THE MICROSCOPE. Ill 



First; real scientific work is carried on by people who, finan- 

 cially speaking, belong to the middle classes. As far as my 

 observation goes, scientific people seldom amass wealth, and 

 many eak out only a precarious existence. Scientific pur- 

 suits and accumulation of wealth seem diametrically opposed. 

 In view of this fact, to curtail the acquirement by this class of 

 people of books and instruments, the forces by which they 

 work, by increasing the cost, is to my way of thinking a little 

 irrational. 



Second ; I think it is wrong to tax one class of people for the 

 benefit of another, as in case of the protective tariff, or for the 

 government, that is the people, to benefit in the way of a tax 

 on the class from which it receives so many benefits directly 

 and indirectly. 



Third ; I think that under the conditions of free trade, under 

 which conditions there can be no more than healthy competi- 

 tion, the interests of not only the manufacturer but the con- 

 sumer will be served in the very highest manner. 



Within the limits of a short letter, it is impossible to offer 

 any argument for the support of one's statements, but the 

 above represents fairly well my position with respect to the 

 tariff on books and microscopical instruments. I am glad you 

 have given the microscopical people an opportunity to express 

 themselves in this matter, and I await the publication of the 

 results with a great deal of interest. I was very much inter- 

 ested in the results of the other request that you sent out as to 

 the position of your subscribers with respect to the tariff. 



C. E. Stoner, Des Moines, Iowa. 



RECENT PUBLICATIONS. 



First Book of Nature. By James E. Talmage. Salt Lake City, 

 Utah. 16 mo, 306 pp. 80 cuts. 



The first principles of zoology, botany, mineralogy and as- 

 tronomy are here briefly outlined for use in the District Schools 

 of Utah. Classification and technical definitions have been 

 wisely 7 omitted. "The writer has sougbt in a sincere though 

 humble way to demonstrate that Nature is but another name 



