LITERARY NOTICES. 



419 



in an at least equally acceptable manner. 

 Projected with especial reference to pro- 

 moting the exploration of American mount- 

 ains, its range has become, without neglect- 

 ing these, very catholic, and we may now look 

 in it for original studies of mountain structure 

 and scenery and geographical characteris- 

 tics in all quarters of the world. The sec- 

 ond number of Volume VI (December, 1890), 

 for instance, contains accounts of the Ascent 

 of Three Japanese Volcanoes, by W. J. Hol- 

 land, of the United States Eclipse Expe- 

 dition, 1887 ; the Great Smoky Mountains 

 and Thunderhead Peak, by Frank 0. Car- 

 penter ; the San Juan Mountains, by F. H. 

 Chapin ; and An Ascent of Sierra Blanca, 

 by Charles G. Van Brunt. Mr. Holland's 

 and Mr. Chapin's papers are accompanied 

 by illustrations of a high class. W. B. Clark 

 & Co., Boston. Price, 50 cents. 



A most welcome aid in the study of Eng- 

 lish literature, and a charming piece for 

 leisure-hour reading as well, is Sir Philip 

 Sidney's Defense of Poesy, otherwise known 

 as An Apology for Poetry, which Ginn & 

 Co. publish (price, 90 cents), edited, with in- 

 troduction and notes, by Albert S. Cook. 

 The essay is a masterpiece of English writ- 

 ing, and is replete with noble thoughts ex- 

 pressed in noble style, The apology of fifty- 

 eight pages hardly too long to be read at a 

 sitting, if one would read fast is preceded 

 by a sketch of Sidney's life, a discussion of 

 the date of composition and publication, and 

 observations on the author's learning, style, 

 theory of poetry, and followers and imita- 

 tors, constituting the introduction, and an 

 analysis. The notes give explanations of 

 the allusions in the work and the peculiari- 

 ties of language and grammar ; and are fol- 

 lowed by a list of variants in the different 

 editions and an index of proper names. 



An edition of the first two extant books 

 of Quintius Curtius (probably the third and 

 fourth books of the original), Historiarum 

 Alexandri Magni Macedonia, or Histories of 

 Alexander the Great of Macedon, is pub- 

 lished by Ginn & Co. (price, 35 cents), edited 

 for sight-reading by Harold N. Fowler. It 

 is intended for the upper classes of prepara- 

 tory schools and the lower classes of colleges. 

 The editor's principal work has been to sup- 

 ply foot-notes on each page, giving such 

 words and uses of words as the student can 



not be reasonably expected to be as yet fa- 

 miliar with. In an introduction, Prof. James 

 B. Greenough tells us what sight-reading is, 

 and gives a drill-exercise to teach the student 

 how to proceed to acquire the art. It means 

 to take in the passage and comprehend it 

 without translating it. " A pupil," Prof. 

 Greenough says, " should begin from the 

 start to try to read straight away, as if the 

 language were his own, to see what mental 

 pictures the author meant to present to him- 

 self, and only then, if necessary at all, trans- 

 fer the thought to an English form of ex- 

 pression." This method, he believes, is, in 

 some form or other, consciously or uncon- 

 sciously, indispensable for any real knowl- 

 edge of a foreign tongue. 



Contributions to the History of the South- 

 western Portion of the United States is the 

 fourth substantial volume, besides a number 

 of essays and statements, included in the 

 annual reports which the Archa3ological 

 Institute of America has published of the 

 work of Mr. A. F. Bandelier. It appears as 

 one of the papers of the Hemenway South- 

 western Archaeological Expedition. The vol- 

 ume includes an introductory sketch of the 

 knowledge which the Spaniards in Mexico pos- 

 sessed of the countries north of the province 

 of New Galicia, previous to the return of Ca- 

 beza de Vaca, in 1536 ; with papers on Ca- 

 beza de Vaca and the importance of his wan- 

 derings for Spanish explorations toward 

 New Mexico and Arizona; Spanish efforts 

 to penetrate to the north of Sinaloa, be- 

 tween 1536 and 1539 ; Fray Marcos of Niz- 

 za ; and the expedition of Piedro de Villa- 

 zur, from Santa Fe to the banks of the 

 Platte River in 1720. It was the author's 

 plan, treating the history of the Southwest 

 in sections, monographically, to publish pa- 

 pers further on the expeditions of Coro- 

 nada, Chamuscado, Espejo, and Ofiate, but a 

 suspension of the enterprise is at present 

 forced upon him ; and he intimates that 

 there is material to be found in Spain which 

 has not yet been examined that would con- 

 tribute to the completeness of the work. 



Mr. H. L. Green, of the Freethinker' 's 

 Magazine, has sent us a bundle of pamphlets 

 on subjects in which freethinkers are inter- 

 ested, or the thought of which is in accord 

 with that of the school described under that 

 name. It includes two pamphlets on Giorda- 



