Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 17.djvu/721

Rh line, from discharging his musket without destroying his aim, from cutting perpendicularly with the edge of his saber, and which likewise hinders him from so following in his own frame the motions received from the frame of his horse that the forces enumerated by this latter shall be so absorbed into and discharged with the making of his aim, as to give no recoil from the saddle."

It is thus assumed that some fault in the play of the bony skeleton is the radical cause of the soldier's deficiencies in movement, and this fault is held to be a one-sided action, as is illustrated in right-handedness. The author takes the ground that only a man who is ambidextrous can have the perfect command and full force of the movements of his body. He holds that "the excessive use of one hand, and of the parts of the body brought into action with it, is a cause of general deformity among civilized men. This so interferes with the central-point working of the body as to greatly reduce its power of producing and sustaining action. The working of the spine is the fundamental basis of movement. Motion properly originates in the spine, is directed by the head, and is only followed up by the limbs. The snake presents the simplest type of spinal working." Colonel Wainwright makes a great deal of this last idea, showing that the locomotion of the snake, when mechanically resolved, throws light upon the work of the higher vertebrate machines. The book is curious and attractive.

have commended the former editions of this work, which now appears much enlarged, and more deserving of the student's favor. We by no means entertain the highest opinion of Dr. Beale as a philosopher; but, as a microscopical observer, and an histological manipulator, his skill and eminence are generally conceded. This elaborate volume, on a rapidly growing branch of physiology and pathology, is entitled to a place among the standard volumes of reference in every well-supplied medical library.

this hand-book Mr. Shunk has given, in a convenient form, a clear and concise statement of the information needful for the young railroad engineer. The initial chapters give an exposition of the mathematics and methods essential as a basis for work, and following these are instructions as to the use and adjustments of instruments, with hints on field routine. A number of problems of field location occurring in the author's practice are given as covering the greater part of those likely to be met with. Very full tables, a number of which are new, are appended. The book is well printed, in clear type, and bound in leather in the ordinary form of the engineering field-book.

this paper Dr. Anders calls attention to the well-known property of transpiration of plants, and their value on this account as hygienic agents. He has been making some quantitative experiments, and finds that plants having soft, thin leaves, such as the geranium, exhale one and a half ounce (by weight) of watery vapor per square foot of leaf-surface in twelve day-hours during clear weather. In-door plants transpire something more than half as much in the same time as those in the open air. He is, therefore, of the opinion that growing plants are of great value in keeping the air of an apartment properly moist, and can be of considerable help in cases of consumption.

very little has been known by the general public of the mythology of the Jews, while that of the Greeks and Romans is part of the most familiar knowledge. Mr. Hauser thinks that, as Christianity arose among the Jews, a knowledge of the early religious ideas and habits of this people should be of interest to at least the Christian