28 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XIII. No. 310 



count of the persistent dominance of delusion in the human mind. 

 The chapter immediately forthcoming will treat of " Demoniac Pos- 

 session and Insanity." 



— The way the Interstate Commerce Law looks from the side 

 of the railroads will be shown in the February Popular Science 

 Monthly, by Mr. Appleton Morgan, in a vigorous article entitled 

 "The Political Control of Railways: is it Confiscation?" Mr. 

 Morgan maintains that this act, by prohibiting pools, nullifies its 

 other prohibition of discriminations ; in fact, increases discrimina- 

 tion, when the whole people is regarded. 



— " The Story of a School " is the title of an article by the late 

 Professor James Johonnot, to appear in the February Popular Sci- 

 ence Monthly. It is an account of the success achieved in con- 

 ducting a normal school according to natural methods, arranging 

 the subjects of study in their order of dependence, teaching science 

 by observation, language by using language, mental and moral 

 philosophy objectively without books, and with no marking system, 

 rules of discipline, or distinctive religious exercises. 



— The American Queen, a monthly magazine for the home, is 

 published by the First National Publishing Company ( John C. 

 Rand, president), 131 Devonshire Street, Boston. 



— We have received from F. W. Christern & Co. (New York) 

 the first number of L' Exposition de Paris de 1889. It contains, 

 among other things, a large bird's-eye view of the exposition 

 grounds and buildings, pictures of the chief and assistant engineers 

 and architects, including M. Eiffel, general and detail views of the 

 300-metre tower now being erected by the latter gentleman, and a 

 prospectus of the exposition. Forty numbers of the publication 

 will be issued during the progress of the exposition, at ten cents a 

 copy. 



— An extra December number of the Riverside Literature Series 

 (Houghton, Mifflin, & Co.) is devoted to " Dialogues and Scenes 

 from the Writings of Harriet Beecher Stowe," arranged for read- 

 ing-exercises and dramatic representation, by Emily Weaver. Care 

 has been taken to adhere to the original text as closely as possible ; 

 and, to make the dialogue clear and to explain the action, explana- 

 tory passages from the books in which the dialogue occurs are added 

 from time to time. The dialogues are taken from " Uncle Tom's 

 Cabin," " Old Town Folks," and " The Minister's Wooing." 



— In a copiously illustrated article in Frank Leslie's Ilhcstraied 

 Monthly for January, Lieut. F. S. Bassett, U.S.N., traces the 

 evolution of the rudder, from the primitive paddle with which the 

 savage both propels and guides his dug-out or birch-bark canoe, to 

 the modern steam or hydraulic steering-gear of the great ocean 

 steamships. The illustrations, which are drawn from early monu- 

 ments and coins, and mediaeval frescos and paintings, show the 

 change in method of steering, from that in which the blade of the 

 oar or paddle is moved bodily through the water in a nearly hori- 

 zontal plane, to that in which the vertically placed successor to the 

 oar-blade, the rudder, is merely turned upon its axis. An interest- 

 ing fact mentioned in the article is that one of the most recent im- 

 provements in steering apparatus is a reversion, on a higher plane, 

 to the most primitive method, a swinging propellor both driving 

 and guiding the vessel, as did the paddle in the hands of the savage. 

 An article somewhat similar in nature to that of Lieut. Bassett's, 

 though more limited in scope, is published as a supplement to 

 Harper s Weekly of Jan. 5. It is entitled " The Evolution of 

 the Ferry-Boat," and is from the pen of S. Bayard Dod. Though 

 dealing only with the ferries and ferry-boats of New York, it con- 

 tains much to interest the general reader. Beginning with the first 

 licensed ferry on the North River, that between New York and 

 Communipaw, in 1661, when the fare was "six stuivers a head 

 Wampum for every passenger," and the boat was propelled by 

 oars or sails, Mr. Dod follows the growth of the ferries down to 

 the " horse " stage, when the boats were propelled by paddle- 

 wheels actuated by horse-power, and then to the introduction and 

 development of steam ferry-boats, ending with a description of 

 the latest triumph of ferry-boat architecture, the "Bergen," — 

 a steel boat, with fifteen water-tight compartments, and a pro- 

 pellor at either end, to take the place of the paddle-wheels which 

 have prevailed heretofore in such boats. Either a slip of the 



pen or a printer's error makes Mr. Dod say that the walking- 

 beam low-pressure engines in general use " have gradually increased 

 in size, from 25-feet diameter of cylinder with 5-feet stroke, to 46 

 and 50 inch cylinder with 10- feet stroke." 



