[arch 20, 1 89 1.] 



SCIENCE, 



165 



Whiting was for some years connected with the Jefferson Physi- 

 cal Laboratory of Harvai'd College, and this work embodies the 

 results of his experience in teaching physical measurements to 

 the Harvard students. 



— In "Domestic Science," by James E. Talmage, Ph.D., pub- 

 lished by the Juvenile Instructor OESce, Salt Lake City, Utah, 

 the author has attempted to bring together in a simijle manner 

 such topics as have a dii-ect bearing upon the science of domestic 

 operations. His object has been to direct attention to daily house- 

 hold affairs, and we think he has treated his subject „with fair 

 success. 



— Messrs. Ginn & Co. announce to be published in the summer 

 of 1891, "The Prometheus Bound of ^schylus, with the Frag- 

 ments of the Prometlieus Loosed," with introduction and notes by 

 N. Wecklein, rector of the Maximilian Gymnasium in Munich, 

 translated by F. D. Allen. The book is a translation, with some 

 freedom as to form of expression, of Wecklein's second edition 

 (1878). A few changes in text and commentary have been re- 

 quested by the German editor, and references to American gram- 

 matical works have been added by the translator. The copious 

 explanatory commentary is followed by a critical appendix. 



— Messrs. Ginn & Co have published a small volume entitled 

 " A Priuier of Ethics," designed as an instruction-book and moni- 

 tor for children. It is reaUy a new edition of " Tlie RoUo Code 

 of Morals," pviblished many years ago by Jacob Abbott ; but the 

 original work has been revised, with additions and omissions, by 

 Benjamin B. Comegys. It treats of all those phases of morals 

 which it is most important for young people to understand, and 

 for the most part in a simple and attractive style. In a few pas- 

 sages the distinctions drawn are perhaps a little too fine for the 

 learner's comprehension, and some of the definitions are hardly 

 plain enough; but the great number of illustrative examples aid 

 in making the subject clearer. In its new form the book deserves 

 a new career of usefulness. 



— Statements having been made in Paois affecting the authen- 

 ticity of Marie Bashkirtseff's "Journal," says The Publishers 

 Weekly, M. Andre Theuriet writes to the Temps that Marie's 

 mother brought him the whole of the journal of her daughter, 

 from 1873 to almost the eve of her death; and he undertook, too 

 good-naturedly, to edit it, because implored to do so, and in mem- 

 ory of his dear friend Bastien Lepage. He consulted the Bash- 

 kirtseff family as to the cutting-out of oft-repeated passages, 

 childish nonsense, tedious descriptions of toilets, and unpleasant 

 reflections upon other persons. After this pruning, there was 

 enough of the original matter to fill two volumes. 



— In the fall of 1889, as stated in The Publishers' Weekly, the 

 American Secular Union, a voluntary association having for its 

 object the complete separation of Church and State, in practice as 

 well as in profession, and in no way committed to any system of 

 religious belief or disbelief, offered a premium of one thousand 

 dollars for " the best essay, treatise, or manual adapted to aid and 

 assist teachers in our free public schools and in the Girard College 

 for orphans, and other public and chai-itable institutions profess- 

 ing to be unsectarian, to thoroughly instruct children and youth 

 in the purest princij^les of morality without inculcating religious 

 doctrines." The committee chosen to examine the numerous 

 manuscripts submitted in competition included Richard B. West- 

 brook, LL.D., president of the Secular Union, Felix Adler of New 

 York, and Dr. D. G. Brinton of Philadelphia. On its recom- 

 mendation, the prize has been equally divided between the two 

 manuscripts considered the best. The successful authors are Rev. 

 N. P. Gilman of West Newton, editor of the Literary World of 

 Boston, and Mr. Edward P. Jackson, one of the masters of the 

 Boston Latin School. 



— Herbert Spencer's views on state socialism are contained in 

 an article entitled "P'rom Freedom to Bondage," which will open 

 the April Popular Science Monthly. This is probably the strong- 

 est refutation of socialistic theorizing that has yet appeared. The 

 subject of street-cleaning in large cities will be treated in the 



same number by Gen. Emmons Clark of New York. The article 

 will include explicit practical suggestions for the proper perform- 

 ance of this important work. The battle between Professor 

 Huxley and the defenders of theology is still going on. There 

 will also be an essay by the Duke of Argyll, entitled " Professor 

 Huxley on the War-Path, "in which the professor is charged with 

 treating theological questions inconsistently with his treatment of 

 scientific subjects. ' ' What keeps the bicycler upright ? " — a ques- 

 tion that is often asked — will be answered in an illusti'ated article 

 by Charles B. Warring. 



