April 2, 1886.] 



SCIENCE. 



305 



treatise on the subject in this country, and. with 

 Zeuner and Blaha in Europe, has given the engi- 

 neer exceedingly valuable methods of treatment 

 of all problems arising in the designing and 

 adjustment of the slide-valve. The work, both 

 of author and publisher, is well done ; and our 

 German friends are to be congratulated upon hav- 

 ing so good a reproduction of what has long been 

 considered in the United States, in many respects, 

 an exceptionally valuable treatise. 



— Mr. S. S. Bassler, of the Cincinnati com- 

 mercial gazette, has lately published a timely lit- 

 tle pocket-pamphlet entitled 4 The weather chart,' 

 in which he illustrates the types of areas of high 

 and low pressure that cross our country, and con- 

 trol its weather, by small sketch-maps for recent 

 dates, still in the minds of his readers. The ob- 

 ject of the essay is a good one, and the examples 

 are well chosen ; but we regret that more care is 

 not taken to secure accuracy in its explanatory 

 statements. It is very questionable whether cor- 

 rect ideas can be gathered from such phrases as, 

 "Could we go beyond the limits of the atmos- 

 phere, and look down upon its surface, we should 

 see a constant succession of hills, valleys, plains, 

 and areas of tempestuous cross- waves." It is true 

 that in the lower atmosphere the imaginary 

 isobaric surfaces would be thus deformed, in ac- 

 cordance with changes in temperature and den- 

 sity of ah- ; but there is every probability that 

 these irregularities are all smoothed out long- 

 before the limits of the atmosphere are reached. 

 And it is to be regretted that one who has done 

 so much good work in popularizing his favorite 

 study should degrade its terminology by the fre- 

 quent use of such words as 'high' and 'low.' in- 

 stead of the better ones ' anti-cyclonic ' and ' cy- 

 clonic systems,' which appear but a few times. 



— Robert Oppenheim of Berlin announces a 

 ' Fiihrer fur forschungsreisende ' by Dr. F. v. 

 Richthofen. This book is intended as a guide for 

 travellers in making observations of interest in 

 physical geography or geology. It is intended 

 especially for those who, without special knowl- 

 edge in those sciences, yet have some acquaintance 

 with their rudiments. 



— The following works of interest to scientific 

 readers have been announced : 4 Creation or evolu- 

 tion,' by George Ticknor Curtis (Appleton) ; 4 Fresh- 

 water fishes of Europe, a history of the genera, 

 species, structure, habits, etc.,' by H. G. Seeley 

 (Cassell) ; ' Electric lighting.' translated from the 

 German (Cupples, Upham & Co.) ; 4 Can matter 

 think?' by Elliott Coues (Estes & Lauriat) ; 

 ! Geological studies,' by Alex. Winchell (Griggs & 

 Co.) ; 4 Builders' work and builders' trades,' by H. 



C. Seddon (Lippincott) ; 4 Avoidance of collisions 

 at sea,' by W. Bainbridge (Van Nostrand) ; 4 The 

 luminiferous ether,' by Volsen Wood (Van Nos- 

 trand) ; 4 Evolution of to-day,' by H. W. Conn 

 (Putnam) ; Anthony and Brackett's 4 Text-book of 

 physics ' (Wiley) ; 4 Arctic explorations in the 

 nineteenth century, from Ross to Greely ' (Allison) ; 

 4 At home in Fiji,' by Gordon Cumming, new 

 edition (Armstrong) ; 4 Persia, the land of the 

 Imans,' by James Bassett (Scribner) ; 4 The Kilima- 

 Njaro expedition, scientific exploration in eastern 

 equatorial Africa,' by H. H. Johnstone (Scribner) ; 

 4 What young people should know,' revised edition, 

 by B. G. Wilder (Estes & Lauriat) ; 4 A history of 

 education,' by F. v. N. Painter (Appleton); 4 A 

 science of mind,' by J. H. Seelye (Ginn & Co.) ; 

 4 The philosophy of wealth,' by J. B. Clark (Ginn 

 &Co.); 4 Our government,' by J. Macy (Ginn & 

 Co.) ; 4 General geology for high-schools and col- 

 leges,' by N. S. Shaler (Heath) ; 4 Guides for science 

 teaching,' four volumes (insects, fishes and frogs, 

 birds, and mammals), by Alpheus Hyatt (Heath) ; 

 4 Introduction to the study of philosophy,' by G. 

 Stanley Hall (Heath) ; 4 Modern petrography,' by 

 George H. Williams (Heath) ; 4 Industrial training,' 

 by C. M. Woodward (Heath) ; 4 A handbook of 

 plant dissection,' by J. C. Arthur, C. R. Barnes, 

 and J. M. Coulter (Henry Holt) ; 4 The calculus,' 

 by Simon Newcomb (Henry Holt) ; ' Elementary 

 zoology,' by A. S. Packard (Henry Holt) ; 4 Wood's 

 medicinal plants,' American edition, by Charles 

 Rice (Wood) ; 4 The railways and the republic,' by 

 James F. Hudson (Harper) ; 4 Society, its pecul- 

 iarities, practices, and problems,' by G. C. Lori- 

 mer (Funk & Wagnalls) ; 4 Essays on finance, 

 wages, and trade,' by R. Giffen (Putnam) ; 4 Theism 

 and evolution,' by J. S. Van Dyke (Armstrong) ; 

 4 University education,' by G. S. Morris (Andrews & 

 Witherby) ; 4 Educational value of different studies,' 

 by W. H. Payne (Andreius & Witherby) ; 4 Mineral 

 physiology and physiography,' by T. Sterry 

 Hunt (Cassino) ; 4 Methods of teaching and study- 

 ing natural science,' edited by G. Stanley Hall 

 (Heath). 



— The future bears every mark that distin- 

 guishes publications of its class. The system on 

 which its author, C. C. Blake of Richland, Kan., 

 bases his 4 4 calculation of the coming weather 

 through astronomical mathematics," is modestly 

 entitled ' Cosmogony,' and in the April number of 

 the paper its explanation goes so far as concluding 

 that there is no such thing as matter, and motion 

 only exists. By a vague series of inconsequences, 

 it is showm that the earth is built up by gradual 

 accretion of rays from the sun : 44 it is the gradual 

 growth of the earth by absorption from the sun 



