MaPCH 22, 1889.] 



SCIENCE. 



223 



conclusions of physics and chemistry, and, in addition, must devote 

 not a Httle time and labor to studying the application of the more 

 general laws of these sciences to the special phenomena of plant 

 and animal life. In this text-book the author has summarized 

 briefly the principal conclusions of the inorganic sciences, devoting 

 special attention to those laws on which the higher science of biol- 

 ogy is founded, and has endeavored to keep prominently in the 

 foreground the dependence of biology on physics and chemistry, 

 and the relationship of morphological and physiological details to 

 general principles. 



Matter, energy, the classification of chemical compounds, and 

 the laws of chemical change, are discussed in the first chapter ; 

 and the author then proceeds to consider protoplasm in its many 

 and varied aspects. Individual and tribal life, with distribution and 

 classification, are thoroughly treated. 



The Proteita, Protophyta, Protozoa, Metaphyta, and Metazoa 

 are described in most minute detail. The illustrations are excellent, 

 and are to a great extent original. The typography and general ex- 

 ecution of the book leave nothing to be desired. As a text-book of 

 elementary biology, it is one of the best that have ever been pub- 

 lished. 



Chemical Lecture Notes. By Peter T. Austen. New York, 

 Wiley. 12". $1. 



This book is not intended as a text-book, but is simply a collec- 

 tion of notes and observations on certain topics, which, experience 

 as a teacher of chemistry in Rutgers College and the New Jersey 

 State Scientific School has shown Professor Austen, give the stu- 

 dent more or less trouble. While no attempt has been made to 

 include all the rocks and shoals on which chemical students suffer 

 shipwreck, still the author has succeeded in making lucid many of 

 the topics which, are not rendered sufficiently intelligible by the 

 average text-book. Valence, atomicity, the laws of Boyle, Charles, 

 and Mariotte, can no longer be a mystery to a student of these lec- 

 ture-notes. We recommend them to those who have found diffi- 

 culty in comprehending the intricacies of modern chemistry, and 

 equally to those who would escape the hard places in this science, 

 so numerous even when studied with the best of helps and teach- 

 ers. 



AMONG THE PUBLISHERS. 

 We have received from A. Lovell & Co. " Greene's Language 

 Half-Blanks, No. i," by H. R. Greene, a pamphlet designed to 

 teach the elements of English grammar by means of exercises and 

 diagrams. Examples are given of the parts of speech, and the 

 construction of the sentence is duly explained, and the pupil is then 

 to write short sentences, the principal words being furnished him 

 to illustrate what has been told him. These sentences are to be 

 arranged in tables, and the different elements of the sentence indi- 

 cated by certain marks written under the words. What the pre- 

 cise value of Mr. Greene's system may be, experience must decide ; 

 but marks and diagra.ms have no connection with language as such, 

 and can at best be nothing more than very slight helps. The book 

 is one of a series ending with a full grammar. 



— Messrs. Ginn & Co. of Boston have issued "An Introduction 

 to the Poetry of Robert Browning," by Professor William J. Alex- 

 ander of Halifax, N.S. The author remarks on the difficulty ex- 

 perienced in understanding any new writer, and on the special 

 difficulty of understanding Browning because of his obscurity ; 

 and he has prepared this work with the object of clearing up some 

 of these difficulties, and making his author more comprehensible to 

 the mass of readers. He finds the chief motive of Browning's work 

 in his belief in the central doctrines of Christianity, which he has 

 endeavored to illustrate and enforce. One chapter is given to 

 Browning's philosophy, and another to his theory of art ; and the 

 remainder of the book is devoted to an account of his mental de- 

 velopment as exhibited in his various works. 



— D. Appleton & Co. will publish immediately a treatise by the 

 Hon. Seymour Dexter of Elmira, N.Y., on " Co-operative Savings 

 and Loan Associations," which will include an examination of 

 building and loan associations, mutual savings and loan associa- 

 tions, accumulating fund associations, co-operative banks, etc. 



