46 THE AMERICAN MONTHLY. [February, 



The appendix contains topics which, while they ought to be included 

 in a high school text-book, are perhaps not essential to the course. 

 There are also twelve page,s of index. 



Abrief Uranography, covering the constellations visible in the United 

 States, with maps on a scale suificient for the easy identification of all 

 the principal stars, is also presented. It contains a list of objects ob- 

 servable with a small telescope. 



Voung's General Astronomy has been introduced into about one hun- 

 dred American colleges, and professors of astronomy have commended 

 the book most highly. This evidence of success of the more complete 

 work affords a weighty presumption in favor of the " Elements of As- 

 tronomy " by the same author. 



^^schines against Ctesiphon. Edited by Rufus B. Richardson, Pro- 

 fessor of Greek in Dartmouth College. 1 2°, 379 pp. Giiin & Co., 

 Boston. (Price $1.50.) 



The basis of the present edition is that of the German one by An- 

 dreas Weidner. The text which is the unique feature of Weidner's 

 work has been substantially reproduced. The introduction which 

 covers 30 pages treats of the life of vEschines. including his career as 

 an actor, soldier, public officer, his exile, relations with Demosthenes, 

 and the characteristics of his oratory. 



Although the orations of ^^schines are interesting in themselves, 

 they are doubly so when compared with those of Demosthenes, against 

 w^hose views they are directly opposite. The Oration against CtesipJion 

 should be read as a companion piece to Demosthenes' O71 the Croivn. 

 In the present edition this necessary connection has been kept in view. 



yEschines has decided merits of his own, which would make him a 

 formidable competitor for the second place among the Attic orators, 

 even if his struggles with the great orator had not placed him there. 

 His orations have many features which are noteworthy ; among those 

 fairly characteristic of his style are the Apostrophe, his vivid presenta- 

 tion of a picture, exaggeration, a fondness for jigura etymologica, the 

 art of dramatic representation, inclination to digression, and the use of 

 a pair of words to express a single notion. 



This volume is one of the " College Series of Greek Authors," and 

 like those which have already been issued, presents an attractive ap- 

 pearance in its typography, very full foot-notes, and neat cloth binding. 



The Alethod of Least Squares. By G. C. Comstock, Professor of 



Astronomy in the University of Wisconsin. 12°, 6!$) pp. Ginn & Co. 



Boston. (Price, $1.05.) 



This elementary treatment of the method of least squares is an at- 

 tempt to so present the subject to students of physics, astronomy, and 

 engineering, that a working knowledge, based upon an appreciation of 

 its principles, may be acquired with a moderate expenditure of time 

 and labor. 



The book presupposes only such mathematical attainments as are 

 usually possessed by those who have completed the first two years of 

 the curriculum of any of our better schools of science or engineering. 

 The principle of least squares is derived from the observed distribution 

 of residuals in certain typical series of observations. Especial care has 

 been taken to apply all of the leading principles of the method to numer- 



