

LITERATURE, AMERICAN, IN 1884. (POLITICS.) 



443 



bound annual volumes of " The Popular Science 

 Monthly." An important new text-book was 

 produced by Prof. John Trowbridge, of Har- 

 vard University, under the name of "The New 

 Physics," being a manual of experimental study 

 for advanced schools. Joseph Le Conte's 

 "Compend of Geology " was the work of one 

 of the best -known and most trustworthy 

 scientific men in the country. A new work 

 entitled " Elements of Zoology " was written by 

 0. F. Holder and J. B. Holder, M. D., Curator 

 of Zoology in the American Museum of Nat- 

 ural History in Central Park, New York. At- 

 tention may also be called to " The Elements 

 of Chemistry," by Prof. F. W. Clarke, Chemist 

 of the U. S. Geological Survey, and " The Es- 

 sentials of Anatomy, Physiology, and Hygiene," 

 by Dr. Roger S. Tracy, of the New York Board 

 of Health. Dr. Barnard, in his " Metrological 

 System of the Great Pyramid, "effectively con- 

 troverted the historico-astronomical theories 

 of Piazzi Smyth. Campbell's description of 

 the " Geological and Mineralogical Resources 

 of the James River Valley" was a valuable 

 addition to our knowledge of our own country. 

 Among the reprints of foreign books there 

 are several scientific treatises that deserve 

 mention. There were some valuable contri- 

 butions to the electrical section of applied sci- 

 ence, among which may be cited "A Practi- 

 cal Treatise on Electric Lighting," by J. E. H. 

 Gordon ; " A Physical Treatise on Electricity 

 and Magnetism," by the same author ; " The 

 Electric Light, its History, Production, and 

 Application," from the French of Alglave and 

 Boulard, edited byC. M. Lungren; "Dynamo- 

 Electricity, its Generation, Application, Trans- 

 mission, Storage, and Measurement," by George 

 B. Prescott; and "Electricity and the Electri- 

 cal Telegraph," and " Bell's Electric Speaking 

 Telephone," by the same author. The publi- 

 cation of these works sufficiently indicates the 

 profound interest to-day in the various forms 

 of applied electricity. " Descriptive Mineral- 

 ogy " was treated by Hilary Bauerman, F. G. S., 

 and a new volume of Roscoe's Chemistry by 

 H. E. Roscoe, F. R. S., and C. Schorlemmer, 

 F. R. S., continued a very elaborate work. To 

 the above-named works on electricity may be 

 added Hammond's " Electrical Light in our 

 Homes," Swinton's " Principles and Practice of 

 Electrical Lighting," Fahre's " History of Electric 

 Telegraphy to 1837," and May's " Bibliogra- 

 phy of Electricity and Magnetism." " Flowers 

 and their Pedigrees," by Grant Allen, was not 

 only full of scientific suggestion, but very fas- 

 cinating in matter and style; and G. J. Ro- 

 manes, in his " Mental Evolution in Animals," 

 ably continued a discussion which has become 

 widely associated with his name and special 

 studies. Other works which may be named 

 are Worthington Smith's "Diseases of Field 

 and Garden Crops," Dr. H. C. Lang's " Butter- 

 flies of Europe," Sir Richard Owen's " British 

 Fossil Reptiles," Prof. Romer's "Bone-Caves of 

 Europe," and G. J. Hinde's " Fossil Sponges." 



Politics, Economics, and Social Science. The 

 wide range of topics included in the above 

 found varied and energetic discussion by 

 American writers. First among these atten- 

 tion may be called to Lalor's " Cyclopaedia of 

 Political Science," the third volume of which 

 was issued, completing an admirable compen- 

 dium of articles written by American and for- 

 eign writers. Lieut. Kelly, U. S. N., took up 

 the vexed and most important question of the 

 building up of our merchant marine in a timely 

 book, the "Question of Ships," in which he 

 vigorously advocated " Free Trade and Free 

 Ships." A course of lectures given at Cornell 

 University, taking strong ground in favor of 

 protection, by Hon. Ellis H. Roberts, were 

 issued in book-form under the name of " Gov- 

 ernment Revenue." Henry George continued 

 the radical contest opened in " Progress and 

 Poverty " with a volume of essays, " Social 

 Problems." In Crane's and Moses's " Politics " 

 is found a well-digested and scholarly intro- 

 duction to the study of comparative constitu- 

 tional law. Fortune's " Black and White," by 

 the editor of the organ of the colored race, the 

 New York " Globe," illustrates the rapid ex- 

 pansion and improvement of the blacks in the 

 South, and discusses also their relation to the 

 problems of land, labor, and politics. The same 

 theme was also treated by Albion W. Tourgee 

 in " An Appeal to Csesar," with all the force 

 of the special pleader. Edward Bellamy, in 

 " Our Way Out," sought to suggest the escape 

 from the present difficulties of labor and trade. 

 Albert Shaw's "Icaria" gave a description of 

 a Western communistic experiment of some 

 years ago, originally begun by a noble and 

 wealthy Spaniard. Scudder's "Labor-Value 

 Fallacy" was an interesting contribution to 

 economics. Other noticeable studies in econom- 

 ics were Prof. W. G. Sumner's " Problems in 

 Political Economy," Prof. Francis Walker's 

 "Land and its Rent," and R. Bowker's "Work 

 and Wealth." Prof. J. Laurence Laughlin added 

 a valuable hand-book to the educational list 

 in his edition of Mill's "Political Economy." 

 A new edition of Albert E. Bolles's "Financial 

 History of the United States, from 1774 to 

 1789," was issued. A series of essays, treating 

 the different aspects of the woman question in 

 Europe and America, was edited by Theodore 

 Stanton, and issued in book-form. The first 

 two volumes of "Twenty Years of Congress," 

 by Hon. James G. Blaine, deserve special men- 

 tion for the ability and fairness of their pres- 

 entation of political history, and added largely 

 to the author's great reputation. Among other 

 works of an historical and argumentative char- 

 acter may be mentioned Judge Boutwell's "Why 

 am I aRepublican ? " Eugene V. Smalley's "Brief 

 History of the Republican Party," Flower's 

 " History of the Republican Party," Patton's 

 " Democratic Party," Stanwood's " History of 

 Presidential Elections," and Blanchard's " Rise 

 and Fall of Political Parties in the United 

 States." Attention may be called to the very 



