LITERARY NOTICES. 



243 



The work opens with a statement of the 

 various unfavorable influences that tend to 

 the enervation of the physical powers of 

 parents ; and this is followed by an outline 

 of man's organization, development, and 

 proper sustenance, and by an elucidation of 

 the relations which exist between the vege- 

 table and animal kingdoms, whence his sub- 

 sistence is obtained. The book contains 

 few cuts, and these are poorly made. 



Catechism op the Locomotive. By M. N. 

 Forney, M. E. 600 pages, 12mo. Price, 

 $2.80. New York: The Railroad Ga- 

 zette. 1875. 



The object of this book is to furnish a 

 clear and easily-understood description of 

 the principles, construction, and operation, 

 of the locomotive-engine of the present day, 

 a subject not concisely or adequately treated 

 in any one similar book. It is intended not 

 only as a hand-book for all classes of me- 

 chanics and railroad-men, but as a readable 

 book of practical information for amateur 

 engineers, students, and general readers. 

 The headings of a few chapters taken at 

 random are : " The Steam-Engine ; " "Forces 

 of Air and Steam ; " " General Description of 

 a Locomotive-Engine ; " " Diiferent Kinds of 

 Locomotives ; " " Accidents to Locomo- 

 tives ; " "Responsibility and Qualification of 

 Locomotive Runners." The subjects pre- 

 sented are treated simply and plainly, in the 

 form of question and answer, of which there 

 are 563. The book is illustrated by 230 

 woodcuts and many plates. 



A New Treatise on Elements of Mechan- 

 ics. By John W. Nystrom, C. E. 352 

 pages, 8vo. Price, $4.00. Philadelphia : 

 Porter & Coates, 822 Chestnut Street. 

 1875. 



This new treatise on mechanics has for 

 its object the establishment of strict preci- 

 sion in the meaning of dynamical terms, and 

 the classification of physical quantities 

 into elements and functions. It is written 

 for students of mechanics, by a practical 

 engineer ; and the terms adopted in it are 

 those used in the machine-shop, rejecting 

 the ideal vocabulary heretofore used in 

 text-books and colleges ; thus the author 

 rejects such terms as " efiiciency of force," 

 " working force," " quantity of motion," 

 " mechanical power," " mechanical effect," 



" energy," etc., as having no definite mean- 

 ing, or being redundant expressions mean- 

 ing " force," " power," or " work." The first 

 56 pages treat of " Statics," and the next 221 

 pages are given to " Dynamics." A short 

 chapter on the " Dynamics of Sound," a 

 chapter on the " Mechanics of Astronomy," 

 and an Appendix elucidating a duodenal 

 system of arithmetic, measures, weights, and 

 coins, complete the work, the whole of which 

 is illustrated by 242 woodcuts. 



Familiar Lectures about the Teeth. By 

 Henry S. Chase, M. D. 68 pages, cloth. 

 St. Louis : Gray, Baker & Co. 



The contents of this neat little publication 

 are designed particularly to enable mothtm 

 to understand and take care of the growth 

 of children's teeth. The author first gives 

 several illustrations with descriptions, show- 

 ing the position of the teeth in the jaws, to- 

 gether with the usual time of appeai'ance of 

 the milk-set and permanent set of teeth. 

 He then treats of the structure of the teeth, 

 the changes they undergo, and the nutrition 

 which they demand, the same as other parts 

 of the body. The food must furnish bone- 

 material as well as flesh-material. Phos- 

 phate of lime gives hardness to the teeth 

 and bones, but it must be organized by a 

 plant before it becomes fit food for an ani- 

 mal : " Artificial salts will not nourish the 

 teeth by being taken as food ; yet some 

 persons have recommended that they be put 

 into bread for that purpose." Other sub- 

 jects are " Early Growth of the Teeth," 

 " Infants' Teeth," " Dental Decay," " Chil- 

 dren's Teeth," "The Six-Year Molars," 

 " Plugging Teeth," " Effects of Medicine on 

 the Teeth," " Diseases of the Teeth," " Ex- 

 traction of Teeth," and "Artificial Teeth." 

 The book is a good one, and will fully re- 

 pay an attentive perusal. 



A New Manual of Physiology. By Prof, 

 KtJss. Boston : James Campbell, 1875. 

 531 pp., 12mo. Price, $2.50. 



The contents of this volume are a course 

 of lectures on physiology, delivered by 

 Prof. Kiiss, at the Medical School of the 

 University of Strasbourg ; edited by Mathias 

 Duval, M. D., of the Medical Faculty of 

 Paris ; and translated by Robert Amory, 

 M. D., formerly Professor of Physiology at 



