LITERARY NOTICES. 



421 



rules for gas piping, hints on the choice of 

 fixtures, burners, globes and globe-holders, 

 on the management of gas, and on the reduc- 

 tion of high gas bills. It also tells how to 

 read a gas meter, how to search for a leak, 

 and how not to search for it, and gives the 

 advantages of cooking and heating by gas, 

 certain historical facts, etc. Its treatment 

 of these and other topics included in its 

 scope is full, clear, and free from technicali- 

 ties, and, while it is doubtless valuable to all 

 who have to do with gas and gas appliances, 

 it is especially needed by the user of gas, 

 who has little chance to pick up the knowl- 

 edge it contains in any other way. 



A progressive course of Mechanical Draw- 

 ing, arranged by Walter K. Palmer, has been 

 issued (Charles B. Palmer, Columbus, 0., 80 

 cents). It comprises projection drawing, iso- 

 metric and oblique drawing, and the mak- 

 ing of working drawings. The successive 

 principles are stated briefly, and the student 

 is expected to verify them with the aid of 

 explanations and illustrations by the teacher. 

 No drawings are shown and as few figures 

 as possible are used, as it is expected that 

 the teacher will supply what is needed to 

 clear up individual difficulties. What shall 

 be drawn under the head of working draw- 

 ings is left altogether with the teacher. A 

 liberal number of review questions is pro- 

 vided. 



A series of newspaper letters under the 

 title Johit-metallism, by Anso7i Phelps Stokes, 

 has been published in the Questions of the 

 Day series (Putnam, 75 cents). Mr. Stokes 

 describes " joint-metallism " as " a plan by 

 which gold and silver together, at ratios 

 always based on their relative market values, 

 may be made the metallic basis of a sound, 

 honest, self-regulating, and permanent cur- 

 rency, without frequent recoinage and with- 

 out danger of one metal driving out the oth- 

 er." In brief, his plan consists in the use 

 of a new silver coin equal in weight to a five- 

 dollar gold piece, which may he named " a 

 standard." The Secretary of the Treasury 

 shall determine at the beginning of each 

 month what whole number of " standards " 

 comes nearest to the value of a five-dollar 

 gold piece, and any payment of ten dollars 

 or over may be made half in gold and half 

 in " standards," at the current ratio fixed 

 by him. This mode of payment shall not 



apply to debts contracted earlier than six 

 months after the passage of the act author- 

 izing the use of the new coin. 



What may be described briefly as a popu- 

 lar account of modern bil)lical criticism is 

 presented by Joseph Henry Crooker under 

 the title The New Bible and its A'ew Uses 

 (Ellis). Mr. Crooker shows very clearly how 

 the present Bible has been constructed by 

 combining two or more versions of the same 

 events, by writing down oral traditions, by 

 mingling history with legend, by writing in 

 prophecies after the event, and by adding va- 

 rious tributes of reverent fancy. He points 

 out numerous errors and contradictions in 

 the Bible, and shows how the Old Testament 

 is misquoted in the New. Having thus dem- 

 onstrated that the Bible is not the message 

 of an omniscient Deity, he proceeds to show 

 that it does not itself claim to be such. The 

 statements of Jesus concerning the Old Tes- 

 tament writings were those of a man with the 

 limited knowledge of his time. Mr. Crooker 

 does not here raise any doubt that Jesus 

 really said the things that he is reported to 

 have said. Kegarding the Scriptures in this 

 light gives us in effect a " new Bible," and 

 the author devotes a closing chapter to a 

 discussion of the proper use of the reno- 

 vated book. He says that it will be a great 

 gain for humanity to have the surviving mis- 

 uses of the Bible stopped, as many others 

 have been already. This book must no longer 

 be held superior to reason. But it will not 

 therefore die. To quote from his closing 

 paragraph : " When the bondage of a literal, 

 a textual, and a dogmatic use of Scriptiu'e 

 ceases, then we shall rejoice in a use of the 

 Bible that allows reason and sentiment free 

 scope. It is a joy to read the Bible as we 

 would any other book, feeling that no dog- 

 matist is near to club us if we doubt, and no 

 roaring hell yawning for us if we reject a 

 text here and there." The author makes 

 numerous references to modern authorities 

 for support and amplification of his state- 

 ments. 



The Manual of Topographic Methods, 

 published by Henry Gannett, Chief Topog- 

 rapher, as Volume XXII of the Bulletin of 

 the United States Geological Survey, is in- 

 tended to present a description of the topo- 

 graphical work, instruments, and methods 

 used by the Geological Survey, primarily for 



