January 4, 1889.] 



SCIENCE. 



13 



of silver, with iron salts, with salts of chromium, and with salts of 

 uranium. He gives practical instructions in regard to the paper to 

 be used, the methods of sensitizing, and the trays and dishes used 

 for the purpose, and describes various forms of printing-frames. 

 He then proceeds to describe the numerous processes that have 

 been suggested, and states their advantages and disadvantages. 

 Formulae which were found not practical, but which are recom- 

 mended by reliable authorities, have also been given. The patented 

 processes are included, although they cannot be used generally, in 

 order to give a complete review of the subject treated. The first 

 thousand copies of the book are accompanied by ten specimens of 

 heliographic prints, among which the uranium and carbon prints 

 deserve special mention. The first chapters, in which the methods 

 of sensitizing and printing are described, are accompanied by nu- 

 merous figures illustrating the instruments and processes. 



When Age Grows Young-. By Hyland C. Kirk. New York, 

 Dillingham. i6°. 50 cents. 

 The author of this work published a few years ago a speculation 

 on the possibility of not dying, in which he undertook to maintain that 

 it was possible to prolong human physical life indefinitely ; and 

 now, in accordance with the fashion of the time, he comes before 

 us with a romance in which he maintains the same view. The 

 ■story has no very consistent plot, but contains a considerable 

 variety of incident of a more or less interesting character. The 

 .principal personage in the story, however, who is known as Daniel 

 Ritter, and who is the advocate of the theory of physical immor- 

 tality, is by no means an agreeable character. He has some pleas- 

 ing traits, and is gifted with the power of telepathy, on which some 

 of the main incidents of the story are made to turn. But he wishes 

 to obtain twenty thousand dollars in order to marry the girl he 

 loves, and gets it by defrauding an insurance company. As for 

 the possibility of not dying, which " Ritter " maintains, it depends, 

 we are told, on certain conditions. The first is " to believe it pos- 

 sible;" the second, " to be in accord with the Will of the Universe ;" 

 the third, "to make the cause of humanity your own ; " and " the 

 final step is the triumph of love in life," whatever that may mean. 

 Now, without entering into the biological objections to such a 

 theory, we would remark that the first of these conditions seems to 

 be the most difficult of attainment. We are told by the prophet of 

 -an older gospel that if we have sufficient faith we can remove 

 ■mountains, but the difficulty with most people is to get the faith, 

 -and we apprehend that Mr. Ivirk's doctrine will encounter the same 

 ■obstacle. However, if any one wishes to learn about the theory, 

 he will take an interest in reading this book ; for it has at least the 

 literary merit of being written in a good style.. 



The Battle of the Swash and the Capture of Canada. By 

 Samuel Barton. New York, C. T. Dillingham. i6°. 50 

 cents. 



This little book is of the "Battle of Dorking'' class. It pur- 

 ports to be an account of an attack upon New York by a British 

 fleet in the year 1890, together with other exciting events, including 

 the capture of Canada, which occurred in the same year. The 

 reason for the book's existence, and the keynote of the author's 

 rather lively tune, may be found in the dedication of the volume, 

 which runs as follows : — 



" To the senators and ex-senators, members and ex-members, of 

 past and present Congresses of the United States of America, who, 

 by their stupid and criminal neglect to adopt ordinary defensive 

 precautions, or to encourage the reconstruction of the American 

 merchant marine, have rendered all American seaport towns liable 

 to such an attack as is herein but faintly and imperfectly described, 

 this historical forecast is dedicated ; with much indignation and 

 -contempt, and little or no respect." 



The author " makes his title clear " by explaining to those of his 

 readers not familiar with New York waters that the Swash is a 

 straight channel, forming a sort of hypothenuse to the two sides of 

 the main ship- channel, which bends almost at right angles at the 

 south-west spit in the outer bay. The admiral of the British fleet 

 selected this channel as his base of operations against New York. 

 " Blinding buoys," torpedoes and torpedo-boats, dynamite guns and 

 .gunboats, submarine boats, and various other devices, played a 



more or less important part in defending the city against the enemy. 

