Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 33.djvu/581

Rh of a certain wave-length to be utilized in the synthesis of the carbohydrates, etc. The second paper is by G. N. Stewart, and deals with "The Effect of Stimulation on the Polarization of Nerve," and the third is by W. Griffiths, "On the Rhythm of Muscular Response to Volitional Impulses in Man." The third paper presents comparisons of myograms taken from voluntarily contracting muscles, and the conclusions obtained with different muscles, different persons, different weights, different times of contraction, etc.

The second number of the Journal of Morphology (Ginn) contains five papers, viz.: "Oökinesis," by C. O. Whitman; "The Embryology of Petromyzon," by Dr. W. Ct Scott; "A Contribution to the Embryology of the Lizard," by Dr. Henry Orr; "The Fœtal Membranes of the Marsupials," by Dr. H. F. Osborn; and "Some Observations on the Mental Powers of Spiders," by George W. and Elizabeth G. Peckham. The papers are illustrated with ten plates and several diagrams.

The first part of Professor W. Preyer's observations upon the development of The Mind of the Child, which relates to the senses and the will, has been translated for D. Appleton & Co.'s International Education Series, by H. W. Brown, of the State Normal School, at Worcester, Mass., an institution in which the students are taught themselves systematically to make and record observations upon the children whom they meet or come in contact with. The importance of the subject to teachers hardly needs enlarging upon; for it is obviously one of the most essential qualifications they should possess for their work that they should be acquainted with the nature of the object which they are to operate upon, whose continued development they are to aid. Of all the series of observations that have been recorded on the mind of the child, those of Professor Preyer have been probably the most thorough and systematic, and are described in the most lucid manner. He kept a complete diary of all childish acts and the acquisition of new powers from the birth of his son to the end of his third year; occupied himself with him at least three times a day, guarding him, as far as possible, against such training as children usually receive, and found nearly every day some fact of mental genesis to record. The substance of that diary has passed into this book. The record is enriched by notes of observations on other children and contributions from other persons. The whole forms a valuable foundation on which teachers may base their own individual studies, and a guide for the right conducting of them.

A paper on European Schools of History and Politics, read by Mr. Andrew D. White at the Johns Hopkins University in 1879, has been revised, and is published in the "Studies," edited by Prof. H. B. Adams. Although the editor puts only Mr. White's name on the title-page of the pamphlet, and runs the title of his paper as a heading over all the pages, scarcely half of the pamphlet is occupied by Mr. White's paper. The other contributions are "Modern History at Oxford," by W. J. Ashley; "Recent Impressions of the École Libre," by T. K. Worthington; and "Preparation for the Civil Service in German States," by L. Katzenstein, with a "List of Books upon the German Civil Service." Mr. White gives an account of the recent growth of the department of history and politics at some of the centers of European instruction, and then applies this European experience in discussing the need in our own country for men trained in these subjects.

In Mary F. Hyde's Practical Lessons in the Use of English, book two (D. C. Heath & Co.), the sound plan adopted in the former volume, of bringing only correct forms to the attention of the pupil, is adhered to. The exercises are a step more advanced in character than those of the former book, and are illustrated by selections from the works of Longfellow, Whittier, and Lucy Larcom. The aim observed throughout the work has been to lead the pupil to see for himself, to cultivate the powers of observation at every step; and, instead of discussing why certain forms are right and others wrong, to train him habitually to use the right expression.

D. C. Heath & Co. have added a second part of Mrs. Julia McNair Wright's Seaside and Wayside to the series of Nature Readers. It is substantially a continuation of the plan developed in the first part, and describes a