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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



description of the several stages of butter- 

 flies and of methods of capture and preser- 

 vation, an analytical key, and a more com- 

 plete description of all the species that 

 have been found in the region included. 

 The introductory chapter describing the gen- 

 oral characteristic and life of butterflies and 

 methods of capturing and treating them is 

 followed by an accentuated list of the but- 

 terflies of the Eastern United States, and 

 this by the particular descriptions of genera 

 and species. In the last part, the " prepara- 

 tory stages," being often essential to a prop- 

 er understanding of the relations that spe- 

 cies bear to one another, and adding much 

 to the interest of the study, are given so far 

 as they are known. 



The Industrial Situation and the Ques- 

 tion of Wages. By J. Schoenhof. New 

 York and London : G. P. Putnam's Sons. 

 1885. Pp. 157. Price, $1. 



In the papers comprising this volume, 

 Mr. Schoenhof has made a valuable contri- 

 bution to current tariff discussion, in com- 

 bating the wide-spread belief that high 

 wages necessitate a high labor-cost in pro- 

 duction, and therefore debar a country pay- 

 ing them from competing with a country in 

 which wages are lower. Protectionists have 

 worked assiduously to instill into the minds 

 of the laboring classes the belief that the high 

 rate of wages prevailing in this country is 

 directly dependent upon the tariff, and that, 

 once this prop gone, the laborer must sink 

 to the condition of his European brother. 

 And they have been so far successful that 

 protection has been steadily able to hold its 

 sway in spite of its manifest absurdities and 

 the warring of conflicting interests. 



Mr. Schoenhof points out the very ob- 

 vious fact that it is only the cost of the la- 

 bor entering into an article which has any 

 bearing upon successful competition in the 

 market. Now, the labor-cost not only may 

 be low along with high wages, but, as a mat- 

 ter of fact, it generally is lowest where the 

 wages are highest. This apparently anoma- 

 lous state of things is due to the greater 

 perfection of machinery and the greater skill 

 and energy of the workmen in countries 

 paying the higher wages. England, with 

 considerably higher wages than is paid upon 

 the Continent, is yet able to undersell its 

 competitors there; and the United States is 



able to produce at a lower labor-cost than 

 England. Here machinery has reached its 

 greatest perfection, and the workman has 

 acquired the highest degree of skill and 

 capacity for turning out a large amount of 

 work. The advantages which should accrue 

 to this country from this state of things 

 are, however, neutralized by the taxes upon 

 the materials of production. With free 

 raw materials, Mr. Schoenhof maintains that 

 this country can compete successfully in the 

 markets of the world with any other, and 

 that it is manifestly to the interest of the 

 working-man that we should have as ex- 

 tensive a market as possible. This is the 

 guarantee to him of continuous employment, 

 which is the essential thing for him. He 

 has nothing to fear from a competition with 

 the " pauper labor " of Europe, as already 

 his labor embodied in the product is less 

 than that of this same " pauper labor " in 

 the competing goods of low-wage countries. 

 The thing the American workman has 

 most to fear is the limitation of the market 

 for his productions, and this is just what 

 protection is securing for him. In support 

 of this general position, Mr. Schoenhof re- 

 views the two staple manufacturing trades, 

 those of metals and textile fabrics, and 

 produces convincing evidence of the cor- 

 rectness of his view. The author writes 

 clearly and to the point, and his reasonings 

 and facts should have the attention alike of 

 the manufacturer and his employe^, who are 

 both injured by the protection they persist 

 in believing is for their good. 



Architecture, Heating, and Ventilation 

 of Institutions for the Blind. By J. 

 F. McElroy. Adrian, Mich.: "Times 

 and Expositor." Pp. 21. 



TnE author is Superintendent of the Mich- 

 igan School for the Blind, and this pamphlet 

 contains his address before the last meeting 

 of the American Association of Instructors 

 for the Blind. The first point in the archi- 

 tecture of the institution is, that the build- 

 ing should be constructed primarily with 

 reference to its internal requirements, to 

 which the exterior should be only the dress. 

 The internal arrangement should look to 

 spacious and convenient accommodation, 

 free ventilation, proper heating, healthful- 

 ncss, and the suppression of disturbing 

 noises. 



