276 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



A'elopment tliat seem to merit special 

 note are the substitution of the liquor- 

 tax system for the license system, the 

 extension and elaboration of local op- 

 tion, the contingent central control of 

 city police administration, and the rec- 

 ognition of the general province of ad- 

 ministration. The author's study shows 

 that these developments accord in gen- 

 eral with the laws of evolution, each 

 representing some special aspect of the 

 difTerentiation. In considering the " dis- 

 })ensary " plan, ' illustrated in South 

 Carolina, a significant contribution to 

 current thought is remarked in the ap- 

 proval it gives to the use of liquors as 

 a beverage, while their abuse is disap- 

 proved in an equally marked degree, a 

 distinction being attempted here, with 

 correspondingly difTerent methods of 

 treatment between those who can be 

 trusted with liquors and those who 

 can not. 



The Report of the United States Com- 

 missioner of Fish and Fisheries for the 

 year ending June 30, 1898, represents 

 that the operations of the division of fish 

 culture were in some respects more im- 

 portant during that than in any pre- 

 ceding year. This was owing in part 

 to the natural growth of the work, and 

 in part to greater efficiency in dealing 

 with the various questions and problems 

 that came up for consideration. The 

 propagation and distribution of food 

 fishes exceeded by about forty per cent 

 the work accomplished in any other 

 twelve months. The steady increase in 

 the catch of shad is cited as being con- 

 clusive evidence of the value of arti- 

 ficial propagation. The constant decline 

 in the lobster fishery accentuates the ne- 

 cessity for increased work in that line. 

 I'he cfYorts to acclimatize food fishes in 

 waters to wliich they are not indigenous 

 have been continued. The special papers 

 publislied in connection with the report 

 relate to mackerel investigations, the 

 alewife fisheries, the oyster beds of Lou- 

 isiana, the sliad fisheries of the Atlan- 

 tic coast, reports of fishes obtained in 

 sea explorations, a list of publications, 

 and a report of the exhibit at the Ten- 

 nessee Centennial. 



The Tenth Annual Report of the In- 

 terstate Commerce Commission on the 

 statistics of Raihoays in the United 

 States covers the year ending June 30, 



1897. The year is characterized as hav- 

 ing been for the transportation industry 

 one " of deferred expectations." While 

 the years from 1890 to 1893 each closed 

 with increased gross earnings as com- 

 pared with the preceding year, 1893-'94 

 was disastrous, showing a large de- 

 crease; no recovery took place in 1894- 

 '95, but an increase took place in 1895- 

 '96. A downward turn came again in 

 the year of the present report, with no 

 revival till the last month of the twelve. 

 The total increase in mileage for the 

 year of the report was only 1,651.84 

 miles, the smallest increase and the 

 smallest percentage of increase noted in 

 any year since 1890. " In many States," 

 says the report, " railway construction 

 seems to have been practically aban- 

 doned. Especially is this noticeable in 

 the more populous districts of the coun- 

 try — a result which is not entirely due 

 to the general commercial depression, 

 but to the marvelous increase in electric 

 railways for suburban and short-dis- 

 tance traffic. The influence of electric 

 construction upon steam transportation 

 is noted in certain of the reports of State 

 railway commissions for the current 

 year." These are only tAvo of the nu- 

 merous interesting facts presented in the 

 report. 



Small Accumulators, how Made and 

 Used, is the first of a series of popular 

 scientific handbooks for students and 

 engineers. The particular subject has 

 been selected for beginning the series 

 under the suggestion of a large number 

 of requests for advice which the author, 

 Percival Marshall, had received in his 

 capacity as editor of the Model Engi- 

 neer and Amateur Electrician. The 

 work is intended to be an elementary 

 handbook — " a practical and trustwor- 

 thy guide " — for amateurs and students. 

 The theory of tlie accumulator is ex- 

 plained, directions are given for making 

 them, types of small accumuhxtors are 

 illustrated, the charging and use of ac- 

 cumulators are explained, and the ap- 

 plications are shown. Useful receipts 

 and a glossary of technical terms are 

 given. (The book is published by Spon 

 & Chamberlain, New York. Price, 50 

 cents.) 



In his Better World rhilosophy — a 

 8ociolof)ical Si/nthesis (Chicago: the 

 Ward Waugh Company), J. Howard 



