460 



LITERATURE, AMERICAN, IN 1880. 



(New York, Harpers). A " Refutation of Dar- 

 winism " has been written by T. VV. O'Neill 

 (Philadelphia, Lippincott). Dr. PrantFs u Text- 

 Book of Botany," translated from the German, 

 and edited by S. H. Vines, is an excellent com- 

 pendium of the modern structural and phys- 

 iological botany, presenting the discoveries 

 and generalizations which have only recently 

 elevated this branch into the position of a 

 genuine natural science. Niaudet's " Galvanic 

 Batteries" (New York, Wiley) is a thorough 

 treatise on the subject. The " Science of Life," 

 by J. H. Wythe, M. D. (New York, Phillips & 

 Hunt), is a treatise on biology from the or- 

 thodox standpoint. Du Bois's "Thermo- Dy- 

 namics " (New York, Wiley) is a most elabo- 

 rate and exhaustive treatise. The more im- 

 portant reprints of foreign publications are : 

 Huxley's " Crayfish "; "Darwin's "Power of 

 Movement in Plants"; Lindsey's "Mind in the 

 Lower Animals "; Roscoe and Schorlemmer's 

 " Chemistry " ; Ball's "Astronomy"; Bastian's 

 " Brain as an Organ of Mind " ; and Mauds- 

 ley's " Pathology of Mind." The "American 

 Journal of Philology " is a quarterly, edited by 

 Professor Basil Gildersleeve, of Johns Hopkins 

 University, in Baltimore. 



Professor Alexander Winchell, in "Pre- 

 Adamites," while expounding his own thought- 

 ful views on the first appearance of man, con- 

 veys a great deal of anthropological knowledge 

 in a readable and systematic form (Chicago, 

 Griggs). "The Mound-Builders," by J. P. 

 McLean (Cincinnati, Clarke), is a general com- 

 pendium on the subject, and an account of the 

 author's own researches in Ohio. The first 

 annual report of the Archaeological Institute of 

 America, established in Boston in 1879, con- 

 tains several learned papers by Lewis H. Mor- 

 gan, Joseph T. Clarke, and other members 

 (Cambridge.) 



Among numerous excellent educational frea- 

 tises on scientific subjects may be mentioned, 

 Edward S. Dana's text-Book of Mechanics 

 (New York, Wiley); "The Orthoepist," the 

 best and most convenient guide to the correct 

 pronunciation of English words, by Alfred 

 Ayres (New York, Appletons) ; and " Chemi- 

 cal Exercises in Qualitative Analysis," by 

 George W. Rains, M. D. (New York, Apple- 

 tons), introducing younger students to labo- 

 ratory practice and experimental study. Pro- 

 fessor T. R. Lounsbury's "History of the Eng- 

 lish Language " (New York, Holt) is a manual 

 for the accurate student. William Swinton'a 

 " Masterpieces of English Literal ure "' is a book 

 which will help materially to impart that 

 knowledge of our literature and its develop- 

 ment, which has lately become so prominent a 

 study in schools (New York, Harpers). " Bal- 

 lads and Lyrics" (Boston, Houghton) is a 

 book of similar purpose and excellence, being 

 a well-selected anthology for school use, made 

 by Henry Cabot Lodge. "The Science of 

 English Verse" is a scholarly and scientific 

 treatise on prosody, by Sidney Lanier (New 



York, Scribners). "Words and their Uses" 

 and "Every-Day English" (Boston, Hough- 

 ton) are by Richard Grant White, the popular 

 grammatical critic. Mayo W. Hazeltine, in 

 " British and American Education " (New 

 York, Harpers), makes a just and thorough 

 comparison of the two systems of higher edu- 

 cation. 



Technical works on the most various branches 

 of practical knowledge have for many years 

 been produced in considerable numbers in the 

 United States. Many of these are elaborate 

 treatises which rank high in their special de- 

 partments for completeness, accurate learning, 

 and logical and perspicuous exposition. The 

 number issued of such works of the highest 

 class is increasing from year to year. Colonel 

 William Pratt Wainright's " Radical Mechanics 

 of Animal Locomotion " (New York, Van 

 Nostrand) is a military treatise, but has a gen- 

 eral practical and scientific interest. "The 

 Field Engineer," by William Findley Shunk 

 (New York, Van Nostrand), is a manual for 

 railroad engineers. Appletons' " Cyclopaedia 

 of Applied Mechanics " is a very complete and 

 extensive illustrated dictionary of mechanics 

 and engineering, edited by Park Benjamin. 

 Cortheli's " History of the Mississippi Jetties " 

 is a thorough technical account of those works 

 (New York, Wiley). Among the many other 

 practical and theoretical works on mechanical 

 and industrial subjects may be noted Leaning's 

 volume on "Quantity Surveying"; Dunbar's 

 new book on "Paper-Making" (New York, 

 Spon); Searle on "Field Engineering" (New 

 York, Wiley); Burr's " Stresses on Bridges"; 

 and Rickett's "Assaying" (New York, Wiley). 

 " Strategos " (New York, Appletons) explains 

 an adaptation of the German war-game, elabo- 

 rated by the author, Lieutenant Charlt s A. L. 

 Totten, for the use of American students of 

 tactics, which has been taken up with much 

 favor by American military men. 



Armsby's " Cattle-Feeding " is an elaborate 

 practical treatise on this important subject 

 (New York, Wiley). " Scientific Agriculture " 

 is a valuable compendium, in clear and popular 

 language, by N. T. Lupton, LL. D. (New York, 

 Appletons). Edward P. Roe's " Success with 

 Small Fruits" (New York, Dodd & Mead) is 

 as pleasant to read as it is useful and sensible. 



The publications of the year on subjects con- 

 nected with Medicine from their number and 

 excellence show that in this as well as in other 

 branches, and perhaps more than in other 

 branches, the cultivation of solid and thorough 

 learning, particularly of the sort which has an 

 immediate practical bearing, is becoming more 

 general. The numerous popular books on medi- 

 cal and hygienic subjects by competent authors 

 is a gratifying phenomenon which is not con- 

 fined to the United States, although this conn- 

 try leads in this important line of progress. 

 Dr. George M. Beard gives the results of his 

 exhaustive study of the nervous infirmity of 

 Americans in u A Practical Treatise on Ner- 



