Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 10.djvu/776

756 is said by the author of this work to have been insane.

The chief contents of the volume, consisting of personal sketches, anecdotes, and accounts of lawsuits, are, as might be expected, only of local interest.

is a valuable little volume for all teachers and professors who desire to cultivate the art of illustrating their numerous scientific subjects by the projection of optical images of objects upon screens for the inspection of classes, or lecture-room auditories. Full attention is first given to the construction of apparatus, much of which, the author says, can be extemporized; and the author then points out how a surprisingly large number of experiments can be performed with these instruments in numerous departments of science and art. The book is full of neat woodcuts which aid the text in the description of operations, and it seems a thoroughly well-executed manual for helping on the work of scientific instruction.

has here given to the world a first-rate book on physiology. He is a good investigator, and a clear, pointed, and vigorous writer, and, with excellent scientific judgment in presenting the proportions of a subject, he has prepared a volume trustworthy in exposition and agreeable in its style. It is designed for medical students, and does not aim to be elementary, as the author proposes to begin about where Prof. Huxley's physiology leaves off. In fact, he hopes his book may come to be considered as a kind of advanced companion to Huxley's smaller volume.

The work contains a few simple diagrams, but it cannot be said to be illustrated, and herein we are inclined to think the author has made a serious mistake. His reasons for it are as follows: "I have, moreover, given neither figures nor elaborate descriptions of physiological instruments and apparatus. These must be seen, not read about; the student can learn more by five minutes' inspection of a piece apparatus, especially one at work, than by hours of study of even the most expensive and finished pictures, and most detailed verbal descriptions." True, but shall we therefore give up illustrations? It is always better to see the thing itself, and it should be the first law of education to get at the thing itself, and not take a picture in place of it, wherever that can be done. But then figures do no harm; they may be still helpful to those who have had the opportunity of inspection, while in the case of multitudes who have no such chance the pictures are much better than nothing. No one can look over the fine and accurate illustrations of such a work as Flint's "Manual of Physiology," for example, without recognizing the great advantage that most students will gain by referring to them.

neat and elegantly-illustrated volume is a kind of introduction to the history of naval warfare. It is devoted to an account of sea-fights in old times, and it cannot fail to be very interesting to all who have a concern in the subject. We have greatly admired the finely-executed illustrations of the lubberly old ships that were employed before the improved modern craft came into use.

The Microscopist: A Manual of Microscopy By J. H. Wythe. Third edition, rewritten and enlarged. Pp. 259. With Plates. Philadelphia: Lindsay & Blakiston. Price, $4.50.

Michigan State Board of Health, 1876. Pp. 254. Lansing: W. S. George & Co. print.

Acoustics, Light, and Heat. By William Lees, A. M. Pp. 299. New York: Putnams. Price, $1.50.