November 9, 1888.] 



SCIENCE. 



225 



spiritualizing life, letting light into the mind, inspiring and feeding 

 the higher forces of human nature. In this view, the reading-book 

 becomes vastly more than a mere drill-book in elocution ; and it 

 becomes of the greatest consequence that it should be rigorously 

 shut up to the best, and not made the idle vehicle of the second 

 best. It must never be forgotten that the days of a child's life are 

 precious : it has no choice within the walls of the school-room. In 

 its hours for reading it must take what we give it. Be sure that 

 the standard which we set in our school reading-books will inevi- 

 tably affect its choice of reading out of school ; that the conceptions 

 which it forms of literature and the ideal life will be noble or ig- 

 noble, according as we use our opportunities. It is for us to say 

 whether the American child shall be brought up to have its right- 

 ful share in the-great inheritance of America." 



In the second essay, after pointing out the desirability of teach- 

 ing nursery classics in school, the author says (p. 41), "The draw- 

 back to the use of these nursery classics in the school-room has 

 been in the absence of versions which are intelligible to children of 

 the proper age, reading by themselves. The makers of the graded 

 reading-books have expended all their ingenuity in grading the 

 ascent. They have been so concerned about the gradual enlarge- 

 ment of their vocabularies, that they have paid slight attention to 

 the ideas which the words were intended to convey. But just this 

 gradation may be secured through the use of these stories, and it 

 only needs that they should be written out in a form as simple, espe- 

 cially as regards the order of words, as that which obtains in the 

 reading-books of equivalent grade." And this fine passage serves 

 more purposes than one to show why American classics should be 

 read in school : " The common-school system is the one vast or- 

 g'anization of the country, elastic, adapted in minor details to local 

 needs, but swayed by one general plan ; feeling the force of edu- 

 cated public sentiment, and manipulated by the free, intelligent 

 association of teachers and superintendents. This organization 

 affords the most admirable means for the cultivation and strength- 

 ening of the sentiment of patriotism, and it avails itself of it in many 

 ways." We are perfectly safe in taking Mr. Scudder for our guide 

 in the matter of literature in the schools. 



Children's Stories of the Great Scientists. By HENRIETTA 

 Christian Wright. New York, Scribner. 8°. $1.25. 



The present volume, which is accompanied by eight good en- 

 gravings, — portraits of some scientists, — describes the life and 

 work of a number of the most energetic and successful workers in 

 natural science, the author's object being evidently to bring out the 

 lesson taught by their lives, more than to state the results of each 

 one's labor; at least, such we should consider the prime object of 

 biographies of scientists intended for children. In some instances 

 the author has well succeeded in bringing out the instructive part 

 of the lives of these men, and these we consider the best stories 

 contained in the book ; but in others a mere compilation of events 

 and discoveries is given, while the character and importance of the 

 man cannot be understood from the description. Among this latter 

 class is, for instance, the chapter on Ale.xander von Humboldt. 

 Many of the discoveries of physicists as described in the book will 

 hardly be intelligible to children, as they deal with the most diffi- 

 cult problems of science. As an introduction into the history of 

 natural science, the book has, however, a certain merit. The 

 seventeen men whose lives and works are described are the most 

 prominent of the last centuries ; and whenever the author pays at- 

 tention to their struggles and sufferings for the sake of their science, 

 as is done in many cases, the descriptions are suggestive and in- 

 structive to the child. 



Our Celestial Home. By J. G. Porter. New York, A. D. F. 

 Randolph & Co. I6^ $:. 



