LITERARY NOTICES. 



135 



its Place in the American Constitutional 

 System, by Hon. Daniel H. Chamberlain. 



The treatise on Money, by James Piatt 

 (Putnams, 75 cents), is historical, commer- 

 cial, and economic in scope. It gives a 

 sketch of the origin of money, after which 

 the question, What is money ? is discussed. 

 The author defines money as " a commodity, 

 of the same general nature as all other com- 

 modities." But he says that, although a 

 wealth in itself, its utility consists in its 

 ready convertibility. Paper is not money, 

 according to his view. Considerable space 

 is devoted to explanations and counsel about 

 banking. Exchange and interest receive 

 attention, and the author then proceeds to 

 discuss wealth and capital. Some consider- 

 ations on panics are given, with the aim of 

 preventing the tight grip on money that 

 always aggravates a panic. In the closing 

 sections, means of attaining individual suc- 

 cess and national prosperity are pointed out. 



The History of Federal and State Aid to 

 Higher Education in the United States has 

 been prepared by Frank W, Blackmar, Ph. 

 D., at the request of the Bureau of Educa- 

 tion, as one of the series upon the history of 

 higher education in the United States, au- 

 thorized by the Secretary of the Interior. 

 It is intended to represent the progress of 

 the State idea in education from the founda- 

 tion of the colonies to the present time. It 

 discusses the rise of national education, with 

 its relation to local, and brings forward the 

 opinions of statesmen and scholars concern- 

 ing the duties and functions of government 

 in public education. A brief history is given 

 of the methods adopted by Congress to en- 

 courage and assist institutions of learning, 

 while the main body of the work is devoted 

 to the presentation in a condensed form of 

 the plans pursued by the Legislatures of 

 thirty-eight States in the treatment of higher 

 education. One of the strongest inferences 

 drawn by Commissioner Dawson from the 

 investigation is that in nearly every instance 

 the foremost desire of the people has been 

 for colleges and universities rather than for 

 schools of a lower grade, the opinion having 

 prevailed that primary and secondary schools 

 were dependent for their existence on higher 

 institutions. 



The Twenty-seventh Annual Report of the 

 Massachusetts Agricultural College gives an 



account of the work of the institution dur- 

 ing 1889, with the usual information about 

 course of study, professors, equipment, etc. 

 Appended to this report is a paper by Prof. 

 Paul Wagner, of Darmstadt, On the most 

 Profitable Use of Commercial Manures, 

 translated by Prof. Charles Wellington in 

 answer to the demand for information on the 

 subject. 



In The Evolution of a Life (Holt Pub- 

 fishing Company, $2), Henry Truro Bray tells 

 the story of his early life, of his career as a 

 clergyman in the Methodist and then in the 

 Episcopal Church, and of Ms being forced to 

 leave the ministry on account of his growing 

 disbelief in the supernatural doctrines of re- 

 ligion and his increasing disgust with the 

 practices of church - members and men in 

 holy orders. The experiences and incidents 

 which are told in this volume under the veil 

 of fictitious names exhibit many of the per- 

 sons with whom Mr. Bray's labors brought 

 him in contact in no very enviable light. 

 The story, especially the part relating to the 

 author's married life, reveals the joys and 

 sorrows, hopes and fears, discouragements 

 and triumphs of an affectionate, sensitive, 

 and religious nature, which has been sadly 

 torn by contact with the world. 



Bulletin No. 7 of the Iowa Agricultural 

 Experiment Station contains accounts of ex- 

 periments and observations on seven sub- 

 jects. The chief article is on varieties of 

 corn, and is illustrated with four plates. The 

 other topics treated are the millets, sugar 

 from sorghum, the codling moth, new Cyni- 

 pidce, the hog-louse, and varieties of grapes. 



The Monthly Bulletin of the Iowa State 

 Board of Health (Des Moines, 25 cents a 

 year) is a decidedly practical and wide-awake 

 document. Each number is made up of 

 brief and timely articles on hygienic sub- 

 jects, replies to questions, reports of mortal- 

 ity, and of the appearance of contagious dis- 

 eases within the State, etc. A Signal Corps 

 meteorological report for each month is also 

 included. 



A brief account of Massage and the Origi- 

 nal Swedish Movements has been prepared 

 for physicians and others interested by Kurre 

 W. Ostrom (Blakiston, 75 cents). It de- 

 scribes the operations of massage, with fig- 

 ures, and the various passive movements be- 

 longing to the Swedish system. Lists of 



