558 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



the result of the author's deductions " has 

 been the evolvement of a purely automatic 

 method of supplying both coined and paper 

 money," with supply and demand as the 

 only motive power to be used in keeping the 

 automaton in motion. In opposition to the 

 " mercantile theory," which seeks to accu- 

 mulate the largest stores of the precious 

 metals in a country, a plan is contended for 

 which leaves those metals " free to the dis- 

 tribution of the natural forces of industry 

 and trade." 



History op the Water-Supply of the 

 World. Arranged in a Comprehensive 

 Form from Eminent Authorities. By 

 Thomas J. Bell, Assistant Superintend- 

 ent of the Cincinnati Water-Works. 

 Cincinnati : Peter G. Thomson. Pp. 

 134. Price (paper), 50 cents. 



The original intention of this work was 

 to arrange a compilation of general and lo- 

 cal information on the subject of water- 

 supply in all of its bearings, with special 

 reference to Cincinnati, and to the project 

 for a new supply for that city. As the 

 work progressed, its scope became broader, 

 and the plan assumed a more comprehen- 

 sive form. The work contains a descrip- 

 tion of the various methods of water-supply, 

 and discusses the pollution and purification 

 of water, sanitary effects, and analyses of 

 potable waters ; and, further, considers 

 other topics having special reference to 

 Cincinnati, the Ohio River, and the proposed 

 water-supply of the city. 



A Compendious Dictionary of the French 

 Language. Adapted from the Diction- 

 aries of Professor Alfred Edwall. By 

 Gustave Masson. New York : Macmil- 

 lan & Co. Pp. 416. Price, $1. 



A most excellent dictionary for daily use. 

 The compiler has endeavored especially to 

 realize the qualities of accuracy and com- 

 pleteness, and to keep equally distant from 

 exaggerated concision and overabundance 

 of detail. The letter-press is clear, yet com- 

 pact. The matter is arranged in four col- 

 umns to the page, the words are printed in 

 bold-face type to catch the eye readily, and 

 the definitions are satisfactorily full. Par- 

 ticular attention has been paid to etymolo- 

 gies in the French-English part. A supple- 

 ment, giving the principal diverging deriva- 



tives or doublets in the language (showing 

 how words have varied from the Latin roots 

 and from the congeners in other Romance 

 languages) is of much use and interest to 

 students. The Chronological Tables of the 

 History of French Literature from the ear- 

 liest period to the present day, of chronicles 

 and memoirs, and the other literary informa- 

 tion with which the work is introduced, will 

 be welcome to many who would otherwise 

 find it difficult to obtain, from the numer- 

 ous sources from which it would have to be 

 drawn, the information which they convey. 



How the Great Prevailing Winds and 

 Ocean-Currents are produced, and 

 how they affect the Temperature 

 and Dimensity of Lands and Seas. By 

 C. A. M. Taber. Boston : A. Williams 

 & Co. Pp. 82. Price, 40 cents. 



The author states as a reason for this 

 publication that, after many years of experi- 

 ence on the oceans, he has found that the 

 generally accepted theories of the causes of 

 the great winds and currents were not in 

 harmony with the world-wide operations of 

 nature, but were rather adapted to certain 

 areas of oceans and continents than applica- 

 ble to larger portions of the globe, " where 

 the great movements of the atmosphere and 

 ocean are not concordant with the general- 

 ly accepted explanations." He reviews the 

 theories of Hadley, Maury, Adhemar, Croll, 

 Geikie, and other authors who have written 

 upon the subject, shows wherein he regards 

 them as deficient, and elaborates his own 

 theory, in which a depression of sea-level on 

 the western, and elevation on the eastern 

 sides of the ocean, by the force of the west 

 winds, and an independent circulation of 

 waters around the poles, form important 

 parts. 



Primary Helps : Being No. 1 of a New 

 Series of Kindergarten Manuals. By 

 W. N. Hailmann, A. M., editor of " The 

 Kindergarten Messenger and the New 

 Education." Syracuse, New York : C. 

 W. Bardeen. Pp. 29, with Fifteen 

 Plates. Price, 75 cents. 



Professor Hailmann is an enthusiastic 

 Kindergartner, a practical teacher, and a 

 member of the Board of Education of De- 

 troit, Michigan. It has been his aim for 

 years to bring those engaged in the Kinder- 

 garten work into harmony, and especially to 