The appendix will contain laws of New York, Pennsylvania, and 

 Massachusetts, forms for Articles of associations, by-laws, account- 

 books, and other useful information on the subject. The author, 

 who is judge probate of Chemung County, has been president of 

 the Chemung Valley Mutual Association for fourteen years, and is 

 high authority on the subject of which he treats. They also an- 

 nounce " A Manual of Instruction in the Principles of Prompt Aid . 

 to the Injured," designed for military and civil use, by Dr. Alvah 

 H. Doty ; and a new book by Mr. O. B. Bunce, entitled " The 

 Story of Happinolande and other Legends," which is to be issued 

 in the Gainsborough Series. The latter consists of four slight 

 sketches, — "The Story of Happinolande" (which, being trans- 

 lated, is " Happy-no-land " ), " A Millionnaire's Millions," " The 

 City Beautiful," and "John's Attic ; " all of which, the latter, how- 

 ever, only slightly, involve questions in social science. 



— Harper & Brothers have ready this week a concise instructive 

 work on " Constitutional Government in Spain," by J. L. M. Curry, 

 LL.D., predecessor of Mr. Perry Belmont as minister of the United 

 States in Spain. It is the result of some years of close study of the 

 subject, and of actual observation of Spanish political and social 

 life during the author's official residence in the country. Valuable 

 appendices are added, summarizing the careers of aspirants to the 

 Spanish throne, — Fernando, Leopold, Duke of Montpensier, and 

 Amadeo; giving sketches of Christina, Isabel, Alfonso XII., the 

 Infantas, the Queen Regent, and Alfonso XIII.; describing the 

 present condition of Spain in its political, social, and industrial as- 

 pects ; and, lastly, explaining briefly the acquisition of Florida by 

 the United States. They have also just ready " Choice Cookery," 

 by Catherine Owen, author of " Ten Dollars Enough." etc., the 

 object of which is to help those who wish to know at a glance 

 what is newest and best in modern cookery. 



— David McKay, Philadelphia, will shortly publish a new edition 

 of Joel Cook's " Holiday Tour in Europe," formerly published by 

 Porter & Coates. 



— The American Magazitie suspended publication last Decem- 

 ber, 



— The Index, published by E. R. Walker, Chicago, is a little 

 four-page monthly paper that will attempt to take " a glance at the 

 leading features of the forthcoming periodicals." 



— 07ice a Week has been enlarged, and includes a greater 

 variety of contents. The most noticeable thing in the current 

 number is the first instalment of a Stockton story, called after its 

 heroine, " Ardis Claverden." 



— The Advance Sheet, published by C. A. Watson. New York, 

 will attempt to give a monthly survey of periodical literature, in- 

 dexing the contents of the leading periodicals for the next month, 

 with such comments as will make the announcements as attractive 

 as possible. 



— The two new volumes of " Letters of Carlyle " which Profes- 

 sor C. E. Norton has edited are mostly addressed to the various 

 members of Carlyle's family, and afford a tolerably continuous ac- 

 count of his life from his marriage to the period when his fame 

 was about to be established by the publication of his " French 

 Revolution." Messrs. Macmillan are to publish them speedily. 



— The new edition of Queen & Co.'s " Chemical Apparatus Cata- 

 logue " is now published. It contains 368 pages, with about 1,200 

 illustrations, and will be mailed to any address on receipt of fifty 

 cents, which sum will be deducted from the first purchase made 

 from it amounting to ten dollars or more. This is a very elabo- 

 rate work, containing the most useful apparatus, and the firm feels 

 confident that it will be considered by chemists a standard for ref- 

 erence. While the quality of the apparatus is maintained, most 

 of the prices have been reduced. 



— In the Contemporary Review for March (New York. Leonard 

 Scott Publication Company), interest centres in the paper on the 

 " Panama Canal," by Edward Whymper. with its intelligent dia- 

 grams and maps ; Archibald Forbes criticises some of Lord Wolse- 

 ley's recent utterances ; Dr. Dale continues his interesting papers 

 on Australia ; Canon Wilberforce treats of Ireland's demands ; and 

 Mr. Gierke describes the observatory at the Cape of Good Hope. 