— Professor J. H. Gore of the Columbian University has in prep- 

 aration a bibliography of geodesy. During two trips to Europe he 

 has collected about seven thousand titles, having examined nearly 

 every large library except that at St. Petersburg. He begins with 

 the first effort to ascertain the shape of the earth by triangulation in 

 the seventeenth century. The work will be published soon by the 

 Coast Survey. Professor Gore is trying to make his service com- 

 plete by personal application for data, he having written to all as- 

 tronomers and other mathematicians in the world whose addresses 

 he could obtain. He asks Science to say that the co-operation 

 of its readers is desired. 



— Dr. C. A. White has just prepared a bulletin for the Geologi- 

 cal Survey, on " The Permian of Texas," adducing some facts not 

 hitherto published, in recognition of the Permian in North Amer- 

 ica, and exhibiting some fossil forms not hitherto known to exist on 

 this continent, and a commingling of paleozoic and mesozoic types 

 similar to those discovered by Waagen in the Salt Range of India. 



— The London Globe of Dec. 4 describes a new plan for the 

 lending of books. The circulating library is now an important ele- 

 ment in English life, and, widely spread as are its ramifications, it 

 is possible seemingly to extend them even further. The experi- 

 ment, at any rate, is to be made in Austria-Hungary and on the 

 railways there. In England Messrs. Smith &. Sons have a circu- 

 lating library in connection with their book-stalls, but they do not 

 lend books for perusal on the journey only, charging a fee and tak- 

 ing the volumes back again at " the other end." Yet this is pre- 

 cisely what the Austrian firm propose to do. The traveller will be 

 required to pay a deposit which shall cover the price of the book 

 lent, and also a small charge, amounting to about threepence in 

 English money. He will choose a volume on starting, and return 

 it on arrival at his destination, where he will receive the sum de- 

 posited. No doubt the project will succeed, if the supply of books 

 is found satisfactory by the voyager. 



— From the Pall Mall Gazette we learn that Miss von Hoerschel- 

 mann's two-volume " Kulturgeschichtlicher Cicerone fiir Italien- 

 Reisende " has had the rare distinction in Germany of being by 

 special permission dedicated to the Empress Frederick, before 

 whom and the Emperor the lady has repeatedly lectured. Like 

 every thing else in Germany, the dedication of a literary work to a 

 member of the imperial family is connected with an incredible 

 amount of red tape. There is a codex in the laws relating to the 

 imperial household according to which no scientific work may be 

 dedicated to any member of the imperial family unless it comes up 

 to a certain standard. A number of savants " sit upon " each 

 work of this kind, and determine whether the dedication is to be or 

 not to be. One of the conditions is that the work shall contain 

 views or discoveries hitherto not dealt with. Miss von Hoerschel- 

 mann's Cicerone could naturally not lay claim to this distinction, 

 and it was owing to a special interference of the Empress Frederick 

 that her two volumes passed the censor and were dedicated to her 

 Majesty. 



— The Aldine Book Publishing Company state that they have 

 sold nearly 10,000 copies of their " Europe Illustrated." 



— The Library Bureau, Boston, announces to subscribers to the 

 " Decimal Classification," that, after many unforeseen delays, the 

 complete tables and index of 20,000 entries was printed last month, 

 and will be in from the bindery this week. The regular edition, 

 containing the introduction, cannot be had from the bindery till 

 after the holidays, possibly by Jan. 30. Those in special haste 

 may obtain now the tables and index bound, and in January the in- 

 troduction in pamphlet form. 



— According to The Publishers' Weekly, Col. Wright, the 

 commissioner of labor, expects to send two volumes to Congress 

 before the present session closes. The first will be the fourth an- 

 nual report of the Labor Bureau, and will be devoted to the work- 

 ing-women in the great cities. The other volume will be the report 



