Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 21.djvu/719

Rh of scientific terms and their definitions which should rather have been applied to the communication in really plain language of the facts which the words indicate. The matter is above the comprehension of the kind of children for whom the style seems to be intended, and the style is not adapted to the tastes of larger ones. The illustrations are excellent.

author is pastor of the Independent Congregational Society of Bangor, Maine. The substance of the volume was originally delivered as a series of regular Sunday discourses before his people. The principal motive of the book is stated to be "to apply the facts of science to inherited doctrines, and then to give a positive basis of belief and conduct in consistency with these facts, to interpret the results of the best authorities, and to bring them into a practical form and conclusion." The author apparently belongs to the advanced rank of "free religious" thinkers. He denies the supernatural character and authority of the "Church of tradition," and of its gospel, and would substitute for the latter a "gospel of law," the fundamental principle of which is that every effect is the natural product of some natural cause.

author of this book is and has long been one of the Superintendents of the Public Schools of the city of New York, and the supervision of object-lesson studies falls within his department, his writings upon that subject have, therefore, a broad basis of experience, involving the trial of methods and the improvement and extension of the objective system. Mr. Calkins published, some years ago, the "Primary Object Lessons," which has been well received and generally adopted. The new work now issued—the "Manual"—extends over a broader field, and embraces subjects and methods for more advanced teaching than those presented in the author's earlier work. It is, therefore, not a substitute for that book, nor a revision of it, but an entirely new treatise, with a great variety of appropriate topics, materials, and suggestions to aid teachers in oral instruction. In this line Mr. Calkins's books are authorities at the present time.

so well backed and braced by authorities as this may seem to need no commendation from us; but a careful examination of it has shown that it is a most practical, judicious, carefully considered digest of hygienic rules and hints about health which is well calculated to be useful to everybody.

new venture in the literary field is bright, varied, and spicy, and the best newspaper bargain for the family now a-going at fifty cents. There is a practical turn about it that is promising, and its scientific side will probably improve with time. The mechanical style of its title, however, seems open to criticism. An artist has been let loose upon it, and the consequence is obscurity. A title, of all things, should be clear, and not so buried up in artistic beauty that we have to spend time digging out what it means. Give us clear, plain, sharp lettering that tells its whole story at the first glance, and let the artist revel in the advertisements.