February 20, 1891.] 



scheme, partly because of its socialistic character, but mainly be- 

 cause in his opinion the Salvation Army was liable to degenerate 

 into " a mere engine of fanatical intolerance and personal am 

 bition." The publication of this letter, however, brought him a 

 large amount of new information, some of it coming from persons 

 that had been officers of the Salvation Army, and all tending to 

 show that his apprehensions were amply justifled. It appears 

 that the ofiSoers are all under obligation, like the Jesuits, to 

 "'obey, without questioning or gainsaying, the orders from 

 headquarters;' " and it further appears from evidence that has not 

 been questioned that large sums of money and other property 

 originally contributed by the public have been " handed over to 

 Mr. Booth and his heirs and assigns." This property is ostensibly 

 held in trust, but Mr. Huxley shows that there is no legal 

 obligation to that effect. He also criticises some of Mr. Booth's 

 social theories, remarking that ' ' with thrift and self-respect de- 

 nounced as sin, with the suffering of starving men referred to the 

 sins of the capitalist, the Gospel according to Mr. Booth may save 

 souls, but it will hardly save society." 



The result is, that Mr. Booth's schemes are unqualifiedly con- 

 demned, while at the same time the author of the letters shows 

 that he realizes the misery of the poor, and the danger it threatens 

 to society, as fully as any one. Indeed, he seems to us to exag- 

 gerate the social danger, remarking that "unless this remediable 

 misery is effectually dealt with, the hordes of vice and pauperisna 

 will destroy modern civilization as effectually as uncivilized tribes 

 of another kind destroyed the great social organization which 

 preceded ours." He also reprints an essay published in a maga- 

 zine in 1888, in which he takes a very pessimistic view of the 

 problem of poverty ; but the only remedy he proposes is technical 

 education, which to our mind is altogether inadequate. The 

 whole pamphlet, however, is vei-y interesting, and should be read 

 by every one who is concerned for the welfare of the laboring 

 poor. 



AMONG THE PUBLISHERS. 



The American Academy of Political and Social Science will 

 shortly issue a translation of Professor Meitzen's work on sta- 

 tistics. English literature on this subject is so meagre, that every 

 one interested either in its theoretical or practical aspects will be 

 glad to learn of this accession to our stock of scientific material. 

 Dr. E. P. Falkner of the University of Pennsylvania has made 

 the translation. 



— "Therapeutic Sarcognomy: a New Science of Soul, Brain, 

 and Body," is the title of a forthcoming work from the house of 

 the J. G. Cupples Company, Boston. The author is Professor J. 

 R. Buchanan. 



— In the Illustrated American for the week ending Feb. 21 

 there are illustrations of some of the treasures, in the way of old 

 books and bric-a-brac, that are contained in the collection of Mr. 

 Brayton Ives, about to be sold. 



— " Liberty in Literature " is the title of a small volume, well 

 printed and neatly bound, recently published by the Truth-Seeker 

 Company of this city. It is an address delivered by Robert G. 

 Ingersoll at Horticultural Hall, Philadelphia, on Oct. 21, 1890, on 

 the occasion of a testimonial to Walt Whitman. A portrait of 

 the aged "good gray poet '' illustrates the volume. 



— N. D. C. Hodges, 47 Lafayette Place, New York, has now in 

 press a work by Dr. Daniel G. Brinton, entitled "The American 

 Race : a Linguistic Classification and Ethnographic Description of 

 the Native Tribes of North and South America." It is the first 

 attempt ever made to classify all the Indian tribes by their lan- 

 guages, and it also treats of their customs, religions, physical 

 traits, arts, antiquities, and traditions. The work comprises the 

 results of several years of study in this special field. 



— Professor Morey of Rochester University, the author of 

 " Roman Law," has submitted a paper to the American Academy 

 of Political and Social Science on " The Genesis of our Written 

 Constitutions," which will shortly be issued by that body. He 

 attempts to show, that, so far from Mr. Gladstone's famous words 

 relating to the origin of the Constitution of the United States 



SCIENCE. 109 



being true, that instrument was a legitimate development of the 

 Constitution of the Colonies then existing, which io theirturn had 

 grown out of the charters of the old trading-companies. 



