LITERARY NOTICES. 



755 



would fail us to signalize all the excel- 

 lences of this work, which has the rare 

 merit of being truly readable for the unpro- 

 fessional and unscientific man. As regards 

 the mechanical style of the work, it is in all 

 respects admirable. The paper is of the 

 best quahty, the type large and clear, the 

 proof-reader's duty faithfully done, and the 

 woodcuts, charts, and plates, equal to the 

 best. We would call special attention to 

 the " Geological Map-Model " of the whole 

 State. This consists of a map of Iowa in 

 six sheets, whereof the lowest represents 

 the Lower Silurian formation, underlying 

 the entire State; over this the Upper Silu- 

 rian, which covers all the foregoing except 

 the extreme northeast corner; then the De- 

 vonian, which retires still farther back from 

 the northeast comer; then in succession 

 the sub-Carboniferous, the Lower and Mid- 

 dle Coal-Measures, the Upper Coal-Measures, 

 and the Cretaceous. 



A Plain Exposition of the Theory and 

 Practice op Life Assurance, with a 

 Brief Sketch of its History. By J. 

 H. Yan Amringe, Professor of Mathe- 

 matics, Columbia College, Xew York 

 City. New York : Charles A. Kittle, 

 765 Sixth Avenue. ISH. 8vo, pp. 61. 



Life insurance is " a subject of which, 

 though some of the details may be compli- 

 cated, the first principles are singularly 

 plain." So wrote De Morgan, thirty-sis 

 years ago ; a period within which there 

 have been created in America seventy life- 

 insurance companies now existing, the de- 

 tails of whose business are before us ; of 

 whose policies about 91*7,000 are now in 

 force, insuring about $2,331,000,000, with 

 a yearly income exceeding $125,000,000, 

 and holding assets amounting to $375,- 

 000,000. These enormous sums are the 

 insurances, and yearly and accumulated 

 payments, in behalf of beneficiaries, who 

 doubtless exceed 3,000,000 in number; and 

 of fully nineteen-twentieths of these inter- 

 ested persons it is safe to say that they 

 know nothing of the " first principles," so 

 " singularly plain," of which De Morgan 

 spoke, but of which he said, " nothing but 

 indifference can prevent the public from j 

 becoming well acquainted with." ! 



Of publications professing to popularize ' 

 ideas about life insurance there are enough | 



and a surfeit ; but, the greater part of them 

 being openly written in advocacy of some 

 particular company, they are regarded by 

 most people as advertisements, to be hastily 

 read and carelessly cast aside. It seems,' 

 therefore, that, for an authoritative expo- 

 sition of the principles and practices of the 

 business, the public will regard the more 

 such a presentation of the subject as has 

 now been made of it by Prof. Yan Amringe, 

 who, from his position, will not be suspected 

 of writing in the interest of any company 

 or class of companies. 



In his preface the author says : " The 

 object of this pamphlet is to dispel the ap- 

 parent mystery which envelops assurance — 

 to give the general reader a clear and con- 

 cise explanation of the principles on which 

 it is founded, and their application in busi- 

 ness. Purely technical discussion has been 

 avoided, and the necessary calculations have 

 been made in as plain Enghsh as possible. 

 A simple explanation has been given of the 

 several kinds of companies and their man- 

 agement ; of the mode of obtaining a pohcy, 

 and the conditions upon which it is issued ; 

 of the manner of securing the amount due 

 under a policy when it shall become a claim ; 

 of the various kinds of policies issued ; of 

 the construction and use of mortality tables ; 

 of net premium, expenses, and loading ; of 

 reserve for reinsurance, lapse and surrender 

 of policies ; of surplus, its distribution and 

 modes of application ; of government pro- 

 tection of policy-holders and supervision of 

 companies. An outline sketch of the his- 

 tory of life assurance, particularly in the 

 United States, has been added." 



In the accomplishment of his task. Prof. 

 Yan Amringe has been, in our judgment, 

 very successful ; a large amount of infor- 

 mation has been condensed into moderate 

 space, and at the same time clearly set forth, 

 while there is no attempt at mere display 

 of learning or of research ; though the 

 treatise is the result of a good deal of both. 

 The work is, as a whole, so well done that 

 we omit any mention of the two or three 

 minor points we had marked for criticism ; 

 excepting this one which the professor can 

 readily amend in his next edition. Life 

 assurance is scarcely known in this coun- 

 try. Life insurance is well known, and is 

 the subject which Prof. Yan Amringe has 



