134 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



yet it conveys the pleasant though now con- 

 tradicted message that the signs in general 

 justify the prediction " of the steady devel- 

 opment of a prosperous period." 



In transmitting his Twentieth Annual 

 Report of the Geological and Natural His- 

 tory Survey of Minnesota, the State Geolo- 

 gist, N. H. Winchell, characterizes the sur- 

 vey, as a State enterprise, as unique in its 

 plan, its supervisory auspices, its slow but 

 uninterrupted progress, and the duration of its 

 personal directorship. Ten years ago, in sub- 

 mitting his tenth annual report, the author 

 ventured to congratulate the university and 

 the State on the success that had accom- 

 panied the survey at that date ; but the 

 second ten years have been more prosperous 

 than the first ten. The present report con- 

 tains a paper on the structures and origin of 

 the crystalline rocks, by Mr. Winchell ; field 

 observations on certain granite areas, by U. S. 

 Grant ; the Mesabic iron range, by N. V. Win- 

 chell ; the abandoned strands of Lake Su- 

 perior, by A. C. Lawson ; and Diatomaceae of 

 the Interglacial Drift, by B. W. Thorns and 

 H. L. Smith. 



The papers in No. 2 of Volume V of 

 the Studies in the Biological Laboratory of 

 Johns Hopkins University are on The Effect 

 of Haemorrhage and of Fasting on the Pro- 

 teids of the Blood of Cats, by G. P. Dreyer ; 

 The Respiratory Function of some Mus- 

 cles of the Higher Mammlia, by Theodore 

 Hough ; The Latent Time of the Knee- 

 Jerk, by E. C. Applegarth; and The 

 Physiological Effects of Differential Respi- 

 ration, by Prof. H. Newell Martin and G. P. 

 Dreyer. 



A collection of translations of papers on 

 The Mechanics of the Earths Atmosphere, 

 published by Cleveland Abbe in the Smith- 

 sonian Miscellaneous Collections, includes 

 essays of great technical interest and value 

 by Professors Hagen, Helmholtz, Kirchhoff, 

 Oberbeck, Hertz, and Bezold, Lord Rayleigh, 

 and Professors Margules and Ferrel. Prof. 

 Abbe expresses the opinion that there is a 

 crying need for more profound researches 

 into the mechanics of the atmosphere, and 

 believing that meteorology can be advanced 

 beyond its present stage only by the devotion 

 to it of the highest talent in mathematical 

 and experimental physics, he earnestly com- 

 mends these memoirs to such students in 



our universities as are seeking new fields of 

 applied science. 



The Introductory Manual for Sugar 

 Growers of Mr. Francis Watts is the out- 

 come of several years' experience in the 

 West Indies, by which he was shown the 

 necessity for a handbook containing an out- 

 line of the principles of agriculture based 

 on modern scientific discoveries, and of the 

 principles underlying the manufacture of 

 sugar. The author hopes that his book may 

 be useful as a starting point for young men 

 beginning their training, and that it may 

 help guide older men to other works. Special 

 attention is given to tropical conditions. 

 (Longmans, Green & Co., $1.50.) 



The History of Modern Education, which 

 comprises an account of the course of educa- 

 tional opinion and practice from the revival 

 of learning to the present decade, by Prof. 

 Samuel G. Williams, has grown out of the 

 lectures given by the author in Cornell Uni- 

 versity during the past six years, and com- 

 prises the last half of his course on the his- 

 tory of education. It presents a compact, 

 comprehensive, and intelligible summary of 

 the subject. After an introductory chapter 

 on ancient and mediaeval education, the his- 

 tory proper begins with the account of the 

 Renaissance, phases of education, educational 

 opinions, and distinguished teachers of the 

 sixteenth century. This is followed by simi- 

 lar notices of characteristics of education in 

 the seventeenth century, the educational re- 

 formers and their principles, Female Edu- 

 cation and Fenelon, the Oratory of Jesus 

 and Beginning of American Education ; then 

 of the eighteenth century, in the general 

 review of which education in New England 

 and New York are characterized, early text- 

 books are described, and the foundation of 

 colleges and of the University of the State of 

 New York is recorded. Among the " edu- 

 cational characteristics of the nineteenth 

 century " are great activity in literature, etc., 

 Herbert Spencer's treatise, the general dif- 

 fusion of popular education, professional 

 training of teachers, supervision of schools, 

 industrial and manual training, improve- 

 ments in method, the kindergarten, and the 

 discussion of the relative disciplinary value 

 of studies. (C. W. Bardeen, Syracuse, N. Y. 

 Price, $1.50.) 



Practical Lessons in Language is a man- 



