32 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XIV. No. 336 



so puzzling and discouraging to the general public, though neces- 

 sary to the student and the electrician. The author does not put 

 it forward as a scientific work, of which there is no lack, intending 

 it only as a sort of guide-book on the road to electrical science, 

 which will probably give to many the information they may desire, 

 without requiring too great a research into works which treat more 

 extensively and deeply of the subject. The book bears the indorse- 

 ment of Thomas A. Edison. 



AMONG THE PUBLISHERS. 



Among the timely articles in the July number of The New 

 Revie-w, which Longmans, Green, cS: Co. expect to have ready 

 about the 12th, are "The Eiffel Tower," by M.Eiffel himself; 

 " The Shah of Persia," by Lord Castletown ; and " The Eight 

 Hours Bill," by Mr. Charles Bradlaugh. There will also be an 

 anonymous article on " The Talkers of London." Matthew Ar- 

 nold's literary executor, Lord Coleridge, has written a paper on 

 the lamented poet and critic, which will appear in the July number 

 of The New Review, 



— The July number of Blackwood's will contain a story by Mr. 

 Oscar Wilde on the subject of Shakspeare's sonnets. Mr. Wilde 

 will put forward an entirely new theory as to the identity of the 

 mysterious " Mr. W. H." of the famous preface. 



— John Wiley & Sons have just ready a work on " Steam-Engine 

 Design," for the use of mechanical engineers, students, and 

 draughtsmen, by Professor J. M. Witham. 



— Ticknor & Co. announce "The Moral Idea; a Historic 

 Study," by Julia Wedgwood, — a work which is said to be the 

 outcome of twenty years of study, and which is described as " a 

 history of human aspiration after a moral ideal that changes con- 

 tinually in the evolution of time and thought, the highest truth dis- 

 covered by one age being often found by a revolt against the errors 

 circling round the belief that was the life of a former age." 



— D. Appleton & Co. have ready " Days Out of Doors," by 

 Charles C. Abbott, a companion volume to his " A Naturalist's 

 Rambles about Home;" "The Garden's Story," by George H. 

 Ellwanger, relating the pleasures and trials of an amateur gar- 

 dener, illustrated with head and tail pieces by Rhead ; and " The 

 History of a Slave," by H. M.Johnston, author of the " Kilimanjaro 

 Expedition." 



— In the July issues of the leading English reviews, Mr. Glad- 

 stone contributes to the Nineteenth Century an article entitled 

 " Plain Speaking on the Irish Union." Mr. Gosse writes on " Ed- 

 ward FitzGerald," the translator of Omar Khayyum, in the Fort- 

 nightly ; and Walter Besant describes the first society of British 

 authors (1843) in the Contemporary Review. This last-named 

 periodical will contain, in addition to other notable articles, a paper 

 on " Jewels and Dress," by Mrs. Haweis ; and one on " Thomas 

 Hardy," by J. M. Barrie. 



— Messrs. Belford, Clarke, & Co. send us two of their lately 

 published novels, — " The Prophet's Mantle," by Fabian Bland ; 

 and " Trean, or The Mormon's Daughter," by Alva M. Kerr. The 

 former is much better than many recent novels, being not only un- 

 exceptionable in both a moral and a literary sense, but really an en- 

 tertaining story. The leading character is a Russian nihilist, but 

 the scene is mostly laid in London. The incidents are mostly of 

 an ordinary kind, only a few being unusually exciting ; yet the in- 

 terest is unflagging from beginning to end. A good deal is said 

 by the various characters on the subjects of socialism, capitalism, 

 tyranny, and the urgent need of social re-organization, and the 

 author seems to be more or less in sympathy with socialistic, views, 

 but with some doubts about their practicability. The other novel 

 is inferior to " The Prophet's Mantle," but has nevertheless an in- 

 terest of its own. The hero of the tale is an eastern man, who 

 goes on business to Utah, and there falls in love with a Mormon's 

 daughter. A Mormon bishop, however, who already had several 

 wives, was bent on adding that same girl to the list ; and hence 

 arose a host of trouble for the young lovers, out of which, of course, 

 they at last emerged triumphant. The book contains a great deal 

 about the Mormon doctrines and practices — most readers will 



think too much for the interest of the story ; and the author is 

 evidently a determined hater of the whole Mormon system. Al- 

 most every novel nowadays endeavors, as these do, to deal with 

 some moral or social question, either by showing in a vivid light 

 some evil that requires a remedy or by rousing a public sentiment 

 in favor of reform. This tendency, if properly directed, is certainly 

 to be welcomed ; for it makes the story not only more useful and 

 improving, but also to men of intelligence more interesting. 



