SCIENTIFIC IITERATURE. 



565 



Commission for a public reservation, a satis- 

 factory arrangement has been made under 

 which the premises of the observatory are 

 reserved to it so far as is necessary for ob- 

 servatory use, so that the continuation of the 

 worlv is assured, with the expectation that it 

 will ultimately become a part of that carried 

 on directly by Harvard University. At pres- 

 ent Mr. A. Lawrence Rotch provides the 

 means for carrying it on. Of the observa- 

 tions recorded in the present report, the most 

 important were those of clouds in co-opera- 

 tion with the international system of cloud 

 observations, and the exploration of the air 

 by means of kites. 



The fourth volume, 1896, Studies from 

 the Yale Psycholo(jical Laboratory^ E. W. 

 Scripture, editor, contains articles on Re- 

 action Time in Abnormal Conditions of the 

 Nervous System ; Influence of the Rate 

 Change upon the Perception of Diiference in 

 Pressure and Weight, and Weber's Law in 

 Illusions, by C. E. Seashore; and on Re- 

 action Time, Voluntary Effort ; New Appara- 

 tus and Methods, and Psychological Measure- 

 ments, by the editor, E. W. Scripture. 

 Published at Yale University, New Haven 

 (pp. 141), for $1. 



Owing to the large amount of original 

 matter that has lately appeared in the 

 Pharmaceutical Review, and the consequent 

 reduction in other departments, it has been 

 deemed advisable hereafter to pubhsh the 

 more technical scientific articles under a 

 separate cover, to be known as the Pharma- 

 ceutical Archives. This will be supplied for 

 $1 a year, while the price of the Pharma- 

 ceutical Review is $2, and both will be sent 

 for $2.50 a year. The first number of the 

 Pharmaceutical Archives consists of 24 pages, 

 and contains four articles. Published at 

 Milwaukee, Wis. Edward Kremers, editor. 



In the Thirteenth Annual Report of the 

 Bureau of Labor Statistics of Connecticut, 

 the scope of the investigations has been en- 

 larged as to the inquiry respecting the con- 

 ditions of workingmen. The readiness mani- 

 fested by the people in assisting the agents' 

 bureau is recognized. Of the five parts into 

 which the report is divided, the first relates 

 to the condition of workingmen, the second 

 to the condition of manufacturers, the third 

 to the hours of labor and wages in mercan- 



tile establishments, the fourth to the rates 

 of wages paid in municipal employment, 

 and the fifth includes an abstract of bills 

 passed or rejected during the last session of 

 the General Assembly and decisions of courts 

 in various States. The operation of the act 

 concerning ahen laborers is represented as 

 having been " most beneficial." The services 

 of the State Board of Mediation and Arbi- 

 tration were not required during the year 

 covered by the report (ISGY). 



The Story of Germ Life, in D. Appleton 

 and Company's Library of Useful Stories, 

 has been prepared by Prof. H. W. Conn, of 

 Wesleyan University, one of our most expert 

 bacteriologists, in view of the fact that bac- 

 teria are associated in most minds chiefly 

 with disease. " The last few years have, how- 

 ever, emphasized the importance of these 

 organisms in many relations independent of 

 disease, but this side of the subject has not 

 yet attracted very general attention, nor does 

 it yet appeal to the reader with any special 

 force." His purpose, therefore, is to give a 

 brief outline of our knowledge of bacteria 

 and their importance in the world, including, 

 besides their well-known agency in promot- 

 ing disease, their even greater importance 

 as agents in other natural phenomena. Their 

 nature as plants is described, and their uses 

 in the arts, the dairy, and natural processes 

 are discussed, and the relations of parasitic 

 bacteria to disease and the method of com- 

 bating them are considered. 



The Economic Relations of Life Imnir- 

 ance to Society and State is the subject of 

 Publication No. 218 of the American Acad- 

 emy of Political and Social Science. It in- 

 cludes papers on the subject, read at a meet- 

 ing of the academy, held in December, 1897, 

 by L. G. Fouse and M. M. Dawson, with dis- 

 cussions by W. D. Whiting, G. E. Freyer, and 

 R. P. Falkner. Published by the academy 

 at Philadelphia, for .S5 cents. 



JV. W. Ayer & Son's American News- 

 paper Annual for 189S, including its cata- 

 logue and accounts of American newspapers 

 and descriptions of towns, etc., in which news- 

 papers are published, forms a volume of 1366 

 pages, besides those devoted to advertisements. 

 It contains the names of 2,142 publications 

 not found in the previous volume, yet the total 

 net gain is only 137 — the smallest, with one 