— Messrs. F. Warne & Co., New York, inform us that they will 

 shortly issue the English edition of Major Casati's work, which 

 will be published in two volumes, containing nearly two hundred 

 original illustrations and several valuable maps. The period em- 

 braced by the work extends from a date prior to Gen. Gordon's 

 appointment as governor-general of the Soudan to the return of 

 Mr. Stanley's expedition. Major Casati, who was resident among 

 the native tribes south of Khartoum and in various parts of Cen- 

 tral Africa during the rise of Mahdism, gives valuable informa- 

 tion as to the political situations there during the early stages of 

 the revolution, and a most interesting account of the fall of 

 Khartoum and the death of Gordon. Of the ten years of his stay 

 in the Equatorial Provinces, he passed a series of years with Emin 

 Pacha, whose full confidence he enjoyed ; and, being the only 

 European officer present during the latter years of Emin's gov- 

 ernorship, he had exceptional opportunities for gaining informa- 

 tion and forming an independent judgment on the political and 

 other mysterious questions in connection with these provinces. 



— G. P. Putnam's Sons will publish at once, in their series of 

 Questions of the Day, " The Question of Copyright," a volume 

 comprising the following material: (1) the text of the new copy- 

 right law of Feb. 4, 1891, which, under reciprocity arrangements, 

 secures American copyright for aliens, and foreign copyright for 

 Americans; (3) the text of the copyright law of July 8, 1870, nov%' 

 superseded; (3) the present copyright law of Great Britain; (4) the 

 amended copyright law as recommended by the British Parlia- 

 mentary Commission of lb79; (5) the amended copyright law as 

 recommended by the British Society of Authors in 1891 ; (b) an 

 analysis of the Royalty Scheme of Copyright (recommended by 

 Mr. R. Pearsall Smith, Sir T. H. Farrer, and others); (7) the In- 

 ternational Copyright Convention as ratified at the Berne Confer- 

 ence, Sept. 5, 1887; (8) report of the International Copyright Con- 

 vention of South America, held at Montevideo, Jan. 11, 1889; (9) 

 Henry Clay's report on copyright, domestic and international, 

 Feb. 16, 1887; (10) "The Evolution of Copyright," by Brander 

 Matthews ; (11) " Literary Property," by G. H. Putnam ; (12) " The 

 Influence of International Copyright on the Price of Books," by 

 Brander Matthews and G. H. Putnam; (13) "Copyright Monopo- 

 lies, and Protection," by G. H. Putnam; (14) "The Nature and 

 Origin of Copyright," by R. R. Bowker; (15) "Development of 

 Statutory Copyright in England,"' by R. R. Bowker; (lO) summary 

 of copyright legislation in the United States; and (17) summary of 

 the terms of copyright in the different countries of the world. 



— In Lippincott's Magazine for April, " The Elizabethan Drama 

 and the Victorian Novel," an article by T. D. Robb, institutes a 

 comparison between the Elizabethan and the Victorian views of 

 life and art. In "Yarns about Diamonds," in the same magazine, 

 David Graham Adee relates some interesting facts about diamonds 

 in general, and tells many stories relating to the discovery and 

 history of some of the most famous of these gems, such as the 



Great Mogul," the " Braganza," the " Regent," the " Crown of 

 the Moon," the "Star of South Africa," and many others; and 

 Charles Morris, in an article entitled "New Africa," tells how 

 nearly the whole African continent has been taken up by Euro- 

 pean nations. 



— In The Chautaiiqiian for April we note "The Intellectual 

 Development of the English People," by Edward A. Freeman; 

 "Life in Modern England," I , by J. Ranken Towse; "British 

 America," by Professor A. P. Coleman; "The Referendum in 

 Switzerland," by J. W. Sullivan; " Studies in Astronomy," VII., 

 by Garrett P. Serviss; "Dreaming," by Flavel Scott Mines; 



