December 13, 1889.] 



SCIENCE. 



^091 



the blackboard. Lastly, the pupil must have practical experience 

 in the field. When he has been taught how to observe and record 

 the natural features of his own immediate vicinity, he should be 

 taken to another district, and be taught by contrast. Such is the 

 practice of German schools, but in England we are told that the 

 thing is impossible, that excursionist teaching would end in 

 anarchy. Yet head masters find no difficulty in taking cricket and 

 football teams to play distant schools. If they themselves knew 

 or cared for geography, the difficulty would vanish. " Such," said 

 Mr. Mackinder, " is, in briefest outline, my ideal of geography- 

 teaching in schools ; but the lecturer can only propose : it is the 

 examiner who disposes." 



SPEED OF RAILROAD TRAINS IN EUROPE. 



The German technical press is at present discussing the speed 

 of express trains. In answer to petitions addressed to him by a 

 number of persons interested^ says the Railroad and Engineering 

 Journal, the minister of public works declared recently that it 

 would be very difficult to respond to demands of this kind, since 

 the speed of express trains on the Prussian railroads was already 

 greater than in any other European country. If it should be in- 

 creased, the public would not patronize the railroads. 



This assertion, it is shown from statistics recently collected, is 

 not by any means correct. The following table shows the average 

 speed of fast trains in different European countries, and shows 

 that Germany does not by any means occupy the first rank. 



/—Speed per hour in miles.— ^ 



Including Without 



Country. stops. stops. 



Great Britain 41.7 44-6 



France 32.8 36.2 



Holland 32.5 3S>o 



Belgium 31-8 33-5 



North Germany 31.8 34.3 



South Germany 31.2 33.0 



Austtia-Hungary 30.0 32.0 



Italy 29.S 31.8 



Russia 29.0 31.7 



The inferiority of Germany in this point of view finds a marked 

 expression, if we compare the speed of the great Oriental Express, 

 which runs between Paris and Constantinople, passing over the 

 railroads of a number of European countries, including Germany. 

 This train is the fastest long-distance express train run in Europe, 

 and from the time-tabls the average speed in the different coun- 

 tries is as follows : in France, 40.5 miles per hour ; in Germany 

 the speed varies in different sections, being in Alsace-Lorraine, 

 32.5 miles; in Baden, 35.5 miles; in Wiirtemberg, 30 miles; in 

 Bavaria, 33.7 miles. In Austria the average speed is' 33.5 miles ; 

 in Hungary, 34 miles ; and in Roumania, 32 miles. This compari- 

 son, it will be seen, is not altogether to the advantage of the Ger- 

 man lines. 



In this connection some comparison may be made of the pas- 

 senger tariffs in different countries. From this it appears that the 

 lowest charges, both for first and second class passages, are in 

 Belgium, Holland coming next, then Germany, then France, then 

 Austria-Hungary. England and Italy charge the same fare for 

 first-class passages, but the English second-class is considerably 

 lower than the Italian. The highest fares in Europe are in Russia. 

 Third and fourth class fares are not included in this system, as 

 those classes of passengers are not generally carried on the fast 

 express trains. 



AMONG THE PUBLISHERS. 

 Beginning with Jan. i, 1890, Mrs. Fuentesy Capdeville, Mad- 

 rid, Spain, will publish a new scientific illustrated weekly magazine 

 entitled La Naiuraleza. 



— J. F. Whiteaves has published in the "Transactions of the 

 Royal Society of Canada" (Vol. VII., Section IV., 1889) "Descrip- 

 tions of Eight New Species of Fossils from the Cambro-Silurian 

 Rocks of Manitoba," illustrated by six plates. 



— D. Appleton & Co. have ready " Appletons' Handbook of 

 Winter Resorts." They have in press a book by Frank Vincent, 

 entitled " Around and About South America." Mr. Vincent cir- 

 cumnavigated South America, and visited the various places of in- 



terest in the different countries, including many in Brazil. The 

 volume will be fully illustrated. They have in press a valuable 

 historical work in "James G. Birney and the Genesis of the Re- 

 publican Party," by Gen. William Birney. 



