BOOK NOTICES. 279 



The present volume is rather an essay upon the personal and musical char- 

 acteristics of Liszt than a biography of him. Dr. Nohl in this sketch seems to 

 have been somewhat carried away by his enthusiastic admiration for the man, 

 who also inspired the same feeling in all his friends and intimates. This feeling 

 manifests itself even in the very preface of the book where the author speaks of 

 his early youth " with its incomperchenoible virtuosity. It is the actual strang- 

 ling of the serpents in the cradle, so utterly does this power defy every obstacle 

 and difficulty in the revelation of its art." "And now the great man rises re- 

 splendent in the great artist, in strong contrast with a kindred genius, the great 

 violinist Paganini in whom, so different from Liszt himself, the essential principle 

 which lies at the very root of artistic creation, namely, the genius of humanity, 

 was not apparent." " Still further, there appears in its wonderful versatility, his 

 active sympathy with all the momentous intellectual questions of the time and of 

 humanity." "Then follows the new epoch in art-development, the creation of 

 the symphonic poem, growing as it were spontaneously out of his association 

 with all that is comprised in poetry and life. Then comes the crown of all, the 

 latest and grandest work he has accomplished, the renovation of church music." 

 These are samples of the admiration and reverence expressed by the author for 

 his subject all through the book. It is thoroughly readable and among musicians 

 alone should have a wide circulation. 



The Transactions of the Academy of Science of St. Louis, Vol. IV, No. 

 3. R. P. Studley & Co., printers, 1884, $2.00. 



We find in this volume articles by Profs. G. Seyffarth, F. E. Nipher, A. V. 

 Leonhard, G. C. Broadhead, G. Engelmann, and G. Hambach; also the journal 

 of proceedings and a list of publications donated and received during the years 

 1881-84. It is well printed and admirably illustrated. On looking over the 

 journal of proceedings it appears that from ten to twelve members is a full at- 

 tendance, but the character of the articles show that those members are careful 

 investigators and thorough students. The officers for 1884 are Dr. Geo. Engel- 

 mann, President, (since deceased); Vice-Presidents, James M. Leete and M. L. 

 Gray; Corresponding Secretary, Prof. H. S. Pritchett; Recording Secretary, 

 Prof. F. E. Nipher; Treasurer, Enno Sander; Librarian, G. Hambach. 



Ninth Annual Report of the Railroad Commissioners of the State of 

 Missouri, 1883. Octavo, pp. 291. 



From this Report, for which we are indebted to Hon. Geo. C. Pratt, we 

 learn that there are now eighty-five main and branch lines of railroad in the State 

 of Missouri, operated by thirty nominally distinct organizations. Of these organ- 

 izations fifteen actually separate companies operate from seven-tenths of a mile to 

 eighty-one and three quarters each, amounting altogether to 346.82 miles. The 

 other companies operate the remainder of the lines, amounting to 4,268.74 miles. 



