LITERARY NOTICES. 



273 



tomatic action. Prof. Henry F. Osborn pre- 

 sents " A Contribution to the Internal Struct- 

 ure of the Amphibian Brain," in which are 

 reported certain studies of nerve-fiber courses 

 and determinations of motor and sensory 

 nuclei. Dr, William Patten contributes a 

 second installment of his " Studies on the 

 Eyes of Arthropods," devoted to the eyes of 

 Acilius. Thirteen plates accompany this 

 number. 



Index to the Literaturk of the Spectro- 

 scope. By Alfred Tuckerman, Ph. D. 

 Washington : Smithsonian Institution. 

 Pp. 423. 



The literature of science is becoming so 

 voluminous that classified indexes are abso- 

 lutely essential to the student who would 

 obtain an adequate idea of what is going on 

 in his specialty. This index, in its own full- 

 ness, illustrates the fact. It is intended to 

 be a bibliography of the spectroscope and 

 spectrum analysis, and to be a list of all the 

 books and smaller treatises, especially con- 

 tributions to scientific periodicals, from the 

 beginning of our knowledge on the subject 

 till July, 18S7. The time covered by this 

 description is not very great, but the num- 

 ber and variety of the titles recorded show 

 how incessant has been the activity of re- 

 search during the period. An admirable 

 system of arrangement is adopted, under 

 which a strictly alphabetical order of the 

 subjects is followed. Titles have often been 

 repeated more than once, so as to make sure 

 of their being found, and a list of authors is 

 added. 



Essays on Practical Politics. By Theo- 

 dore Roosevelt. New York : G. P. Put- 

 nam's Sons. Pp. 74. Price, 40 cents. 



The two essays comprised in this volume 

 have appeared in " The Century," and are 

 now reprinted in the " Questions of the Day " 

 series. Prefixed to them is an introduction, 

 in which the author replies to the criticism 

 made at the first appearance of his essays, 

 that they offer no cure for the evils they 

 portray, by saying that he attempted only 

 to make a diagnosis of the disease, and not 

 to prescribe for it. He says further that, 

 just as many sick men demand a pleasant 

 medicine which will cure all their complaints 

 without their making any change in their 

 work or pleasure, or their eating and drink- 

 VOL. XXXIV. — 18 



ing, so certain other men " expect some 

 scheme of reform that will at a single fell 

 swoop do away with every evil from which 

 the body politic is suffering. ... No law or 

 laws," he continues, " can give us good gov- 

 ernment ; at the utmost, they can only give 

 us the opportunity to ourselves get good 

 government." He then specifies several 

 things that good citizens ought to work for, 

 and says, " Above all, we can strive to fulfill 

 our own poHtical duties, as they arise, and 

 thereby to do each of us his part in raising 

 to a healthier level the moral standard of 

 the whole community." The first of the 

 essays is on " Phases of State Legislation," 

 and is based mainly on Mr. Roosevelt's ex- 

 perience as a member for three terms of the 

 New York Legislature. It reveals a great 

 deal of viciousness and weakness, and also 

 gives credit for a great deal of good work. 

 It contains, too, a number of very amusing 

 incidents. The other essay describes " Ma- 

 chine Politics in New York City," and deals 

 with not only the methods of the men who 

 run politics for the benefit of themselves 

 and their followers, but also the neglect of 

 public duties by respectable men, which 

 makes the doings of political jobbers possible. 



Manual of Chemistry. By W. Simon, 

 Ph. D., M. D. Second edition. Phila- 

 delphia : Lea Brothers & Co. Pp. 479. 



The present edition of this manual, 

 while retaining the general character of the 

 first, embodies also a considerable number 

 of changes and additions. The work is 

 specially adapted for students of pharma- 

 cy and medicine. It assumes no previous 

 knowledge of chemistry, and hence may be 

 called a text-book for beginners, though it 

 is not suited to the needs of young pupils. 

 The first twenty pages are devoted to a brief 

 consideration of the fundamental properties 

 of matter, and are followed by thirty pages 

 on the principles of chemistry. The author 

 is in the habit of scattering these principles 

 along through his course of lectures, but in 

 a text-book to accompany the lectures he 

 prefers to collect them in one place. The 

 third and fourth parts of the volume are de- 

 voted respectively to the consideration of the 

 non-metallic and the metallic elements and 

 their compounds. Only those elements are 

 taken up which have a practical interest, and 



