LITERARY NOTICES. 



707 



suitable points in the great water-sheds, near 

 the sources of the principal tributaries of 

 the largest rivers. Improvements in the 

 organization of the service are shown to be 

 much needed to make it as efficient as it 

 should be. 



Fundamental Problems. The Method of 

 Philosophy as a Systematic Arrange- 

 ment of Knowledge. By Dr. Paul 

 Carus. Chicago : The Open Court Pub- 

 lishing Company. Pp. 267. Price, $1. 



The papers presented in this volume, 

 constituting a constructive series of philo- 

 sophical essays, first appeared for the most 

 part in the editorial columns of " The Open 

 Court." They were there subjected to criti- 

 cism and discussion which the author has 

 turned to advantage in revising and rearrang- 

 ing and adding to them. Philosophy is re- 

 garded, from a point of view both radical and 

 conservative, as the most practical and im- 

 portant science, whose problems lie at the 

 bottom of all the single sciences, of which 

 religion and ethics are applications. The 

 view is radical, because the issues of philo- 

 sophic thought are presented in their rigidity 

 without trying to conceal the consequences 

 to which the argument leads, with the old 

 and long-cherished errors faced and critically 

 explained; and conservative, because the 

 historical connection with the work of our 

 ancestors is regarded, and progress is sought 

 through a development from the past, not by 

 a rupture with it. " A philosophy of most 

 radical free thought " is presented, " that is 

 no negativism, no agnosticism, and no meta- 

 physical mysticism, but a systematic arrange- 

 ment of positive facts.'' This philosophy is 

 monism, or a conception of all existence as 

 one. This is complemented by meliorism, or 

 the conception of a purified, higher view of 

 life. 



Home Gymnastics for the Well and the 

 Sick. Edited by E. Angerstein, M. D., 

 and by G. Eckler. Translated from the 

 Eighth German Edition. Boston : Hough- 

 ton, Mifflin & Co. Pp. 94. Price, $1.50. 



While setting forth in no uncertain 

 terms the invigorating effects of systematic 

 bodily exercise, the authors of this manual 

 frankly caution the reader against resorting 

 to gymnastics for the cure of serious diseases, 

 certainly not without previous consultation 

 with a physician, and they warn him also not 



to impatiently expect striking results after a 

 few weeks' practice. The book comprises 

 some general rules and information about 

 home gymnastics, which is followed by de- 

 tailed descriptions of sixty-nine exercises, 

 most of which need no apparatus, while for 

 the others dumb-bells, a wand, and a chair 

 are the only articles required. Fifty-two 

 cuts illustrate the descriptions. General 

 directions and specific lists of exercises are 

 then given for the use of boys and girls of 

 different ages, for young men, young women, 

 mature men and women, and for old age. 

 Similar directions and groups of exercises 

 are given adapted to certain conditions of 

 ill-health or imperfect development, such as 

 general weakness, weak chest, stagnation in 

 the abdominal organs, corpulence, bent car- 

 riage, etc. A large sheet containing all the 

 cuts, and a list of the exercises, accompanies 

 the volume. 



State of New York. Thirty-fifth Annual 

 Report of the State Superintendent 

 of Public Instruction, 1889. Andrew 

 S. Draper. Pp. about 1,000. 



The year covered by this report is de- 

 scribed as having been one of marked edu- 

 cational activity. A new interest in educa- 

 tional work was manifested, and showed 

 itself most intelligently in directions which 

 promise the best results. The rivalries and 

 antagonisms between different classes of 

 educational workers are disappearing. The 

 criticisms of the public schools have prompt- 

 ed examination of deficiencies and the search 

 for means of remedying them. More study 

 is given to the history and philosophy of 

 education than ever before ; and " on every 

 side a new and healthful interest in public- 

 school work, on the part of those charged 

 with the carrying on of that work, is appar- 

 ent." The cost per capita of educating the 

 children of the State is put at various 

 amounts, according to the rule by which it 

 is estimated, but the real cost, for the chil- 

 dren actually attending the schools, is ulti- 

 mately fixed at $15.19. The expense per 

 capita of the whole population was $3.08. 

 The statistics of attendance are claimed to 

 show that, while it is relatively smaller 

 than formerly, the school work of the State 

 has grown somewhat in substantial char- 

 acter during the last thirty years. Since 

 1865 the average attendance in the cities has 



