Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 47.djvu/282

272 upon him, and of the genera and species of plants and animals named after him, is given. There are also a bibliography of writings by or about Rafinesque, numbering over four hundred titles, and a copy of his eccentric will. Pages from two of his works are given in facsimile.

twenty years past the necessity of a good reading knowledge of French and German by students of technical branches, as well as of pure science, has been recognized in our colleges. Very little progress has been made, however, in the matter of providing proper introductory language lessons for such studies. The present book must now be added to the still too short a list of books available for this purpose.

There are many difficulties in the preparation of such a book; for not only is linguistic knowledge necessary, but also technical knowledge covering all subjects treated, otherwise a correct vocabulary can not be appended to the book. Mr. Herdler has had the assistance of several well-known teachers of science in the proper rendering of these technical French terms into English, which insures their correctness in the connection in which they are used in the text.

The matter in the book consists of well-selected short articles, increasing in difficulty with progress through the volume. It will be found of greatest use to engineering students, chemists, and electricians, as the application to practical life of scientifically constructed devices is mainly treated. It will probably be a long time before special students in the departments of astronomy, meteorology, geology, zoölogy, etc., will have prepared for them books of this class which will enable them to acquire in a few months a technical vocabulary which now requires years of reading in special science literature.

this strong argument on the natural rights of women, Mrs. Dr. Jacobi has embodied the substance of what has been urged by past advocates of the "emancipation of woman," and by the leaders of the present movement, and has supplemented it with some forcible considerations of her own suggesting, which are commended to those who are interested in the subject. Of the author's ability to make the strongest presentation of the "woman" question, and of the worthiness of whatever she may have to say to be carefully and respectfully considered by candid men, there can be no question. A lady of high scientific attainments and of wide general culture, she has thought long and well on this subject and the others kindred to and connected with it. The address she made in favor of woman suffrage before the recent New York Constitutional Convention fell before an unsympathetic, timid audience largely governed by political exigencies; now she appeals to a different audience, which, though it may be unwilling, will not be afraid, if it sees fit, to move in the direction she wishes.

report includes the notes prepared by the former State Geologist for publication, embracing the results of the observations of himself and his assistants and correspondence, and the additional information that has been acquired under the present administration of the survey—the whole being carefully rewritten or revised. The material on-which it is based has been gathered by members of the survey or found in local cabinets, private collections, and the cabinets of colleges and public museums. The author aims to present, briefly, an index to the fossils of the State by means of which the forms can be recognized easily, with a bibliography of Missouri palæontology, a summary of what has so far been done in it, and an introduction to more comprehensive faunal studies, tending toward a solution of stratigraphical problems more or less obscure. As a rule, all the species described have passed under personal observation. The disposition to fabricate or imagine "new species" has been resolutely checked, and attention has been turned in preference to