SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE. 



849 



who made miserable journeys in search of 

 gold or visionary objects, through regions 

 now traversed by some of the more southern 

 hues. Then came trappers ; next costly and 

 painfully undertaken Government expeditions 

 into the then regions of the unknown, the 

 stories of which were the boyhood delight 

 of men now living. The period of practical 

 traversing of the continent began with the 

 raging of the California gold fever, when 

 the journey of many weeks was tiresomely 

 made with ox teams, in the face of actual 

 perils of the desert, starvation, thirst, and 

 the Indians. After California became im- 

 portant, stage and express lines were put on ; 

 but still, at the time Mr. Warman takes up 

 the story, less than sixty years ago, the idea 

 of building a railroad to the Pacific was re- 

 garded as too visionary to be entertained, 

 and Asa Whitney sacrificed a fortune trying 

 to induce somebody to take it up. The first 

 dreams were for a short route to the Orient. 

 Eventually the idea was developed that the 

 American West might be worth going after, 

 and then the idea of a railroad to it began to 

 assume practical form. Young Engineer 

 Dodge, afterward Major General, began sur- 

 veys before the civil war ; after it General 

 Sherman gave the scheme a great impulse, and 

 the Union Pacific Railroad was built — when 

 and how are graphically and dramatically told 

 in Mr. Warman's book. Next came the Atchi- 

 son, Topeka, and Santa Fe, and other transcon- 

 tinental lines, the histories of all of which are 

 related in similar style, with stories of ad- 

 ventures, perils encountered, and lively inci- 

 dents, including the war between two of the 

 lines for the possession of the Arkansas 

 Canon; financial mishaps, and political scan- 

 dal. Then came the settlement of the 

 plains, road-making in Mexico, and the open- 

 ing of Oklahoma, all of which were made 

 possible by the railroads, and have in turn 

 contributed to support them. The beginnings 

 and growth of the express business are de- 

 scribed, and the later lines that have pene- 

 trated the plains are mentioned. 



Prof. William Benjamin Smith's treatise 

 on the Infinitesimal Analysis * has been 

 written, the author says, on what appeared, 



* Infinitesimal Analysis. By William Benja- 

 min Smith. Vol.1. Elementary; Real Variables. 

 New York : The Macmillan Company. Pp. 352. 

 $3.25. 



VOL. LIV. — 63 



in the light of ten years' experience in teach- 

 ing the calculus, to be lines of least resist- 

 ance. The aim has been, within a prescribed 

 expense of time and energy, to penetrate as 

 far as possible into the subject, and in as 

 many directions, so that the student shall at- 

 tain as wide knowledge of the matter, as full 

 comprehension of the methods, and as clear 

 consciousness of the spirit aud power of this 

 analysis as the nature of the case would ad- 

 mit. The author has accordingly often fol- 

 lowed what seemed to be natural suggestions 

 and impulses toward near-lying extensions 

 or generalizations, and has even allowed them 

 to direct the course of the discussion. In 

 accordance with the plan and purpose of the 

 book as given, " Weierstressian rigor " has 

 been excluded from many investigations, and 

 the postponement has been compelled of 

 some important discussions, which were con- 

 sidered too subtle for an early age of study. 

 Real difficulties, however, have not been 

 knowingly disguised, and pains have been 

 taken on occasion to warn the reader that 

 the treatment given is only provisional, and 

 must await further precision or delimitation. 

 Where the subject has been found too large 

 for the compass of the intended work, or too 

 abstruse or difficult for the contemplated 

 students, the treatment has been compressed 

 or curtailed. The book is, in fact, written 

 for such as feel a genuine interest in the 

 subject; and the illustrations and exercises 

 have been chosen with frequent reference to 

 practical or theoretic importance or to his- 

 toric interest. 



Mr. George Jacob Holyoake has written 

 with much enthusiasm the Jubilee History 

 of the Leeds Industrial Co-operative Society. * 

 Many schemes have been started on lines 

 similar to those of this one, but very few 

 besides it have grown from the very begin- 

 ning, and, having become to all appearance a 

 permanent institution, can look back upon 

 a career of fifty years with complete satisfac- 

 tion. The society began in times of public 

 distress. The ground was prepared for it 

 by the " Redemption " Society, which was 

 founded at Leeds in 1845, by admirers of 

 Robert Owen, after the experiment at Queens- 



* The Jubilee History of the Leeds Industrial 

 Co-operative Society from 1817 to 1897. Traced 

 Year by Year. By George Jacob Holyoake. Leeds 

 (JSng ) Central Co-operative Oilice. Pp. 200. 



