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POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



ing, by which he means something like the 

 Socratic method, with the use of objects for 

 some studies. Prof. Baldwin's teachings are 

 everywhere positive and emphatic, and he 

 ignores any possible difference of opinion on 

 such subjects as corporal punishment, free 

 text-books, and coeducation. The book is 

 intended to be used for systematic study by 

 classes of teachers, and each chapter is ac- 

 cordingly divided into sections and subdi- 

 vided into paragraphs, each with a number 

 and a heading. There is also a syllabus to 

 each chapter, and a list of topical questions 

 at the end of the volume. 



Prof. Wiley has brought to a close his 

 carefully prepared treatise on Agricultural 

 Analysis with a volume devoted to agricul- 

 tural products.* The first chapter relates 

 to methods of preparing samples by grind- 

 ing, drying, incineration, and extraction. 

 Twenty-six forms of apparatus for these op- 

 erations are here figured. The first group 

 of substances for which processes of analysis 

 are given consists of the sugars and starches. 

 The specific gravity, the polariscopic, and 

 the reduction methods for sugar analysis are 

 each represented by a number of processes. 

 The author has not undertaken to select the 

 best practice for dealing with every problem, 

 as he has not been writing solely for stu- 

 dents, but more for trained analysts who are 

 competent to select for themselves from sev- 

 eral carefully described modes. A variety 

 of miscellaneous processes for sugar analysis 

 are also described. The determination of 

 starch requires less space, and from this the 

 author passes to methods for separating and 

 determining sugar, starch, and other carbo- 

 hydrates in crude or manufactured agricul- 

 tural products. The fats and oils form the 

 next large group of substances treated, and 

 considerable attention is given to their phys- 

 ical properties, as well as to their chemical 

 behavior. Methods of estimating nitroge- 

 nous bodies follow ; dairy products have a 

 section by themselves, and a considerable 

 number of substances are grouped as mis- 

 cellaneous. These include cereals, fodders, 

 meats, fruits, vegetables, tannins, tobacco, 



* Principles and Practice of Agricultural 

 Analysis. Vol. III. By Harvey W. Wiley. Eas- 

 ton, Pa. : Chemical Publishing Company. Pp. 

 666, 8vo. Price, $3.75 ; complete work, $9.50. 



tea, coffee, and fermented beverages. In 

 dealing with meats several methods of arti- 

 ficial digestion and of determining nutritive 

 values are described. The volume is in- 

 dexed, and is illustrated with one hundred 

 and twenty-five figures of apparatus. A list 

 of authorities cited is given at the end of 

 each division of the work. 



In his Laboratory Practice for Beginners 

 in Botany, Prof. William A. Setchtll has 

 furnished a guide for the application of the 

 laboratory method to the study of plants 

 (Macmillan, 90 cents). He takes up the 

 seed first, because "it is not only readily 

 obtained, readily studied, and its meaning 

 clear, but it is also one of the most con- 

 venient starting points for a study of the 

 life history." His first directions will indi- 

 cate his method. " Take the ripened pod of 

 a bean plant and, splitting it open, notice : 



1. That the seeds (beans) are attached along 

 one edge of each valve (or half) of the pod. 



2. That each bean is attached to the pod by 

 a short stalk, the funiculus. 3. Make a 

 sketch of a valve of the bean pod with its 

 inclosed beans, representing and labeling 

 the parts." Drawing is a constant require- 

 ment throughout the course. In the ad- 

 vanced lessons questions are asked which it 

 is not practicable to answer otherwise than 

 from consulting books. There is a brief 

 appendix of suggestions to students and one 

 more extended of suggestions to teachers, in 

 which reading for each chapter is specified 

 and various directions as to material and de- 

 tails of instruction are given. Although the 

 author says that his book is intended for the 

 higher grades of primary schools or for sec- 

 ondary schools, he has apparently made no 

 effort to keep his language within the vo- 

 cabulary understood by children, hence we 

 doubt that the book would be available be- 

 low the secondary grade. There are no 

 illustrations. 



Robert the Bruce and the Struggle for 

 Scottish Independence, by Sir Herbert Maxwell, 

 Bart. (New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1897, 

 $1.50), is one of the scholarly volumes of the 

 Heroes of the Nations Series. It deals with 

 the making of Scotland. The first five chap- 

 ters give a short survey of the country up to 

 the year 1305, a period of internal discords, 

 and feuds with England because of the latter's 



