276 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Action in Past Times, he has materially 

 added to the existing literature upon geo- 

 logical research. 



Three books in the series of English 

 Classics for Schools, by the American Book 

 Company, well illustrate the excellent idea 

 on which the issue is based — which is that 

 of presenting the best English books, of suit- 

 able size, with the accompaniment of full 

 prefatory information concerning the sub- 

 jects, environments, and authors of the 

 works. The Sir Roger de Coverley Papers 

 from the Spectator is introduced with an 

 account of the Tatler, of which the Spectator 

 was the direct outcome, and its characteris- 

 tics, and biographical sketches of Addison, 

 Steele, and Budgell, the authors of the Sir 

 Roger de Coverley papers. To a similar edi- 

 tion of Sir Walter Scotfs Marmion are pre- 

 fixed a characterization of Scott's work in 

 the poem, a description of the Scottish peo- 

 ple of the time of the action, their customs 

 and distinctions, an account of the signifi- 

 cance of the battle of Flodden Field, and 

 maps of the region and of the battle-ground. 

 The Second Essay on the Earl of Chatham, 

 by Lord Macaulay, is furnished with bio- 

 graphical sketches of the author and of 

 William Pitt. These volumes are neat in 

 appearance, moderate in price, and are suit- 

 able for the modest library as well as for the 

 schoolroom. 



Robinson's Arithmetics (American Book 

 Company) have for many years had a wide 

 use among the best American schools. In 

 preparing new and revised editions, the ob- 

 ject has been kept in view of retaining all 

 the features which have contributed to their 

 usefulness and popularity, and making only 

 such changes as would add to their value 

 and bring them up to date. In the Primary 

 work, stress is laid upon teaching pupils to 

 recognize numbers of objects before they are 

 required to represent numbers by words or 

 by figures. A valuable feature of the re- 

 vision of the Rudiments consists in the addi- 

 tion of about forty pages of introductory 

 exercises, of a general character, which adapt 

 the book for use in a two-book series, in con- 

 nection with the Practical Arithmetic, or it 

 may be used without the introductory exer- 

 cises, in a three-book series. The scheme of 

 revision of the Practical Arithmetic has been 



rather one of judicious addition than of 

 omission, and yet by an economical adjust- 

 ment and by an occasional dropping out of 

 useless matter it has been possible to add 

 many valuable features and much new matter 

 without materially increasing the size of the 

 book. In the arrangement of subjects atten- 

 tion has been paid to placing those in se- 

 quence which run naturally and by easy 

 stages into one another, and to giving early 

 places to the most important and useful ap- 

 plications. 



JEdeology, by Dr. Sydney Barrington 

 Elliot, is devoted to the physiology, hygiene, 

 etc., of the generative life of man. The 

 volume is compiled from a great variety of 

 sources, and is characterized by that vague 

 generality of statement which appeals to a 

 prurient curiosity without doing much for 

 the enlightenment of the reader. Full and 

 explicit instruction in the physiology of the 

 generative system, suitably timed and adapt- 

 ed in the education of the young, would be 

 of great service to society, and there is noth- 

 ing in this class of publications that will take 

 the place of it or approach it in value. (New 

 York, St. Clair Publishing Co., 260 pages ; 

 price, $1.50.) 



In the sixth edition of M. Foster's Text- 

 book of Physiology, the appendix by Dr. A. 

 Sheridan Lea, on The Chemical Basis of the 

 Animal Body, is bound by itself as Part V 

 (Macmillan, $1.75). It has been enlarged, 

 and now constitutes a treatise on the chem- 

 ical substances occurring in the animal body. 

 The several classes of proteids are first de- 

 scribed, after which the chemistry of the 

 enzymes, or soluble unorganized ferments, is 

 given. Certain amorphous bodies allied to 

 proteids — mucin, gelatin, keratin, etc. — and 

 the few carbohydrates found in the human 

 body then receive attention. Other groups 

 are the fatty acids and their allies, the 

 amides and amido acids, the uric-acid group, 

 the ptomaines, and the various coloring mat- 

 ters. Cuts showing the appearance of crys- 

 tals of many of the substances described are 

 scattered through the text, and the volume 

 has a separate index and a list of authorities 

 quoted. 



A treatise on Varicocele and its Treat- 

 ment has heen prepared by Prof. G. Frank 

 Lydston, M. D. (Keener). After a description 

 of the disorder, its causes are reviewed, and 



