LITERARY NOTICES. 



707 



ments of jadeite, precisely like the Chinese 

 jadeite. The later of the two reports con- 

 tains some interesting references to the his- 

 tory of the Museum and its foundation, the 

 growth of the collections and their arrange- 

 ment in the cases. The entries in the cata- 

 logue of the collections have reached the 

 number 3S,840 ; but this gives no index to 

 the actual number of objects ; for the en- 

 tries refer to sets as well as to single ob- 

 jects, and one entry may often stand for 

 many objects. 



The Earth'8 Annular System; or, the 

 Story of the Rocks. By G. N. Vail, 

 Barnesville, Ohio. Published by the 

 Author. Pp. 400. Price, $2. 

 Professor Vail propounds a new theory 

 of the formation of the earth and the ori- 

 gin of the geological systems. It is in 

 effect an adaptation of the nebular hypoth- 

 esis, and supposes that a large part of the 

 matter that now forms the crust of the 

 earth, together with the waters, was held 

 in suspension through the ages, in the form 

 of vaporous rings, and, as the vapors grad- 

 ually cooled and condensed, the rings fell to 

 the earth by virtue of the laws of gravity. 

 These successive downfalls mark the various 

 ages, periods, and epochs into whieh geolo- 

 gists divide the history of the earth's crust, 

 Jupiter and Saturn are cited in support of 

 the theory as planets which are still going 

 through this process. The author believes 

 that he is able by the application of his 

 theory to explain such obscure matters as 

 the numerous floods which geologists assert 

 have fallen upon the earth ; the absence of 

 the rainbow previous to the Noachian del- 

 uge, and many other statements in Genesis ; 

 " dust-showers " ; the rise and fall of vast 

 areas of the earth's surface, changes by den- 

 udation, etc. ; the apparent retardation of 

 the moon ; the " great ice age " ; the origin 

 of the limestone strata ; and the origin of 

 coal. He asserts that he is a practical ge- 

 ologist who has made his studies in the field, 

 and has drawn his conclusions from them. 



Diseases of the Digestive Organs in In- 

 fancy and Childhood. By Louis Starr, 

 M. D. Philadelphia : P. Blakiston, Son 

 & Co. Pp. 385. Price, $2.50. 

 The author's object in this book is to 

 give prominence to a class of disorders 

 which, while they are very usual in child- 



hood, are yet too briefly considered in medi- 

 cal works. He regards the clinical investi- 

 gation of disease in children as in some 

 respects easier than the same study in 

 adults. It is not complicated by circum- 

 stances of past life, yet there are very 

 grave difficulties to be encountered in it, 

 arising out of the sufferer's inability to 

 give an accurate, or any, description of his 

 feelings ; and another source of embarrass- 

 ment lies in the rapid growth and develop- 

 ment of infants and the suddenness of their 

 attacks, and the violence of the symptoms. 

 Hence, the clinical investigation involves 

 the three items of questioning the attend- 

 ant for that which the child can not tell, 

 inspecting the child, and physical exami- 

 nation. The importance of giving attention 

 to the general regimen is particularly in- 

 sisted upon. " So much may be done by 

 the selection of suitable food, by artificial 

 digestion, by regulating the clothing, bath- 

 ing, and other elements of hygiene," that 

 this factor is regarded as quite as impor- 

 tant as the administration of drugs. 



A History of the French Revolution. By 

 H. Morse Stephens. In three volumes. 

 Vol. I. New York : Charles Scribner's 

 Sons. Pp. 533. Price, $2.50. 



Mr. Stephens presents, as the valid rea- 

 son for producing a new history of the 

 French Revolution, the fact that a very 

 large amount of new material has recently 

 been brought to light, embodying many 

 facts before unknown, and presenting other 

 facts in a new aspect, which the great his- 

 torians and the more popular ones follow- 

 ing them did not possess, and therefore did 

 not use. In other respects, he claims to be 

 animated by a great enthusiasm for his sub- 

 ject, and believes it to be the most fasci- 

 nating in its interest and the most valuable 

 for its political lessons in the history of the 

 world ; that he has worked at it diligently 

 for years, to the exclusion of everything 

 else, and has striven to be impartial in his 

 treatment of it. The new matter of which 

 Mr. Stephens has been able to avail him- 

 self is, as he describes it in the preface, 

 copious and varied. It comprises local his- 

 tories, which have been published in con- 

 siderable profusion, with histories of special 

 periods and even days, and articles in maga- 

 zines and reviews and the bulletins of local 



