ii 4 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Weighing and Measuring. By H. W. 

 Chisholm. Pp. 192. London : Mac- 

 millan. Price, $1.50. 



The author of this little treatise, after 

 defining weight and measure, devotes a 

 chapter to "Ancient Standards of Weight 

 and Measure," in which it is shown that ac- 

 curate standards were totally unknown to 

 the ancients, and in particular that the 

 standards of ancient Egypt were not based 

 on the earth's dimensions. The history of 

 English standard units of weights and meas- 

 ures is then given with considerable minute- 

 ness ; next follows a chapter on the metric 

 system ; finally, there is a chaper on 

 " Weighing and Measuring Instruments, 

 and their Scientific Use." 



The Bible of Humanity. By Jules Mi- 

 chelet. Translated by Vincenzo Calfa. 

 New York : J. W. Bouton. Pp. 347. 

 Price, $3. 



This book is not, as might be inferred 

 from its title, a scripture which would be 

 acceptable to the followers of Comte, nor 

 would it answer as a foundation on which 

 to build any creed. It is one of a class 

 compilations of moral, religious, and ethical 

 teachings from various sources, with com- 

 ments and extensions by the compiler, and 

 bearing the impress of his ideas, which in 

 the case of M. Michclet are quite peculiar. 

 It is rather more reverent and refined than 

 John Stewart's " Bible of Nature," but it is 

 an equally great misuse of words to call it 

 a Bible. 



The literature and art of India, Persia, 

 and Greece, "the three hearths of light," 

 and of Egypt, "the monument of death," 

 have inspired the greater part of the work. 

 Of course, it is erotic ; the commentary on 

 the " Song of Songs," though rather free, 

 presents that drama in a wonderfully bold 

 and vivid way ; and Chapters VI., VII., and 

 VIII., which treat of woman, are marked by 

 the unhealthy exaltation which appears in 

 all of Michelet's later works, seeming, as 

 the writer of the biographical sketch says, 

 "to have been written under the influence 

 of an uninterrupted honey-moon." 



It aims to be epigrammatic, abounds in 

 italics and exclamation-points, and offers a 

 rich field for phrase-hunters. It is among 

 these and rather sentimental transcenden- 

 talists that t!i" book will find its reader-. 



Lectures and Essays. By Virgil W. 

 Blanchard, M. D. New York : Blanch- 

 ard Food-Cure Company. Pp. 67. Price, 

 10 cents. 



These so-called essays are papers osten- 

 sibly on physiological subjects, but are 

 really written to puff a lot of preparations 

 sold by the author, who styles himself the 

 "originator of the food-cure system." They 

 are written in the style which characterizes 

 that class of literature various diseases are 

 described, embellished with sensational hor- 

 rors, which may be avoided and cured by 

 the use of the food-remedies. While Pavy, 

 Frankland, and other able investigators, are 

 becoming more and more wary in their 

 statements as to the way in which food is 

 assimilated, and are beginning to question 

 positions that have heretofore been gen- 

 erally accepted, Dr. Blanchard dogmati- 

 cally asserts his ability to furnish specific 

 material which shall go directly to the de- 

 fective spot in the system, and set about 

 the work of repairing the wasted tissues 

 and disorganized nerve and brain cells with- 

 out delay. 



It is probably useless to expose the 

 fallacies of this sort of trash ; so long as 

 people are content to remain in ignorance 

 of hygienic rules, and ignore the laws of 

 waste and supply, the platitudes of these 

 venders will have readers, and their nos- 

 trums find sale: 



A Partial Synopsis of the Fishes of Upper 

 Georgia: with Supplementary Papers 

 on Fishes of Tennessee, Kentucky, and 

 Indiana. By David Star Jordan, M. D. 

 Salem, Mass. Pp. 70. 



In a recent notice of Commissioner 

 Baird's Report on Food Fishes, we ex- 

 pressed a hope that a systematic list of the 

 fishes of American waters, with descrip- 

 tions, and an account of habitat, seasons, 

 etc., would some time be made. 



The papers included in the pamphlet 

 before us are valuable contributions to such 

 a work. Over the area indicated in the 

 title the fishes have been catalogued and 

 described with scientific accuracy, the locali- 

 ties, relative abundance, and common names, 

 are given, while the synonyms of their no- 

 menclature receive due attention. No at- 

 tempt is made to give any account of the 

 seasons, habits, or manner of breeding, 



