418 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



treating of the theory of equations, and one 

 treating of determinants and probabilities, 

 so far as the author deems these of interest 

 and value to the general student. The vol- 

 ume closes with a supplementary discussion 

 of continued fractions and theory of num- 

 bers. The two parts of the book are paged 

 continuously, and may be had bound to- 

 gether. 



Although prepared for English readers, 

 the Notes on American Schools and Training 

 Colleges, hyJ. G. Fitch (Macmillan, 60 cents), 

 contains much that American teachers can 

 read with profit. These Notes were made 

 during a visit of the author to America in 

 1888, and were embodied in his annual offi- 

 cial report on English Training Colleges, 

 presented to Parliament in 1889. It is al- 

 ways instructive to see ourselves as other 

 fair-minded observers see us, and this pict- 

 ure of our educational methods from a for- 

 eign point of view must help Americans to 

 realize what are the peculiarities, the merits 

 and defects, in a system all parts of which 

 seem to us equally natural and admirable. 

 An introduction has been prefixed to the 

 volume telling how education is supported 

 in England. This is a point on which many 

 Americans appear to be ignorant, and a 

 glaring case of such ignorance by a reverend 

 w r riter in an American magazine is taken by 

 Dr. Fitch as the text for his remarks. A 

 table showing schemes of graded instruction 

 in primary schools in England, New York, 

 Philadelphia, Chicago, Massachusetts, and 

 Ontario is inserted at the end of the volume. 



Volume XI of the Transactions of the 

 Kansas Academy of Science covers the an- 

 nual meetings of 1887 and 1888. Most of 

 the papers embody results of scientific re- 

 searches on the geology, botany, and zoology 

 of Kansas. Among these are Horizon of 

 the Dacotah Lignite, by Prof. Robert Hay ; 

 On the Newly Discovered Salt Beds in Ells- 

 worth County, by E. H. S. Bailey; Personal 

 Observations upon the Flora of Kansas, by 

 Mrs. A. L. Slosson ; Geology of the Leaven- 

 worth Prospect Well, by E. Jameson; A 

 List of the Kansas Species of Peronospora- 

 ceoe, by W. T. Swingle ; and a Meteorologi- 

 cal Summary for the Years 1887 and 1888, 

 by Prof. F. H. Snow. There are also some 

 papers on general subjects. 



Prof. Edicin S. Craidey, of the Univer- 



sity of Pennsylvania, has published a text- 

 book entitled Elements of Plane and Spheri- 

 cal Trigonometry (Lippincott, $1), covering 

 that part of the subject which is generally 

 given in a college course. The first part of 

 the subject is presented in much detail, with 

 many examples and illustrations ; further on 

 the student is thrown more upon his own re- 

 sources. In the preface, sections are speci- 

 fied which may be omitted without impairing 

 the continuity of the text, if a shorter course 

 is desired. An appendix contains the for- 

 mulae which the student will find most use- 

 ful in subsequent work in mathematics. 

 Answers to a part of the examples are given 

 at the end of the book. 



A fifth edition, revised and enlarged, of 

 the little work on Electric Light Installations 

 and the Management of Accumulators, by 

 Sir David Salomons, Bart., has just been pub- 

 lished (Van Nostrand, $1.50). The book is 

 now more than twice as large as when it 

 first appeared, having been extended to 334 

 pages, and contains ICO illustrations. The 

 rapidity with which four editions have been 

 disposed of, and the fact that the book has 

 been translated into German and French, are 

 practical indorsements of its value. Besides 

 expanding the chapters of the last edition, 

 the author has added two new ones, and 

 many of the cuts are now inserted for the 

 first time. 



Prof. R. H. Ward, M. D., has published 

 a revised edition of his record-book for 

 botanical laboratory work entitled Plant 

 Organization (Ginn & Co., 85 cents). The 

 preface and introduction explain Prof. 

 Ward's scheme of writing descriptions of 

 plants ; then follow twenty pages in which 

 the terms commonly used in describing the 

 parts of plants are defined. Here the au- 

 thor gives, in addition to many of the tech- 

 nical terms, simpler words that may be used 

 by pupils whose course of study will be 

 short. The leaves of the book are tied in 

 by a cord, so that as each printed form is 

 filled out it may be removed and handed to 

 the teacher for examination. The forms, be- 

 sides lines for descriptive words, have spaces 

 for drawings. Blank pages are inserted, to 

 which dried specimens may be attached. 



A manual of hygiene entitled How to 

 preserve Health has been prepared by Louis 

 Barkan, M. D. (Exchange Printing Company, 



