LITERARY NOTICES. 



419 



signed." The initial number of this review 

 opens with a paper on The Critical Philoso- 

 phy and Idealism, by Prof. John Watson, 

 of Queen's University, taking Caird's work 

 on Kant as a starting-point. Prof. George 

 T. Ladd follows with a review of James's 

 Principles of Psychology, under the title 

 Psychology as So-called " Natural Science " ; 

 and Benjamin I. Gilman contributes the first 

 part of an essay on Psychological Aspects 

 of the Chinese Musical System, with extended 

 examples. There is a carefully edited de- 

 partment of Reviews of Books, and another 

 department in which are given summaries 

 of articles on philosophical topics in other 

 periodicals. 



The Journal of Comparative Neurology. 

 Quarterly. Edited by Prof. C. L. Her- 

 rick. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co. 

 $3 a year. 



Prof. Herrick has undertaken the pub- 

 lication of a periodical which shall make 

 known the results of researches upon the nerv- 

 ous systems of man and the lower animals. 

 The two numbers now before us contain con- 

 tributions to the Comparative Morphology of 

 the Central Nervous System, by the editor, 

 and Morphology of the Avian Brain, by C. 

 H. Turner, both papers being continued, ac- 

 companied by plates. There is also a con- 

 tribution dealing with Recent Investigations 

 on the Structure and Relations of the Optic 

 Thalami, by Henry R. Pemberton. The 

 other matter in the numbers consists of 

 notes on laboratory technique, editorials, and 

 literary notices. In addition to the physio- 

 logical topics treated in the journal, the ed- 

 itor intends to give increasing attention to 

 the problems of comparative psychology. 



A Guide to Electric Lighting. By S. R. 

 Bottone. London and New York : Mac- 

 millan & Co., 1892. Pp. 189. Price, 75 

 cents. 



This little manual essays to give in con- 

 cise form the information necessary to ac- 

 quaint the non-scientific reader with the 

 principles of electric lighting. The author 

 first treats of the electric battery, and then 

 of the dynamo as a source of the electric 

 current, and explains the meaning of series 

 and multiple arc distribution. A chapter is 

 given to lamps, arc, incandescent, and the 

 now obsolete form known as semi-incandes- 



cent, or incandescence in the open air. In 

 the arc lamps figured and described the only 

 one in extensive commercial use is the Brush, 

 of which there is a diagrammatic sketch. As 

 the book is designed as a guide to house- 

 holders and amateurs, and is not meant to be 

 historical, the description of apparatus that 

 have ceased to have a commercial place does 

 not seem to be called for, and only serves to 

 confuse the reader by presenting a multi- 

 plicity of appliances. This remark applies 

 as well to the storage battery as to obsolete 

 forms of lamp. Whatever the possibilities 

 of the storage battery for power uses, it has 

 no place in electric lighting, and there is but 

 little probability that it ever will have. A 

 chapter is devoted to fittings, in which is in- 

 cluded a brief description of voltmeters and 

 ammeters, and also one to the electric motor. 

 Mr. Bottone seems to have but little concep- 

 tion of the predominating position which is 

 being taken by alternating-current distribu- 

 tion, to which he gives but a couple of 

 pages, which contain little information. The 

 subject of meters is treated very cursorily. 

 This would seem to be a subject of especial 

 interest to the consumer, and a full descrip- 

 tion of the principles involved and somewhat 

 detailed descriptions of the meters actually 

 employed in commercial work might properly 

 find a place in a book of this kind. 



Of the volume as a whole very little can 

 be said in commendation. It is too brief to 

 be of much use to one wholly unacquainted 

 with the subject, and the salient features 

 which would be of importance and interest 

 to the householder are not brought out with 

 sufficient clearness. The book is printed on 

 good paper, in clear type, but the cuts, with 

 a few exceptions, are wretched. 



The Three Circuits. A Study of the Pri- 

 mary Forces. By Tatlor Flick. Pub- 

 lished by the author. Washington, D. O, 

 1892. Pp. 268. Price, $1.50. 



This is one of those pseudo-contributions 

 to science which make their appearance once 

 in a while, written by men who, without any 

 thorough grasp of the fundamental concep- 

 tions of modern physics, undertake to re- 

 model our views of molecular and planetary 

 forces. The domain of elemental forces is 

 sufficiently vague and obscure to give scope 

 to attempts of this character, and not a few 



