84 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XIV. No. 339 



■extent confirmed by M. Variot, who made a communication to the 

 Society de Biologie on June 29. The patients chosen were debili- 

 tated men, aged fifty-four, fifty-six, and sixty-eight years respec- 

 tively, and they were not informed of the nature of the treatment 

 adopted. In all three cases the injections were followed by gen- 

 eral nervous excitement, increased muscular power, and stimulation 

 and regulation of digestion. M. Brown-Sequard said that M. 

 Variot's observations disposed of the objection that the results he 

 had observed in himself were due to " suggestion." 



The Heredity of Myopia. — If the opinions of various oph- 

 thalmologists, concerning the heredity of myopia were recorded 

 'here, the result would be an accumulation of vastly conflicting 

 statements. This, however, would be Urgely due to lack of pre- 

 cision in investigating the subject. Lately Dr. Motais has care- 

 fully studied both the history and course of disease in 330 cases of 

 myopia occurring in young people, and has arrived at the follow- 

 ing conclusions, which are given in The Medical News: i. The 

 hereditary influence of myopia is manifest ; 2. Out of 330 cases, the 

 ■families of 219 were afflicted with the same disease (this shows a 

 ^percentage of 65 per cent) ; 3. Hereditary myopia is distinguished 

 -from acquired myopia by (a) its more early appearance, (b) its 

 inore rapid development, (c) its greater severity, (d) its being more 

 frequently followed by other complications (in short, hereditary 

 myopia is far more serious than the acquired form of the disease) ; 

 4. Myopia is usually transmitted from the father to the daughter 

 (86 per cent), and from the mother to the son (79 per cent) ; 5. 

 The principal conditions which favor the transmission of hereditary 

 •myopia are, (a) use of the eyesight under bad hygienic surround- 

 ings (whether in school or at home), (b) Astigmatism (14 per 

 ■cent), (c) Microsomia (diminution of the orbital arch), 16 per 

 •cent ; 6. The increase of the disease in hereditary cases was, in 6 

 per cent of the cases, found to be mainly the fault of those who 

 'had charge of the child's education. If care is not taken, acquired 

 Tnyopia will not restrict itself to the individual, but may also be 

 transmitted unto their children. 



ELECTRICAL NEWS. 

 Wiring of Ships. — In order to avoid any disturbance of the 

 ■magnetism of the compass of a vessel by the powerful currents 

 ^ised in electric lighting. Sir William Thomson recommends the 

 ■exclusive employment of a two-wire system, the positive and nega- 

 tive mains bemg not far apart save in -those cases, of rare occur- 

 ■rence at present, in which alternating currents are employed. A 

 -galvanometer of simple construction should also be made use of, 

 for the purpose of ascertaining that the outgoing and return cur- 

 rents are of the same strength, or, in other words, that no leakage 

 is occurring. Further, the magnetic leakage from the dynamo 

 should not be sufficient to cause any appreciable disturbance of the 

 ■compass-needle, which may be tested by observing this needle at 

 the moments of starting and stopping the dynamo. In opposition 

 to Sir William, says Engineering, Mr. Alexander Siemens, whose 

 ■firm have fitted up a large number of vessels with the electric light, 

 has not found any special precautions necessary, the single-wire 

 system being employed in every case. As for the dynamo, he has 

 never found any disturbance from this cause, provided that there 

 was a distance of fifty feet between the dynamo and the binnacle. 



BOOK-REVIEWS. 



Autobiography of Friedrich Froebel. Tr. by Emilie MiCHAELIS 

 and H. Keatley Moore. Syracuse, C. W. Bardeen. 12°. 

 $1.50. 

 The bulk of this volume consists of a letter from Froebel to the 

 Duke of Meiningen, to which is added an extract from another of 

 'his letters, and several notes by the translators. The letter to the 

 duke relates to the early part of the author's life, from his birth to 

 the establishment of his school at Keilhau, where his system of 

 education, since known as the kindergarten system, was first defi- 

 nitely carried into practice. The letter to the duke of Meiningen 

 is unfinished, and whether it was ever delivered to the duke at all 

 ■is uncertain. But, however that may be, the letter gives a full ac- 



count, not only of the writer's early life and education, but also of 

 his theory of education in general. His practical method, unfor- 

 tunately, receives but scant mention ; and, if we had no other 

 sources of information than this book contains, we should be at a 

 loss to know what his improvements in education really were. 

