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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



A Manpal of Weights and Measures. By 

 Oscar Oldberg. Chicago : Charles J. 

 Johnson. Pp. 246. Price, $1.50. 



This book is designed for a text-book 

 and a book of reference, and gives informa- 

 tion of practical as well as theoretical value 

 on the important subject, with a fullness and 

 method that we have not observed in any 

 other single work. It contains the elements 

 of metrology ; the relations between metro- 

 logical systems and arithmetical notation ; a 

 brief review of the development of weights 

 and measures ; the demands of practical 

 medicine and pharmacy in the matter of 

 subdivision of the units employed ; the me- 

 tric system ; American and English weights 

 and measures ; the relations of weight to 

 volume ; specific weight ; specific volume ; 

 the construction, use, and preservation of 

 balances or scales, weights and measures, 

 and of alcoholometers, urinometers, and 

 other hydrometers ; and extensive tables of 

 equivalents. Careful attention has been 

 given to the applications of weights and 

 measures to prescribing and dispensing, and 

 to the construction of formulas for liquid 

 preparations. 



The Struggle for Religious and Political 

 Liberty. By Theo. C. Spencer. New 

 York : The Truth-Seeker Company. Pp. 

 140. Price, 7.5 cents. 



The progress of political liberty occupies 

 but a small portion of this book, which is 

 mainly devoted to pointing out the defects, 

 inconsistencies, and cruelties of the religions 

 of the Western world. The claims of the 

 Bible to be an inspired book are disputed, 

 and it is compared to the Koran and the 

 Book of Mormon. A sketch is given of the 

 chief persecutions of Protestants and Cath- 

 olics, and of the collisions between various 

 Protestant sects. The Church of Rome is 

 declared to be the chief obstacle to religious 

 liberty. 



Nervous Diseases and their Diagnosis- 

 By II. C. Wood, M. D., L.L. D. Phila- 

 delphia : J. B. Lippincott Company. Pp. 

 501. Price, $4. 



This work is described by the author as 

 a treatise on the phenomena produced by 

 diseases of the nervous system, with especial 

 reference to the recognition of their cau.-cs. 

 Dr. Wood classifies nervous disorders under 



the following heads : Paralysis, Motor Ex- 

 citements, Reflexes, Disturbances of Equili- 

 bration, Trophic Lesions, Sensory Paralysis?, 

 Exaltations of Sensibility, Disturbances of 

 the Special Senses, Disorders of Memory and 

 Consciousness, Disorders of Consciousness, 

 and Disturbances of Intellection. The de- 

 scriptions are clear, and a copious index is 

 appended to the volume. 



Dermatitis Venenata : An Account of the 

 Action of External Irritants upon the 

 Skin. By James C. White, M. D. Bos- 

 ton: Cupples & Eurd. Pp. 216. Price, 

 $2.50. 



This book is a manual for the medical 

 practitioner, comprising accounts of the ac- 

 tion of those vegetable, animal, and mineral 

 substances which produce inflammation of 

 the skin when externally applied, with direc- 

 tions for treating such inflammation. The 

 plants are arranged alphabetically by fami- 

 lies, and comprise a hundred species. The 

 irritant action upon the skin of various vege- 

 table products and chemicals is described, 

 and also of the bites and stings of insects. 



The Curability of Insanity and the Indi- 

 vidualized Treatment of the Insane. 

 By John S. Butler, M. D. New York : 

 G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 59. Price, 

 60 cents. 



The author recommends a preventive 

 treatment in the incipient stages of the dis- 

 ease ; lays particular stress upon the advan- 

 tage of individualization in treatment, or 

 its adaptation to the character and circum- 

 stances of individual patients and the man- 

 ner in which their affection manifests itself; 

 and advocates the separation of curable 

 cases from those which are hopeless. 



The Graphical St.vtics of Mkchanism. By 

 Gustav Herrmann. Translated and an- 

 notated by A. P. Smith. New York : D. 

 Van Nostrand. Pp. 158, with Plates. 



Tins work is intended to be a guide for 

 the use of machinists, architects, and engi- 

 neers, and a text-book for technical schools. 

 The graphical method is becoming exten- 

 sively disseminated in engineering circles, 

 as its advantages over the analytical meth- 

 od are more and more recognized, and its 

 further development is kept constantly in 

 view. Its application has been impeded by 

 the difliculty of taking account of friction 



