422 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, Chart 

 Corrections, etc., September, 1893. Pp. 10. 



United States National Museum. Index to Pro- 

 ceedings for 1892. Pp. 30. 



Von Hillern, Wilhelmine. On the Cross. New 

 York: G. Gottsberger Peck. Pp.442. $1. 



Willoughby, E. P. Handbook of Public Health 

 and Demography, MacmilLn & Co. Pp. 509. 

 $1.50. 



Woods, Henry. Elementary Paleontology. 

 Macmillan & Co. Pp. 222. 



Zinet, Alexander. An Elementary Treatise 

 on Theoretical Mechanics. Part II. Macmillan 

 & Co. Pp. 183. $2.25. 



POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



Political Science at the Brooklyn Insti- 

 tute. The School of Political Science of the 

 Brooklyn Institute announces an advance 

 course in American politics, conducted by Dr. 

 Lewis G. Janes. It will be the aim of the in- 

 structor to give a concise and correct history of 

 our national politics from the Eevolutionary 

 period to the present time, with some ac- 

 count of the great statesmen and political 

 leaders of our country. A clear statement 

 of the facts of each political situation, with 

 a just view of the great legal and constitu- 

 tional questions involved in our political 

 controversies, without partisan bias, will 

 enable the student to form an intelligent 

 judgment upon the several topics. The lec- 

 tures of the first term will be devoted to the 

 formative period of our politics, from the 

 Revolution to the Mexican War ; those of 

 the second term to the period of reconstruc- 

 tion, from the Mexican War to the present 

 Five discussions are also provided for, con- 

 cerning the relative influence of the ideas of 

 Jefferson and of Hamilton in molding Amer- 

 ican institutions ; the good or evil of the 

 influence of Andrew Jackson in our politics ; 

 the justice of the Mexican War ; the im- 

 peachment of President Johnson ; and the 

 wisdom of President Cleveland's pension 

 vetoes. The courses will be given to two 

 classes, in two sections of Brooklyn, on dif- 

 ferent evenings of the week. 



The Grare of B. A. Proctor. Prof. 



Richard A. Proctor, the eminent astronomical 

 writer, died in this city on his way from his 

 home in Florida to fulfill lecture engage- 

 ments in England, September 12, 1888, of 

 yellow fever. The attack wag sudden, and 

 death followed very quickly. None of his 

 family were near him, and he was buried by 



strangers in the lot in Greenwood Cemetery 

 owned by the undertaker who took charge 

 of his remains. No further care seems to 

 have been taken of his grave until attention 

 was called to its neglected condition through 

 dispatches published in the papers by Mr. 

 Edward J. Bok. A lot was then provided 

 and a suitable monument was ordered by 

 Mr. G. W. Childs, of Philadelphia, and on Oc- 

 tober 3, 1893, the remains were removed to 

 this lot in the presence of a number of citi- 

 zens, thus expressing their regard for Prof. 

 Proctor's memory and for his services to 

 science, with religious exercises and a eulogy 

 by the Rev. Dr. T. De Witt Talmage. The 

 lot in which the remains have been perma- 

 nently interred is near the Fort Hamilton 

 Avenue entrance to Greenwood Cemetery, 

 opposite the village of Flatbush, and is sur- 

 rounded by a substantial railing. The mon- 

 ument is of polished bluish Quincy granite, 

 and besides the formal record bears the 

 following tribute by Herbert Spencer : " On 

 public as on private grounds Prof. Proctor's 

 premature death was much to be lamented. 

 He united great detailed knowledge with 

 broad general views in an unusual degree, 

 and, while admirably fitted for a popu- 

 lar expositor, was at the same time well 

 equipped for original investigation, which, 

 had he lived, would have added to our astro- 

 nomical knowledge. Prof. Proctor was also 

 to be admired for his endeavors to keep the 

 pursuit of science free from the corrupting 

 and paralyzing influence of state aid. HER- 

 BERT SPENCER." 



Indnctoscripts. At the Nottingham 

 meeting of the British Association for the 

 Advancement of Science an interesting fea- 

 ture was introduced in the display of novel 

 scientific apparatus and exhibits. Among 

 these were the " inductoscripts " of Rev. F. 

 J. Smith, obtained by placing an ordinary 

 photographic plate, film upward, on a metal 

 plate. A coin, or other metallic conductor 

 with a design upon it, is then laid on the 

 film and a discharge of electricity is passed 

 from the coin to the metal plate. On de- 

 veloping the photographic plate in the ordi- 

 nary way the design of the coin appears 

 upon it. An instrument designed by Prof. 

 Milne, F. R. S., of Japan, for registering the 

 intensity of earth tremors, was also exbib- 



