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POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



reason which evidently to us pervades the 

 universe, and is that by which our intellect 

 has been both produced and illumined." 



A large amount of information, mainly of 

 a practical character, has been gathered by 

 Mr. William J. Clark in his book on Com- 

 mercial Cuba * — information, as Mr. Gould 

 well says in the introduction he has contrib- 

 uted to the work, covering almos tthe entire 

 field of inquiry regarding Cuba and its re- 

 sources. The data have been partly gained 

 from the author's personal observation and 

 during his travels on the island, and partly 

 through laborious and painstaking classifi- 

 cation of existing material, collected from 

 many and diverse sources. The subject is 

 systematically treated. The first chapter — 

 How to Meet the Resident of Cuba — 

 relates to the behavior of visitors to the 

 island, really a considerably more important 

 matter than it would be in this country, for 

 the Spaniards are strict in their regard for 

 correct etiquette. It is natural that a chap- 

 ter on the population and its characteristics 

 and occupations should fellow this. Even 

 more important than correct behavior — to 

 any one at least but a Spaniard — is the sub- 

 ject of climate and the preservation of 

 health ; and whatever is of moment in rela- 

 tion to these subjects is given in the chapter 

 devoted to them. Next the geographical 

 characteristics of Cuba are described, and the 

 facilities and methods of transportation and 

 communication ; also social and political 

 matters, including government, banking, and 

 commercial finance, and legal and adminis- 

 trative systems of the past and future. A 

 chapter is given to Animal and Vegetable 

 Life, another to Sugar and Tobacco, and 

 a third to Some General Statistics, after 

 which the several provinces — rinar del Rio, 

 the city and province of Havana (including 

 the Isle of Pines), and the provinces of Ma- 

 tanzas, Santa Clara, Puerto Principe, and 

 Santiago — are described in detail, with their 

 physical characteristics, their agricultural or 

 mining resources, their various towns, and 

 whatever else in them is of interest to the 

 student of economics. A Cuban Business 

 Directory is given in the appendix. 



* Commercial Cuba. A Book for Business 

 Men. By William J. Clark. Illustrated. New 

 York : Charles Scribner's Sons. Pp. 514, with 

 maps. 



A Collection of Essays is the modest des- 

 ignation which Professors./. C.Arthur and D. 

 T. MacDougal give to the scientific papers in- 

 cluded in their book on Living Plants andthtir 

 Properties* The authors deserve all praise 

 for having taken the pains without which no 

 book composed of occasional pieces can be 

 made complete and symmetrical, to revise 

 and rewrite the articles, omitting parts "less 

 relevant in the present connection," and am- 

 plifying others " to meet the demands of con- 

 tinuity, clearness, and harmony with current 

 botinical thought." Of the twelve papers, 

 those on the Special Senses of Plants, Wild 

 Lettuce, Universality of Consciousness and 

 Pain, Two Opposing Factors of Increase, 

 The Right to Live, and Distinction between 

 Plants and Animals, are by Professor Arthur ; 

 and those on The Development of Irritabil- 

 ity, Mimosa — a Typical Sensitive Plant, The 

 Effect of Cold, Chlorophyll and Growth, 

 Leaves in Spring, Summer, and Autumn, and 

 the Significance of Color, are by Professor 

 MacDougal. Based to a large extent on origi- 

 nal investigations or careful studies, they 

 present many novel thoughts and aspects, and 

 constitute an acceptable addition to popular 

 botanical literature. 



Having described the great and growing 

 interest taken in child study, President A. R. 

 Taylor announces as the principal aim of his 

 book, The Study of the L'hild,\ to bring the 

 subject within the average comprehension of 

 the teacher and parent. Besides avoiding as 

 much as possible technical terms and scien- 

 tific formulas, the author has made the de- 

 sire to announce new principles subservient 

 to that of assisting his fellow-workers to a 

 closer relationship with the child. As teach- 

 ers and parents generally think it extremely 

 difficult to pursue the study of the child 

 without at least a fair understanding of the 

 elements of psychology, the author intimates 



* Living Plants and their Propeities. A Col- 

 lection of Essays. By Joseph Charles Arthur 

 (Purdue University) and Daniil Trembly Mac- 

 Dougal (University of Minnesota). New York : 

 Baker & Taylor. Minneapolis : Morris & Wilson. 

 Pp. 234. 



t The Study of the Child. A Brief Treatise 

 on the Psychology of the Child, with Suggestions 

 for Teachers, Students, and Parents. By A. R. 

 Taylor. New York : D. Appleton and Company. 

 (International Education Series.) Pp. 215. Price, 

 $1.50. 