This book is written by an astronomer, and is an attempt to 

 prove that heaven is somewhere in the stellar universe, though the 

 author is careful not to say where. He contends, that, according 

 to the Bible, heaven is a material place, and not merely a happy 

 state of existence, and must therefore be somewhere in the universe 

 that we see around us. He gives a chapter to the subject of the 

 immensity of the universe as made known by the telescope, and 

 then considers the question of its stability. Science, he thinks, has 



shown the universe to be stable as to motion, but speaks with some 

 hesitation with regard to the forces of heat and light. The earth, 

 he intimates, may one day be destroyed by conflagration caused by 

 collision with some swarm of meteors, thus fulfilling the prediction 

 of scripture. Professor Porter is wholly uncritical in his religious 

 views ; for he believes not only in the future destruction of the 

 earth, but also in the literal resurrection of the body, in the doc- 

 trine that death is the result of Adam's fall, and much else that 

 liberal Christians of the present day have discarded. Indeed, his 

 book is neither religious nor scientific in the higher sense of these 

 terms, and is not likely to make any impression on intelligent 

 minds. 



Soaps and Candles. Ed. by J. Camercjn. Philadelphia, Blakiston. 



12". $2.25. 



This little book is one of a series of technical handbooks, of 

 which those already published are on ' Brewmg. Distilling, and 

 Wine-Manufacture;' 'Bleaching, Dyeing, and Calico Printing;' 

 ' Acetic Acid and Vinegar, Ammonia and Alum ; ' and ' Oils and 

 Varnishes.' As in the preceding numbers of the series, the articles 

 in ' Cooley's Cyclopsedia ' have formed the nucleus to which mate- 

 rial has been added from various scattered sources. It is assumed 

 that the reader has some knowledge of chemistry. 



Examples in Physics. By D. E. JONES. London and New York, 



Macmillan. 16°. 90 cents. 



As the author well remarks, " it is quite common to find students 

 who have a correct knowledge of the general principles of physics, 

 and can apply it intelligently in making a physical measurement, 

 but who are yet unable to solve an easy problem or to calculate the 

 results of their experimental work." Every one who has been 

 brought face to face with some numerical example in the course of 

 his study of physics has had cause to regret that he has not had 

 more practice in such work, and it is just this opportunity for prac- 

 tice that ' Examples in Physics ' is intended to supply in its more 

 than one thousand problems. 



NOTES AND NEWS. 

 The National Geographic Society signalized the beginning of 

 the second year of its successful work by publishing almost simul- 

 taneously with its first meeting of the season Vol. I., No. I, of The 

 National Geographic Magazine. In outward appearance it is as 

 attractive as its contents are creditable to the society, by which it 

 is not only edited, but written. Its outward covering is of the, at 

 present, fashionable brick-color, upon which is printed in plain type 

 the title of the magazine, the seal of the society, and the place of 

 publication. The paper is of good quality, and the typography 

 clean and sharp, so the page is easily read. But the contents are 

 most deserving of praise. Besides the opening announcement, in- 

 troductory address by the president, proceedings of the National 

 Geographic Society, and facts relating to it, there are six carefully 

 prepared articles. Their titles are, ' Geographic Methods in Geo- 

 logic Investigation,' by William M. Davis ; ' Classification of Geo- 

 graphic Forms by Genesis,' by W. J. McGee ; ' The Great Storm 

 of March 11 to 14, 1S8S,' — two articles, the first a brief one, by 

 Gen. A. W. Greely, and the second a very elaborate study of its 

 entire history, by Everett Hayden. The latter paper is illustrated 

 by six carefully prepared colored charts, upon which is shown 

 graphically almost every known fact relating to this great storm. 

 This paper, with the charts, has also been reprinted in a pamphlet. 

 The two remaining papers are, ' The Survey of the Coast,' by 

 Herbert G. Ogden ; and ' The Survey and Map of Massachusetts,' by 

 Henry Gannett. In the introductory announcement the editors say : 

 " The National Geographic Society has been organized ' to increase 

 and diffuse geographic knowledge,' and the publication of a maga- 

 zine has been determined upon as one means of accomplishing these 

 purposes. It will contain memoirs, essays, notes, correspondence, 

 reviews, etc., relating to geographic matters. As it is not intended 

 to be simply the organ of the society, its pages will be open to all 

 persons interested in geography, in the hope that it may become a 

 channel of intercommunication, stimulate geographic investigation, 

 and prove an acceptable medium for the publication of results. 

 The magazine is to be edited by the society. At present it will be 



