Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 31.djvu/871

Rh healthy men have proved that not even the strongest of these can exceed in a day more than two ounces that is, only four tablespoonfuls without diminishing their capacity for work. . . . Whoever does not die before his time, and yet habitually drinks more than two ounces of alcohol daily, will very surely have to pay for it in pains far harder to bear than those inflicted by payment in cash." The almost certainty that those who indulge in even this quantity will demand more, is the universal temperance argument. The complaint of those who apprehend that drunkenness is increasing is answered by citations, century by century, which show that as a whole the present is decidedly the most temperate age in history. As to remedies for the evils of drunkenness, the author has much faith in prohibition, and believes that local option is as nearly sovereign as we are likely to attain.

book is intended for young readers; and its object is not merely to teach history, but also to cultivate certain noble sentiments, such as patriotism and love of liberty. The author holds that "patriotism, or love of country, is one of the tests of nobility of character," and adds that "from the earliest times the sentiment of patriotism has been aroused in the hearts of men by the narrative of heroic deeds, inspired by love of country and love of liberty. This truth furnishes the key to the arrangement and method of the present work" (preface). The historical examples which the author has chosen are, in the main, well adapted to his purpose. Some of them, however, can hardly be called struggles for liberty, however interesting and important in other respects, such, for instance, as the Crusades and the conquest of India. The Crusades especially, though having an interest of their own, and, constituting, in one sense, a great historical event, are chiefly memorable as a stupendous example of superstition and folly.

The most interesting portions of Mr. Johonnot's book are those describing struggles for liberty in modern Europe and in our own country. Of ancient events only one is treated—the victorious contest of the Greeks against the Persians. Coming down to modern times, considerable space is given to the struggles of the Swiss with the Austrians and with Charles of Burgundy; to the defense of Scotland by Bruce and his men; and to the gallant and successful fight of the Dutch and the English with the mighty power of Spain. An account is given of the discovery of America, and of the settlement of the Pilgrim Fathers, and the work is fitly closed by a brief sketch of some of the chief battles of the Revolution.

The work is, as the author states on the title-page, a compilation, and some parts of it are quoted directly from other writers. Some of the authors quoted from are inferior in style to Mr. Johonnot himself, which makes one wish that he had written the whole work with his own pen. The book will doubtless find a place for itself and fill it usefully, notwithstanding the many rivals with which it will have to contend.

is one of the most comprehensive and compact reports of the whole series. Besides presenting the record of the special work done during the year by the department, Mr. Thompson has sought, in a "Compendium of Geology and Mineralogy," by which this is preceded, to give an outline sketch of all that has been discovered and reported upon by his own corps and by his predecessors in office, so that the volume might, in a certain degree, place the student, who can not get the earlier reports, in a situation fairly to understand the geology of the State. In doing this, he has made a treatise that is readable throughout as well as scientifically acceptable. It is claimed that the work of the department, as a whole, has done more than all other agencies combined to advertise the coal, clay, iron, and building-stone of Indiana, and to direct attention to the peculiar advantages offered by their situation and quality. The reports of the former incumbents of the office, though long since exhausted, are