3 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



or in 1886, we are informed that British 

 Columbia, on account of the lack of money 

 in circulation, is not adapted to any large 

 immigration of poor families ; but for men 

 possessing even a small capital, there are few 

 more profitable investments than a cereal 

 farm or cattle-rancho within its borders. 

 As an agricultural region the mainland is 

 divided into sections by the Coast Range. 

 The interior has a climate of extremes, and 

 the coast a mild and equable temperature, 

 while the southern portion, with its wide, 

 trough-like valleys, requires irrigation dur- 

 ing the summer months. Though it contains 

 large tracts of good arable land, the en- 

 tire province is better adapted for stock- 

 raising than for the production of crops. 

 Vancouver Island contains not more than 

 300,000 acres of farming-land, of which less 

 than 15,000 acres were under cultivation in 

 1886. In the Queen Charlotte Islands there 

 are some 15,000 acres of flat and un wooded 

 land, but of this only a few hundred acres 

 are suitable for agriculture. Public lands 

 are vested in the provincial government, 

 and the policy is followed of reserving 

 them, in the main, for actual settlers. The 

 exports in 1884 amounted to 3,099,814 

 and the imports to $4,142,286. The ex- 

 ports consisted mainly of coal and gold, fish 

 and fish-oils, peltries, hides, and lumber. The 

 population is described by the author as, if 

 not among the richest, among the most con- 

 tented, hopeful, and thrifty communities of 

 the Pacific coast, and the colony as entitled 

 to claim the distinction of being one of the 

 most progressive regions of British North 

 America. 



Shoppell's Modern Houses : An Illustrat- 

 ed Architectural Quarterly. January, 

 1887. New York : Co-operative Build- 

 ing Plan Association, 191 Broadway. 

 Pp. 12, with Colored Plates. Price, $1, 

 $4 a year. 



The design of this publication is to 

 furnish, with views and plans, designs for 

 houses, etc., in number, from which intend- 

 ing builders may select such as suit them 

 or nearly suit them. "Working plans, speci- 

 fications, etc., will be furnished on applica- 

 tion, with plans of such alterations as may 

 be desired, at fixed rates. Estimates of 

 cost are based upon actual cost of struct- 

 ures, such as will be secured by buying 



the materials and having the labor per- 

 formed by days' work. The Association 

 represents that within six years eight thou- 

 sand houses have been built from its plans. 

 The present number of " Modern Houses " 

 contains forty-nine designs for houses, with 

 plans, descriptions, and costs, from $1,000 

 to $12,000; designs for a railroad-station, 

 and for stables and carriage-houses ; arti- 

 cles on " Axioms and Rules of Color " ; 

 " Plumbing and Draining " ; " Planting a 

 Large Plot " ; " Sea-side Cottage Decora- 

 tion " ; and an installment of Viollet-lc- 

 Duc's " Habitations of Man in All Ages," 

 which is in course of regular publication. 



Thk Open Court. A Fortnightly Journal, 

 devoted to the Work of establishing Eth- 

 ics and Religion upon a Scientific Basis. 

 Edited by B. F. Underwood and Sara 

 A. Underwood. Chicago, 111. $3 per 

 year, single copies fifteen cents. 



The aim of this journal, established 

 through the liberality of Mr. Edward C. 

 Ilegeler, is announced to be " to continue 

 the work of ' The Index ' that is, to estab- 

 lish religion on the basis of science ; and, 

 in connection therewith, it will present the 

 Monistic philosophy." The new journal 

 starts out under good auspices ; it is pub- 

 lished in convenient form, its typography is 

 very attractive, and, under the charge of 

 the well-known editor of " The Index," we 

 may reasonably expect a successful career. 



The four numbers before us contain ar- 

 ticles by William J. Pottor, upon "Society 

 and the Individual " ; Professor Thomas 

 Davidson, upon " The Need for Free-Thought 

 Education " ; Edmund Montgomery, upon 

 " Monism in Modern Philosophy and the 

 Agnostic Attitude of the Mind " ; by Mon- 

 cure D. Conway, upon " Unitarianism and 

 its Grandchildren" and "Jephthah's Daugh- 

 ter at Honolulu " ; and by Anne Olcott Crom- 

 melin, upon "Flowers and Poets." There 

 are also an editorial department, correspond- 

 ence, discussions, and book-notices. 



With the aims of "The Open Court" 

 we are in full sympathy. There can be no 

 more worthy nor more important object 

 than that of establishing a scientific basis 

 for ethics and religion. The times are ripe 

 for labor in that direction, and able, well- 

 directed efforts thereto ought to be wel- 

 comed and encouraged in every way. We 



