564 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



The question as to the policy of a United 

 States Bank and that of the right of a 

 State to nullify a Federal law were settled 

 in this period. But the slavery question 

 only grew more pressing, the several at- 

 tempts to adjust it all proving ineffective. 

 Prof. Burgess has given us a history of pub- 

 lic affairs in this period drawn from original 

 sources. He has made a special effort to 

 shun the bias of prejudice and preconcep- 

 tions, to refrain from glorifying lawlessness 

 in behalf of whatever opinion it was com- 

 mitted, and to credit men and communities 

 with whatever of integrity and sincerity they 

 actually possessed, instead of rating them 

 as gods or demons, according to their posi- 

 tion on some one question. Our author has 

 confined himself to those events which, in 

 his opinion, are significant of our progress in 

 political civilization, and he has hoped to so 

 treat them as to remove the traces of mis- 

 understanding between the North and the 

 South which still linger. He does not at- 

 tempt to do this by conceding that the South 

 was as much right as the North, but takes 

 the position that the South was in error in 

 secession and rebellion, and must ackuowl- 

 edge its error before complete national cor- 

 diality can be established. The volume con- 

 tains five maps, tables of electoral votes in 

 detail, of cabinet ofiicers, of chronology, of 

 bibliography, and a full index. 



Since the days when Redfield and Espy 

 and Ferrel struggled with the larger theoret- 

 ical questions of winds and storms the ad- 

 vance of the science of meteorology has been 

 remarkable. Its practical applications have 

 not lagged behind, being, in fact, the chief 

 motive for the support that has been given 

 to the study of the science. Until lately 

 little has been done toward popularizing the 

 knowledge that has been gained in this field. 

 In a book now before us Dr. Waldo, formerly 

 a professor in the United States Signal Serv- 

 ice, has undertaken to give an outline of the 

 science in simple form.* The first of the 

 meteorological elements that he treats is 

 temperature. He tells how the atmosphere 

 gets its heat and how temperatures vary in 

 different places and at different times. This 



* Elementary Meteorology. By Frank Waldo, 

 Ph.D. New York: American Book Company. 

 Pp. 373, ISmo. Price, Sl-50. 



chapter is illustrated by many charts on 

 which the average and the extreme tempera- 

 tures of the earth's surface are indicated. 

 The variation and distribution of air pressure 

 are similarly treated, and a biicf discussion 

 of winds naturally follows. The author con- 

 siders the moisture of the atmosphere with 

 reference to three steps in the cycle that it 

 passes through as distributed through the 

 air whether invisible or in cloud and fog, as 

 precipitated, and as taken up again from the 

 earth by evaporation. After briefly calling 

 attention to some optical and electrical phe- 

 nomena, the author returns to movements of 

 the air, describing first the larger circula- 

 tory movements, then the secondary circula- 

 tion in the form of cyclones and local and 

 miscellaneous winds. There is a chapter on 

 weather predictions the part of meteorol- 

 ogy having most popular interest and one 

 on climate in general, which is followed by 

 an extended analysis of the climate of the 

 United States. The book is suitable for use 

 as a text-book or for general reading. Its 

 mechanical form is attractive, and it is illus- 

 trated with one hundred and twenty-one dia- 

 grams and other figures. 



Prof. Johnson has added to his valuable 

 works on engineering subjects a very com- 

 plete treatise on structural materials.* In 

 his preliminary chapters he describes the 

 behavior of materials under the several kinds 

 of stress, the matter here given being de- 

 signed to supplement that usually contained 

 in text-books on applied mechanics. A sec- 

 ond division of the work, which the author 

 intends to be read by engineering students 

 if they do not get the information in other 

 ways, deals with the manufacture and gen- 

 eral properties of cast and wrought iron, 

 steel, and other metals, lime, cement, brick, 

 and timber. The attention given to the 

 structural properties of wood is a feature of 

 the work. Little accurate information on 

 this topic had been available until the For- 

 estry Division of the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture began the systematic 

 study of timber and timber trees some five 

 or six years ago. Prof. Johnson has been 

 intimately connected with these investiga- 



* The Materials of Construction. By J. B. 

 Johnson. New York : John Wiley & Sone. Pp. 

 787, 8vo. Price, $6. 



