418 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



not now here existing." He reviews all the 

 products from which sugar is obtained or is 

 expected to be obtained, in order to discover 

 which one presents the most hopeful open- 

 ing for enterprise. His conclusions are, 

 that sorghum offers a difficult problem from 

 a financial point of view ; that amber-cane 

 is a little more satisfactory, but not sat- 

 isfactory enough; that the cultivation of 

 corn-stalks for sugar would exhaust the 

 soil ; that sugar-cane can not supply the 

 home demand ; that the maple can do this 

 no better ; that the expectation of obtain- 

 ing sugar from sweet-potatoes is delusive, 

 and that of getting it from white potatoes 

 more so. Water-melons deserve more con- 

 sideration, but they are declared to be in- 

 ferior to the sugar-beet; and the last is 

 pronounced " the only possible plant which 

 can supply the North with sugar." The 

 question remains, whether beet-sugar can 

 be made profitably without the artificial 

 stimulus of protection. If not, we had 

 better continue to raise what we can derive 

 a profit from without artificial aid, and buy 

 our sugar where we can get it cheapest. 



Vaccination : Arguments Pro and Con ; 

 with a Chapter on the Hygiene op 

 Small-pox. By Joseph F. Edwards, 

 M. D. Philadelphia : P. Blakiston, Son 

 & Co. Pp. 80. Price, 50 cents. 



The energy of the opposition manifested 

 by a considerable number of persons against 

 vaccination has induced the author to make 

 his own independent study of the question. 

 He has gathered information from all avail- 

 able sources and considered the arguments 

 on both sides, as he presents them here, and 

 has become convinced that in vaccination 

 properly performed, and in that only, we 

 can find immunity from small-pox. He at- 

 taches much importance to anticipating the 

 opposition that may arise and spread in this 

 country, as it has done in England. 



First Aid to the Injured. By Peter Shep- 

 herd, M. D. Revised and added to by 

 Bowditch Morton, M. D. New York : 

 G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 88. Price, 

 50 cents. 



A brief manual intended for non-profes- 

 sional readers, the object of which is to fur- 

 nish a few plain rules to enable any one to 

 act in cases of injury or sudden illness, 



pending the arrival of professional help. 

 The revisions and additions by the Ameri- 

 can editor have been simply such as would 

 make the work more suitable to this coun- 

 try. 



Sir John Lubbock's charming little book 

 on " Ants and Bees " will be the next vol- 

 ume of the " International Scientific Series," 

 and is now in press, to be very shortly is- 

 sued. It will contain much new, fresh, and 

 entertaining matter on a subject always full 

 of interest. Sir John has been many years 

 a close observer of the habits of these little 

 creatures, and his volume will therefore not 

 be a second-hand compilation, but an origi- 

 nal contribution to the most romantic aspect 

 of natural history. 



The entertaining sketches entitled " The 

 Mountains of the Moon " ; or, Chronicles of 

 Hakim Ben Sheytan, concerning a curious 

 African people, of which we have printed 

 some representative installments in the 

 " Monthly," is now being copiously illus- 

 trated for separate publication in a volume. 



PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED. 



Circulars of Information of the Bureau of 

 Education. No. 6. 1881. Effects of Student 

 Life on the Eye-sight. By A. W. Calhoun. M. D. 

 And No. 1. 1882. Training-Schools for Nurses. 

 Washington : Government Printing-Office. 



Fungi injurious to Vegetation. With Reme- 

 dies. By Dr. Byron D. Halstead. Pp. 35. 



The Opium-Habit, By E. H. M. Sill, M.D. 

 New York : Berminghaui & Co. 1882. Pp. 8. 



On the Trachyte of Marblehead Neck, Mas- 

 sachusetts. By M. E. Wadswortb, Ph.D. Pp. 7. 



Biogen : A Speculation on the Origin and Na- 

 ture of Life. By Dr. Elliott Cones. Washing- 

 ton : Judd & Detweiler. 1882. Pp. 27. 



The Death-Rate of Memphis. By George E. 

 Waring, Jr. 1882. Pp.6. 



How the Great Prevailing Winds and Ocean 

 Currents are produced. By C. A. M. Taber. 

 Boston: A. Williams & Co. 1882. Pp. 82. 40 

 cents. 



History and Description of the Luray Cave. 

 By S. Z. Ammen, A. M. Baltimore : J. W. Burst 

 & Co. 1882. Pp. 48. Illustrated. 



Educational Journalism. By C. W. Bardeen. 

 Syracuse : C. W. Bardeen, Publisher. 1881. Pp. 

 30. 



Bulletin of the United States National Mu- 

 seum. No. II. Bibliography of the Fishes of 

 the Pacific Coast to the End of 1879. By Theo- 

 dore Gill. Washington: Government Pnntmg- 

 Office. 1S82. 



Notes on Phvsiological Optics. By W. Le 

 Conte Stevens. * 1882. "Pp. 28. 



Current Fallacies about Vaccination. A Let- 

 ter to Dr. Carpenter. By Dr. P. A. Taylor, M. P. 

 London : E. W. Allen. 1881. Pp. 37. 



