54 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



The A, B, C, of Finance. By Simon New- 

 comb, LL. D. New York: Harper & 

 Brothers. Pp.115. Price, 25 cents. 



Prof. Newcomb is an astronomer, and 

 of course mostly interested in the stars, but 

 he finds time to give a portion of his atten- 

 tion to the affairs of his country, and he, 

 moreover, makes a contribution where it is 

 most needed. It is in the field of finance 

 that the nation now needs the greatest help, 

 and we agree with Prof. Newcomb that the 

 popular instruction at present most urgently 

 demanded is in the A, B, C, of financial sci- 

 ence. In the miniature form of " Harper's 

 Half-Hour Series" the author has brought 

 out a succession of chapters on " Labor," 

 " Capital," " Wages," " Value," the " Differ- 

 ent Kinds of Money," " Public Faith," and 

 the " Lessons of History," which are written 

 in a clear, simple, instructive, and most con- 

 vincing manner. Such nimble little pocket- 

 books, pointedly summing up these large 

 subjects, are wanted by the people, and are 

 capable of doing more efficient service than 

 larger books. 



Robinson Crusoe's Money : ou, The Re- 

 markable Financial Fortunes and Mis- j 



FORTUNES OF A REMOTE ISLAND COMMU- 

 NITY. By David A. Wells. New York : I 

 Harper & Brothers. Pp. 118. Price, 

 50 cents. 



In this small volume Mr. Wells inculcates 

 the lessons of political economy through a 

 sort of allegorical artifice, in which com- 

 mercial and financial truths and absurdities 

 are brought out in a dramatic way that is 

 both amusing and instructive. Many who 

 would not like a dry, didactic treatise on 

 economics would be pleasantly beguiled by 

 Mr. Wells's imaginary narration, while the 

 characteristic illustrations, by Nast, will 

 serve to help on both the fun and the logic 

 of the text. 



A New Treatise on Steam-Engineering, 

 Physical Properties of Permanent 

 Gases, and of Different Kinds of 

 Vapor. By John W. Nystrom, C. E. 

 New York : G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 

 188. Price, $1.50. 



This book consists of numerous tables, 

 data, and information, which appear to the 

 author to be wanting in the profession, and 

 which have not heretofore been published. 

 Among the topics are horse-power of steam- 



boilers, chimneys, combustion, properties 

 of fuel, smoke-burning, 'water-gauges, safe- 

 ty-valves, radiation, steam-boiler explosion, 

 strength of steam-boilers, compression and 

 expansion of air, properties of water and 

 steam, and various other subjects of inter- 

 est to engineers. The author rejects no 

 less than thirty-eight terms or phrases that 

 have grown up, and come into modern use 

 in mechanical science. 



Public Health Reports and Papers. "Vol. 

 III. Presented at the Meetings of the 

 American Public Health Association in 

 the Years 1875-1876. New York : Hurd 

 & Houghton. Pp. 241. Price, 4. 



Among the most important volumes is- 

 sued from our press are the reports of the 

 American Public Health Association. They 

 comprise papers on a variety of important 

 topics, connected with the health of the 

 community,by our most eminent sanitarians; 

 and they will be generally found valuable as 

 summing up, and stating in a clear and read- 

 able form, the results of long study and 

 well-directed investigation. Among so ex- 

 cellent an array of articles as the present 

 volume furnishes, it seems invidious to dis- 

 criminate, and in especially commending the 

 papers of Dr. Austin Flint, on " Food in its 

 Relations to Personal and Public Health ; " 

 of Prof. Washburn, on "Expert Testimony 

 and the Public Service of Experts ; " and of 

 Mr. Charlton Lewis, on " The Influence of 

 Civilization on the Duration of Life," we do 

 not for a moment imply that the other dis- 

 cussions of the volume, all of them on im- 

 portant subjects, are not of equal interest 

 and ability. This series of reports should 

 be found in the libraries of all who take in- 

 terest in the vital subject of personal and 

 public hygiene. 



From Prof. C. V. Riley we have received 

 a reprint of five papers contributed by him 

 to the "Transactions" of the St. Louis 

 Academy of Sciences ; their titles are as fol- 

 lows: "Larval Characters and Habits of 

 the Blister Beetles belonging to the Genera 

 Macrobasis and Epiccmla ; " " On a Remark- 

 able New Genus in Meloidce ; " "Notes on 

 Megathymus yuccce ;" "Remarks on Pro- 

 nuba yuccasdla ; " "Differences between 

 Anisoptcryx pomdaria (Harr.) and Aniso- 

 pteryx cescularia (W.-V.)." 



