7io 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



the Pacific Coast ; The Rocks of the Sierra 

 Nevada; Pre-Cambrian Igneous Rocks of 

 the Unkar Terrane, with notes on the pe- 

 trographic character of the lavas ; on the 

 Structure of the Ridge between the Taconic 

 and Green Mountain ranges in Vermont ; The 

 Structure of Monument Mountain in Great 

 Barrington, Mass. ; and The Potomac and 

 Roaring Creek Coal Fields in West Virginia. 



White's Outline Studies in the History of 

 the United States (American Book Co., 30 

 cents) is an exercise book in which are 

 printed questions which the pupil is to an- 

 swer by writing or drawing in the blanks left 

 for the purpose, or by marking localities on 

 outline maps. 



A volume of Short Studies in Nature 

 Knowledge has been prepared by William 

 Gee as an introduction to the science of 

 physiography (Macmillan, 3. 6</., $1.10). 

 The chief geographical topics are taken up 

 in successive chapters, beginning with the 

 Great Globe itself and following with Moun- 

 tains, Valleys, and Great Plains, The Sea, 

 Rivers and their Work, The Winds of Heav- 

 en, The Force and the Filigree of Frost, etc. 

 In style and language the book is adapted to 

 pupils of an advanced grade. It is purely 

 descriptive, and while containing a great 

 number of facts the text is always readable 

 and is frequently adorned with poetical quo- 

 tations. Over a hundred illustrations, a glos- 

 sary, and an index add to the value of the 

 book. 



Dr. Roger S. Tracy has put the chief 

 rules of sanitation into a compact and handy 

 form in his Handbook of Sanitary Informa- 

 tion for Householders (Appletons, 50 cents). 

 Taking as the object of sanitary science to 

 secure good air, good food, and good water, 

 he tells first how proper ventilation is to be 

 provided. His longest chapter is that on 

 house drainage, which contains the rules of 

 the Board of Health of New York city. 

 There is a chapter on disinfection, supple- 

 mented by a list of the common disinfect- 

 ants, with a brief description of each, and 

 the average price at retail. With regard to 

 foods he tells what adulterations are found 

 in the chief articles of consumption and how 

 they may be detected. Means of testing 

 water and guarding against impurities in it 

 are also given. An appendix contains a list 



of the materials needed for fitting up water- 

 closets, with prices. 



A second edition has appeared of The 

 Theory of Light y by Thomas Preston (Mac- 

 millan & Co., 15s., $5), which was noticed in 

 this magazine in 1891. In the new edition 

 the text has been revised and has been aug- 

 mented by more than a hundred pages of 

 new matter, in conjunction with which sev- 

 eral new diagrams have been introduced. 

 The changes occur chiefly in those portions 

 which relate to the rectilinear propagation of 

 light, wave reflection and refraction, and the 

 application of graphic methods to the solu- 

 tion of diffraction problems. More detail 

 has been introduced in some places, especial- 

 ly in the chapter on the velocity of light, 

 where the experiments of Prof. Newcomb 

 have been described. 



The Report of the Department of Health 

 of the City of Chicago for 1894 is notable as 

 covering the latter and more serious half of 

 an epidemic of smallpox lasting from the 

 middle of 1893 to the middle of 1894. By 

 vigorous preventive and remedial measures 

 over a million free vaccinations being per- 

 formed the deaths were kept down to a 

 total of 1,033. This gave a rate of 5 -5 8 to 

 each 10,000 of population against 16*74 in 

 1864, 17-80 in 1872, and 23'07 in 1882, 

 which were epidemic years. The experience 

 of the health officers in many difficult cases 

 that they had to deal with are given. The 

 report includes a description of the water 

 supply of Chicago by the Commissioner of 

 Health, Arthur R. Reynolds, M. D., the vital 

 statistics of the city, and special reports on 

 the municipal laboratory, on sanitary and 

 meat inspection, on smoke nuisances, and free 

 public baths. 



The American Book Company has issued 

 several simple German texts in board covers 

 at 25 cents each. Three of them now before 

 us are by Seidel and Stifter, two writers of 

 the present century characterized by their 

 naturalness of style. Each book contains 

 about fifty pages of text and a twenty-page 

 vocabulary. They are printed in the Schwa- 

 bacher type, which is more open and hence 

 more grateful to the eyes than the ordinary 

 German print. In cheaper form and smaller 

 are the Germania Texts, edited by A. W. 

 Spanhoofd (10 cents each). They are de- 