— Messrs. Ginn & Co. announce for early publication " Pages 

 Choisies des Memoires du Due de Saint-Simon," edited for use in 

 colleges and advanced classes, and for private readers, by Alphonse 

 N. Van Daell, Ph.C, LL.D., recently director of modern languages 

 in the Boston High and Latin Schools, and now professor of French 

 in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The " Memoires of 

 Saint-Simon," which are of great importance for both the literary 

 and the historical study of the seventeenth century in France, are 

 accessible to but few students, partly on account of their bulk. 

 The editor does not know of any American edition, although it is 

 very desirable to have Saint-Simon's prose studied in an advanced 

 course. The notes will be in French ; and the introduction wilt 

 consist of two selections, — one from Taine, the other from Ram- 

 baud. The same firm also announce for publication in August, 

 Dumas' " Les Trois Mousquetaires," edited by Professor F. C. 

 Sumichrast of Harvard University, for use in schools and colleges 

 and for private readers. Alexandre Dumas was one of the bright- 

 est and most entertaining of writers ; but his works, with the excep- 

 tion of " La Tulipe Noire," have not been available for college or 

 school work on account of their length and the frequent occur- 

 rence of objectionable passages. These two objections are re- 

 moved in this edition of Dumas' masterpiece, " Les Trois Mous- 

 quetaires." The story itself is kept intact, and the brilliant de- 

 scription of court, camp, and city life preserved ; but the " padding " 

 has been omitted, and its place supplied by brief summaries. Every 

 objectionable page has been carefully excised, and this with the 

 greater readiness that the actual story is not thereby affected. The 

 book will form a volume of about two hundred pages of reading- 

 matter, and, being fully annotated, will prove an edition serviceable 

 to student and teacher alike. 



— The For2im for July contains eleven articles on a great variety 

 of subjects and of varying excellence. The most important is the 

 opening one, by Bishop Henry C. Potter, on " The Scholar in 

 American Life." The writer justly thinks that the American peo- 

 ple are greatly in need of a much higher grade of scholarship than 

 now prevails among them ; and in this essay he endeavors to show 

 this need, and also to point out the conditions on which alone it 

 can be supplied. By scholarship Bishop Potter does not mean the 

 mere possession of knowledge ; on the contrary, he speaks slight- 

 ingly of those who merely retail other men's ideas. It is the origi- 

 nal thinker, the teacher of new truths, whom he designates as the 

 scholar, and whose work he regards as so important. At present 

 such men are rare in this country, and those of the highest class 

 are not found here at all ; and Bishop Potter doubts if we shall 

 have them in any considerable numbers until our universities pro- 

 vide, either by fellowships or by lectureships, for their support. The 

 whole paper is well considered, and ought to be read and pondered 

 by all who have the interests of American civilization at heart. 

 Mr. W. S. Lilly continues his series of papers on what he deems 

 the moral looseness of the present age, treating this time of " The 

 Ethics of Journalism." He contrasts the ideal of the journalist's 

 profession with the reality, and it cannot be denied that the 

 charges he brings against the common run of journalists have a 

 solid basis of fact. Professor G. J. Romanes replies briefly to Mr. 

 Mivart's criticism of the Darwinian theory, but without saying any 

 thing that is new. Dr. Austin Flint has a paper on " Late Theo- 

 ries concerning Fever," in which he considers especially the mode 

 of treating that disease. He remarks that the increase of tempera- 

 ture is the really dangerous element in the case, and, while he 

 speaks somewhat hesitatingly about the use of drugs for reducing 

 the temperature, recommends in strong terms the application of 

 cool baths. M. Honore Beaugrand writes of " The Attitude of the 

 French Canadians" on the questions of commercial union and an- 

 nexation to the United States. He replies to Professor Goldwin 



