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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



New York State Reformatory, Eltnira. Papers 

 fn Penology. Pp. 112. 



Walker, Edwin C. Bible Temperance. New 

 York: The Truth-Seeker Company. Pp. 48. 



Baker, Walter A Co., Dorchester, Mass. Cocoa 

 and Chocolate. Pp. 103. 



Alabama Insane Hospital. Tuscaloosa : Bien- 

 nial Report, 1885 and ISsG. Pp. 50. 



Smith, L. R. Personal Existence after Death 

 Improbable. New York : The Truth-Seeker Com- 

 pany. Pp. 32. 



Illinois State Board of Health. Report on the 

 Water Supply and Sewage Disposal of Chicago. 

 Pp. 16. 



Egleston, Melville. The Land System of the 

 New England Colonies. Baltimore: N. Murray. 

 Pp. 66. 50 cents. 



Crooker, J. H., Madison, Wis. Unitarians as 

 Congreirationalists. Pp. 21. 



Whitford, O. B. A Masonic Yindication of 

 Right, pp. 86. The Origin of the Christian Bible, 

 pp. 95. New York : The Truth- Seeker Company. 



Heilprin, Angelo. Explorations on the West 

 Coast of Florida and in the Okeechobee Wilderness. 

 Philadelphia : Wagner Free Institute of Science. 

 Pp. 12T. 



New York Association for improving the Con- 

 dition of the Poor. Report for lsS6. Pp.67. 



Biological Society of Washington. Proceedings, 

 July, lS>i. to February, ISSG. Pp. 136. 



Society for the Promotion of Agricultural Sci- 

 ence. Proceedings at Buffalo Meeting, 18S6. Pp. 

 S3. 



Lloyd, James Hendric, Philadelphia. Moral In- 

 sanity. Pp. IT. 



United States Bureau of Education. The Study 

 of Music in I'ublic Schools. Washington : Govern- 

 ment Printing-Office. Pp. 7S. 



Agricultural College of Michigan. Lessons on 

 Growing Forest-Trees. Pp. C. 



Writings and Sendees of the Founder of Chris- 

 tian Science. Boston : Hanover P. Smith. Pp. 

 52. 25 cents. 



Chamberlin, T. C. An Inventory of our Glacial 

 Drift. Pp. 20. 



Yalin. M. I). The American Journal of Biology. 

 Quarterly. November, 1886. Pp. 42. $1 a year. 



Brinton. Daniel G. The Conception of Love 

 in some American Languages. Pp. 18. 



Modern Language Association of America. 

 Proceedings, 1884 1885. Pp.250. 



McCalley, Henry. On the Warrior Coal-Field. 

 Geological Survey of Alabama. Montgomery, Ala. 

 Pp. 571. 



Philbrick, P. H. Beams and Girders. New 

 York : D. Van Nostrand. Pp. 159. 50 cents. 



Wells, David A. A Study of Mexico. New 

 York : D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 254. $1. 



United States Fish Commission. Report, 1834. 

 Pp. 12C4, with Plates. 



Gould, B. A. Resultados del Observatorio Na- 

 eional Argentino en Cordoba. (Results of the Na- 

 tional Argentine Observatory in Cordoba.) Vol. 

 XIV. Pp. 680. 



Fowler, Pada Bailcv. Irene : or the Road to 

 Freedom. Philadelphia : H. N. Fowler & Co. Pp. 

 60S. 



Laurie, P. S. The Ri=o and Early Constitution 

 of Universities. New York : I). Appleton «fc Co. 

 Pp. 293. $1.50. 



Hellprin, Angelo. The Geographical ami Geo- 

 logical Distribution of Animals. New York : D. 

 Appleton <fc Co. Pp. 4:;.".. 



Plato. Talks with Socrates about Life. New 

 York : Charles Scribner's Sons. Pp. 170. $1. 



'ope. E. D. The Origin of the Fittest. New 

 York: D. Appleton &. Co. Pp. 407. 



POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



Methods of Arrow-Release. — Professor 

 E. S. Morse, while shooting the bow and ar- 

 row with a Japanese friend, was surprised 

 to find that the Japanese practice in hand- 

 ling the weapon was totally unlike ours. 

 He then began collecting data illustrating 

 the various methods of releasing the arrow 

 from the bow as practiced by different races ; 

 and in time became convinced that the sub- 

 ject had importance, and the pursuit of it 

 might lead to interesting results in tracing 

 the affinities of past races. lie has traced 

 out five or six forms of release, which he 

 classifies as the primary release — with the 

 thumb straight and the forefinger bent, as 

 children practice the world over ; seconda- 

 ry release, in which the ends of the second 

 and third fingers are also brought to bear 

 on the string to assist in drawing ; tertiary re- 

 lease, in which the forefinger, nearly straight- 

 ened, is also brought to bear by its tip ; 

 Mediterranean release, the oldest historical 

 method and the one prevailing in Europe, 

 in which the arrow is lightly held between 

 the first and second fingers, with the thumb 

 straight and inactive, while the string is 

 drawn back with the tips of the first, sec- 

 ond, and third fingers; the Mongolian re- 

 lease, in which the arrow is held at the junc- 

 tion of the thumb and forefinger, the base 

 of the finger pressing it against the bow, 

 and the thumb is protected by a ring ; the 

 " irregular release " of the Temiangs of Su- 

 matra ; and the " archaic release " of the 

 ancient Greeks. All of these releases have 

 been practiced from the earliest historic 

 times ; and each of them, except the prima- 

 ry release, which admits of no variation, has 

 one or more varieties. The two strongest 

 and perhaps equally powerful methods are 

 the Mediterranean and Mongolian ; " and it 

 is interesting to note the fact that the two 

 great divisions of the human family who 

 can claim a history, and who have been all 

 dominant in the affairs of mankind, arc the 

 Mediterranean races and the Mongolians. 

 For three or four thousand years, at least, 

 each stock has had its peculiar arrow-re- 

 lease, and this has persisted though all the 

 mutations of time to the present day." Prof. 

 Morse remarks, upon the importance of a 

 more systematic study of the methods of 





