562 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



lobster boiled, the morn from black to red 

 began to turn." 



The author holds that if all were scien- 

 tists the world would be badiy off; spirit 

 would be dried out by system. This is the 

 time-worn libel upon science science, that 

 breathes a soul into rocks, reads the romance 

 of flower shapes, and gets color and fra- 

 grance from a lump of coal ! 



Even though repudiated, science has in- 

 formed much of the book with beauty, and 

 it may be commended to country lovers as a 

 dainty calendar of the seasons. 



Alexander WinchelVs Walks and Talks 

 in the Geological Field has been adopted by 

 the Chautauqua Circle as one of its text- 

 books, and a special edition of the book has 

 been made for this purpose (Flood, $1) 

 It has been revised and edited by Prof. Fred" 

 erick Starr, of the University of Chicago 

 who has aimed to retain all the geological 

 material of the original edition, and in the 

 author's own words. Marginal comment has 

 been introduced as a convenience to the 

 reader, and a few footnotes have been added. 

 The editor speaks of this book as intended 

 by its author to hold a position between texl^ 

 books and books of light reading. It is 

 written in an easy, conversational style, and 

 is free from unnecessary technicalities. Al- 

 though its forty-nine chapters have inde- 

 pendent and pictures<;iue titles, their scope 

 and arrangment is such that the editor is 

 able to group them under these general 

 heads : surface geology, strata, igneous agen- 

 cies, economic geology, fossils, beginnings of 

 the earth, and history of life and tlie growth 

 of the continent. A number of illustrations 

 have been introduced. 



A very handsome book is Cheird's Lan- 

 guage of the Hand (the author, 432 Fifth 

 Avenue, New York, $2). It is in square oc- 

 tavo form, with many illustrations, and is 

 printed with large type and wide margins. 

 It begins with a defense, which is followed 

 by definitions of the square, conic, and vari- 

 ous other shapes of hands, definitions of va- 

 rious kinds of fingers, of the "mounts" of the 

 hand, etc. Then follow the meanings that 

 the author assigns to the lines, stars, and 

 other markings on the hand. There are a 

 number of plates at the end, showing impres- 

 sions of the hands of celebrated persons, and 



an appendix of testimonials from persons who 

 have had their fortunes told by the author. 



The first volume of The Tannins^ issued 

 three or four years ago by Prof. Henry Trim- 

 ble, has now been followed by a second (Lip- 

 pincott, $2). It is devoted to the results of 

 investigation by the author on the astringent 

 principles from nine species of oaks and 

 one species each of mangrove, canaigre, and 

 chestnut. The oak barks include a species 

 from England and one from India. A bib- 

 liography is appended, which, with that in 

 Volume I, makes up a total of nearly one 

 thousand titles. There are thirty- three illus- 

 trations, showing leaves, acorns, and appa- 

 ratus. 



The First Lessons in Reading of Eliza- 

 beth H. Fundtnberg (American Book Com- 

 pany, 25 cents) is based on the principle 

 that the first teaching should connect the 

 words already known to the ear with their 

 written or printed forms, leaving the letters 

 and the sounds they represent to a future 

 step. Accordingly, the sentence or word 

 method has been adopted, to give way to the 

 phonic-word method when the child has be- 

 come familiar with the printed and written 

 forms of a considerable number of the worda 

 which are in his oral vocabulary. The 

 Teachers' Edition (50 cents) comprises a 

 manual in which each lesson is developed, 

 together with outlines for slate and board 

 work ; also full instructions on phonetics 

 and rules for pronuncintion and spelling. 



A second edition of Introductory Lessons 

 in English Grammar, by the same author, is 

 also published by the American Book Com- 

 pany. This is designed for intermediate 

 grades, and will serve better when used to 

 supplement the preceding than if offered by 

 itself as a first course in grammar. Although 

 well arranged, clear, and complete, it savors 

 enough of technicality to arouse perhaps 

 that unreasoning distaste for grammatical 

 study which it is better the young student 

 should never possess. 



The Conversational Method in French of 

 M. J. Victor Plotton is the fruit of an ex- 

 perience of many years, and is a system in 

 which successful results have been obtained 

 by those who have used it. Its aim is to 

 teach speaking rather than reading, and it 

 proceeds by carefully graduated lessons to 

 take the pupil along unconsciously, as it 



