February io, 1888.] 



SCIENCE. 



are beneath the car, out of sight, and are geared by a system of 

 spur-gears to the axle of the car-wheels. Each motor is swung in 

 a cradle one end of which pivots on the car-axle, — the axle pass- 

 ing through bearings in the cradle, — while the other end is fas- 

 tened to the car-frames by heavy spiral springs above and below. 

 These springs are for the purpose of avoiding any sudden strains. 

 Between the gear on the motor shaft and that on the car-axle is an 

 intermediate gearing which is fitted on its axle with rubber cush- 

 ions to give additional relief from shocks. The whole gear system 

 works easily, and makes very little noise. The switches for con- 

 trolling the current are on both platforms, the car running in either 

 direction. The coils of the field-magnets of the motors are di- 

 vided into a number of sections, and the switch makes different 

 arrangements of these coils, putting them all in series (when the 

 current is least) or in parallel (when the current is greatest), or 

 using different combinations for intermediate powers. The cars 

 are under perfect control : they start easily, and can be backed in- 

 stantly in case of emergency. Brakes are used both for the wheels 

 and on the track, the ordinary wheel-brake not being sufficient for 

 some of the steep grades that occur. Power is supplied from a 

 central station in about the middle of the line. There are six dyna- 

 mos, giving 500 volts and 80 amperes each. The line was opened 

 for traffic with ten cars running. They were crowded with pas- 

 sengers during the day ; and the heavy travel, together with the 

 inexperience of the drivers, was a severe test for the system. There 

 were a few small troubles, but these were soon rectitied ; and, on 

 the whole, the day's work seemed to prove the system a success. 



BOOK -REVIEWS. 

 Political Economy. By Francis A. Walker. 2d ed. New 

 York, Holt. 8"^. 



It would be superfluous to commend to American readers any 

 economic writing by President Walker. His clear style, vigorous 

 thought, and terse expression have long since p'laced him in the 

 front rank of economic thinkers, whether American or European. 

 His wide experience and his philosophic insight raise him far above 

 those scribblers of ephemeral pamphlets who are crying now for 

 socialism, now for co-operation, now for laisses faire, and all 

 under the name of ' political economy." President Walker sees 

 very clearly that economics, if it is a science at all, is only to be 

 studied in the ever-varying phenomena of human nature, and he 

 would be the last to attempt to regulate or produce either charac- 

 ter or productivity by statute. 



The present volume is the best adapted to the present needs of 

 students in the United States, of any that have come from the press. 

 Not only are the general topics of political economy treated fully 

 and with ample illustration, but a concluding part (and a generous 

 one) is given to the discussion of present problems under the head 

 of ' Some Applications of Economic Principles.' We do not follow 

 President Walker in his virtual indorsement of the Ricardian 

 theory of rent, or of Malthusianism ; for, despite what he says, both 

 doctrines appear to us to be mere approximations, and not certain- 

 ties. It is the assumption of their certainty, and the basing of 

 elaborate deductions upon them, which have made so many of the 

 theoretical conclusions of political economy so absurdly at variance 

 with facts. On the wages question President Walker is particular- 

 ly strong and clear, and his conclusions incontestable. It is inter- 

 esting to see a professed economist write of the system of protec- 

 tion as the author does. His fellow-economists are given to abuse 

 and the hurling of epithets as soon as the subject is mentioned ; 

 but President Walker, in a fairer spirit, writes, " If the protection- 

 ist can show that restraints imposed by law upon the industrial 

 action of his countrymen, or the men of any country he chooses to 

 take for the purposes of the debate, have the effect not, indeed, to 

 generate productive force, but to direct the productive force gener- 

 ated by human wants, setting in motion labor with a better actual 

 result than under the rule of freedom, he will make his case. But 

 this is to be proved, not taken for granted ; and it is only to be 

 proved by sound and serious argument, not by strenuous exertion 

 and senseless clamor " (pp. 508, 509). This is a position which all 

 rational men can accept ; and it is infinitely removed from the line of 

 argument, or rather of invective, pursued by Professors Sumner and 



Perry. President Walker's argument in Paragraph 615, we do not, 

 however, quite understand ; for it seems to imply that the advocates 

 of protection insist on that as a universal fiscal policy with a view 

 to making industrial entities correspond to political ones. As we 

 read their arguments, on the other hand, no such claim is made. 

