SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XII. No. 304 



come in the way of bridge engineers. It is the aim of the writer to 

 present, in as simple a manner as possible, a somewhat rational 

 mode of designing girders of this class with special reference to 

 American practice ; and. in the absence of any particular treatise on 

 the subject within the reach of every one as yet, it is hoped that it 



may be of some help to beginners in bridge-designing. Some 



questions addressed to the editor of The Engitieermg and Building 

 Reco?'d and T/ie Sanitary Engineer by persons in the employ of 

 new water-works indicated that a short series of practical articles 

 on the details of constructing a water-works plant would be of value ; 

 and at the suggestion of the editor, Mr. William R. Billings pre- 

 pared a series of papers for the columns of that journal, entitled 

 ' Some Details of Water-Works Construction ; ' and now, in a more 

 convenient form than is afforded by the columns of the paper, these 

 notes of actual experience are offered to the water-works fraternity 

 with the belief that they may be of assistance to beginners, and of 



some interest to all. The Popular Publishing Company at 



Chicago Lawn publishes a ' Key to the Families of Insects,' by N. 

 M. Eberhart, which gives in a few pages the characteristic features 



of each order and family of insects. Prof. John Henry Com- 



stock has published the first part of an ' Introduction in Ento- 

 mology.' 'The work has been prepared to meet the demand for a 

 text-book which shall enable students to acquire a thorough knowl- 

 edge of the elementary principles of entomology. Although much 

 pains has been taken to render easy the classification of specimens, 

 an effort has been made to give the mere determination of the 

 names of insects a very subordinate place, much space having been 

 given to the habits and transformations of the forms described. 

 The book is illustrated with many figures, many of which are origi- 

 nals. It will prove of good use to students of entomology. The 



Clarendon Press has published the first volume of Robert Eth- 

 eridge's great catalogue, ' Fossils of the British Islands,' compris- 

 ing the paleozoic species. The preparation of the manuscript of 

 this catalogue was begun in 1865, and since that time the author 

 has continued this work. The present volume comprises 1,588 

 genera and 6,022 species arranged stratigraphically, and also classi- 

 fied zoologically. A supplementary index brings the work down to 

 1886. It not only contains all additional species described since 

 the catalogue was in type, but also records the changes in the no- 

 menclature and distribution of many zoological groups and species 

 previously catalogued, which had been rendered necessary by the 

 progress of research. Mr. William Archer, the English dra- 

 matic critic, has just completed ' Masks or Faces ? ' a study in the 

 psychology of acting, which Longmans, Green, & Co. will issue at 

 once. Mr. Archer takes up afresh the question debated by M. 

 Coquelinand Mr. Irving as to the amount of feeling an actor should 

 have. He has collected from books and from leading living actors 

 a mass of pertinent and interesting anecdotes. Among those who 

 have helped him are Mary Anderson, Mrs. Kendal, Genevieve 

 Ward, John Drew, and Dion Boucicault. The same firm will 

 bring out '[Son of a Star,' by Dr. B. W. Richardson. This is an 

 historical romance of Great Britain and Judea in the days of Ha- 

 drian. Ginn & Co. will publish in Januar)', 1889, 'The Lead- 

 ing Facts of French History,' by D. H. Montgomery. The general 

 plan of treatment is practically the same as that pursued in the 



author's ' Leading Facts of English History.' Scribner & Wel- 



ford announce ' The Reminiscences and Recollections of Captain 

 Gronow : being Anecdotes of the Camp, Court, Clubs, and Society, 

 1810-1860,' with portrait, 4 woodcuts, and 20 etched and aquatint 

 illustrations from contemporary sources, by Joseph Grego. It had 

 been the lot of Captain Gronow " to have lived through the greater 

 part of one of the most eventful centuries of England's history ; to 

 be thrown amongst most of the remarkable men of his day, whether 

 soldiers, statesmen, men of letters, theatrical people, or those whose 

 birth and fortune — rather, perhaps, than their virtues and talents — 

 have caused them to be conspicuous at home and abroad." The 

 twenty plates etched by Joseph Grego throughout, are finished in 

 aquatint, — an art which flourished at the period in question, and 

 was much in favor for book-illustration. Mr. Grego has been for- 

 tunate in securing the assistance of an artist who for more than 

 half a century has devoted himself to the development of this 

 branch of art. The edition consists of 870 copies for England and 

 America, with the 25 illustrations in duplicate, — one on plate pa- 



per, remarque proofs ; and the other on Whatman paper, with 

 titles, and colored by hand. The type has been distributed. Each 



copy is numbered as issued. ' Worthington's Annual ' is the 



handsomest juvenile book made this year. It is a surprise for the 

 price (Si. 50) in the quality and quantity of matter and engravings. 

