LITERARY NOTICES. 



707 



important additions, and concentrates atten- 

 tion on points at which he is best able to 

 reward it ; and this with only secondary 

 reference to general symmetry." Predomi- 

 nant interest is shared in questions of im- 

 mediate moment to society. The author 

 confesses to have covered a large field sug- 

 gestively rather than a narrow field exhaust- 

 ively ; and he helieves that that method is 

 often " to be deliberately preferred in prac- 

 tical value, though it may involve a loss in 

 personal estimation." In the introduction, 

 the complexity of the facts of sociology is 

 illustrated, and the relation of the social 

 sciences to one another is considered. In the 

 succeeding chapters are discussed the power 

 of custom and its relation to law and public 

 opinion ; the development, operation, and 

 function of government ; the " three ax- 

 ioms " of political economy ; the develop- 

 ment of religion ; ethics, its relation to cus- 

 toms and economics, and the connection of 

 ethical law with government and religion ; 

 and various social problems, including the 

 rights of women, prohibition, public educa- 

 tion, equal civic advantages, franchises, laws 

 of entail and inheritance, competition, the 

 mission of the pulpit, and socialism. 



Health of our Children. Pp. 128. Price, 

 75 cents. Health in our Homes. Price, 

 75 cents. A Household Guide in Health 

 and in Disease. Pp. 460. Price, $3. 

 Boston : Thayer Publishing Company. 

 Cupples & Co., Wholesale Agents. 



The first two of these volumes have been 

 compiled from a series of letters for popular 

 reading, which were published in one of the 

 newspapers of Boston. The first, a book of 

 " practical advice to mothers," is based on 

 the conviction that two thirds of the cases 

 of illness among children arise from pre- 

 ventable causes, and aims to put before the 

 reader, in the simplest manner possible, the 

 important essentials in the care and man- 

 agement of children. The second treats of 

 the faults tending to the production of dis- 

 ease which exist in many of our homes, and 

 advises the application of those improve- 

 ments and sanitary precautions by means 

 of which a large part of the sickness now 

 experienced may be avoided. The leading 

 design of the " Household Guide " is to 

 place before the reader those established 

 principles, a knowledge of which is essen- 



tial to the preservation of health, and to re- 

 covery when suffering from disease. Under 

 the head of " Practical Hygiene " are con- 

 sidered the most common substances used 

 for food, and their peculiar action ; the laws 

 of diet; personal hygiene, with the purpose 

 of promoting correct physical habits. A 

 chapter on mental hygiene treats of the 

 intellectual operations and the relationship 

 between the mind and the body. A third 

 part relates to the sick-room and its general 

 management, with chapters on nursing and 

 the dietetic treatment of the sick. Under 

 the heading of the "Principles of Medi- 

 cine" are considered the symptoms and 

 causes of disease, and medicines and their 

 administration. The practice of medicine is 

 taken up and described in its applications to 

 diseases of the respiratory, circulatory, and 

 digestive systems, the stomach and intes- 

 tines, the abdominal organs, the nervous 

 system, fevers, " general diseases," and 

 " accidental disturbances." 



Elements of Botany. By Edson S. Bas- 

 tin. Illustrated. Chicago : G. P. En- 

 gelhard & Co. Pp. 282. Price, $2.50. 



The author believes that there is need 

 for some work on botany better adapted to 

 the wants of our higher schools than any in 

 present use ; as well as of a work which is 

 not so technical but that any student of fair 

 intelligence may take it up without the aid 

 of a teacher, and obtain a good foundation- 

 knowledge of the facts and principles of the 

 science. He has endeavored to supply such 

 a book. He has aimed to make the text 

 simple and free from unnecessary technical- 

 ities, and, in the order of arrangement of 

 subjects, to lead the mind of the pupil from 

 that which is familiar to what is less so. 

 Hence those features in structure are first 

 presented which may be understood without 

 other aids than good eyes, nimble fingers, a 

 pocket-knife, and a magnifier, before invit- 

 ing attention to more delicate points. The 

 organs are therefore treated of in the first 

 part, as organs of vegetation and of reproduc- 

 tion. Vegetable histology is next present- 

 ed, and is followed by the chapters on vege- 

 table physiology and vegetable taxonomy. 

 As subjects for study and description those 

 plants are selected which are either familiar 

 to most students, or which may be readily 

 found and identified by means of the de- 