 It is only asserted that protection is best for the United States at 

 this time. At all events, a free-trade argument on the basis indi- 

 cated by the writer would be both valuable and interesting. 



We cannot refrain from expressing the wish that this book may 

 find its way into more of our colleges, for it is worthy of them. 



Nuttairs Standard Dictionary of the English Language. New 

 edition, revised by Rev. James Wood. New York, Warne & 

 Co. 8°. $1.50. 



Great improvements have been made of late years in concise 

 and handy dictionaries. Those formerly in use contained but a 

 small proportion of the words in the language, and many of the 

 definitions were nothing but synonymous terms ; so that, for every 

 purpose of real scholarship, reference had to be made to a large 

 dictionary. But now we have several dictionaries of convenient 

 size and low price, which really serve their intended purpose, and one 

 of the best of these is that now before us. We have not examined 

 the work in detail ; but such examination as we have been able to 

 give it shows it to be worthy of the popularity it has already at- 

 tained. The definitions — always the main point in a dictionary — 

 are up to the level of those in other English dictionaries, and the 

 various meanings of the same word are distinguished with much 

 fulness and accuracy. Illustrative examples from authors are not 

 given, as the smallness of the book forbids it ; but there are some 

 pictorial illustrations, though not so many as in some other dictiona- 

 ries of a similar character. The orthography is that usually em- 

 ployed in England, including the u in such words as ' honour.' 

 The pronunciation is indicated by respelling, with only a slight use 

 of diacritical marks, — a method which, for young people and for 

 many older ones, has certain advantages. The present revised edi- 

 tion contains many new words of science and literature, and indi- 

 cates in a brief way the derivation of the more important words 

 when this is not obvious. At the end of the volume are the usual 

 vocabularies of proper names, and a brief list of proverbs and quo- 

 tations from foreign languages, with their meaning in English. 

 The type employed in the book is necessarily small, though not so 

 small as in some other concise dictionaries, and it is new and clear. 

 The book is a medium octavo of eight hundred pages, and will be 

 useful to all who wish for a dictionary of this character. 



Hand-Book of Volapiik. By Charles E. Sprague. New York, 



The Office Co. 12°. $2. 

 Volapiik. By Klas August Linderfelt. JMilwaukee, Cas- 

 per. 16°. -50 cents. 

 The bibliography of Volapiik now comprises about a hundred 

 books, but, probably for reasons well presented by Professor Bell 

 in Science of Jan. 27, very few of these works are in English. The 

 above are two out of the first half-dozen books on the subject in 

 the English language, though many periodicals in this Country have 

 given considerable space, especially during the past few months, to 

 Volapiikian literature. Mr. Sprague, who appears to be at the head 

 of the movement in this country, gives, in the introduction to his 

 hand-book, a brief history of the new language and of its rapid 

 progress in Europe. He states that it was invented and first pub- 

 lished in 1879 by Johann Martin Schleyer, a German priest, whose 

 object was, " first, to produce]'a language capable of expressing 

 thought with the greatest clearness and accuracy ; second, to make 

 its acquisition as easy as possible to the greatest number." He 

 sought to accomplish these ends " by observing the processes of 

 the many languages with which he was acquainted; following them 

 as models wherever they were clear, accurate, and simple, but 

 avoiding their faults, obscurities, and difficulties." The result of 

 his labors is a language whose " rules have the advantage of being 

 absolute, and unburdened with exceptions," as Professor Bell puts 

 it. A clear and attractive exposition of the new language, in small 

 compass, is given by Mr. Sprague, who modestly claims that the 

 most obvious application of it, in the immediate future at least, is 

 for international correspondence, especially commercial correspond- 



