. 11, 1885.] 



KNOWLEDGE 



thmk, that their discoverer's name would he mentioned. 

 It was an unfortunate business altogether. Tlic moral, 

 however, should be that no man's work should be tam- 

 pered with without full explanation, — also this, that no 

 matter should be stereotyped till it has been sanctioned 

 by the author, or responsible reviser. 



With Messrs. Scribner ami -witli M- > 

 Sons, I have always had very |ilr,is:iiii !■ 

 Scribner did once urge my publi.sln r-^ in I'.irj, 



suade me not to work so hard, as my buuks 



each other. But there was nothing very unpleasant .„ 

 that. So far as I know no pirated editions of my work 

 have been publislied by either firm. 



i-uwdt^d 



Messes. Harper when recently publishing a cheap 

 edition of one of my works, sent me a cheqiie, which I 

 must perforce regard as a gift, in the actual state of the 

 law, — or rather in the absence of any law of copyright 

 between England and America. The amount probably 

 corresponded to about the loss which I incurred during 

 the first month after the cheap edition was published. 

 But all the same, I considered myself fortunate that the 

 work had not been taken over by one of the new race of 

 cheap pirates, who not only pay nothing, but sell badly- 

 printed copies of a man's books on bad paper, and badly 

 sewn, — thus adding insult to injury. 



tand 



the 



Messrs. Fink it WAciXALL also 

 unfortunate English author and the lnvdr nf piiMics just 

 referred to. They sell cheap editions, and jmy the ;uuliui 

 what the sale justifies, — every cent being' in realiiy a gift, 

 as the law stands. 



Nathaniel Hawthorne abused the English publishers 

 as thieves and pirates, and " hypocrites at that," — because 

 ho maintained that the fault has been as great on this 

 side of the water as on the other. In answer to this it is 

 only necessary to point out that England has international 

 copyright with every nation willing to make an honest 

 treaty of the kind. 



came to the surface in a mutter which moved him per- 

 sonally. Many Aiuericans regard him as the most delicate 

 of all writers ; and ho himself was too delicately-minded 

 to bear association with his family circle. Yet this deli- 

 cately-minded person could find no pleasanter way of 

 mentioning that English ladies sometimes incline to 

 embonpoint towards middle life, than by comparing them 

 to cows. 



In like manner Mr. Wilkie, editor of the Chicago 

 Times, was shocked by the ill manners of l-ln-'lishnun in 

 wearing their hats when liulirs arc intMut in hotel 

 corridors (for which there is thi.s \ii_v lAnllonl nason 

 that the outer air is not e.xchided iu England as in 

 America from the interiors of hotels) ; yet this exceed- 

 ingly delicate American, who considers that respect for 

 the other se.x slnjuld rise to reverence, or even as Mr. H. 



illustrated) for no better ri^ison than that in his opinion 

 tlie lady shoidd have relieved the child's mother (who 



was also sick) of the care of it. In my copy of Mr. 

 Wilkie's work, this incident is marked by a cross- 

 reference in pencil to the passaee praifjin!? the average 

 American's intense rcv-rf-nff f^ -..r,, ,,,.,. y, f ti>ot j 

 would ridicule any ati • ■ • • :.l 



attention, which son.r 'A 



at times to .show. IJlLI i ■. a^-t ; ; ^ < : ; • : IL- 



lijl-ii- !^ \erence, associated with gross (_one may say 

 1: II '' ' l^^eness, — c' est par trap fort. To show how 

 I i I I!,' will go in this direction the reviews of Miss 

 CI- \i laial', works should be seen. That her writing 

 is sill}- and stilted inaj' be admitted ; but she is 

 called names, by these reverential persons, which an 

 English costermonger might hesitate to use. Of course 

 it is only in Republican papers that the sister of the 

 Democratic President is so treated ; but this is a point 

 of no importance to the argument. 





The AiTiateur PJiotographer records the 

 tures of Captain J. Peters, of the Citadel, 

 said to be actually the first who has ever taken photo- 

 graphs of a battle while under fire. During the rebellion 

 in the North-West he took about sixty pictures, a dozen 

 of these being taken during the battles of "Batoche" 

 and "Fish Creek," and all under fire, one of them during 

 a volley from the rebels' pits alout 150 yards distant. 

 The exploits of the gallant captain speak well for his 

 pluck and presence of mind, for the numerous operations 

 required to make a negative, even on one of the improved 

 dry plates, demand a steady hand and an amount of atten- 

 tion difiicult to give when under fire. As to the quality 

 of the pictures so produced, we trust we shall be enabled 

 to judge for ourselves, and join the Amateur Photograjiher 

 in the hope that Cajitain Peters will send copies of his 

 unique "battle-pieces" for reproduction. 



I^ebtetod. 



SOME BOOKS ON OUR TABLE. 



A Practical Arithmetic. By John Jackson. (London ; 

 Blackie & Son. 1885.)— "It m.ay be claimed for this 

 arithmetic," says Mr. Jackson in his introiluetiun, "that 

 it is an entirely unique in-oduet ion, and that in no treatise 

 extant are the same excellencies attemptid. or even sug- 

 gested ..." Without absolutely endorsing this some- 

 what hyperbolical description given by the author of his 

 own work, we may say that it is really what it professes 

 to be, eminently jii-aefieal ; and that iu hi> employment 

 of the algelu-ai'vM. ', ; . ^ :" jain- a laj.-i.r .[uantity 

 instead of sula 1:1 i , ,. .i- ; ' :^ eouver- 



sionof the onii: _, ,./ i, ■■ , ■■:::;: _ : Mi a frac- 

 tion, he has eiii;'l"\ e,l a Hi' !■■ -.a ii" , 'ir. atmeiit 



than that which these branelu . . ; lly 



more than one of his devices i. i :,., . . . n 



will be found useful. The uuiutiou.^ u v. ,.^.;-^...v li.as- 

 trations of the text add materially to its usefuluess. He 

 has produced a school-book of real value. 



Buruham Petch,s. By Fkancis Gror-oi: HrATH. 



ITol 



■ Ivl 



.al 1 



Wni 



igh the exertions of the autlai- of ,ho work 

 "the much-maligned Corporation of the City 



