LITERARY NOTICES. 



415 



character of their flowers or fruit, their lon- 

 gevity, rate of growth, and other circum- 

 stances tending to make them more or less 

 acceptable in the places where they are to 

 remain. The American elm and the soft 

 maples appear to be among the trees best 

 adapted to this purpose. 



Offices of Electricity in the Earth, pp. 

 42 ; and Origin of Species, pp. 76. By 

 H. B. Philbrook. New York : " Prob- 

 lems of Nature," 21 Park Row. 



These two pamphlets, which together 

 attempt a new cosmology and a theory of 

 development intended to take the place of 

 the "mistaken attempt" of Darwin, fur- 

 nish an example of the nonsense which a 

 class of visionary theorists imagine they can 

 pass off for science. The basis of Mr. Phil- 

 brook's system is that the universe and all 

 its parts and contents are manifestations of 

 electricity. When he comes to details, he 

 is startling as well as amusing. Thus : 

 " The atmosphere is only a continuation of 

 the condensation of the electricity of the 

 solar system, and each atom of gas of this 

 abundant element is but a slightly con- 

 densed globe of mica." Gold "is pro- 

 duced simply by a great pressure of parti- 

 cles of mica. Silver is constructed by the 

 pressure of chalk ; copper by the pressing 

 of the mica partly decomposed, and tlie sub- 

 stance is but little different from gold. Iron 

 is produced by pressing quartz and the un- 

 decomposed mica in it." Coal is formed by 

 the exposure of coral to great heat, and ex- 

 ists wherever there are mountains : in the 

 Orange Mountains of New Jersey, and in 

 Massachusetts, " sufficient coal for a whole 

 nation," and if bored for deep enough, will 

 be found there. Less heat than is required 

 to convert coral into coal produces trap. 



Niagara Park Illustrated. Edited by 

 Alice Hyneman Rhine. New York : 

 Niagara Publishing Company. Pp. 112. 

 Price, 50 cents. 



The author gives as a reason for having 

 prepared this book, " a desire to commemo- 

 rate the freedom of Niagara from individual 

 possession, and becoming in a manner the 

 property of the world. Surely, if anything 

 deserves a printed formal recognition, it is 

 the removal of that great indignity done to 

 Nature's masterpiece in the past." Her 



thought was a)happy one, and her execution 

 is worthy of it — and as nearly worthy as a 

 modest human effort can presume to be, of 

 the subject. A better guide the visitor need 

 not ask for, and a more agreeable compan- 

 ion in a guide he is not likely to get. The 

 directory of points of interest on the Amer- 

 ican and Canadian sides forms a but rela- 

 tively small part of the book, but it is the 

 practical part, and is ample for its purpose. 

 The mass of the book is made up of choice 

 articles from travelers and poets, most of 

 them classics in English and American lit- 

 erature, describing the falls or reflecting 

 the emotions which they have awakened ; 

 in short, it is a compendium of that which 

 is best in the literature and romance of the 

 falls. These articles are accompanied by 

 numerous excellent illustrations. 



Eistort and Management of Land Grants 

 FOR Education in the Northwest Ter- 

 ritory. By George W. Knight. New 

 York: G. P. Putman's Sons. Pp. 175. 

 Price, 50 cents. 



This work is number three in the series 

 of papers of the American Historical Asso- 

 ciation. It reviews the history of all the 

 grants of land that have been made by 

 Congress in aid of education in the North- 

 west Territory and the States of Ohio, In- 

 diana, Elinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin ; 

 the dispositions that were made of them in 

 the several States ; the manner in which the 

 funds accruing from them have been man- 

 aged ; and the net results in benefit to edu- 

 cation that have been derived from them 

 The grants were variously made to the Ter 

 ritory as a whole, and to the States in sev 

 eralty; they included the "school-section' 

 in every township of thirty-six sections 

 saline lands, swamp-lands, grants for semi- 

 naries or universities, grants for agricultu- 

 ral colleges, and special grants. The grants 

 have in no case been as well managed as 

 they might have been, and have been in 

 some instances badly managed, with much 

 waste ; but, with all this, they have been 

 " instrumental, in a degree that can not be 

 estimated in mere dollars and cents, in pro- 

 moting the cause of education. It is doubt- 

 ful if with the wisest management the 

 school-land could have been made to main- 

 tain unassisted the work for which it was 

 set aside. Perhaps the greatest benefit ren- 



