5 62 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



an especial view to the opening of the 

 empire of Japan to unrestricted foreign 

 trade and residence, for the advance- 

 ment of the reciprocal interests of Japan 

 and the United States. It is printed in 

 English and Japanese, and is published 

 at Tokio by the Japan- American Com- 

 mercial and Industrial Association, for 

 $2.50 a year. 



The Anglo-Saxon is a monthly maga- 

 zine, the first number of which is dated 

 November, 1898, " devoted to the iden- 

 tity of the Anglo-Saxon race with the 

 house of Israel." It is edited by George 

 E. Inglis, and published by the Anglo- 

 Saxon Publishing Company, Chicago. 

 The title of the first paragraph " Cui 

 bono " seems to us to suggest a very 

 appropriate question. The argument 

 seems to be that the house of Israel 

 was appointed to universal dominion, 

 and the Anglo-Saxon race, between Eng- 

 land and the United States, with its late 

 war " as nearly a Christian war as any 

 war might be," is getting it. 



Among the general papers in the sec- 

 ond volume, containing Parts II and III, 

 of the Report of the Commissioner of 

 Education for 1896-'97 are those on Fed- 

 eral and State Aid to Higher Education, 

 the First Common Schools of New Eng- 

 land, the Learned Professions and Social 

 Control, and the Beginnings of the Com- 

 mon-School System in the South. Sta- 

 tistics of foreign universities are given, 

 with a paper on the Teaching of Geog- 

 raphy in certain foreign countries, and 

 consular reports on educational topics. 

 Professor Boas's paper on the Growth of 

 Toronto Children is included. Educa- 

 tional matters of interest in various 

 States are reported upon. An Eskimo 

 vocabulary is introduced. A special re- 

 port on education in Alaska appears. 

 Part III is devoted to statistical matter. 



The Occult Science Library is a 

 course of seven essays on the subject of 

 practical occultism by Ernest Loomis. 

 The author assumes that the rules based 

 on the occult principles of Nature would, 

 if fully applied, enable any person to 

 invoke the assistance of occult forces 

 in every practical rule of life, and that 

 they may with like success be applied 

 in matters of health, the acquisition of 

 knowledge, the formation of plans, and 

 the solution of religious and ethical 



enigmas. The publishers claim that the 

 maxims of the book have proved their 

 efficiency to the satisfaction of thou- 

 sands who have read them. (Published 

 by Ernest Loomis & Co., Chicago.) 



Mr. James G. Needham has furnished, 

 in Outdoor Studies (American Book 

 Company), one of the fullest and most 

 systematic guides or " reading books," 

 as he calls this one, for Nature study 

 that we have seen. Recognizing that 

 there is no lack, in numbers, of books 

 offering object lessons, etc., for children 

 of the earlier years intervening between 

 the primary and the high school, he has 

 prepared this book to supply for the 

 later years of that period " a few lessons 

 of greater continuity, calling for more 

 persistence of observation and introduc- 

 ing a few of the simpler of our modern 

 conceptions of Nature at large." The les- 

 sons presuppose some years of experience 

 of life and some previous training in ob- 

 servation ; they are given simply for the 

 sake of the interest and educative value 

 of the facts and phenomena of Nature 

 which they set forth; and they have 

 been written more for the boys and girls 

 than for the teachers. The things de- 

 scribed birds, insects, plants, etc. are 

 such as can be seen anywhere. Mr. 

 Needham tells how to study them and 

 learn what they mean. 



In Commissioner Hume, a Story of 

 New York Schools, a sequel to Roderick 

 Hume, the Story of a New York Teach- 

 er, Mr. C. W. Bardecn has undertaken to 

 give a picture of rural New York schools, 

 or rather of the administration of school 

 affairs by commissioners as they were in 

 1875, and he declares it to be accurate. 

 He represents, however, that the general 

 tone of the commissioners has vastly 

 changed in the period that has inter- 

 vened since then, and the conditions de- 

 scribed in the volume no longer prevail. 

 The book is offered, therefore, as a con- 

 tribution to educational history. (Pub- 

 lished by C. W. Bardeen, Syracuse, 

 N. Y.) 



The southern half of Missouri and 

 the Black Hills of South Dakota offer 

 exceptionally delightful regions for the 

 study of caves, or speleology, as well as 

 of geology and geography. Each of these 

 regions has its peculiar geological his- 

 tory and its own scenery, and possesses 



