean War 

 and the birth of the prince whose fate was 

 so unhappy. It deals, in a pleasant manner, 

 and all favorable to Napoleon, but not adu- 

 latory, with affairs social, political, and mili- 

 tary, in which it is hard to say whether the 

 tact or the good fortune of the subject of the 

 history shone most brilliantly. We are told 

 how Eugenie won the French nation; of 

 Napoleon's good will, especially manifested 

 toward all that could contribute to his exal- 

 tation; of his dealings with the sovereigns 

 around him, gradually winning their recog- 

 nition, including that of Nicholas of Russia; 

 of the darkening of the clouds of war, the 

 Crimean campaigns ; of the interchanges of 

 courtesies, gradually rising into close, firm 

 friendship, with the British court; and of 

 the birth of the Prince Imperial. Think 

 what we may of the character of the reign 

 of Louis Napoleon and of its influence, it 

 marked an epoch in nearly every line of de- 

 velopment of the world's history, and was as 

 distinctly separated from what came before it 

 and from what followed it as if a broad line 

 were drawn around it; and it left some im- 

 portant results that are not likely to be soon 

 effaced. M. de Saint-Amand writes from 

 personal knowledge, having witnessed or par- 

 ticipated in much of what he describes, and 

 has in Elizabeth Gilbert Martin a fully com- 

 petent and acceptable translator. (Published 

 by Charles Scribner's Sons. Pp. 407. Price, 

 $1.50.) 



The paper of the late Dr. Theodor Eimer 

 on Orthogenesis and tlie Impotence of Natural 

 Selection in Species Formation is published 

 by the Open Court Company, Chicago, as No. 

 29 of their Religion of Science Library. Pp. 

 56. Price, 25 cents. 



The second volume of Uncle Robert's 

 Geography, of Appletons' Home -Reading 

 Series — On a Farm — Mr. Francis W. Par- 

 ker, the editor, and Nellie Lathrop Helm, em- 

 phasizes the importance of parents and teach- 

 ers, giving full and complete recognition of 

 the immense educational value of spontane- 

 ous activities as displayed in motive and 

 interest ; a recognition which " should be 

 followed by active encouragement and direc- 

 tion of the child's play, work, and observa- 



tions." The story deals entirely with the 

 interests and life of children in the environ- 

 ment of the country. A little girl is in htr 

 playhouse in a Virginia fence corner, with 

 her doll and mimic housekeeping. Her shy, 

 retiring companions are the birds who peep 

 into the playhouse, and, after she has gone 

 away, come into it and pick up the crumbs 

 she has left. This leads to talks about dif- 

 ferent birds and their nest building. A St. 

 Bernard dog is introduced and furnishes the 

 opportunity for bringing in stories of the 

 Alps, their glaciers and snows, and the Hos- 

 pice of St. Bernard, and then about other 

 dogs. Susy makes a garden in the woods, 

 and the wild flowers become the subjects of 

 her spontaneous study. So with the rab- 

 bits, bread making and the grain that fur- 

 nishes the material for the bread, and other 

 incidents ; with more birds' nests ; the nature 

 of bulbs, squirrels, etc. ; and finally Uncle 

 Robert sets the child to finding out how the 

 animals in the woods spend the winter, and 

 whether they are doing anything now in 

 preparation for it. (New York : D. Appleton 

 and Company. Price, 42 cents.) 



The Thirty-fifth Annual Eeport of the 

 Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture 

 of Michigan includes the Ninth Annual Re- 

 port of the Agricultural College Experiment 

 Station, and is largely taken up with the work 

 of the latter institution, reviewing the rec- 

 ords of the college departments and present- 

 ing the reports and bulletins of the station. 

 The record of meteorological observations, 

 the Proceedings of the Farmers' Institutes, 

 the Transactions of the Association of Breed- 

 ers of Improved Live Stock, and the Transac- 

 tions of the State Agricultural Society are 

 also incorporated in the volume. An inter- 

 esting feature of the publication is the inser- 

 tion of a portrait and biographical notice of 

 one of the pioneer farmei's of the State, Enos 

 Goodrich, who was also prominent in public 

 life. 



The translation by Eleanor Marx Aveling 

 of Lissagaray's History of the Commune of 

 1871 was made many years ago at the re- 

 quest of the author from a contemplated sec- 

 ond edition which the French Government 

 would not allow published. The work hav- 

 ing been revised and corrected by the trans- 

 lators father, and for other reasons, no 



