OCTOBEE 12, 1900.] 



SGIEXCE. 



565 



upon a mass of insignificant experiments in 

 mechanics. This book is decidedly the best 

 setting forth of the best collection of experi- 

 ments for secondary school work which I have 

 been able to obtain. From the contents it will 

 be seen how well the choice of experiments in 

 the various subjects has been made : General 

 and mechanics, 14 heads ; sound, 2 ; heat, 6 ; 

 light, 7 ; and electricity and magnetism, 9. 

 Or by pages : General and mechanics, 100 ; 

 sound, 12 ; heat, 30 ; light, 32 ; electricity, 55. 



The general instructions are very good and 

 well presented. The line illustrations are thor- 

 oughly satisfactory ; they have been made for 

 this book and are not reproductions of hack- 

 neyed and inapplicable cuts from other texts. 

 To be commended are also the outline tables 

 and suggestions for making the records in the 

 note book. In fact there is so little to find 

 fault with in the book that the little may be 

 ignored. 



The book is its own evidence of the practical 

 work the author has been doing in his schools 

 and is at once a guide and a standard for other 

 teachers. The book should be in every labora- 

 tory where physics is taught. 



W. Hallock. 



An Inquiry into the Conditions relating to the 

 Water Supply of the City of New York. By 

 the Merchants' Association of New York. 

 Copyright by The Merchants' Association, 

 1900. Published by the Association at its 

 oifice, New York Life Building, New York 

 City. 1900. 8vo. Cloth. Pp. xxxix + 

 627. 



This large and well-filled volume is perhaps 

 the most important technical municipal docu- 

 ment ever issued from our modern press, either 

 public or private. It presents the results of 

 very complete study of the problem of water 

 supply to the City of New York, made by a 

 committee of experts of national and interna- 

 tional reputation, under the direction of the 

 Merchants' Association of that city. It was 

 conducted purely as a matter of patriotism and 

 public spirit, especially for the purpose of se- 

 curing a reliable and useful collection of facts 

 and data with which to throw light upon the 

 great municipal question raised by the famous 



Ramapo contract. It is important in itself as 

 giving an enormous amount of essential in- 

 formation, and hardly less so as illustrating a 

 degree of public spirit and an extent of intelli- 

 gent research relating to scientific and technical 

 questions such as, perhaps, was never before 

 seen as the product of a patriotic spirit in 

 municipal affairs. The Association expended 

 $33,000 in the work, and its officers and aids 

 gave their services ; even the experts in law, 

 engineering and other departments giving their 

 services to the value of tens of thousands of 

 dollars and conducting investigations of very 

 great extent and of immense value without 

 charge. The costs incurred were defrayed by in- 

 dividuals who voluntarily advanced the money, 

 and only about one-third of the total had been 

 received from subscriptions at the date of the 

 publication of the reports. The public spirit of 

 the average citizen of New York is as remark- 

 able for its diminutiveness as is that of a few 

 individuals for liberality and self-sacrifice. 



Thirty-three men of distinction in their sev- 

 eral professions constituted the General Com- 

 mittee, and such men as Messrs. Bannin and 

 Deming, Professor Goodnow, and Mr. LeGendre 

 were on the Executive Committee ; Messrs. 

 Clarke, Hering, North, Stauffer, Prout, Bow- 

 ker, Towne, Dresser, Olcott and Haines con- 

 stituted the Engineering Committee and Dem- 

 ing, Sterne, Hinrichs, Dr. Edson, Fowler, 

 Albert Shaw, Schiff, Maltbie and Mayo-Smith 

 that on Finance and Public Policy. The 

 Counsel were Messrs Dill, Peckham, McCurdy 

 and Couklin. Mr. James H. Fuertes was em- 

 ployed to report on ' Sources of Future Sup- 

 ply ' and valuable reports were obtained from 

 Mr. Rafter on the 'Adirondack Supply,' Mr. 

 Croes on 'Past and Present Supply,' from Mr. 

 Crowell on 'Auxiliary Salt Water Supply,' and 

 from Mr. Ward on ' Pumping Stations and Water 

 Distribution.' Mr. Coler, the Comptroller, gave 

 the committee most valuable assistance. The 

 engineering, legal and commercial lines of busi- 

 ness were thus well represented, and it is doubt- 

 ful if any private enterprise could have brought 

 together such an array of professional talent or 

 secured so complete and useful a study of the 

 situation and its demands. 



The gist of the matter is that New York 



