128 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



from one part of the earth's surface to an- 

 other will be attended with a disturbance of 

 the center of gravity of the planet, and 

 with convulsions, floods, and great disasters 

 to the continents and what is upon them. 

 Further, "meteorological, electrical, and 

 other phenomena of equal greatness, grand- 

 eur, and sublimity, as those of land and 

 water, would follow a paroxysmal move- 

 ment of the earth." Therefore, it will be 

 well to halt before making real so rash a 

 scheme. 



Ingglish az She iz Spelt. Perpetrated by 

 Fritz Federheld. New York: G. W. 

 Carleton & Co. Pp. 93. Price, 25 cents. 



The compiler of this odd composition 

 evidently regards the accepted English or- 

 thography as a fetich to whose sanctity he 

 does not consider himself bound to pay any 

 respect ; for he holds it up to ridicule in a 

 very amusing style by parodies, epigrams, 

 comic poems, anecdotes, and witty extracts, 

 the purport of all of which is to stamp the 

 whole system as inconsistent with itself, and 

 particular features of it as absurd. The va- 

 riety of the sounds which are given to the 

 groups of letters " ough " is humorously set 

 forth in several pieces, the most noteworthy 

 of which is Planche's squib on the pronun- 

 ciation of the name of Lord Houghton. 

 Other rhymes, drawn from Professor Bar- 

 nard, Professor Gregory, and others, expose 

 what appear to be monstrosities of spelling, 

 but which are shown to be justified by analo- 

 gous spellings in other words recognized as 

 orthographic. A series of extracts from 

 standard authors shows what was the con- 

 dition of English spelling, at intervals of 

 about fifty years, from Chaucer to Samuel 

 Johnson. 



Practical Work in the School-Room. Ob- 

 ject-Lessons on the Human Body. New 

 York : A. Lovell & Co. Pp. 167. 



This volume embraces transcripts of 

 lessons that have been given in the primary 

 department of Grammar-School, No. 49, 

 New York, and which include instructions 

 consonant with the plan, on the subject of 

 physiology and the effects of stimulants and 

 narcotics. The plan of teaching comprises 

 a model lesson, to show how each subject 

 should be developed and taught ; a formula, 

 embodying the principal facts presented ; 



questions on the formula ; directions for 

 touching, or pointing to the part under de- 

 scription ; questions on the lesson ; and a 

 blackboard outline. 



Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and 

 Through the Looking-Glass. By Lewis 

 Carrol. New York : Macmillan & Co. 

 Pp. 192 and 224, with 92 Illustrations. 

 Price, paper, 50 cents ; cloth, 75 cents. 



Two books in one, of pure nonsense and 

 delightful absurdities, which have for sev- 

 eral years enjoyed extensive popularity. In 

 the first book, Alice goes down into a rab- 

 bit-hole and has stirring adventures with 

 the rabbit and an animated pack of cards. 

 In the second story, she succeeds in getting 

 into the country behind the looking-glass, 

 where she finds everything reversed, and 

 meets the characters of Mother Goose and 

 English folk-lore mythology. 



Serapis. By George Ebers. From the Ger- 

 man by Clara Bell. New York : Will- 

 iam S. Gottsberger. Pp. 387. Price, 

 90 cents. 



This is a story of Alexandria in a. d. 

 391, under Roman rule ; one of those at- 

 tempts to restore and present to the pres- 

 ent age the life of antiquity, with some of 

 the most successful of which the author's 

 name is associated. 



The Wane of an Ideal. By La Marchesa 

 Colombi. From the Italian by Clara 

 Bell. New York : W. S. Gottsberger. 

 Pp. 260. Price, 90 cents. 



A story, by a popular living Italian 

 novelist, of contemporary village life in the 

 north of Italy, in which " a variety of the 

 social problems which occupy Italian thought 

 are treated in a way which is humorous 

 without being cynical," and having a close 

 " which is melancholy but scarcely tragical." 



The Canadian Record of Science. Vol. I, 

 No. 1. Quarterly. Pp. 64. Price, $3 

 per volume of eight numbers. 



This journal takes the place of " The 

 Canadian Naturalist and Geologist," and is 

 under the charge of an editing committee 

 of the Natural History Society of Montreal, 

 which is composed of T. Sterry Hunt, B. P. 

 Penhallow, B. J. Harrington, J. Wanless, 

 and J. T. Donald. The intention of the 

 editors is to present both original and se- 



