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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



gineering in Washington University, St. 

 Louis, Missouri. As a whole, this " Theory 

 and Practice of Surveying " will be found a 

 very acceptable addition to the literature on 

 the subject. It will be of great value to the 

 student, who will find through it, and in a 

 readable form, access to information which 

 was formerly only attainable in separate 

 books by different authors. 



The Town and City Government of New 

 Haven. By Charles II. Levermore. 

 Baltimore : N. Murray. Pp. 103. Price, 

 50 cents. 



This is one of the " Johns Hopkins Uni- 

 versity Studies in Historical and Political 

 Science." The incorporation of New Haven 

 city was achieved in the face of no little 

 opposition, and was wrought out through 

 friction between several strongly defined 

 elements in society. The process is nearly 

 the same as that which all towns have to go 

 through in the course of their development, 

 and Professor Levermore's tracing of it 

 through its several steps may be regarded 

 as an illustration from an example typical 

 in many respects, and as a study in a nor- 

 mal course of municipal evolution. The 

 first aspect presented is that of the jealousy 

 between " town-born " and " interlopers " ; 

 then the commercial spirit is introduced 

 through the activity of the interlopers. The 

 first phases of city politics are sketched in 

 the distinctions of Patriot and Tory mark- 

 ing the division-lines at elections. The first 

 municipal charter was obtained in 1784, and 

 after that came question after question to 

 be debated, voted upon, and decided. The 

 charter of 18G9 marked a culminating point 

 in the constitutional development of the 

 municipality. Previous to that time it had 

 been a more or less thriving, overgrown vil- 

 lage. The gradual growth of municipal 

 power exhibited in succession many slowly 

 shifting phases, but a typical, fundamental 

 conservatism could be discerned. Through 

 their nearly two hundred and fifty years of 

 life, the town and region of New Haven 

 have preserved a local character — a well-de- 

 fined individuality, separate from those of 

 other old colonial centers. Political affilia- 

 tions have strengthened rather than dimin- 

 ished its exclusivcncss. The rivalry be- 

 tween New Haven and Hartford means 



much more than commercial competition be- 

 tween two urban populations. It is the 

 contention of regions rather than of cities. 

 It is traceable through the whole history of 

 the State back to the charter quarrel of 

 1G62-'G4, when one colony was pitted 

 against the other. The dependence of the 

 former New Haven Colony upon New York, 

 which geographical location necessitated, 

 was encouraged by successive animosities ; 

 and, " if a line be drawn diagonally across 

 the State from the northwest corner to the 

 mouth of the Connecticut River, the towns 

 and cities to the west of that line are found 

 to rest upon New York as an economic and 

 social basis, just as those upon the east side 

 derive their inspiration from Boston. Of 

 the former of these tracts, New Haven is 

 the capital ; of the latter, Hartford. This 

 division of influences should be borne iD 

 mind when we read that, in the Revolution, 

 New Haven and Fairfield Counties contained 

 many Tories, while the eastern part of the 

 State was almost unanimously patriotic ; 

 that a Windham County mob forced the 

 New Haven stamp-distributor to resign in 

 1765; and that, one hundred years later, it 

 was, as usual, the Hartford end of the State 

 — the eastern counties — which held the 

 State firmly for Nation with a big " N," and 

 neutralized, by steady and large majorities, 

 the conservative, oligarchical, and pseudo- 

 democratic tendencies of Southwestern Con- 

 necticut." 



House-Plants as Sanitary Agents: Or, 

 the Relation of Growing Vegetation 

 to Health and Disease. By J. M. An- 

 ders, M. D. Philadelphia : J. B. Lip- 

 pincott Company. 



Dr. Anders makes an apology for add- 

 ing to the number of books, on the ground 

 that he is working in " a branch of scien- 

 tific literature which, in the form of a book, 

 has not hitherto found an exponent." The 

 apology is not necessary; the book fully 

 justifies its appearance. The purpose of the 

 volume is to set forth, in plain terms, the 

 latest light regarding the effects of some of 

 the various physiological functions in plants 

 and flowers upon the atmosphere in general, 

 and the air of dwellings in particular, as 

 well as the application of this knowledge 

 to the laws of health. Most of the conclu- 

 sions put forward have been arrived at from 