 His theories however, and the pantheistic philosophy on which 

 they are based, are expounded superabundantly, page after page 

 being filled with what is little better than vapor. He is forever 

 talking about the " unity and inner connection " of things, " the 

 inner law and order embracing all things." Whenever he studied 

 any subject, he always sought for this " inner connection," and he 

 complains of Pestalozzi's school, which he visited, as lacking in 

 inner harmony and unity. Precisely what he meant by these 

 phrases it is sometimes difficult to ascertain ; but they are repeated 

 till the reader is weary of them. He had, as even his translators 

 admit, an absurdly exaggerated sense of the importance of his 

 educational methods. He seems to have thought that the wisdom 

 of ages and the accumulated experience of mankind were worth- 

 less, and declared that he wanted " the exact opposite of what now 

 serves as educational method and as teaching-system in gen- 

 eral." Indeed, he seems to have thought that he was going to 

 revolutionize the culture and life of humanity, whereas all he has 

 accomplished is some slight improvements in the education of 

 children. Of his ardent devotion and spirit of sacrifice for the 

 good of others, this book bears abundant evidence. He was often 

 in pecuniary difficulties, yet, amid them all, he steadfastly pursued 

 his course after he had once learned his true vocation as an educa- 

 tor. It is to be regretted that the translators have not given a 

 fuller account of Froebel's more elaborate experiments in teaching, 

 to which he really owes his influence and fame, and which are 

 scarcely touched upon in his autobiographical letter. As it is, we 

 get from this book an interesting account of his early life, and of 

 his theories and aspirations, but very little information as to the 

 inception and introduction of those practical methods in which his 

 real life-work consisted. However, we must be thankful to the 

 translators for giving us the autobiography in English, and, as 

 they themselves remark, wait till some adequate biography appears 

 for the fuller information we desire. 



AMONG THE PUBLISHERS. 



" The Life of Harriet Beecher Stowe," by her son. Rev. Charles 

 E. Stowe, is now passing through the Riverside Press, and will be 

 given to the public early in the autumn. It will be a book of pe- 

 culiar personal and Hterary interest, and will appeal to a host of 

 readers on both sides of the Atlantic. It is to be a handsome 

 volume, embellished with fine portraits and other illustrations, and 

 will be sold by Houghton, Mifflin, & Co. by subscriptions. 



— Messrs. Ginn & Co. announce for publication in August 

 " Myers's General History," by P. V. N. Myers, president of Bel- 

 mont College. This book is based upon the author's " Ancient 

 History" and "Medieval and Modern History," and is character- 

 ized by the same qualities as mark the earlier works. It is be- 

 lieved that the difficult task which the author set for himself, of 

 compressing the fourteen hundred or more pages comprising the 

 two text-books mentioned into a single volume of about seven 

 hundred pages, has been accomplished without impairment either 

 of the interest or of the easy flow of the narration. The greatest 

 care has been taken to verify every statement, and to give the 

 latest results of discovery and criticism. The book is provided 

 with between twenty and thirty colored maps, besides nearly two 

 hundred sketch-maps, woodcuts, and photogravures. The illus- 

 trations have been drawn from the most authentic sources, and 

 nothing has been admitted save what is illustrative and truthful. 



— Sampson Low & Co. have published a work entitled " Eng- 

 lishmen in the French Revolution," by Mr. J. G. Alger, which is 

 based upon much personal research among unpublished docu- 

 ments both at the Record Office and in Paris. Besides incorporat- 

 ing two articles that originally appeared in the Edinburgh Review, 

 dealing with the early days of the Revolution and the Terror, 

 chapters are added about the prisoners of war, the opening of 

 Paris by the peace of Amiens, and the subsequent imprisonment 



