April 20, 1888.] 



SCIENCE. 



19P 



-deals with telescopic and balloon photography. We do not believe 

 that the latter will be of great service to the surveyor, except in 

 cases of war for the military engineer, and it may be useful for 

 showing the culture of extensive tracts of land without command- 

 ing points in resurveying. 



Beginner's Anatomy, PJiysiology, and Hygiene. By JOHN C. 

 Cutter. Philadelphia, Lippincott. i6°. 30 cents. 



From the title of this book, and from the preface, we gather that 

 it is intended for young pupils, for beginners, and we are therefore 

 gratified to find that the writer proposes to employ such language 

 as is simple and direct, and that technical and long words are, as 

 far as possible, avoided. Throughout the text this rule has been 

 fairly well adhered to, though when our eyes fell upon the frontis- 

 piece, we began to fear that the author had forgotten to carry out 

 the plan which he had promised. This frontispiece represents the 

 muscular system of the human body, and the scientific names of 

 these muscles are given as they would be in the most advanced 

 work on anatomy. Orbicularis palpebrarum, occipito-frontalis, 

 sterno-cleido-mastoid, extensor carpi-radialis, and others too 

 numerous to mention, stand out prominently in the illustration. 

 This same criticism applies to other figures in the book, although 

 perhaps to a less degree. 



While it may be well to describe the effects of alcohol and to- 

 bacco in such a work as this (and of course, to meet the demand 

 for which this and so many other books of this kind have been 

 recently written, this must be done), we question whether it is 

 wise to speak of the effects of chloral. The writer says of it, that, 

 " when used for some time, it may cause heart-trouble. It lessens 

 the heart's power. It makes its action irregular. It sometimes, 

 in a small dose, causes death by suddenly stopping the heart's 

 action." In another portion of the book he says that in proper 

 doses it induces rest and sleep. This kind of talk should, in our 

 judgment, be omitted from a book written especially for beginners. 

 The phraseology of some parts of the book is open to unfavorable 

 criticism. In speaking of deformities of bones of children and 

 youth, the author says that corsets and snug-fitting shoes ought not 

 to be worn by the young, the inference from which statement would 

 seem to be that these articles may be worn by the adult ; and yet 

 in another place he says, " Do not wear close-fitting chest and 

 waist garments. Corsets and tight vests compress the lower ribs. 

 They press the digestive organs out of place. They hinder deep 

 and proper breathing." 



Another inconsistency we observe in the following statements : 

 " Cheese is a rich and hearty food, suitable for hard workers.'' 

 "A food which disagrees with a person ought to be avoided. As 

 a rule, pastry, cheese, fresh white bread, and ' made dishes,' most 

 often cause discomfort." Dr. Cutter is opposed to candies for 

 children. He says that common pure candies contain not only 

 cane-sugar, but materials which are difficult to digest. Candies 

 "should be denied children." We think the doctor goes a little too 

 far in thus absolutely prohibiting the use of candies. There is no 

 doubt that they are abused, and that it would be far better not to 

 use them at all than to continue their excessive use ; but at proper 

 times, and in proper quantities, we do not think that good candies 

 are so pernicious as he would have us believe. 



The author incorporates in his book what he calls " simple direc- 

 tions for the management of a few common emergent cases," 

 which, from the references already made, we infer are intended as a 

 guide to the young pupil, the beginner. Under the heading ' Man- 

 agement of a Poison Case,' he says, " If it is an irritant poison (like 

 verdigris, corrosive sublimate, etc.), give rapidly-beaten-up eggs. 

 If it is an opium compound, give strong coffee, and keep the patient 

 awake. If it is a vegetable narcotic (henbane, belladonna), keep 

 him quiet. Always summon the ablest doctor to manage the case." 

 It would, we imagine, be a sufficiently difficult task, especially for a 

 young pupil, to determine whether the poison taken was an irritant, 

 an opium compound, or a vegetable narcotic ; but to decide who is 

 the ' ablest ' doctor, hie laboi-, hoc opus est. 



