LITERARY NOTICES. 



419 



is constructed with a film to test its elasticity. 

 One lecture is devoted to a journey to Moon- 

 land which the children take seated at their 

 desks, and two others give information about 

 the sun, related in the form of a dream. 



Many of the experiments are novel, and 

 all can be performed with simple apparatus. 



The author states that her aim has been 

 to write so that any child who reads the 

 words can understand their meaning; and 

 although children may thus use the book 

 alone, its purpose will be more nearly ful- 

 filled when parent or teacher, thoroughly 

 familiar with the text, tells it in story-fashion 

 to the hearer. The work is also adapted 

 for lectures before evening classes and read- 

 ing circles, and to this end 127 of the illus- 

 trations have been prepared as lantern slides. 

 The practical hints and appendix furnish 

 directions for apparatus and contain further 

 explanation of the principles involved in the 

 lectures, so that a novice in science may be- 

 gin to learn by teaching others. According 

 to the preface, the author " looks most par- 

 ticularly to the lanternist as the future ex- 

 ponent of popular science." 



The Footpath Wat. By Bradford Tor- 

 rey. Boston and New York : Houghton, 

 Mifflin & Co. Pp. 242. Price, $1.25. 



Those who follow Mr. Torrey in his ram- 

 bles through grove and pasture will surely 

 return with sharpened vision. Even in De- 

 cember there are wild flowers to be found 

 in Massachusetts. Not only the belated aster 

 and dandelion, but mallows, groundsels, shep- 

 herd's-purse, and cinquefoil, sixteen kinds in 

 all, blossom at this bleak season. In the 

 same month and locality are noted thirty 

 varieties of birds. Not more than ten of 

 these would probably be seen from a win- 

 dow. They, as well as the flowers, must be 

 traced to their haunts. What patience is 

 needed to know the ways of humming-birds 

 can be gathered from the papers entitled A 

 Widow and Twins and The Male Piuby-throat. 



But, whether on mountain-top or in the 

 hollow, there is more to be learned than the 

 habits and genealogy of bird and flower. The 

 author gleans much philosophy by the way. 

 The borer gnawing beneath the fallen spruce 

 teaches him content ; the pine tree shows 

 him a brave example ; while in the diversity 

 of flowers he reads the advantage of individ- 



uality, and in the distinguishing excellence 

 of leaf, bark, and fruit he finds the value of 

 specializations. 



Calmire. New York: Macmillan & Co., 

 1892. Pp. 742. 



The aim of this anonymous novel is some- 

 what complex, including both social morality 

 and the influence of scientific thought upon 

 religion. It is shown in the progress of the 

 story that loose notions result in a ragged 

 character, and the author makes an original 

 effort to patch the hero creditably before the 

 close of the scene. The greatness of to-day 

 and the novelty of ideas no longer new ex- 

 hale from much of the dialogue. The main 

 part of the book consists of lectures upon 

 the conservation of energy and the principles 

 of evolution, relieved by a generous use of 

 slang. 



Those who are eager for the story may 

 not care to swallow this diluted science, while 

 those who are in search of science will 

 scarcely look for it here. 



PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED. 



Adams, W. H. Davenport. Warriors of the 

 Crescent. D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 317. $1.50. 



Allen, Harrison, M. D. Papers on Bats. Smith- 

 sonian Institution. Pp. 8. 



Andrews, Edmund, M. D., and E. W., M. D. 

 Rectal and Anal Surgery. Chicago : W. S. Kee- 

 ner. Pp. 164. $1.50. 



"Babet." Ninety-nine Practical Methods of 

 utilizing Boiled Beef, and the Original Recipe 

 for Stewed Chicken. New York : John Ireland. 

 Pp. 122. 75 cents. 



Bailey, M. A. American Mental Arithmetic. 

 American Book Company. 35 cents. 



Bancroft, Margaret. Report of Two Cases of 

 Individual Training, Haddonfield (N. J.) School 

 for Mentally Deficient. Pp. 8. 



Barnes, Mary Sheldon. Studies in American 

 History. Boston : D. C. Heath & Co. Pp. 115. 

 60 cents. 



Brewer, Dr. F. W. Bulletin of Bureau of Hy- 

 giene and Sanitation, Chicago World's Fair. Pp. 

 14.— The ChUdren's Home, do. Pp. 4. 



Brigham, Albert P. Rivers and the Evolution 

 of Geographic Forms. Pp. 21. — The Geology of 

 Oneida County, N. Y. Pp. 17.— A Chapter in 

 Glacial History. Pp. 13. 



Brooks, W. K., and Herrick, F. H. The Em- 

 bryology and Metamorphosis of the Macroura. 

 National Academy of Sciences. Pp. 144, with 57 

 Plates. 



Buchanan, S. H. The World and the Book. 

 Published by the author, Clarksville, Ark. Pp. 

 451. 



Burnz, Eliza Boardman. The Step-by-step 

 Primer in Burnz's Pronouncing Print. New 

 York : Burnz & Co. Pp. 94. 25 cents. 



Catlin, W. W., Editor. Echoes of the Sunset 

 Club, Chicago. Joseph W. Errant, Secretary. 

 Pp. 235. 



Church, A. J. Stories from the Greek Come- 

 dians. New York : Macmillan & Co. Pp. 344. $1. 



