October i i, 1889.] 



SCIENCE. 



255 



not see the propriety of including the Crimean war in the subjects 

 treated ; for, though it occurred after the time at which Mr. Mur- 

 dock begins his narrative, it had nothing to do with the recon- 

 struction of Europe, and its connection with the later events de- 

 scribed is very remote. Of course, the greater part of the volume 

 is devoted to the unification of Italy and Germany, and the author 

 shows pretty clearly why the revolutionists of 1848 failed to reach 

 these ends, and why and how they were afterwards attained. The 

 diplomacy of Cavour and Bismarck is well described, while the ob- 

 tuseness of the French Emperor and his ministers and marshals is 

 strikingly shown. Some of the great battles of the epoch, espe- 

 cially that of Sadowa and the engagements around Metz, are very 

 clearly delineated, and those who are fond of military history will 

 find many interesting chapters in Mr. Murdock's book. He closes 

 without alluding to the Russo-Turkish war of 1878, doubtless be- 

 cause the work of reconstruction in that quarter is not yet com- 

 pleted, and no one can tell how it will end. On the whole, and in 

 spite of some drawbacks, Mr. Murdock has written an interesting 

 work, and one that will be specially useful to those persons who 

 wish to keep informed of the general course of European affairs 

 without going into all the details. 



AMONG THE PUBLISHERS. 

 Arnold & Co., Philadelphia, publish this week Mrs. S. T. 

 Rorer's book on " Home Candy-Making." 



— Among the scientific notes in the Johns Hopkins University 

 Circulars for September are " Contributions to the Mineralogy of 

 Maryland," by George H. Williams; "Note on some Minerals 

 from the Chrome-Pits of Montgomery County, Md.,"by A. C. Gill ; 

 " A Study of the Oyster-Beds of Long Island Sound with Refer- 

 ence to the Ravages of Starfish," by C. F. Hodge ; and " Associa- 

 tion in Substitution and Rotation," by Professor Morton W.Easton 

 of the University of Pennsylvania. 



— The Publishers' Weekly notes the promotion of one of the 

 most popular and promising members of the trade. Mr. Edward 

 W. Bok last week resigned his position as manager of the adver- 

 tising department of Charles Scribner's Sons, to assume the editor- 

 ship of The Ladies' Home Journal of Philadelphia, under most 

 favorable arrangements. Mr. Bok has been with the Scribners 

 for five years, and in graduating to the editorial chair becomes, 

 perhaps, the youngest chief editor in the country. He is twenty- 

 five years of age. In this connection, the following extract from 

 the New York Star possesses special interest at this time : " Only 

 those on the ' inside ' of New York literary and journalistic circles 

 know any thing about ' The Bok Syndicate Press,' a bureau from 

 which emanate many of the best and most striking literary articles 

 by famous authors found in the modern newspaper. It is owned 

 and managed by two brothers, Edward W. and William J. Bok. 

 The combined ages of these two young publishers do not make the 

 figure fifty, and yet within their control rests one of the most re- 

 markable literary influences of to-day. They control the literary 

 work of some forty-five of the most famous men and women of the 

 day, which they supply to newspapers simultaneously all over this 

 country and in Canada and England. Edward Bok holds a re- 

 sponsible position in one of the big New York publishing-houses, 

 and his name is withheld from the enterprise. William devotes all 

 his time to the work, and under his name the business is con- 

 ducted. While Edward makes all the contracts with authors, 

 William stands at the helm and carries out the ideas of his younger 

 brother. A better matched couple of brothers it would be difficult 

 to find. Edward has a wonderfully extensive acquaintance among 

 famous people. He is well read, has good literary judgment, and 

 knows precisely what the people want. William is of untiring en- 

 ergy, and a doubtful literary venture becomes a success in his 

 hands. The brothers are very popular in society, and one is 

 almost sure to meet them at any prominent literary or social event. 

 Both are good talkers, have pleasant manners, and what the one 

 lacks the other supplies. They have built up their business from 

 nothing. Henry Ward Beecher started Edward by making him 

 his literary manager, and in this way the bureau began. Now 

 almost every author of note writes for the two brothers. They 

 have no difficulty in securing writers, for they pay promptly and 



manage excellently. Their principal writers include Grace Green- 

 wood, Wilkie Collins, Marion Harland, Lew Wallace, Ella Wheeler,, 

 Will Carleton, Max O'Rell, and a score of others. They work 

 quietly, the general public hears but little of them, yet it is doubt- 

 ful whether any two young men in New York have so bright a fu- 

 ture before them." 



