280 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



will make the book of use to the ambulance 

 corps connected with the different military 

 organizations. He has endeavored to explain 

 each topic in a simple manner, and when 

 medical terms are used their lay synonyms 

 are also given. Numerous illustrations have 

 been inserted to aid in making the work read- 

 ily intelligible. 



The Insane in Foreign Countries. By 

 William P. Letchworth. New York: 

 G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 374. Price, $3. 

 This volume, by the President of the 

 New York State Board of Charities, is an 

 important contribution to the literature of 

 its subject. It embodies an examination of 

 European methods of caring for the insane, 

 especially the insane in public institutions, 

 pursued without interruption for seven 

 months, supplemented by information ob- 

 tained since the time of the author's visit. 

 By way of contrast, a brief introductory 

 sketch of the ways in which the insane were 

 treated in earlier times is given. The sys- 

 tems employed in England, Scotland, and 

 Ireland are then described in turn, and the 

 characteristics of representative Continental 

 institutions are set forth. A chapter each 

 is given to the insane colony of Gheel, in 

 Belgium, where is the celebrated shrine of 

 St. Dymphna, and to the colony-hospital at 

 Alt-Scherbitz in Saxony. The final and 

 longest chapter, and the most important 

 portion of the volume, presents a resume of 

 the author's observations and his conclu- 

 sions drawn from them. Based upon the 

 results of his inspections of foreign and 

 American asylums, and of his own experi- 

 ence in the supervision of the defective 

 classes of New York State, Mr. Letchworth 

 offers his views as regards the selection of 

 sites and locations of asylums, the kind of 

 buildings to be provided ; the questions of 

 sewage disposal, water-supply, protection 

 against fire, the laying out of the grounds, 

 the furnishing and decoration of wards and 

 rooms, the difficult problem of the disposi- 

 tion of the acute, the chronic, and the crimi- 

 nal insane ; the practice of restraint and the 

 amount of liberty that may be granted ; the 

 character of the attendants to be chosen ; 

 the religious exercises, amusements, employ- 

 ments, dress and clothing, visitation and cor- 

 respondence of patients, post-mortem, exami- 

 nations ; the methods of admission and dis- 



charge, and the value of summer resorts. 

 All these subjects are treated clearly and 

 explicitly. Besides these, the author gives 

 his personal views respecting the insane in 

 poor-houses, local or district care of the in- 

 sane, state care, the boarding-out system, 

 state supervision, and kindred topics. The 

 book is beautifully printed and richly illus- 

 trated with engravings and heliotype repro- 

 ductions of plans of buildings and asylum 

 interiors, and pictures of historical interest. 



Geological Survey of New Jersev. Final 

 Report of the State Geologist. Vol. 

 I. Topography, Magnetism, Climate. By 

 George H. Cook, State Geologist. Tren- 

 ton: John L. Murphy Publishing Com- 

 pany. Pp. 439, with Maps, etc. 



The survey was authorized by the State 

 Legislature in 1864, and has been continued 

 regularly till the date of the report. The 

 act contemplated a completion of the work, 

 previous partial surveys having been carried 

 on by Henry D. Rogers in 1836-40, and Dr. 

 William Kitchell in 1854-'56. While the 

 yearly reports of the present work that have 

 been made and liberally distributed among 

 the people have been somewhat miscellane- 

 ous as to the subjects discussed, on account 

 of the prominence of special wants and in- 

 terests, the various branches of the survey 

 have been kept advancing, so that it has been 

 found practicable to include the final geo- 

 graphical reports in this volume. The State 

 Geologist has enjoyed the co-operation and 

 assistance of the United States Coast and 

 Geodetic Survey; and the expense of con- 

 ducting the latter half of the topographical 

 work has been borne by the United States 

 Geological Survey. Of the several parts of 

 the present volume, the article on the Geo- 

 detic Survey, by Prof. Bowser, of the Coast 

 Survey, gives accurate determinations, in 

 latitude and longitude, of several hundred 

 points, the stations of which are exactly de- 

 scribed, and the primary ones distinctly 

 marked on the spot. In the " Physical De- 

 scription," Mr. C. C. Vermeule, after defining 

 the geographical position and outlines of the 

 State, relates the history of the questions of 

 boundary and limits of jurisdiction from the 

 beginning ; marks the political divisions, 

 with measurements of the areas of the coun- 

 ties and townships, and describes the topog- 

 raphy of the State as being '■' readily classed 



