Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 38.djvu/143

Rh only those which actual tests have shown to be reliable and trustworthy." The volume contains twenty-five illustrations.

A new and revised edition is published by William Wood & Co. of Mr. Henry Kiddle's Text-Book of Physics, in which are incorporated the alterations needed to adapt the book to the present state of science. The work itself is an adaptation or simplification of Ganot's work, and regard has been had, in carrying out the revision, to the changes and improvements that have been made in the successive editions of the prototype. A large number of experiments, with new illustrations, have been added in the department of "Application of Principles."

Health for Little Folks (American Book Company) is the book for primary grades in the "Authorized Physiology Series." It teaches what the laws now require in regard to alcoholic beverages and tobacco, with frequent iteration, and states briefly the general rules of health and the structure of the body. Physiology and anatomy, however, are treated in the first two books of the series merely as aids "to enable the pupil to comprehend the topic which is the real object of study, viz., the laws of health and the nature of alcoholic drinks and other narcotics, and their effects upon the human system." The volume is written in simple language, it is clearly printed, and is made attractive with many illustrations. The series is indorsed by the Woman's Christian Temperance Union.

The Open Court Company, Chicago, publishes by special license of the author, Three Lectures on the Science of Language and its Place in General Education, which were delivered at the Oxford University Extension Meeting of 1889, by Prof. F. Max Müller. In the first lecture the author finds a mark of distinction between man and animals in the use of language transmitted from generation to generation, and shows how the enormous vocabulary of the English language has grown up from a comparatively small number of primitive roots. In the second lecture these roots are shown to correspond with distinct concepts in the mind of man, of which animals have none; and the lesson taught by the science of language—which is shown to have a practical value—is expounded. In the third lecture the author maintains that language—which is the key to thought—affords a surer test of race affiliations than physical characteristics can, and insists upon his theory of the Asiatic origin of the Aryans as against the Scandinavian theory of some modern students. To the three lectures are added an essay, entitled My Predecessors, in which Prof. Müller disclaims originality for his idea of the identity of thought and language, and strives to show that it has been taught by the nominalists and other philosophers in the past. (Price, 75 cents.)

A group of stories from Norse Mythology has been published by Mary E. Litchfield, under the title The Nine Worlds (Ginn, 60 cents). The style of the book is intended to be simple enough for children, but not too simple for adults. The author says: "I have written the story of the gods as it has formed itself in my mind after much reading and thinking. Whatever is coarse or unpoetic in the old stories has been left out, and much has been added from my own imagination." She has taken various liberties with the ancient legends, such as putting certain prophecies into the mouth of Odin, because he is represented as knowing the future, supplying connecting links in the history, and giving added prominence to certain characters.



American Chemical Society. Bulletin, First General Meeting, at Newport, R. I., August, 1890. Pp. 8.

Bailey, L. H. Cornell University College of Agriculture. Report on the Condition of Fruit-growing in Western New York. Pp. 12.

Ballard, Julia P. Among the Moths and Butterflies. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 237. $1.50.

Bardeen, Charles Russell. Home Exercise for Health and Cure. Syracuse, N. Y.: C. W. Bardeen. Pp. 91.

Carter, J. M. G., Waukegan. Report of the Committee (Illinois State Medical Society) on Practice of Medicine. Pp. 10.

Chadwick, John W. Evolution and Social Reform: the Theological Method. Boston: James H. West. Pp. 10. 10 cents.

Cook, Albert S. Sir Philip Sidney. The Defense of Poetry, with Introduction and Notes. Boston: Ginn & Co. Pp. 143. 90 cents.

De Costa, B. F. The Pre-Columbian Discovery of America by the Northmen. Albany, N. Y.: Joel Munson's Sons. Pp. 196. $3.

Fairman, Dr. Charles E. The Fungi of Western New York. Rochester, N. Y.: Academy of Sciences. Pp. 14, with Plates.

Fernow, B. E., Washington, D. C. Report of the Chief of the Forestry Division for 1890. Pp. 60. 