— Brentano's will publih shortly a collection of papers on tech- 

 nical and historical subjects under the title of " Military Miscella- 

 nies," by Gen. J. B. Fry, U.S.A. 



— Roberts Brothers have just ready " Louisa M. Alcott : her 

 Life, Letters, and Journals," edited by Ednah D. Cheney, illustrated 

 with portraits and a view of the Alcott house in Concord. 



— Houghton, Mifflin, & Co. published on the 5th " A Summer 

 Journey to Alaska," by Maturin M. Ballou, who describes in a most 

 interesting manner not only the resources and features of the coun- 

 try and people of Alaska, but also the wonders of the Yellowstone 

 Park and the marvellous country along the Canadian Pacific Railway; 

 "The Reconstruction of Europe," a sketch of the diplomatic and 

 military history of continental Europe, from the rise to the fall of 

 the second empire, by Harold Murdock, with an introduction by 

 John Fiske ; also the first two volumes of the scientific papers of 

 Asa Gray, selected by Charles Sprague Sargent, comprising reviews 

 of works on botany and related subjects, 1834-87, and essays and 

 biographical sketches, 1841-86. They publish this week the pretty 

 two-volume edition of the " Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table." It 

 is promised in beautiful type, tasteful binding, and with steel-en- 

 graved titlepages. Miss Lucia T. Ames's novel, " Memoirs of a 

 Millionnaire," comes very opportunely, when the public is engaged 

 as never before in thinking on social questions ; and her story,, 

 which suggests some excellent uses for wealth, is likely to find 

 eager readers. Rev. Julius H. Ward's little book, " The Church 

 in Modern Society," is an attempt to show what influence the 

 Church is entitled to exert, why it fails now to exert it, and how it 

 may regain its lost prerogative. The new edition of the Atlantic 

 index, affording ready access to the varied riches of the sixty-two 

 volumes of the Atlantic Monthly, will be welcome to many. 



— Count E. De V. Vermont, author of " America Heraldica," 

 and a publisher at 744 Broadway, this city, is no relation to the 

 man arrested under the name of W. C. Tenner, alias Terrail de 

 Vermont, for having forged various checks in New York, Canada, 

 etc. 



— The friends of Psyche, a journal of entomology published by 

 the Cainbridge Entomological Club, have made an appeal to en- 

 tomologists for support. The limited funds of the club are not 

 sufficient to publish the journal with the present subscription list 

 without falling into arrears, so that the journal has been a heavy 

 drain upon its local supporters, though several friends at a distance 

 have generously assisted. A slight increase of the subscription 

 list would render it nearly self-supporting, which is all the club 

 asks, and it is believed that the special circumstances of the pres- 

 ent time, indicated in the form of a subscription, will find a re- 

 sponse from those interested in its welfare. Sample copies will be 

 sent to any one desiring to call the attention of others to its char- 

 acter. A friend of the Cambridge Entomological Club having as- 

 sured the publication ai Psyche to the end of 1893 on condition that 

 fifty new subscriptions to the present volume (at five dollars the 

 volume) are received before Nov. i, 1889, Mr. George Dimmock of 

 Cambridge has subscribed for five copies ; Mr. Samuel H. Scud- 

 der of Cambridge, for five ; Mr. Roland Hayward of Boston, for 

 two ; and Mr. Holmes Hinckley of Cambridge, for one copy. Sub- 

 scriptions and payments may be made to Samuel Henshaw, treas- 

 urer, Cambridge, Mass. 



— "The Butterflies of the Eastern United States and Canada, 

 with Special Reference to New England," describes in detail all 

 the butterflies known to occur in North America east of the Mis- 

 sissippi, excepting such as are found only in the unsettled parts of 

 Canada or south of Kentucky and Virginia. It was originally 

 issued in twelve monthly parts, each containing 8 plates (colored 

 and plain) and about 150 pages of text. The first part was pub- 

 lished Nov. I, 1888; the last will be published Oct. i, 1SS9. As 

 now completed, it contains 17 plates of butterflies, 6 of eggs, 11 of 



