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POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



explained; the information concerning the 

 metallic alloys is placed together; this is 

 succeeded by a description of fluxes, slags, 

 and refractory materials; the nature and 

 mode of preparation of different kinds of 

 fuel are next referred to; then follows a 

 more detailed description of the metallurgy 

 of iron and steel, silver, gold, platinum, lead, 

 copper, zinc, tin, nickel, cobalt, aluminium, 

 antimony, arsenic, and bismuth." The prop- 

 erties of each metal are given and something 

 is told of its uses. There are one hundred 

 and forty- four illustrations, including cuts of 

 furnaces and other apparatus, diagrams show- 

 ing the course of operations, etc. 



In a series of chapters which might well 

 have been sermons, under the title Old 

 Faiths and New Facts, an effort is made by 

 William W. Kinsley to show that the beliefs 

 in miracles, in the efficacy of prayer, in the 

 divinity of Christ, and in a future life need 

 not be disturbed by the discoveries of mod- 

 ern science (Appletons, $1.50). Two chap- 

 ters of the book have appeared in the Bibli- 

 otheca Sacra, and those on prayer, at the in- 

 stance of Bishop J. H. Vincent, were used as 

 part of the prescribed Chautauqua reading 

 for 1894. The volume will doubtless help 

 many who have been dazzled by the new 

 light of science to retain their religious be- 

 liefs. 



An examination of various abuses in 

 American public affairs comes to us in a 

 volume by Frederick W. Schultz, entitled 

 Politics and Patriotism (Arena Publishing 

 Company). The author traces the growth 

 of the American political ideal through colo- 

 nial times, the Revolutionary period, and, 

 after some discussion of the later amend- 

 ments to the Constitution of the United 

 States, carries his subject through the civil 

 war and reconstruction periods. He next 

 criticises the protection and greenback doc- 

 trines, and shows how selfishness is produc- 

 tive of many evils in the industrial relations. 

 Inequalities of taxation are discussed at con- 

 siderable length, and a series of striking ex- 

 amples possible under the laws of Maryland 

 is given. In the concluding portion of the 

 volume a brief history of exposures of cor- 

 ruption in New York, Baltimore, and other 

 large cities is presented, and a scheme is 

 offered for securing pure primary elections, 



which the author holds is the first step to- 

 ward municipal reform. Mr. Schultz, who 

 introduces himself as a man busy with mer- 

 cantile affairs, writes with much feeling but 

 temperately, and expresses himself clearly 

 and concisely. His book is one to stimulate 

 thought in the average citizen. 



Evidently the true reason for the publi- 

 cation of the collection of Fables and Essays 

 recently issued by John Bryan is that given 

 in the preface, namely, " the same reason a 

 hen lays eggs " for relief to the author. 

 Liberty and justice are the two avowed 

 motives of the book. In the fables, brief 

 essays, and bits of verse which it contains, 

 satire and sentiment are mingled. The 

 ideas that oftenest find expression in its 

 pages are hatred of industrial and social op- 

 pression, and of priestcraft, honor and ten- 

 derness for the natural woman, impatience 

 with the unnatural, sympathy with the vic- 

 tims of selfish greed, contempt for arro- 

 gance and pretense, and intolerance of arti- 

 ficiality in manners, education, and conduct. 

 The personality of the author is everywhere 

 apparent in the volume, and if the reader 

 does not like that personality, Mr. Bryan 

 makes it very evident that he need not read 

 the book (The Arts and Lettres Company, 

 New York). 



A neat little handbook on Physical Meas- 

 urements, by L. W. Austin and C. B. Thuing, 

 has just come to hand. It is intended as a 

 guide for the elementary student in the phys- 

 ical laboratory, and "simply presupposes 

 such a knowledge of the principles of physics 

 as can be gained from a course of general 

 lectures supplemented by a good text-book." 

 Each physical law, with the special pieces of 

 apparatus for applying it to physical meas- 

 urements, is taken up, and after a thorough 

 description examples for testing the student's 

 grasp of the principle are given. The last 

 fifty pages of the book consist of the tables 

 necessary for making computations and veri- 

 fying the results (Allyn & Bacon, $1.50). 



The portion of the college curriculum in 

 which the most valuable and practical knowl- 

 edge is obtained is the laboratory at any 

 rate, in the physical sciences, and in some of 

 the more abstract and difficult subjects, such 

 as psychology, there is an increasing use of 

 laboratory methods. In Mechanics, the last 



