LITERARY NOTICES. 



279 



languages ; Professor N. G. Brandt inquires 

 how far our teaching and text-books should 

 have a scientific basis ; and Professor J. M. 

 Hart, how the college course in English 

 literature may be improved. Professor F. 

 V. N. Painter outlines " A Modern Classical 

 Course " ; Professor T. W. Hunt defines the 

 place of English in the college curriculum ; 

 and Dr. Francis B. Gunmere asks, " What 

 Place has Old English Philology in our 

 Elmentary School ? " " German Classics 

 as a Means of Education " (Goethe) is dis- 

 cussed by Dr. Julius Goebel ; " The Require- 

 ments in English for Admission to College," 

 by Professor G. R. McElroy ; " The Use of 

 English in teaching Foreign Languages" 

 by Professor H. C. G. von Jagemann ; and 

 " The Real-Gymnasium Question," by Pro- 

 fessor A. Marshall Elliott. 



The " Modern Language Notes " began 

 its second year with the January number, 

 1887, considerably more than twice as large 

 as was the first number, yet with price 

 unchanged, and with subscriptions and ad- 

 vertising lists that have more than covered 

 expenses since the sixth issue. The matter 

 is of a piece with that of the " Transac- 

 tions," with the addition of book reviews, 

 brief paragraphs, and such current news 

 as has a connection with modern language 

 studies. It is intended henceforth to give, 

 with running comments, the titles of lead- 

 ing articles appearing in foreign journals 

 devoted to the modern languages, and to 

 keep abreast with the best production in 

 this branch of linguistic science. 



The American Naturalist. Vol. XXI. 

 No. 1. January, 1887. Philadelphia: 

 J. B. Lippincott Company. Pp. 110. 

 Price, $4 a year. 



With the beginning of the current year, 

 this periodical passed into the hands of the 

 J. B. Lippincott Company, of Philadelphia. 

 Professor Cope continues as leading editor, 

 while Professor Packard, his associate, re- 

 tires, and is succeeded by J. S. Kingsley. 

 With these gentlemen co-operate seven ex- 

 perts in their special branches of science as 

 " Department Editors " in Geography, Min- 

 eralogy, Botany, Embryology, Physiology, 

 Anthropology, and Microscopy. The pub- 

 lishers announce that the history of the 

 " Naturalist " during the twenty years of its 



existence has been one of gradual devel- 

 opment, that its subscription list now much 

 exceeds that of any previous period, and 

 its prosperity is fully assured. It is cred- 

 itable to our people that this should be so, 

 for appreciation of a journal of this charac- 

 ter, and of one that maintains so high a 

 standard as that of the " Naturalist," is a 

 sign of no ordinary degree of cultivation, 

 and of a desire to learn science by working 

 in it. The " Naturalist " was a pioneer in 

 its field, and it occupies a sphere which no 

 other journal so fully and so peculiarly fills. 

 In last year's volumes original articles ap- 

 peared from one hundred American natural- 

 ists, and a like list of contributors is in 

 prospective for the present year. In the 

 hands of so extensive and successful a house 

 as that of its new proprietors, its opportuni- 

 ties for usefulness are certain to be greatly 

 increased. 



Latin Word - Building. By Charles 0. 

 Gates. New York : D. Appleton & Co. 

 Pp. 160. Price, 98 cents. 



This manual is intended to aid in re- 

 moving the difficulty which Latin students 

 feel in translating at sight, growing out of 

 ignorance of the exact meaning of the root- 

 words. Experience has taught that the vo- 

 cabulary is more readily mastered and exact 

 and definite meanings of words are more 

 easily acquired and retained by making 

 familiar the significance of the roots and 

 associating with it the meanings of the 

 modifications, with affixes and suffixes, end- 

 ings, etc., by which they are affected, and so 

 reaching the significance of derivative words 

 by a kind of general rule, than by looking 

 out all the words singly in the dictionary. 

 The manual aims to assist in this process. 

 The method is, first, to learn the exact 

 meaning of the root-word ; then to acquire 

 the definite meanings of the more common 

 words derived from the root-word ; and then 

 to utilize the information thus gained by 

 translating sentences illustrating thesewords 

 from the author next to be read in regular 

 course. The first part of the volume com- 

 prises an etymological vocabulary, in which 

 the meanings of the root-words, their modi- 

 fications, and groups of their derivatives 

 are given, with space left on the page for 

 the insertion by the pupil of such new mat- 



