Geology and Mineralogy. 259 



11. The Principles of Physics ; by Alfred P. Gage, revised 

 by Arthur W. Goodspeed. Pp. 547. New York and Boston, 

 1907 (Ginn & Co.). — In the present publication the edition of 

 1895 has been brought down to date while it also presents sev- 

 eral other points of advantage over the older text. For example, 

 it contains eighty-seven pages less than its predecessor and " this 

 has been effected by omitting some sections which, in the expe- 

 rience of the reviser as a teacher, have been found of little value 

 to students of an elementary course." The illustrations also are 

 wisely made a less prominent part of the work. h. s. w. 



12. A Text-book in Physics for Secondary Schools; by 

 William N. Mumper. Pp. 411. New York, 1907. (American 

 Book Co.) — The author has correctly characterized the volume 

 in the following words: "This book has been prepared in the 

 belief that there is a demand for a text-book 'pure and simple'; 

 a book that does not attempt to do the work of either the teacher 

 or the laboratory, one which aims to present only those phases 

 of the secondary school course in physics which the pupil should 

 acquire from the studv of a book." 



The text seems to be very well balanced, and to be the product 

 of the kind of pedagogic insight that can alone come from long 

 experience in teaching. The illustrations constitute a distinctive 

 and pleasing feature of the book. The subjects chosen for illus- 

 tration, and the brief explanations directly associated with the 

 figures, are also unusually apt. In short, a discussion of the facts 

 which are graphically represented by the collection of illustra- 

 tions, taken as a whole, would constitute an adequate and satis- 

 factory course in secondary school physics. The author has 

 wisely preferred the use of leaves and wave fronts to rays, in the 

 sections on light. The book unquestionably merits the consid- 

 eration of all progressive teachers of the elementary phase of 

 physics. h. s. u. 



13. Laboratory Exercises in Elementary Physics ; H. New- 

 man. Book I. Measurement, Gravity, Mechanical Powers. Pp. 

 25. Boston, and New York, 1907. (Ginn & Company.) — This 

 publication is simply a paper-covered note book designed for use 

 in the laboratory. It gives a brief description of each of the 

 twenty well-chosen exercises, illustrated by a good sketch of the 

 associated apparatus; this is followed by a blank form in which 

 are to be entered the experimental results of the student. 



h. s. u. 



II. Geology and Mineralogy. 



1. Earthquakes, An Introduction to Seismic Geology ; by 

 William Herbert Hobbs. 310 pp., 24 pis., and 112 illustra- 

 tions. New York, 1907 (D. Appleton and Company). — The the- 

 ory of earthquakes was rescued from myths by Robert Mallet in 

 1857, but the belief in explosions inside of a focal cavity was 

 firmly fixed in his mind. In 1872 Professor Suess demonstrated 