 It has an illuminated cover, brilliant full-page colored plates made 

 expressly for the book. It is something more than a mass of 

 pretty pictures. It has interesting stories, biographies, papers on 

 natural history, and these are illustrated by mare than 300 en- 

 gravings. No expense or pains have been spared to make it wor- 

 thy of the wide constituency which it is bound to have. It is in 

 every way creditable to author and publisher, and will be hailed 

 with delight by armies of children. If any better or larger chil- 

 dren's annual, or one more entertaining and instructive, was ever 

 made for the price, we have yet to see it. It is a striking proof 

 that publishers sometimes look to the interest of their readers as 

 well as to their own profits. We commend it heartily. 



— ' Dunraven Ranch ' is the name of the new novel which Cap- 

 tain King contributes to the December number of Lippincott' s 

 Magazine. A full-page portrait of the author decorates the num- 

 ber. A biographical sketch by Lieut. Philip Reade, who has been 

 King's lifelong friend, gives many episodes in the life of the soldier- 

 author. The serial ' At Last : Six Days in the Life of an Ex- 

 Teacher,' by John Habberton, is of interest. ' With the Fruits and 

 the Wines,' by G. S. R., is a sketch full of information. Thomas 

 Leaming has a valuable article on 'Trust and Title Insurance 

 Companies,' in which the growth and development, the uses and 

 possible abuses, of these novel institutions, are treated. The One 

 Hundred Prize Questions are as interesting as ever. Of the poetrj', 

 the most notable is Edgar Saltus's ' Imeros ' and a series of sonnets 

 by Amelie Rives, ' To all Women.' In St. Nicholas for De- 

 cember is Mrs. Mabel Loomis Todd's account of a stay of ' Ten 

 Weeks in Japan," in which the story of the total eclipse of August, 

 1887, is told from the experience of an actual participant in the ob- 

 servations. The instruments and the temporary encampment of 

 the expedition, as well as many beautiful and strange sights of this 

 interesting country, are presented to the reader by illustrations 

 taken from photographs. In the Atlantic Monthly for Decem- 

 ber are to be ' The Future of the Country College,' by William De 

 Witt Hyde ; ' Passe Rose,' X.-XIL, by Arthur Sherburne Hardy ; 

 ' Urbs Animas,' by H. W. P. and L. D.; 'A Devil's Passage,' by 

 Louise Stockton ; ' The Close of Garibaldi's Career,' by William 

 R. Thayer ; ' A Flight in the Dark,' by S. K. and V. D. S. ; ' Bos- 

 ton Painters and Paintings,' by V. William Howe Downes ; ' Wil- 

 liam Warren,' by Henry A. Clapp ; ' A Convent School of the Last 

 Century,' by Susan Coolidge ; ' The Despot of Broomsedge Cove,' 

 XXV.-XXVI., by Charles Egbert Craddock ; ' At Alfred de Mus- 

 set's Grave ; ' ' Letters from Dorothy Osborne to Sir William Tem- 

 ple ; ' etc. We observe, by the" way, that the publishers are to 

 furnish in the January number a new steel engraving of John G. 

 Whittier, who wrote one of the articles which appeared in the ini- 

 tial Atlantic for November, 1857, and who has been a frequent 



contributor from that time to the present. The Classical Review, 



established less than two years ago, has already amply justified the 

 hopes of its founders. Under the editorship of the Rev. Joseph B. 

 Mayor, assisted by Prof. A. J. Church, Mr. A. M. Cook, and Mr. 

 Cecil Smith, it has secured the active support of the leading classi- 

 cal scholars of Great Britain. The familiar names of Archer-Hind, 

 Butcher, Ellis, Hicks, Henry Jackson, Jebb, Lang, Leaf, J. E. B. 

 Mayor, Merry, Monro, Nettleship, Newman, Palmer, Reid, Roberts, 

 Sandys, Sidgwick, and many others, are found in the list of con- 

 tributors. The English editors of the Review desire to make it an 

 international philological organ, and have invited Prof. Thomas D. 

 Seymour of Yale College, Prof. John H. Wright of Harvard 

 University, and Prof. W. G. Hale of Cornell University, to act 

 as associate editors for the United States. They propose to in- 

 crease the size of the Review by one-half, giving three sheets (forty- 

 eight pages) to each number, and thus allowing ample space for 

 contributions from American scholars. The invitation has been 

 accepted, and the proposed arrangement will go into effect with 

 the f^rst number of Vol. III. (January, 1889). Ginn & Co. are the 

 publishers for America. 



