180 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



The April number of Scribner's Maga- 

 zine contains an article by Henry Norman 

 on the "Quarrel of the English-speaking 

 Peoples. " Mr. Norman was the corre- 

 spondent sent to this country by the 

 London Chronicle during the Venezuela 

 affair. There are a number of very 

 interesting articles in the April issue. 



The April McClure's will contain what 

 is about the first really authoritative and 

 direct account yet given of Professor 

 Rontgen and his discovery of the cathode 

 rays. Immediately on the announcement 

 of the discovery, the editors of the maga- 

 zine cabled Mr. H. J. W. Dam, of Lon- 

 don, to hasten to Wiirzburg, and talk with 

 Professor Rontgen in his laboratory, and 

 learn all there was to be learned of the 

 new marvel in photography. The paper 

 will be illustrated with a portrait of Pro- 

 fessor Rontgen and numerous photographs 

 by the new process. A supplementary 

 article by Cleveland Moffett will tell what 

 has been done in America with the cathode 

 rays. 



The Lincoln paper in McClure's for 

 April will describe Lincoln's first de- 

 bate with Douglas twenty years before 

 the famous debate of 1858 with passages 

 from an almost unknown speech of Lin- 

 coln's in reply to Douglas. It will also 

 contain the true story of Lincoln's court- 

 ship and marriage, clearing away forever 

 a mass of scandal and falsehood that 

 gossip has piled up regarding these 

 incidents in Lincoln's life. Portraits of 

 Lincoln and Mrs. Lincoln and numerous 

 other pictures will accompany the paper. 



THE CATHODE RAY. 



It may be briefly explained, without 

 going into the details of a very technical 

 subject, that ordinary light is regarded as 

 due to vibrations which are at right angles 

 to the direction in which the ray travels, 

 but that in the mathematical theories of 

 light, other vibrations, in the direction of 

 the ray, are indicated, though wholly un- 

 known in experience hitherto. If the new 

 rays prove in fact to be of this character, 

 so as to realize indeed the long sought 

 longitudinal vibration, the discovery is of 

 the first importance in science, and will 

 hardly find its equal in interest since the 

 discovery of the law of gravitation; for it 

 reveals a new mode of action of force, 



governing a wide range of phenomena 

 and effects which, until now, have lain en- 

 tirely outside the bounds of our cogni- 

 zance. Prof. A. W. Wright, in the April 

 Forum. 



SIR JOHN MOORE'S RETREAT. 



The tale of Moore's splendid retreat, of 

 his courage and calmness in loss and dis- 

 aster, of his superb control of his men in 

 their disappointment when Corunna was 

 reached and no fleet was found there, of 

 his brave tight with Soult on January 16, 

 of the mortal wound which struck him 

 down in the hour of victory, and of the 

 self-forgetfulness which enabled him in 

 the agonies of death to make all necessary 

 arrangements for his men to embark on 

 the belated ships L all this is a brilliant 

 page of English history, perhaps the finest 

 record in its course of glory won in re- 

 treat, of patience, moderation, and suc- 

 cess in the very hour of bitterest disap- 

 pointment. It was the spirit and example 

 of Moore which made possible the victo- 

 ries of Wellington. Prof. Sloane's " Life 

 of Napoleon," in the April Century. 



The American Book Co. , of New York, 

 have issued a valuable little book on the 

 trees of the Northern United States. It 

 gives the name and characteristics of each 

 tree, describing in detail the bark and 

 leaves. It is fully illustrated. The title 

 is ''Apgar on the trees of North America." 



F. W. Woll, of the Wisconsin experi- 

 ment station, is the author of a valuable 

 work entitled "Agricultural Calendar for 

 1896," issued by John Wiley and Sons,of 

 New York. It is tilled with information 

 for the farmer, fruit grower and stockman. 



The Review of Reviews for April is an 

 unusually full and complete number. 

 Some of the features are the most inter- 

 esting that have appeared in many months. 



DURING the year just ended, gifts to the 

 value of $28,943,549 were made to 

 churches, colleges, libraries, charities and 

 the like, aside from their ordinary income, 

 as against $19,967,116 in 1894. 



THE new state of Utah will start in by 

 making a jury consist of eight persons in- 

 stead of twelve. 