— " The Harpur Euclid," just published by Rivington of London, 

 and Longmans, Green, & Co., of New York, is an edition of 

 Euclid's " Elements " revised in accordance with the reports of the 

 Cambridge Board of Mathematical Studies and the Oxford Board of 

 the Faculty of Natural Science. It is the joint production of 

 Edward M. Langley, M.A., and W. Seys Phillips, M.A. The 

 work is intended to be strictly a school edition of Euclid. While 

 retaining his sequence of propositions, and basing their proofs en- 

 tirely on his axioms, the editors have not scrupled to replace some 

 of his demonstrations by easier ones, and to discard whatever they 

 considered superfluous or unnecessary. A good feature of the' 

 miscellaneous exercises given in the volume is that they are 

 taken from widely different sources ; some being original, others 

 taken from examination-papers, and still others being well-known 

 theorems or problems given by most writers on the same subject. 



— The late work of Henry M. Howe (son of Julia Ward Howe) on 

 "The Metallurgy of Steel" has met with pronounced success. 

 It has been warmly commended by many of the scientific journals 

 of Europe. We quote some of their opinions : " This work prom- 

 ises to become a classic. With a lucid style it combines thorough 

 comprehension of the subject and a wise conciseness," says the 

 Colliery Guardian, London. Other authoritative opinions are as 

 follows : " It is not only the most beautiful book ever published 

 about steel, but certainly, also, the most complete and profound" 

 {Revue Universelle des Mines, Liege, Belgium). " We fully in- 

 dorse and recommend it to the German metallurgists as one of 

 the most important contributions in modem times to the sidero- 

 metallurgial science " {Berg-und Huettenmaennisehe Zeitung, Ber- 

 lin, Germany). " This stately quarto is the most exhaustive yet 

 written on the subject" (Professor Ledebar, Freiberg, Germany). 

 " It is so easily and so far in advance of any thing that has ever 

 been published on iron, that it marks an epoch in the literature of 

 the subject" (Professor Drown, Institute of Technology, Boston). 



— In the Atlantic for March, in an autobiographic fragment en- 

 titled "My Schooling," we are told of James Freeman Clarke's 

 early educational training. "The State University in America," 

 by George E. Howard, advocates the establishment of universities 

 in each State, which shall be universities in something more than 

 name, and the relegation of the many colleges of insufficient 

 means to a grade intermediate between the school and the uni- 

 versity. A paper on " The Speaker as Premier," by Albert Bush- 

 nell Hart, is a timely consideration of a question which has been 

 much before the public of late. Mr. Lowell continues his articles 

 on travel in Japan. Perhaps the most valuable contribution to 

 the number is Francis Parkman's first paper on the " Capture of 

 Louisbourg by the New England Militia, " an historical study of 

 much importance, and with an incidental sketch of the Wentworth 

 House, ac New Castle, Maine, which is very charming. Miss 

 Agnes Repplier, in an amusing and thoughtful paper called 

 "Pleasure: A Heresy," appeals, not for more cultivation in life, 

 but for a recognized habit of enjoyment. The article is full of 

 good-natured banter at the expense of the self-consciously cultiva- 

 ted persons, who demand from both literature and art, not pleasure, 

 but some serious moral purpose. 



— Mark BrickeU Kerr, topographer of the National Geographic 

 Society's expedition to Mount St. Elias in the summer of 1890, will 

 describe the adventures and discoveries of that exploration in the 

 March Scribner. The results of his study of glaciers are especially 

 valuable, as well as the determination of a new measurement for 

 the altitude of this famous Alaskan mountain. Samuel Parsons, 

 jun., superintendent of parks for New York City, who has done 

 so much to beautify the public fountains with rare water-lilies, 

 papyrus, and lotus, will describe the practical means of ornament- 

 ing ponds and lakes in the same number. This article wUl espe- 

 cially interest people with small places in the counti-y, having 

 natiural streams and ponds upon them. 



— In The Chautauquan for March, 1891, we note the following 

 contributions: "The Intellectual Development of the English 



