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POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



lating effect over almost every native author 

 of the last twenty years " ; Tyndall, who 

 " conciliated critical opinion by the courage 

 with which he insisted on the value of imagi- 

 nation in the pursuit of scientific inquiry " ; 

 and Huxley, master of a purer and manlier 

 style, who his whole life through " was attack- 

 ing the enemies of thought, as he conceived 

 them, and defending the pioneers of evolu- 

 tion." 



In Dr. Francis Warner'' s Study of Chil- 

 dren,'^ the practical purpose is very evident, 

 to inform parents and teachers how they 

 should study the idiosyncrasies of children 

 and the relations of their special physical 

 conditions to the psychological symptoms, to 

 the end that they may treat their cases judi- 

 ciously. If a child is restless, troublesome, 

 even bad, there is most probably a cause in 

 its physical conditions or surroundings for 

 its peculiar disposition. The teacher should 

 seek to ascertain that cause, and so conduct 

 the inquiry that the child shall not be em- 

 barrassed or disturbed by knowing his pur- 

 pose. One of the iirst principles announced 

 in the book is that " we must remember that 

 children differ greatly in strength and in 

 mental faculty ; education should therefore be 

 adapted to the special needs of the individuals. 

 As there are many classes and varieties of 

 children, whose needs must be studied, while 

 bodily strength and mental faculty differ 

 with the age and surrounding, " child study 

 must be a matter of primary interest to the 

 teacher and others engaged in the care of 

 children as affording a basis for the methods 

 of education ; giving a source of perpetual 

 interest to work in school, an interest in the 

 individual child, and a means of working out, 

 in practice, the best that can be done with 

 the child in various phases of life. . . . Ob- 

 servation shows the child's strong points 

 which should be cultivated as well as his 

 weak ones which must be combated." The 

 chapters on the physiology and general con- 

 ditions of the child are followed by others 

 on points and methods of observation — what 

 to look for and how — and then by general 

 instnictions on methods of treatment and 

 training. The almost innumerable varieties 



* The Study of Children and their School 

 Training. By Francis Warner, M. D. New 

 York : The Macmillan Company. Pp. 254. Price, 



§1. 



of cases may be arranged in groups, for 

 which the general principles of treatment 

 and study are suggested. These are illus- 

 trated by detailed accounts of typical cases. 

 The author, an eminent writer in this line 

 of study, has had special facilities for pre- 

 paring for this particular work ; having, as 

 one of a committee of the British Medical 

 Association, to study school children as to 

 their physical and mental states, examined 

 one hundred thousand children upon a fixed 

 plan, and taken copious notes of what he 

 found. 



Miss Merr'tam seeks in her Birds of Vil- 

 lage and Field * to aid persons who know little 

 or nothing of birds in identifying and study- 

 ing those they see. The presence among us 

 of larger numbers of them than we usually 

 suspect makes the study of a considerable 

 variety of birds practically possible to any 

 one. We do not have to go away off to seek 

 them. They throng around our very doors ; 

 prefer the vicinity of the habitations of men 

 to wild spots ; and, shy as they are, reveal 

 themselves to those who look patiently and 

 carefully for them. From seventy to nearly a 

 hundred species a year have been known to 

 resort to private grounds where records are 

 kept. Miss Merriam furnishes an untech- 

 nical key, and as simple as may be to the 

 identification of these birds. A " field color 

 key " describes all the various markings that 

 are likely to be seen, in clear, concise terms ; 

 and each particular marking is referred to 

 the page in the book where the bird bearing 

 it is described. The descriptions are lively, 

 interesting, bear upon the habits and appear- 

 ance of the birds, and give many hints as to 

 how we may enjoy them to the best advan- 

 tage, and even entice them to make their 

 homes among us ; and they include a large 

 number of species with the distinctions be- 

 tween them plainly marked, and numerous 

 illustrations, large and small, of special fea- 

 tures. 



The selection of counties by the Geologi- 

 cal Survey of lowaf for special examiua- 



* Birds of Village and Field. A Bird Book for 

 Beginners. By Florence Merriam. Bcston and 

 New York : Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Pp. 4C6. 

 Price, $2. 



t Iowa Geological Survey, Vol. II. Annual Ke- 

 port, 1806, with accompanying papers. Samuel 

 Calvin, State Geologist ; A. G Leonard, assistant. 

 Des Moines, pp. 557, with maps. 



