LITERARY NOTICES. 



567 



relates chiefly to fungous diseases of plants 

 and to weeds. One of the leading diseases 

 investigated has been a serious trouble among 

 beans, producing brown irregular pits on the 

 pods and seeds. This was shown to be due 

 to bacteria. Much attention has been given 

 to fruit diseases and rose troubles ; diseases 

 of the violet, nasturtium, and sedum have 

 been studied also. Under the study of weeds 

 the root system has been an objective point. 

 The great size attained by tap roots of some 

 weeds, and the wide extent over which other 

 species may spread under ground, have been 

 shown. The manner in which weeds pass 

 the winter and their agency in propagating 

 fungi have also been looked into. 



A thoroughly practical address on Heat- 

 ing and Ventilation of Rtsidences, delivered 

 by James R. Willett to the engineering socie- 

 ties of the University of Illinois, has been 

 printed by the author. Three modes of heat- 

 ing by hot water, steam, and hot air are 

 described in it. Mr. Willett tells how to es- 

 timate the amount of radiating surface or the 

 sectional area of hot-air pipes required for a 

 house, how to determine the grate area, the 

 sizes of fittings, and the proper location for 

 all parts of a heating apparatus. There are 

 sixteen plates showing plans and elevations 

 of heating apparatus in houses. Further in- 

 formation is given in tables and in cuts in 

 the text. 



In the belief that spelling would be 

 learned incidentally from language lessons, 

 the set study of this subject has been largely 

 discontinued. This belief has proved erro- 

 neous in many cases, and a return to the old 

 practice is being made. The renewed de- 

 mand for spelling books has led to the pub- 

 lication of The Limited Speller, by Henry 

 R. Sanford, Ph. D. (Bardeen, 35 cents), de- 

 signed to include all the words in common 

 use which are frequently misspelled. The 

 words are arranged in one alphabetical list, 

 the accent is always marked, and the pro- 

 nunciation is indicated wherever necessary 

 by diacritics or respelling. 



With its number for December, 1893, 

 New Occasions began its second volume in a 

 new form and with more pages (Charles H. 

 Kerr & Co., $1 a year). It is edited by B. 

 J<\ Underwood, and is devoted to social and 

 industrial progress. The enlarged size was 

 made necessary by an arrangement to print 



in the magazine the lectures of the Brooklyn 

 Ethical Association for the past winter. The 

 December number contains the first of these 

 lectures, on Cosmic Evolution as related to 

 Ethics, by Lewis G. Janes. Dr. Janes asks 

 the question, " Can an ethical science be for- 

 mulated in harmony with cosmic law suffi- 

 ciently rational and broad to command the 

 allegiance of all liberal-minded people ? " and 

 gives some considerations in favor of an 

 affirmative answer. Other topics treated in 

 this number of the magazine are the pardon 

 system, immigration as affected by the tariff, 

 the Eliot-Lewes marriage, and there are 

 briefer articles under the general head of Oc- 

 casions and Duties. 



Many persons are looking to science for 

 some kind of substitute for religion, and 

 several attempts have been made to satisfy 

 this expectation. Among the latest of these 

 is that made by Dr. Paul Carus and em- 

 bodied in The Religion of Science (Open 

 Court Publishing Co., 25 and 50 cents). The 

 author's system imitates the form of tradi- 

 tional religion quite closely, while rejecting 

 revelation and anthropomorphism. The re- 

 ligion of science, he says, accepts "Enthe- 

 ism," and he defines this as " the view that 

 regards God as inseparable from the world. 

 He is the eternal in Nature." The authority 

 for conduct in his plan is the system of laws 

 of the universe. Its ethics is the ethics of 

 duty. Its conviction as to immortality is that 

 the soul persists not as an individual exist- 

 ence but that it becomes merged in the 

 "soul of mankind." Further resemblances 

 and differences between the new doctrine 

 and the old are set forth in chapters on 

 Mythology and Religion ; Christ and the 

 Christians, a Contrast; and The Catholicity 

 of the Religious Spirit. 



The Annual Report of the Chief of Engi- 

 neers, United States Army, 1893, Part I, is 

 occupied mainly with accounts of improve- 

 ments in rivers and harbors on which work 

 was done in the year ending June 30, 1893. 

 Operations were carried on at many places 

 along the Atlantic coast and the Gulf of 

 Mexico, from the St. Croix River in Maine to 

 the harbor at Brazos Santiago, Texas. The 

 Western rivers, the lake harbors and rivers, 

 and the Pacific coast also received consider- 

 able attention. Other work done by the 

 engineer corps concerned the bridging of 