— In the Christmas number of The Ladies' Home Journal, 

 Theodore R. Davis gi.ves a glimpse inside the White House and of 

 the State dinners under several administrations, and Edward W. 

 Bok tells what are the literary tastes of two such men as Gladstone 

 and Bismarck. 



— John Howard Appleton, professor of chemistry, Providence, 

 R. I., author of " Beginner's Handbook of Chemistry," " The Young 

 Chemist," "Qualitative Analysis," "Quantitative Analysis," " Lab- 

 oratory Yearbook," has issued his " Laboratory Yearbook for 1890." 

 This publication is now in its eighth year. 



— Charles Scribner's Sons have just published " Among the 

 Cannibals," which is an account by Carl Lumholtz of his four 

 years' travel in Australia, and of camp-life with the aborigines of 

 Queensland, considered to be the lowest race of homo sapiens- 

 known to exist. 



— Robert M. Lindsay, Philadelphia, Penn., announces to be- 

 published in December an etched portrait of Charles Darwin, after 

 the painting by W. W. Ouless of the Royal Academy, London, and 

 etched by G. Mercier of Paris, pupil and coUaborateur of the emi- 

 nent Rajon, recently deceased. The size of the plate is about 

 twelve by fifteen inches. 



— The January number of Scribner's Magazine will appear with 

 additional space, and a new department at the end of the number, 

 conducted under the title " The Point of View." An opportunity- 

 is here given to the best writers for a brief and familiar discussion' 

 of subjects of both passing and permanent interest. In the January 

 number the subjects touched are" The Barye Exhibition," " Thack- 

 eray's Life," " Social Life in Print," and " The French as Artists.' 

 The success of the magazine has been such that the publishers feel 

 justified in adding these new pages to a magazine already low in 

 price. 



— E. & F. N. Spon have just published " Inventor's Manual : 

 How to Make a Patent Pay," by an experienced and successful in- 

 ventor. Thousands of useful inventions are every year patented,, 

 but on which the inventor does not realize any thing, simply for 

 want of information how best to proceed to introduce or dispose of 

 his invention. Among the subjects treated in this work are how 

 to invent ; how to secure a good patent ; value of a good inven- 

 tion ; how to exhibit an invention ; how to interest capital ; how to- 

 estimate the value of a patent ; value of design patents ; value of 

 foreign patents ; value of small inventions ; advice on selling pat- 

 ents ; advice on the fonnation of stock companies ; advice on the 

 formation of limited liability companies ; advice on disposing of 

 old patents ; advice as to patent attorneys ; advice as to selling 

 agents ; forms for assignments, licenses, and contracts ; State laws- 

 concerning patent rights. 



— Messrs. Putnam have issued in the Story of the Nations Series^ 

 a volume on " Early Britain," by Alfred J. Church. It begins with- 

 the earliest authentic records, and closes with the Norman Conquest.. 

 Being intended for popular reading, it of course has not the philo- 

 sophical character that a work on such a subject might have, but 

 from its own point of view it has considerable merit. The author 

 has followed the best authorities, though always with independent 

 judgment ; and he has probably given as clear an account of the 

 most stirring events in early English history as his space and 

 materials permitted. The main fault of the work, as of the major- 

 ity of historical books, is the excessive attention given to military 

 affairs to the neglect of other matters of greater importance, Mr. 

 Church evidently thinks the Roman occupation of Britain of more 

 consequence than some writers do, for he devotes one-fourth of his 

 book to it ; and he is not disposed, like some, to think that all that 

 is valuable in English life is due to the Teutonic settlers. On the 

 whole, he has made a judicious and readable book. We are sorry 

 to have to add that, like one other volume in this series which we 

 had occasion to notice some time ago, it contains a number of 

 grammatical blunders, such as singular nouns with plural verbs,, 

 abverbs used for adjectives, and so forth, which ought never to be 

 seen in a respectable publication. 



