;o6 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



D. Anderson. New York: Putnam's Sons. Pp. 

 221. $1.75. 



Mechanics of Ventilation. By G. W. Rafter, 



C. E. New York: Van Nostrand. Pp. 96. 50 

 cents. 



Golden Songs of Great Poets. New York : 

 Sarah H. Leggett. Profusely illustrated. $5. 



The Action of Medicines. By Dr. I. Ott. 

 Philadelphia: Lindsay & Blakistou. Pp. 108. 

 $2. 



Notes from Chemical Laboratory of Johns 

 Hopkins University. Nos. 4-8. 



Mausill's Almanac of Planetary Meteorology. 

 1878. Rock Island, 111. : R. Crampton. Pp. GO. 

 50 cents. 



Ueber die als echt nachweisbaren Assonan- 

 zen der Chanson de Roland. Von A. Rambeau. 

 Pp. 38. 



Are the Indians dying out ? Washington : 

 Government Printing-Office. Pp. 42. 



Mound-making Ants of the Allegheuies. By 

 Rev. H. C. McCook. Philadelphia : Sold by J. 

 A. Black. With Plates. Pp. 43. 75 cents. 



Relation of Moisture in Air to Health. By 

 R. Briggs. Philadelphia: W. P. Kildare print 

 Pp. 33. 



Papers read before the Pi Eta Scientific So- 

 ciety. Troy: The Society. Pp.40. 



The Preliminary Arctic Expedition. Wash- 

 ington: Be reslbrd print. Pp.32. 



Report of the Asylum at Walnut Hill, Hart- 

 ford, Conn. Pp. 20. 



The Heavenly Bodies ; How they move. By 



D. McDonald. Montreal: Gazelle print. Pp.45. 



Immortality. By W. Bross. Chicago: Jan- 

 sen, McClurg '& Co. Pp. 8. 



Direct Process of making Iron and Steel. 

 By C. M. Du Pny, C. E. Philadelphia: W. P. 

 Kildare print. Pp. 12. 



Medical Jurisprudence of Insanity. By Dr. 

 H. Howard. Montreal : Gazette print. Pp. 13. 



Every Saturday (weekly). Buffalo : D. 

 Welch. Pp. 12. 



A Decimal Gauge for Sheet-Metal and Wire. 

 By R. Briggs. C. E. Philadelphia : W. P. Kil- 

 dare print. Pp. 13. 



POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



Meyer's Electrical Apparatus for Begin- 

 ners. We some time ago noticed the admi- 

 rable little work on electricity by Prof. Tyn- 

 dall, which grew out of a course of holiday 

 lectures to a juvenile audience at the Royal 

 Institution. This book, " Lessons in Elec- 

 tricity," is designed as a guide for beginners 

 to go through a course of electrical experi- 

 menting. The main purpose that he had in 

 view, in preparing this little volume, is thus 

 stated: "I had heard doubts expressed as 

 to the value of science-teaching in schools, 

 and I had heard objections urged on the 

 score of expensiveness of apparatus. Both 

 doubts and objections would, I considered, 

 be most practically met by showing what 

 could be done in the way of discipline and 

 instruction by experimental lessons, involv- 



ing the use of apparatus so simple and inex- 

 pensive as to be within everybody's reach." 

 Of course there can be no experimenting 

 without the necessary instruments, and, if the 

 work is to be pursued so as to yield its proper 

 benefits, the apparatus must be sufficient to 

 cover a definite field of study. Prof. Tyndall 

 has marked this out in his little volume, and 

 given figures of the various articles that 

 will be required. An ingenious pupil can 

 do something after a time he can do much 

 in the way of widening his resources for 

 making experiments, but he will at first re- 

 quire that the tools be ready at hand. A 

 philosophical-instrument maker of New 

 York, Mr. Curt W. Meyer, having been ap- 

 plied to for various articles suitable for ru- 

 dimentary experiments in electricity, con- 

 ceived the idea of meeting this demand by 

 preparing the complete set of instruments 

 needed for the illustration of Prof. Tyndall's 

 book. These he has manufactured and put 

 up in cases for transportation, so that those 

 who wish to enter upon such a course of ex- 

 periments will be spared all trouble in se- 

 lecting or making the instruments necessary 

 for the purpose. The price is such that 

 many boys will probably be unable to pro- 

 cure it, but there are not many schools that 

 by a little effort could not get the apparatus 

 for the use of their pupils. Electricity is ad- 

 mirably adapted on many accounts for intro- 

 ducing the young to the scientific study of 

 natural objects and agents, and in furnish- 

 ing them with the facilities and equipments 

 for the work Mr. Meyer has done them a 

 very useful service. 



Discovery of Mont Blanc. Mont Blanc, 

 the highest of the Alps, is, strange to say, 

 a modern discovery. At least, no mention 

 is made of this colossus of European peaks 

 in any itinerary, or in any literary work 

 whatever, till recent times. M. Charles 

 Durier, in his work " Le Mont Blanc," 

 says: "This mountain rises in the centre 

 of the most populous and civilized states 

 of Europe ; it is, in fact, the axis around 

 which European civilization has revolved 

 and still does revolve ; its height is con- 

 siderable ; it dominates everything in its 

 vicinity, and, to make $ts appearance more 

 striking on the background of the blue sky, 

 its summit, though placed in a favored, 



