LITERARY NOTICES. 



»3i 



N. W. Ayer & Son's AirenicAX Xewspaper 

 Anndal, 1885. Philadelphia: N. W. 

 Ayer & i^on. Pp. 760. Price, $o. 



The publishers have taken great pains 

 to make this work complete and correct up 

 to the day of going to press. It contains 

 a fully descriptive list of newspapers and 

 periodicals in the United States and Canada, 

 arranged by States in geographical sections, 

 and by towns in alphabetical order ; another 

 list, descriptive as to distinctive features 

 and circulation, of newspapers inserting ad- 

 vertisements, arranged in States by coim- 

 ties ; a third list, of class and professional 

 publications, and publications in foreign 

 languages. Fi'om these lists may also be 

 obtained other information about news- 

 papers ; and in connection with them there 

 is given a description, with statistical infor- 

 mation, accounts of manufacturing enter- 

 prises, and political notes, respecting each 

 county. Finally, the book contains an al- 

 phabetical list of cities, towns, and villages 

 in the United States having a population of 

 five thousand and upward. 



How TO DRAIN A HocsE : Practical Informa- 

 tion for Householders. By George E. 

 Waring, Jr., M. Inst. C. E. New York : 

 Henry Holt & Co. Pp. 222, with Twenty 

 Illustrations. Price, $1.25. 



Colonel Waring has given long and at- 

 tentive study to the matter of house-drain- 

 age, and as a result he has views of his 

 own upon the subject which will be found 

 stated in the present volume. Not by any 

 means that the book has been written merely 

 to promulgate his own notions ; it has been 

 prepared because, in the author's opinion, 

 it will prove the best and safest guide in a 

 field of practice of vital importance, and still 

 far from settled in its methods. The au- 

 thor holds that there has been unquestiona- 

 bly a steady improvement in recent years in 

 dealing with the difficult problems of the 

 disposal of household waste ; each step, how- 

 ever imperfect in itself, being better than the 

 condition of things which preceded it. Such, 

 indeed, have been the progress made and 

 the success achieved as greatly to strengthen 

 the expectation that an ideally perfect sys- 

 tem of house-drainage may soon become an 

 accomplished and accepted fact. Meantime 

 improvement is along various lines of trial, 

 with a certain inevitable rivalship of views 



and devices. Colonel Waring does not, how- 

 ever, in the present volume attempt to give 

 an account of the various ideas and contriv- 

 ances, however excellent they may be, that 

 have now come into use ; but having stud- 

 ied them all, and had large experience of 

 the subject, he has fixed upon his own meth- 

 ods, and devotes his work to an exposition 

 of them. 



We have read the book carefully through, 

 and have found it unusuully interesting and 

 instructive. The preliminary remarks on 

 house-drainage and health are impressive 

 and decisive, and the explanation of prin- 

 ciples and the description of plans and con- 

 struction are full, clear, and perfectly intel- 

 ligible. The book abounds in common-sense 

 suggestions, and is certain to prove valuable 

 to all house-constructors and housekeepers 

 who are seeking correct information upon 

 the subject. 



Ballooning : A Concise Sketch of its His- 

 tory AND Principles. By G. May. New 

 York : D. Van Nostrand. Pp. 96, with 

 One Plate. 



The author believes that, though practi- 

 cal aerial navigation has so far been found 

 unattainable, the pursuit of it has resulted 

 in something, though it be little, to facili- 

 tate art and scientific progress. In this 

 work, besides reviewing the history of bal- 

 looning, he seeks to ascertain and define the 

 obstacles which interfere with its active 

 progress, the mechanical means necessary 

 to surmount them, and the natural power 

 by which those means are to be put in op- 

 eration ; and to point out certain regulations 

 and restrictions by which they must be gov- 

 erned in their application. 



The Lock- Jaw of Infants {Trismus Na.i- 

 centium). Its History, Cause, Preven- 

 tion, and Cure. By J. F. Hartigan, 

 M. D. New York : Bcrminc;ham & Co. 

 Pp. 123. 



The disease in question is often fatnl 

 during the first month of infantile growth, 

 but doctors have not been able to ascertain 

 or agree upon its cause. The author main- 

 tains a theory which was advanced by Dr. 

 J. Marion Sims some thirty years ago, but 

 never received attention — that it is occa- 

 sioned by mechanical pressure of the occip- 

 ital or parietal bones on the brain. 



