852 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



alogy this will, of course, be an elementary 

 volume ; accordingly, a list of books is given, 

 mostly German, in which fuller information 

 can be found. There are 383 cuts in the 

 volume. 



Reader's Guide to Economic, Social, and 

 Political Science. Edited by R. R. 

 Bowker and George Iles. New York : 

 Society for Political Education. Pp. 160. 

 Price, cloth, $1.00 ; paper, 50 cents. 

 Within the past decade a very notewor- 

 thy increase of interest has taken place in 

 economic, social, and political science. Its 

 literature to-day flows in a stream many 

 times as wide as that of 1881, and, passing 

 the limits of the monographs and reviews 

 specially devoted to it, now finds its way 

 into popular magazines and leading journals. 

 The quickening of interest which this de- 

 notes is not without a reason. Every year 

 brings its enlargement of the functions of 

 the state and some fresh appeal for yet 

 wider extension of its scope. Interstate 

 commerce is one of the more significant of 

 its accessions of sway in recent years. It 

 would seem that the guardianship of for- 

 ests and the supervision of irrigation are 

 to be among its duties in the near future. 

 With authority in international trade to 

 speak the word of good or ill fortune, Gov- 

 ernment is constantly being asked to step 

 into the arena of domestic industry. Why 

 may not the power which claims to bring 

 prosperity by a tariff be invoked to regu- 

 late immigration, fix the hours of labor, or 

 otherwise become as a Providence to the 

 nation ? With a literature teeming from the 

 press treating these and allied questions 

 questions of the creation of wealth and its 

 distribution ; Government, and its relations 

 to the commonwealth such a guide as 

 that provided by the Society for Political 

 Education is clearly invaluable. Its editors 

 present a classified list of the leading books, 

 articles, Government and other reports, in 

 the various fields covered by the manual. 

 Each department has been revised by a com- 

 petent specialist ; and where, as in the case 

 of free trade and protection, there are op- 

 posed camps, a representative of each has 

 co-operated with the editors. The book is 

 not a mere list, but a trustworthy guide, 

 every work of importance receiving a brief 

 descriptive or critical note. Prefixed to the 



several sections, wherever desirable, are a 

 few lines advising the reader or student 

 which books are best, and in what order 

 they may most profitably be taken up. The 

 titles have been selected not only from 

 American and English, but from German, 

 French, and Italian works. That foreign 

 literature is very much richer than our own 

 in economic and social science is a fact 

 which this little book brings out very clear- 

 ly. In emphasizing it, something will be 

 done to broaden the outlook of American 

 students, too often content with home au- 

 thors not of the first rank. Lists for read- 

 ing, elementary, intermediate, and advanced, 

 are prescribed. The courses in politics and 

 economics in leading American colleges for 

 men and women are epitomized ; and a very 

 full index doubles the value of the book. 



Those who have a taste for speculations 

 on abstruse scientific questions will be in- 

 terested in Cosmical Evolution, by Evan 

 McLennan (Donohue, Chicago). It is a new 

 theory of the physical universe, which sub- 

 stitutes for gravitation a system of bonds 

 connecting the stars and planets as chemical 

 atoms and molecules are assumed to be con- 

 nected. The author's handling of the sub- 

 ject gives evidence of much ability. 



Under the title Manual of Archaeology 

 Mr. Talfourd Ely publishes a sketch of an- 

 cient art (Putnam, $2). It is divided into 

 two books, the first relating to Prehistoric, 

 Egyptian, and Oriental Art, and the second 

 to Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Art. The 

 art of these countries is described as dis- 

 played in architecture, sculpture, engraving, 

 painting, enameling, mosaic, and in the in- 

 dustrial arts. At the head of each of the 

 eighteen chapters is a list of books recom- 

 mended by the author for further reading. 

 The work has an index, and contains one 

 hundred and fourteen illustrations. 



The Tliird Annual Report of the Agri- 

 cultural Experiment Station, at Cornell Uni- 

 versity, covering the year 1890, comprises 

 the separate reports of the several officers 

 of the station, together with the collected 

 bulletins that were issued during the year. 

 These reports are largely devoted to descrip- 

 tions of the buildings and laboratories that 

 have been provided for the use of the sta- 

 tion, illustrated with views and plans. The 



