LITERARY NOTICES. 



567 



/. Smith, 30 Vesey Street, New York, in a 

 pamphlet entitled Is all well with us? as- 

 sumes that we have not politically degener- 

 ated from any standard of our ancestors, 

 but are quite as pure as they ; and, admit- 

 ting the existence and hold of the spoils sys- 

 tem, maintains that it is a legitimate and 

 direct fruit of the restrictions imposed in 

 the Constitution of the United States upon 

 freedom and elasticity of legislative action. 

 He believes that, to get rid of it, our form 

 of government must be so modified that the 

 will of the people may find certain and im- 

 mediate expression in law. 



Tlie Teaclier's Oullooi, edited by W. G. 

 Todd (Des Moines, Iowa), is a monthly maga- 

 zine, devoted to general literature, science, 

 health, and industrial and national affairs. Its 

 peculiar feature is a semi-cooperative plan of 

 publication, under which teachers are invited 

 to become stockholders under certain easy 

 conditions ; when they are enrolled on the list 

 of contributors, and are entitled to send one 

 article each year for publication (if it be 

 found suitable), for which they receive 

 another share of stock. 



The American Workman, published for 

 0. M. Dunham by Cassell & Co., is " an illus- 

 trated weekly magazine of practice and the- 

 ory for all workmen, professional and ama- 

 teur. Its purpose is to furnish articles, with 

 designs, for various kinds of work, particu- 

 larly such as an amateur might incline to 

 undertake. The half-dozen numbers on our 

 table contain, on their first pages, articles 

 with views and diagrams on " A Cabinet in 

 Fret-cutting," " A Drawing-room Overman- 

 tel," " A Cheap, Strong, and Tasteful Method 

 of binding Pamphlets, Music, etc.," " Wood- 

 Carving," " Saw Filing and Setting," " A 

 Summer Fitment for the Fireplace," etc. ; 

 and the other pages are occupied with simi- 

 lar matter. 



In Hie Story of William and Lucy Smith, 

 edited by George S. Merriam (Houghton, 

 Mifflin & Co.), are presented the life and 

 thoughts of a literary man whose career was 

 distinguished by creditable work through 

 forty years, but who did not acquire fame. 

 " He was a man of genius and rare fineness 

 of nature; the associate in early years of 

 Mill, Sterling, Maurice, and Lewes," of Sam- 

 uel Warren, and of Grove, author of " The 

 Correlation of Physical Forces." He be- 



came a contributor to "Blackwood's Maga- 

 zine" in 1839, and was regularly represented 

 in its pages — as literary reviewer, and in es- 

 says embodying philosophical thought — till 

 his death in 1871. His contributions were 

 mostly anonymous ; no collection of his papers 

 was made ; and this book is published to ex- 

 hibit his best work, in dramatic, critical, and 

 philosophical writings. His best and best- 

 known work was " Thorndale, or the Con- 

 flict of Opinions," published in 185*7 ; after 

 it was " Gravenhurst, or Thoughts on Good 

 and Evil," 1862. Lucy Smith was his wife, 

 and his mate in the best sense of the word. 

 The book is divided into three parts, cover- 

 ing Mr. Smith's bachelor life, the joint mar- 

 ried life of the couple, and Mrs. Smith's 

 widowhood. It bears the character of a 

 tribute of admiration, as well as of literary 

 analysis, and its interest is literary and psy- 

 chological. 



PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED. 



Abbott, Charles C. Days Out of Doors. Sew 

 York : D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 823. $1.50. 



Andrews, Charles M. The Kiver Towns of Con- 

 necticut. Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University. 

 Pp. 126. $1. 



Baird, Spencer F. Annual Report of the Regents 

 of the Smithsonian Institution, June 80, 188G. Wash- 

 ington : Government Printing-Office. Pp. 878. 



Bamford, Mary E. Up and Down the Brooks. 

 Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 

 Pp. 222. 



The Bancroft Company, San Francisco. A Popu- 

 lar History of California. Pp. 216. 



Boone, Richard G. Education in the United 

 States. New York : D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 402. 

 $1.50. 



Burroughs, John. Indoor Studies. Boston and 

 New York: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Pp. 256. 

 $1.25. 



Carus, Dr. Paul. Fundamental Problems. The 

 Method of Philosophy as a Systematic Arrangement 

 of Knowledge. Chicago : Open Court Publishing 

 Company. Pp. 207. $1. 



Clark University, Worcester, Mass. First Official 

 Announcement. Pp. 31. 



Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science 

 and Art. Thirtieth Annual Report. Pp. 63. 



Cope, E.D. The Descent of Man. Boston: The 

 New Ideal Publishing Company. Pp. 16. 10 cents. 



Cremation, Opinions on. New York: United 

 States Cremation Company (limited). Pp. 55. 



Croll, James. Stellar Evolution and its Relations 

 to Geological Time. New York : D. Appleton & 

 Co. Pp. 118. $1. 



Curtis, George William. Address prepared for 

 the Annual Meeting of the New York Civil Service 

 Reform Association, May 1, 1889. New York : Civil 

 Service Reform Association. Pp. 15. 



Davis, William Morris. Topographic Develop- 

 ment of the Triassic Formation of the Connecticut 

 Valley. Pp. 12.— The Faults in the Triassic Forma- 

 tion near Meriden, Conn. Pp. 16, with Five Plates. 



Dawson, George M. Report on an Exploration 

 in the Unknown District, N. W. T., and'j adjacent 

 Northern Portion of British Columbia, 1887. Mont- 



