LITERARY NOTICES. 



845 



To this class of literature The Pop- 

 ular Scienoe Monthly belongs. Its 

 special work has been to spread cur- 

 rent scientific thought in simplified 

 form among the people, and we may 

 confidently claim that in no other pub- 

 lication can there be found a more useful, 

 more complete, or more interesting rec- 

 ord of the science of the last twenty 

 years available for the general reader 

 than is contained in the forty volumes 

 to which our new Index is intended as 

 the key. 



To place this great store of infor- 

 mation at the command of the intelli- 

 gent reader so that he may inform him- 

 self on any given subject with the least 

 outlay of time and attention this Index 

 has been planned and compiled. It 

 groups the articles so that any one look- 

 ing up, for instance, Anthropology, 

 Evolution, Manual Training, Social Sci- 

 ence, Vivisection, can find what has ap- 

 peared in the Monthly on the subject 

 in question under that head. Practical 

 usefulness has been put before mere 

 logical accuracy in classification. As 

 the Monthly is a popular magazine, 

 popular names have been preferred to 

 technical ones as names of classes. 

 Thus, articles about Consumption are 

 put under that head with a cross-refer- 

 ence from Tuberculosis. Cross-refer- 

 ences from other synonyms have been 

 liberally used. 



Large aggregations of titles have 

 been avoided by dividing subjects. 

 Any one wishing to know what the 

 magazine has contained on the question 

 "Are the Planets inhabited?" would 

 be more likely to look under planets 

 than under astronomy; accordingly, all 

 articles dealing exclusively with the 

 planets, sun, moon, stars, or nebulaa are 

 put under those respective heads, with 

 a cross-reference under astronomy. 



This Index contains a new feature 

 that must prove of great value to users 

 — that is, it gives the number of pages 

 and illustrations in each article in its 

 subject entry. By this means the search- 



er can see which are the most extended 

 and instructive articles in a long list. 



The titles of all books noticed in the 

 Monthly have been entered under the 

 subjects of which they treat, these en- 

 tries being distinguished from the titles 

 of articles by Italics. As all important 

 books of a popular scientific character 

 published in the past twenty years have 

 been sent to this magazine for review, 

 a valuable classified bibliography of pop- 

 ular science for that period is thus fur- 

 nished. 



Having adopted a new plan for the 

 present volume, we have thought best 

 to include in it the whole contents of 

 the magazine from its first number. The 

 Index of Volumes I to XX is thus super- 

 seded. 



To any one who has a file of the 

 Monthly from the beginning, this In- 

 dex will be like a key to a treasure 

 house. To any one who has not a file, 

 but who depends upon a public library 

 for the use of the volumes when he has 

 occasion to read up a scientific subject, 

 the Index will be an even more valu- 

 able possession, for it will enable him 

 to call for the volumes he wants with- 

 out loss of time. 



Finally, we wish to recognize the 

 ability of the compiler, Mr. F. A. Fer- 

 nald, who, bringing to the work a large 

 experience in indexing, has exercised 

 the utmost care to secure accuracy and 

 completeness, and has also suggested 

 and carried out several improvements 

 that will add greatly to the convenience 

 of readers. 



LITERARY NOTICES. 



Hypnotism, Mesmerism, and the New Witch- 

 craft. By Ernest Hart, formerly Sur- 

 geon to the West London Hospital. 

 With Twenty Illustrations. New York : 

 D. Appleton & Co., 1893. 



This little volume consists of papers 

 that have recently appeared in the Nine- 

 teenth Century and the British Medical Jour- 

 nal, and it has been published to meet the 

 wishes of those desiring the latest informa- 



