LITERARY NOTICES. 



SS7 



or didactic method — telling about things 

 which are far away, or, if near at hand, are 

 not identifiable by the aid of the book. 

 Due discrimination is not observed between 

 those conceptions of the subject which are 

 abstract, and beyond the reach of the young 

 pupil or older novices, and those which can 

 be attained through accessible concrete illus- 

 trations." 



The method of these " Excursions " is 

 practical, and implies the observation and 

 study of geological phenomena as they lie all 

 about us among the most obtrusive and no- 

 ticeable of the objects which we daily en- 

 counter. The author, moreover, informs us 

 that a large part of the " Excursions " has 

 been used while yet in manuscript, in actual 

 trials by actual teachers. This is unquestion- 

 ably the true method in scientific education, 

 because it makes the mental acquisitions 

 real, and the adoption and extension of this 

 plan of study is unquestionably the great 

 desideratum of the time. 



Brain-Exhacstion, vtith some Preliminary 

 Considerations on Cerebral Dynamics. 

 By J. Leonard Corning, M. D. New 

 York : D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 235. 



Interesting and valuable as are the 

 investigations that have been made upon 

 questions of muscular dynamics. Dr. Corn- 

 ing believes that the economical questions 

 involved in normal and morbid intellection 

 constitute a field of physiological research 

 that transcends all others in importance. 

 With the growing demands made in the pres- 

 ent conditions of society upon the thinking 

 apparatus come factors to exert a prejudi- 

 cial influence upon the cerebral mechanism ; 

 and these have never been more numerous 

 than now, as is proved by the alarming in- 

 crease of brain disorders during the last 

 few years. Dr. Corning has endeavored to 

 consider a group of symptoms, associated 

 with these disorders, from as scientific a 

 point of view as possible. The opinions he 

 expresses have been formed from direct 

 clinical observation, and from inferences 

 derived from physiology and experimental 

 pathology. In a chapter of " Preliminary 

 Considerations " he discusses the relation of 

 the law of the convertibility of forces to 

 the dynamics of the healthy and the mor- 

 bid brain ; the emotions of the healthy and 

 morbid mind, and memory in its healthy 



and morbid relations. In the two following 

 chapters are considered the clinics and pa- 

 thology, and the causation of brain-exhaus- 

 tion ; account being taken in the latter 

 chapter of predisposing and exciting causes, 

 false educational conceptions and methods, 

 the effects of tobacco and alcoholic excesses, 

 and •' mental hygienics." The last chapter 

 is devoted to the principles of treatment. 

 Rest is prescribed as the most wholesome 

 and efficient remedy. Drugs are objected to, . 

 but coca is prescribed as an excellent reme- 

 dy against worry, and one which, besides 

 exercising an invigorating effect upon the 

 cerebral centers, " imparts an indescribable 

 sensation of satisfaction," A special treat- 

 ment by electrization of the sympathetic 

 nerve, with simultaneous bilateral compres- 

 sion of the carotids, is described. 



Methods of'IIistorical Study. By Her- 

 bert B. Adams, Ph. D. Baltimore : N. 

 Murray. Pp. 137. Price, 50 cents. 



This treatise constitutes the opening 

 double number of the second series of the 

 "Johns Hopkins University Studies" in 

 historical and political science, and includes 

 papers describing improved and special 

 methods of historical study that have been 

 introduced at the university, and at other 

 institutions in the United States and Eu- 

 rope. The main principle of the training at 

 Johns Hopkins is to encourage independent 

 thought and research. Little attention ia 

 given to text-books and mere phraseology, 

 but all stress is laid upon clear and original 

 statements of fact and opinion, whether the 

 student's own or a consulted author's. At 

 Smith College the study is pursued by four 

 classes in regular gradation, with liberal use 

 of collateral literary works and historical 

 romances as aids to the lectures and formal 

 treatises. In another paper are given ex- 

 positions of four new methods of histori- 

 cal study, viz., the topical, comparative, co- 

 operative, and seminary or laboratory meth- 

 ods. In the first method the study is begun 

 with and enlarged from some special topic, 

 preferably from one which is nearest and 

 most familiar. In the comparative method, 

 like phases of history are studied con- 

 nectedly. In the co-operative method, each 

 student makes a thorough study of a single 

 branch of the subject, and the work of all 