While there is much in this book to criticise, there are also many 

 things to commend. The general arrangement is good, and the 

 figures are fairly illustrative of the text. There is one feature which 

 is especially noteworthy, and should be reproduced by writers of 



other text-books of this kind. We refer to the instructions to- 

 teachers for the demonstration to classes of the principles of physi- 

 ology ; as, for instance, the demonstration of the movements of the 

 blood in a frog under the microscope, and the changes which take 

 place in the size of the human chest during inspiration and expira- 

 tion ; and the impoverishment of the air during respiration. This- 

 method has been admirably worked out by Professor Martin of 

 Johns Hopkins University, in his text-books ; and we are glad to 

 see that Dr. Cutter has embodied the same plan in his book. 



Taken as a whole, ' The Beginner's Anatomy, Physiology, and 

 Hygiene,' is neither better nor worse than many other books of the 

 same class, scores of which have lately issued from the press in 

 response to the demand for physiologies which should teach the 

 effects of alcohol and narcotics. 



A Treatise on Algebra. By Ch.-vrles S-MITH, M.A. New York, 

 Macmillan. 8°. $1.90. 



This work is the latest put forth by the English press, which is 

 just now very prolific in algebras. 



The present work is intended for students who already have 

 some knowledge of elementary algebra. For this reason the open- 

 ing chapters, while complete, are nevertheless brief. 



These chapters differ but little from those of the text-books in 

 common use. Stress is laid, however, on the idea that algebra is 

 simply the science of numbers ; and the commutative, associative,- 

 distributive, and index laws are well illustrated. 



Some theorems are introduced much earlier than usual. Thus,, 

 detached co-efficients are introduced in the chapter on multiplica- 

 tion, and the theorems on the divisibility of rational integral ex- 

 pressions in the chapter on factoring. In this last chapter, also, the 

 quadratic expression ax--\-bx -^-c is resolved into its linear factors ; 

 and this method of resolving into factors is adopted for the solution 

 of all quadratic equations. 



Chapter IX. treats of equations with one unknown, — simple,, 

 quadratic, binomial, and reciprocal, — and contains so much, that it 

 is decidedly confused, and the weakest chapter of the book. Here, 

 also, the author fails to explain the terms ' infinite ' and ' infinity ' 

 in a satisfactory manner. 



Chapter XII. is on symbolic algebra, and contains seventy excel- 

 lent examples. 



Imaginaries are treated by modern methods. In the definition of 

 ' arithmetical progression,' the customary lapsus calami is made.. 

 Choice should be illustrated with more examples. Series are fully 

 and clearly treated. The binomial theorem is proved by a modifi- 

 cation of Euler's proof, based on the introduction of Vandermonde's- 

 theorem. Euler's own proof is also given. Logarithms are con- 

 sidered without any thing being said about the proof of the index 

 law for incommensurable exponents, the almost universal omis- 

 sion. 



The definition of ' probability ' is the usual faulty one given by 

 Todhunter and others. This chapter is not clear, and is too short. 



The chapter on determinants is based on the well-known works, 

 of Muir and Dostor, and is by far the best short treatment of deter- 

 minants with which we are acquainted in any language. This 

 chapter contains all the essential parts of the subject, and we 

 recommend it to every one who desires a brief but comprehensive 

 knowledge of these famous expressions. 



On the whole, the book much resembles that of Mr. Todhunter. 

 In form Mr. Smith has improved on the latter's work ; but in fun- 

 damental ideas, — ideas which go down to the root of mathemati- 

 cal reasoning, — and in definitions, Mr. Smith's work is but little, 

 if any, superior to Mr. Todhunter's. The book is simply an excel- 

 lent text-book of high grade, its most distinctive feature being the 

 chapter on determinants. 



Eighteenth Annual Report of the Massachusetts Btireau of Sta- 

 tistics of Labor. Boston, State. 8°. 



Carroll D. Wright's Massachusetts report for 18B7 deals very 

 exhaustively with a single subject, — the unemployed. The figures 

 taken are those of the State census of 1885, and show a wide dis- 

 tribution of the unemployed as a whole, because the industries of 

 the State were in a more or less depressed condition. The investi- 

 gation comprehended " all remunerative occupations, of whatever 



