484 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



scholars have recognized the fact that, for the department to hold its 

 own, it would be necessary to substitute for the old plan of reading a 

 given amount of Greek, the ability to read Greek readily at sight. To 

 meet this new demand, Professor J. W. White is engaged in preparing 

 a word-book, based on Curtius's Etymology, and not on the more or 

 less untrustworthy etymologies of the lexicon. This book is to contain 

 five or six hundred stems, from which five or six thousand words are 

 to be derived in families, with their Latin and English cognates. 

 This word-book is intended as a direct means of acquiring a vocabu- 

 lary and facility in reading at sight, and, so far as I know, is entirely 

 a new departure. Professor "White is also revising the " First Greek 

 Lessons," which is to be an accompaniment to the new edition of 

 Goodwin's Grammar. He is assisted by the members of a graduate 

 elective a somewhat novel feature at Cambridge who are pursuing 

 advanced studies in Greek. 



The traditional Latin grammar has become a thing of the past, 

 and, in consequence, college students are daily found ignorant on many 

 points, especially questions of comparative philology, that should have 

 been answered in the schools. In order to furnish a more thorough 

 and satisfactory groundwork for men who are fitting for college, Pro- 

 fessor Lane is preparing a Latin grammar which will be based on new 

 and scientific principles. It will be a thoroughly practical book, and, 

 while not dealing directly with questions of comparative philology, 

 will elucidate the important principles of the science. 



Professor Greenough, whose name is familiarly known in connec- 

 tion with Allen and Greenough's Latin text-books, is preparing an 

 edition of Vergil. 



Since the publication of his "Modern Philosophy" Professor Bowen 

 has been engaged in revising his " Political Economy," a new edition 

 of which will appear in the fall. A volume of his essays is now in 

 press. Within the last year he has written some important papers for 

 the " North American " and " Princeton " Reviews, one of the most 

 remarkable of which is " The Idea of Cause," which appeared in the 

 "Princeton Review" for May, 1879, and has been republished sepa- 

 rately. 



Professor James is engaged upon a work on psychology, which is 

 to form one of the series of American science text-books. Among his 

 recent writings are articles in " Mind," " The Journal of Speculative 

 Philosophy," " The Popular Science Monthly," and an essay in the 

 "Princeton Review" on the "Sentiment of Rationality." 



Perhaps the work that will prove most generally interesting is that 

 upon which Professor Childs is now engaged a book of English and 

 Scottish ballads, with their derivations and variations. His life-long 

 devotion to this subject, together with his mastery of English litera- 

 ture, will render this book perhaps the most valuable literary produc- 

 tion of the year. It is owing to his efforts and researches that the 



