LITERARY NOTICES. 



849 



endeavored to establish, that there are causes 

 which have been in existence since life be- 

 gan that will account for the structure, life, 

 and habits of man, and that have tended in 

 this direction ; but " whether there is any- 

 thing farther than this ; whether man has 

 other attributes, either peculiar to himself, 

 or held by him in common with other ani- 

 mals ; whether there are attributes that can 

 not be explained by these laws, are questions 

 with which science has nothing to do." 



Physical Laboratory Manual. By H. N. 

 Chcte, M. S. Boston : D. C. Heath & Co. 

 Pp. 213. Price, 80 cents. 



The author of this manual is not one 

 of those who would teach physics through 

 laboratory work exclusively. The pupil, he 

 says, " should come to the laboratory well 

 grounded in the first principles of physics 

 as presented in some elementary treatise on 

 the subject, and well read, especially, on the 

 subject that he is to investigate, both as to 

 mode of conducting the work, and manner 

 of observing." Leaving the laws and prin- 

 ciples of the science to be presented in a 

 separate volume, this manual gives only di- 

 rections for experiments. These directions 

 consist regularly of a brief statement of the 

 problem, a list of the apparatus required, 

 the details of what is to be done, under the 

 heading Method, and a tabular form of 

 record. Sometimes the statement of meth- 

 od is supplemented by remarks. Cuts show- 

 ing the proper arrangement of apparatus 

 accompany the directions in many cases. 

 Prefixed or appended are aids for both pupil 

 and teacher relating to the management of 

 the work, and making and manipulating ap- 

 paratus, also many tables for reference. The 

 book is adapted to pupils of high schools and 

 academies. 



School English. By George P. Bdtler. 

 American Book Co. Pp. 272. Price, 75 

 cents. 



The increased attention which is now 

 given to the study of English in secondary 

 schools has stimulated the production of 

 rhetorical text-books as well as the republi- 

 cation of English classics. 



Some knowledge of rhetoric is plainly a 

 necessity, not only in order to analyze the 

 beauties of the masterpieces of literature, 

 VOL. xlvi. 64 



but that the pupil may recognize the faults 

 in his own composition. The newer manuals 

 which have been prepared for this purpose 

 give too many regulations and a superfluity 

 of extraneous matter. The author of this 

 work, an experienced teacher, considers that 

 twenty rules are sufficient to fortify young 

 writers against common mistakes in con- 

 struction. He succeeds not only in simplify- 

 ing these directions, but in the chapter on 

 Clearness, Force, and Harmony, furnishes 

 some excellent drill in a neglected quarter. 

 The exercises suggested in reproduction, sub- 

 stitution, and condensation should also prove 

 helpful in paving the way for essay writing. 



We do not understand, however, why the 

 student is directed to look up indedded in 

 the International Dictionary and observe its 

 use when the word is not to be found there. 

 Possibly it is a colloquialism known to the 

 author and unrecorded by the makers of the 

 lexicon. 



The aim of the book is given in a quota- 

 tion from Herbert Spencer's Philosophy of 

 Style, " to enable the student to present his 

 ideas in such language that they may be ap- 

 prehended with the least possible effort " ; 

 and it is not too much to say that he must 

 be indeed a dull scholar who is not mate- 

 rially helped toward this end by a faithful 

 following of the principles here inculcated. 



A Laboratory Manual of Physics and Ap- 

 plied Electricity. Arranged and edit- 

 ed by Edward L. Nichols, Professor of 

 Physics in Cornell University. Vol. II. 

 Senior Courses and Outhnes of Advanced 

 Work. New York: Macmillan & Co. 

 Pp. 444. Price, $3.25. 



The student who has completed such a 

 course of laboratory study in physics as is 

 presented in the first volume of this work 

 will be prepared to take up the problems 

 for original research given in the volume 

 now issued. The needs of students who 

 intend to become electrical engineers have 

 been especially consulted in those parts of 

 Volume II dealing with applied electricity, 

 heat, and photometry. There is also a fourth 

 part, of a hundred and fifty pages, consist- 

 ing of exercises in general physics. The 

 student who essays this course of experi- 

 ments " is supposed to be familiar with the 

 general principles of electrical measurement, 

 and to have had such experience in adjustr 



