December i8, 1891.J 



SCIENCE. 



347" 



when the moon was in the first quarter, I observed a bright spot 

 resembling a small star or planet upon the shaded surface of the 

 moon at a considerable distance from the illuminated portion of 

 the satellite. This I have no doubt was due to the beams of the 

 sun being reflected from the summit of one of the higher peaks 

 before they had illuminated the surrounding country. I have no 

 doubt the passage in question was suggested to the mind of the 

 author by his having been witness of some similar phenomenon, 

 although I have never heard of it being visible to the unaided 

 eye. T. D. 



York, Englard. 



BOOK-REVIEWS. 



Masterpieces of American Literature, with Biographical Sketches. 

 Boston, Houghton, Mifflin, & Co. 12°. 



This book was prepared at the suggestion of the Boston school 

 authorities, and is designed both as a reading book and as an in- 

 troduction to American literature. The authors represented are 

 thirteen in number, including Franklin, Irving, Whittier, Lowell, 

 and others, and the selections embrace a variety of articles in 

 many departments of literature, both in prose and in verse. The 

 selections are longer than those in ordinary reading books, the 

 whole of Whittier's " Snowbound," for instance, being given, 

 while other authors are represented either by entire works or by 

 long extracts. It is stated in the preface that the Boston school 

 authorities "planned the book and approved every selection;" 

 but, if they did, we cannot think they are to be wholly commended 

 as judges of literature. The book contains too many doggerel 

 verses, while, on the other hand, it presents some striking de- 

 ficiencies. For instance, there is not in the whole book a single 

 extract from our historians, although it is well known that we 

 have better works to show in history than in any other department 

 of literature. Moreover, there is not a religious article in the 

 book, and very few that are even ethical ; so that the collection 

 cannot be regarded as a satisfactory epitome of the best American 

 literature. The omissions are the more to be regretted because 

 ethical and historical works are especially adapted for the instrue- 

 tion of the young. American literature is but a narrow field at 

 best, and gleaners in it cannot afford to neglect any portion of it, 

 least of all that portion from which the most useful moral lessons 

 may be learned. We hope, therefore, that, if ever the book 

 reaches a second edition, some changes will be made in its con- 

 tents. 



AMONG THE PUBLISHERS. 



— The third edition of "Electricity, treated Experimentally for 

 the Use of Schools and Students," by Linnaeus Gumming, has been 

 published by Messrs. Longmans, Green, & Co. The author has 

 made such additions and alterations as seemed necessary to bring 

 the book up to date. 



— John Wiley & Sons have in preparation a "Manual of Ex- 

 perimental Engineering," by Professor R. C. Carpenter of Sibley 

 College. 



— Moses King of Boston, the maker of hand-books on various 

 cities, now announces a new work, to be called "King's Hand- 

 book of New York City." 



— Messrs. Whittaker & Co. have in the press a second edition 

 of Dr. A. B. Grifiith's "Treatise on Manures." It is a little more 

 than two years since the work appeared. Fifty pages of new 

 matter have been added. 



— The January number of Scribnei-'s Magazine marks the be- 

 ginning of the sixth year and eleventh volume of a periodical 

 which has already attained a circulation of more than 140,000 

 copies monthly. 



— D. Appleton & Co have under way a subscription-book of 

 considerable importance, edited by Professor Shaler of Harvard. 

 It is to be a general review of the America of to-day based upon 

 the reports of the last census. The contributions to this volume 



will be by experts and men of high standing in the profession for 

 which they speak. 



— The next volumes of Swan, Sonnenschein, & Go's Social Sci- 

 ence Series will be "Poverty, Its Gene.-is and Exodus," by J. G. 

 Godard, and "The Trade Policy of Imperial Federation," by 

 Maurice H. Harvey, who lately wrote an article on the subject in 

 the Asiatic Quarterly Review. A translation of the new book of 

 M. Ostrogovski, " La Femme au Point de Vue du Droit Publique," 

 is to appear in the same series at an early date. 



— DC. Heath & Co., Boston, will soon issue the first four books 

 of "Dichtung und Wahrheit," edited for them, with introduction 

 and notes, by Professor C. A. Buehheim, editor of the Clarendon 

 Press Series of German Classics. The edition will tie especially 

 adapted for pupils preparing for entrance |to college, offering an 

 advanced requirement in German, but will also have in view the 

 numerous colleges (hat devote a portion of their time to the read- 

 ing of Goethe's prose. 



— The frequent reports that Russia is about to seize Bokhara 

 will lend interest to the article by the Rev. Henry Lansdell, D.O., 

 in the January Scribner, entitled " Bokhara Revisited." In thi» 

 article he says: " It was not the policy of the Resident to interfere 

 more than is necessary in the domestic affairs of the Khanate, 

 except when they related to Russian subjects; and as for annex- 

 ing the Khanate, ' why,' as one asked of me, ' should they do 

 that?' To administer the country in Muscovite fashion would 

 cost a great deal more than the taxes would pay for, and if the 

 Russians want anything done, they have simply to nod to the Emir 

 and he does it. They are much too wise, therefore, to annex 

 Bokhara, but if need arises it can of course be done at any mo- 

 ment." 



— The Chautauquan for January presents the following among 

 other articles in its table of contents : Domesiic and Social Life 

 of the Colonists, IV., by Edward Everett Hale; Trading Compa- 

 nies, by John H. Finley; Physical Life, IV.. by Milton J. Green- 

 man ; National Agencies for Scientific Research, IV., by Major J. 

 W. Powell; Science and the Feeding of Animals, by V. Hallen- 

 beck; Progre-ss in the Nineteenth Century, by Edward A. Free- 

 man; Some Propositions of Nationalism, by Edward Arden; Ni- 

 agara the Motor for the World's Fair, by Professor John Trow- 

 bridge; The Kindergarten Movement in Chicago, by Antoinette 

 Van Hoesen Wakeman ; How Women Fig i re in the Eleventh 

 Census, by Margaret N. Wishard; Women's Robes in the Orient, 

 by Countess Annie de Montaigu. 



— The American Academy of Political and Social Science has 

 just published an essay on " Some Neglected Points in the Theory 

 of Socialism." The author is T. B. Veblen of Ithaca. The mon- 

 ograph was written with the purpose of finding an economic 

 ground for the existing unrest that finds expression in the demands 

 of Socialists. The work is a criticism of Mr. Spencer's essay, 

 " From Freedom to Bondage," and though Mr. Veblen claims to 

 be rather a disciple than a critic of Mr. Spencer, he hardly proves 

 himself such. The author shows very clearly how, under our 

 present system, there is a constant effort even at the expense of 

 real physical comforts and even necessities to make a greater dis- 

 play of one's ability to pay than one's neighbor.^. This " Eco- 

 nomic Emulation" he regards as the chief underlying cause of the 

 present socialistic agitation. 



— The success of 2'he Atlantic Monthly in certain departments 

 during the last year or two will be continued during the year 1893, 

 as shown by the folloiving announcements. All the attractions 

 which it will con'ain cannot, however, be mentioned here. The 

 papers on marked men will include articles on George Bancroft, 

 by W. M. Sloane; Orestes A. Brownson, by George Parsons 

 Lathrop; John Esten Cooke, and Philip Pendleton Cooke, by 

 Thomas Nelson Page; and James B. Eads, and others, will be con- 

 tinued. " An American at Home in Europe" is a series of papers 

 by William Henry Bishop, the novelist, giving the experience of 

 an American family which established itself abroad. Mr. Bishop 

 tells about his experiences in daily living in Paris, Versailles, St. 



