278 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY, 



The volume includes also a report on the 

 work of the steamer Albatross and a descrip- 

 tive catalogue of the collections of the Alba- 

 tross made in 1890 and 1891. A number of 

 views and other plates illustrate the several 

 papers. The volume for 1893-94 contains 

 reports on the same general inquiries as its 

 predecessor, and among its special papers are 

 a description of the exhibit of the commis- 

 sion at the World's Columbian Exposition, 

 The Whitefishes of North America, The 

 Fishes of the Missouri River Basin, A Re- 

 view of the Foreign Fishery Trade of the 

 United States, and a List of Publications of 

 the Commission from its establishment. 



Volume XXX, Part IV, of the Annals of 

 the Harvard Observatory is devoted to a Dis 

 cussion of the Cloud Observations made at the 

 Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory, by H. 

 Helm Clayton. Mr. Clayton begins with a 

 historical sketch of cloud nomenclature which 

 introduces his statement of the new system- 

 atic nomenclature adopted for the Blue Hill 

 Observatory. The names devised at Blue 

 Hill are designed to specify the form, alti- 

 tude, and origin of the clouds. After con- 

 sidering briefly the methods of cloud forma- 

 tion and the relations of clouds to rainfall 

 and to cyclones, Mr. Clayton gives an ac- 

 count of the annual and diurnal periods in 

 the wind and the cloud movements that have 

 been found from the Blue Hill observations. 

 Other topics treated are the movements of 

 the wind and clouds at different heights in 

 cyclones and anticyclones, cirrus motions, 

 and the velocity of storms. Some notes on 

 the use of cloud observations in weather 

 forecasting are added, and there is an ap- 

 pendix of tables and diagrams. 



G. P. Putnam's Sons are now presenting 

 to the public Volume II of Books and their 

 3 fakers duritig the Middle Ages, by George 

 Haven Putnam. In this new volume Mr. 

 Putnam recounts the vicissitudes of two 

 centuries' books and bookmakers the trials 

 and triumphs of those first ambitious, de- 

 termined little companies of printer-pub- 

 lishers who, confronted ofttimes by the 

 mighty odds of church and state, yet wield- 

 ed so bravely and untiringly their new-found 

 weapon that echoes of their resounding blows 

 for truth and liberty still ring in the ears of 

 men. Mr. Putnam dwells with emphasis and 



at some length on certain of the early print- 

 er-publishers of the Reformation period, se- 

 lecting as representatives of that class the 

 Kobergers in Nuremberg, Froben in Basel, 

 the house of Plantin in Antwerp, Caxton in 

 Bruges and in London, the Elzevirs in Ley- 

 den and Amsterdam, " and the famous fami- 

 lies of the Estiennes or Stephani." The au- 

 thor modestly disclaims attempts at dramatic 

 arrangement or presentation of his subjects, 

 saying, as with regard to Luther, that he is 

 " not concerned with Luther as a Reformer, 

 as a fighter, or as a Christian hero, but sim- 

 ply with his work and his relations as an au- 

 thor " ; nevertheless, there is much that is of 

 deepest historic and dramatic interest to be 

 found throughout the book. The volume is 

 beautifully put together. With its plain, rich 

 binding of dark red, its uncut linen pages, 

 and clear type, it is a fitting specimen of 

 what books and bookmakers have attained 

 to in this day and age. (Price, $2.50.) 



German Scientific Reading, compiled by 

 H. C. G. Brandt and W. C. Day (Holt), em- 

 bodies an excellent idea. Students of sci- 

 ence taking up German, without caring to 

 linger long over its literature, but wishing to 

 acquire rapidly the facility of reading Ger- 

 man scientific prose, will find here an ade- 

 quate answer to their wants. The extracts, 

 mostly by well-known German scientists, 

 have been chosen for the simplicity of their 

 diction and the value of the information they 

 impart. Covering a wide range of sciences, 

 they might prove as interesting reading to a 

 class of general students as to specialists. 

 Some twenty pages of descriptive prose, by 

 those masters of style, Goethe and Hum- 

 boldt, enliven the book by their literary 

 quality. The notes are adequate, and the 

 vocabulary "is intended to contain every 

 word in the text, simple or compound, liter- 

 ary or technical." This collaboration of two 

 specialists, professors respectively of German 

 and of chemistry, has produced a Reader that 

 should recommend itself to German teachers 

 and classes in general. 



Another portion of Weisbach's great 

 work on mechanics, as revised by Hermann, 

 dealing with The Mechanics of Bumping Ma- 

 ihintry has been translated (Macmillans, 

 $3.75). It is designed for the use of engi- 

 neers and students of engineering ; hence, 