 But the most effective work was done by two insignificant-looking 

 boats, — evidently invented by the author, — which involved a new 

 principle of marine warfare as applicable to harbor defence. These 

 boats carried no arms or ammunition excepting a hollow steel ram 

 containing two tons of dynamite. Almost completely submerged, 

 and travelling at a speed of thirty miles an hour, they made for two 

 of the most formidable of the British ironclads. When so close to 

 their victims that there was no risk of missing the mark, the pilots 

 of the boats, the only men remaining aboard, quietly dropped 

 overboard, to be afterward picked up. The rams penetrate the 

 sides of the ironclads, two explosions follow, and there is nothing 

 left of either but fragments. Notwithstanding all this, the British 

 fleet enters the upper bay, and, at the end of two days' bom- 

 bardment, the Brooklyn navy-yard, the East River bridge, and the 

 lower part of New York City are utterly destroyed. 



But the book must be read to be appreciated. It is well written 

 and interesting, and puts into striking form the essence of the 

 many arguments advanced from time to time for " restoring our 

 merchant marine, strengthening our coast defences and the navy, 

 and supplementing the latter by a naval reserve." 



More about the Black Bass. By James A. Henshall, M.D. 

 Cincinnati, Robert Clarke & Co. 12°. $1.50. 



This volume is a supplement to the " Book of the Black Bass," 

 by the same author, who is an expert angler and an eminently 

 practical writer on black bass and bass-fishing. He has thought it 

 best to issue this supplement in a separate volume, letting the origi- 

 nal edition remain intact, the chapters in both volumes being so 

 arranged as to agree in number and caption. The plan pursued in 

 the original book, of illustrating the tools and tackle by engravings 

 especially prepared for manufacturers, to illustrate their different 

 lines of specialties, has been adhered to in the supplement. 



The book is divided into three parts. The first part treats of the 

 scientifie history, nomenclature and morphology, general and spe- 

 cial features, coloration, geographical distribution, habits, and intel- 

 ligence and special senses of the black bass, and on stocking inland 

 waters with them. Fishing rods, reels, lines, hooks, artificial flies, 

 artificial and natural baits, and miscellaneous implements, receive 

 attention in the second part. The third part is devoted to the 

 philosophy of angling, conditions governing the biting of fish, the 

 black bass as a game-fish, fly-fishing, casting the minnow, still- 

 fishing, trolling, and skittering and bobbing. The volume will be 

 welcomed by every genuine angler who " loves angling for its own 

 sake," while even the pot-fisher, who " likes fishing for the spoils it 

 brings," may find in it valuable hints that will increase his income 



AMONG THE PUBLISHERS. 



At last we are treated to a novelty in the way of almanac- 

 making. Dr. J. C. Ayer & Co., the well-known manufacturers of 

 Ayer's sarsaparilla, Lowell, Mass., send us their " Almanac for 

 1889," in the shape of a good-sized book, embracing editions in 

 English, calculated for the various sections of the United States, 

 the Dominion of Canada, India, South Africa, and Australia ; also 

 editions in nine other languages. The volume contains, also, 

 specimen pages of pamphlets issued by the companyllin eleven 

 languages not represented by the almanacs, including^Greek, Tur- 

 kish, Armenian, Chinese, Burmese, and Hawaiian, — twenty-one 

 languages in all. From the preface we learn that no^fewer than 

 fourteen millions of these almanacs are printed yearly. A copy of 

 this favorite almanac may be had at your druggist's. j|It is a species 

 of " yellow covered literature " of value. 



— Never without some papers which are sterling' contributions 

 to political and social science, " The Atlantic " for January has 

 in this department "A Difficult Problem in Politics," by Frank 

 Gaylord Cook, the problem being how to attain " uniform legisla- 

 tion " throughout the Union ; and one of Lillie Chace'Wyman's 

 " Studies of Factory Life," this time of the relation of ",The Ameri- 

 can and the Mill." Professor Shaler of Harvard] University con- 

 siders " The Athletic Problem in Education ; " and there]are papers 

 by PhiUp Dymond, on " Von Moltke's Characteristics," and by 

 John Fiske, on " Washington's Great Campaign of 1776." 



