LITERARY NOTICES. 



707 



showed himself capable of the heroic, with 

 all the added charm of being unconscious 

 about it. And amid all the anxious de- 

 mands of professional emergencies, domes- 

 tic affections of the tcndcrest were never 

 absent from his mind. With him, all the 

 powers of an acute, able intellect were 

 heightened and warmed by a fine emotional 

 nature. The death of several children in a 

 friend's famih-, through bad drainage, di- 

 rected his sympathetic interest to the ques- 

 tion of wholesome plumbing. As the result 

 of his investigations, he became convinced 

 of the necessity for thorough-going reform. 

 In 1S78 he accordingly established in Ed- 

 inburgh the first sanitary association ever 

 formed, and which has not only had many 

 imitators in Great Britain and America, but 

 done much to convince the public of the 

 strict preventability of a large class of dan- 

 gerous maladies. This volume has added j 

 interest, in that it is to some extent auto- ! 

 biographical of its author, Mr. Stevenson. I 

 He shows us incidentally and unwittingly | 

 how he has become so thoroughly grounded i 

 in his art. Ills imagination is supplied 

 with clear impressions of actual men ; in 

 faithfully observing whom, nothing, howev- [ 

 cr apparently trivial, is neglected. His dis- | 

 criminating judgment and quick sympathy ; 

 are quite as evident as this faculty of keen 

 observation. The way in which he unravels 

 the skein of his friend's heredity is masterly. I 



The Education of Ma:j. By Friedrich 

 Froebel. Translated and annotated by 

 W. N. IIailma.v, A. M. " International 

 Education Series," Vol. V. New York : 

 D. Appletoa & Co. Pp. 332. Price, 

 $1.60. 



This work is one of the educational 

 classics with which every teacher should 

 be familiar. Although dealing with first 

 principles, it is not a mass of untested 

 theorizing, but comprises the reasons for 

 the practical method which the experience 

 of a great teacher proved to be successful 

 in the school-room. Froebel's aim is that 

 the pupil shall be educated by self-exertion, 

 beginning with that activity which, while 

 easy and attractive, leads him forward in 

 a continuous development of his powers. 

 In this volume, originally designed as the 

 first of a scries, we find the fundamental 

 ideas of the sj-stem of methods and appli- 



ances to which, fourteen years later, the 

 author gave the name " Kindergarten." 

 The earlier portion of the work deals with 

 general principles, and considers the devel- 

 opment of man during infancy and boy- 

 hood, the most important doctrines being 

 contained in the first two chapters. In the 

 latter part the clucf subjects of instruction 

 are taken up in the four classes: religion, 

 natural science and mathematics, language, 

 art. This is followed by a discussion of 

 the connection between school and family. 

 The translator has inserted at many points 

 biographical and other illustrative notes, and 

 includes in his preface the essential parts of 

 the interesting report on Froebel's Institute 

 at Kcilhau, made in 1825, by Superintend- 

 ent Zech. 



Animal Life in thk Sea and on the Land. 

 l]y Sarah Cooper. Illustrated. New 

 York: Harper & Brothers. Pp. '413. 

 Price, $1.25. 



This very attractive book is designed as 

 an introduction to the study of zoology for 

 children. While accuracy and freshness 

 have been aimed at in its pages, scientific 

 terms have been avoided as much as possi- 

 ble. In classification, which has not been 

 made prominent, the arrangement of Nich- 

 olson has been followed. In arrangement, 

 the ascending scale is pursued, beginning 

 with sponges and ending with man. Such 

 animals as are most likely to interest young 

 people have been selected to illustrate the 

 several orders and classes. Of the study 

 of animals, the author says, very properlv, 

 in her preface : " It is far more charming 

 to gain this knowledge from the objects 

 themselves than from merely reading- about 

 them in books ; and it is therefore hoped that 

 each subject which is treated in these pages 

 will be studied from specimens actually in 

 hand, whenever it is possible to obtain 

 them." A very good substitute for unob- 

 tainable specimens is afforded by the abuiu. 

 dant and clear illustrations. 



Outlines op Natural Philosophy. For 

 Schools and General Readers. By J. D. 

 Everett. New York : D. Appleton & 

 Co. Pp. 335. Price, $1. 



This little volume, by the editor of that 

 standard work, Desehanel's " Natural Phi- 

 losophy," is designed to be easy enough for 



