4i8 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



adapted to go with the advanced free-hand 

 series. The four books of the latter series 

 are intended to interest and instruct the 

 mind of the learner, and improve his taste 

 by giving information on the principles of 

 pottery design and the conventionalization of 

 plant forms for purposes of decorative de- 

 sign. The diagrams to be drawn are mostly 

 historical examples of approved form. The 

 model and object series is likewise a free- 

 hand series, but has no drawings to be copied ; 

 the cuts and explanation being designed to 

 illustrate the underlying principles of model 

 drawing and the method of procedure, and 

 to send both teacher and pupil directly to 

 the object itself. The manual presents a 

 clear and concise statement of the principles 

 of model and object drawing, and can be 

 used independently of the drawing books. 

 The jEsthetic series gives the principal ele- 

 ments of the best known styles of ornament, 

 and explains them in such a way as to enable 

 the learner to recognize those various styles 

 at sight. The drawings are intended not to 

 be copied, but to be studied and to point 

 out the method to be pursued in inventing 

 designs. The mechanical series is wholly 

 instrumental. The institute series, with its 

 primary grade book and grammar grade 

 book, is made especially for teachers' insti- 

 tutes, normal classes, summer schools, and 

 intelligent classes having only a limited time 

 for study. A great elasticity is allowed in 

 the use of these books, in numbers used, 

 length of course, and purpose. 



Annual Report of the Board of Regents 

 OF the Smithsonian Institution. Show- 

 ing the Operations, Expenditures, and 

 Condition of the Institution to July, 

 1893. Washington: Government Print- 

 ing Office. Rp. 763. 



The secretary calls attention to the de- 

 sirability of securing an appropriation to 

 meet actual outlays incurred in administer- 

 ing Government trusts. These outlays, for 

 matters not equitably chargeable to the fund 

 of James Smithson, are increasing ; they are 

 incurred in serving purely governmental in- 

 terests, and are not met by any of the pres- 

 ent appropriations. In the line of research 

 the secretary. Prof. S. P. Langley, has in- 

 vestigated in aerodynamics and astrophysics ; 

 aid has been given in Prof. E. W. Mosley's 

 determinations of the density of oxygen and 



hydrogen ; Prof. A. A. Michelson has been 

 assisted in his study of the application of in- 

 terference methods to spectroscopic meas- 

 urements ; Prof. Holden is engaged in lunar 

 photography; and other investigations are 

 reported upon. Mention is made of Mr. 

 W. W. Rockhill's adventures in Tibet and 

 other explorations described in the Report of 

 the Bureau of Ethnology. Volume XXYIII 

 of the Contributions to Knowledge consists 

 of the memoir of Captain Charles E. Bendire 

 on the Life Histories of North American 

 Birds. Prof. Michelson's memoir on inter- 

 ference methods was also published. The 

 thirty-fourth and thirty-sixth volumes of the 

 miscellaneous collections contain respective- 

 ly two articles previously published sepa- 

 rately, and Dr. H. C. Bolton's new Bibliog- 

 raphy of Chemistry. A gift of two hun- 

 dred thousand dollars has been made to the 

 institution by T. G. Hodgkins, of Setauket, 

 Long Island, for the encouragement of the 

 study of the nature and properties of atmos- 

 pheric air in connection with the welfare of 

 man. Mr. Hodgkins also made the institu- 

 tion his residuary legatee. The appendix to 

 the report contains a large number of ar- 

 ticles on current science, mostly selected. 



Human Physiology. By John Thornton, 

 M. A. With 268 Illustrations, some 

 colored. New York : Longmans, Green & 

 Co. 1894. Pp. 436. Price, $1.50. 



The scope of this work indicates that it 

 has been prepared for the use of high schools 

 and colleges. 



Commencing with histology, excellent 

 ideas of a cell, of karyokinesis, of the prop- 

 erties of protoplasm, and of the various 

 forms of tissue are given. Physiology prop- 

 er is then taken up and considered in its va- 

 rious phases. The chapters on the blood and 

 circulation are excellent, and that on the 

 brain is especially good in its treatment of 

 our modern knowledge of that nervous cen- 

 ter. 



The book has been prepared with great 

 care and judgment, and is deserving of wide 

 popularity in the field for which it is in- 

 tended. 



The Amateur Telescopisfs Handbook 

 (Longmans, Green & Co., New York) has 

 been prepared by Frank M. Gibson for that 



