Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 47.djvu/427

Rh The Catholic University Bulletin is a new quarterly publication, conducted by professors of the Catholic University of America, Washington, similar in scope to the reviews and other periodicals which it is now becoming customary for American institutions of learning to issue. Its object is to convey to those who are interested in the university a knowledge of what is being done by its professors and its students; and it will make known the work of the administration so far as it is of public interest; its material progress, benefactions, gifts, etc.; facts relative to the system of teaching and results obtained; descriptions of the special schools and their operation, and the progress made by professors and students in the sciences for which the schools were opened; methods of teaching, educational discussions, and comparative notices of the work of other institutions; articles on higher pedagogics; public official documents concerning the university; literary and biographical notices, necrologies of men of learning deceased, accounts of learned congresses, etc.

A History of Higher Education in Rhode Island, prepared by William Howe Tolman, Ph. D., is number eighteen of Herbert B. Adams's series of contributions in the Bureau of Education to American Educational History. The educational history of this State is of particular interest because it raises the question whether religious freedom reacted favorably on the establishment of a system of education in the early days of the New England colonies—and helps answer it. The first part of the essay gives an account of colonial and later education. The second part tells the story of the academies and preparatory schools, of which seven are described. The third part is devoted to the institutions for the education of women. The story of Brown University—the only university in the State—occupies the main part of the history, and is told for the most part in connection with the work of the institution's eight presidents. Lastly, the College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts is represented; and two pages are given to a bibliography.

In the handsome Geological Map of Alabama, by the State Geologist, Eugene A. Smith, the formations are clearly shown in distinct coloring, which is also harmonious and agreeable to the eye. In the accompanying description and explanatory chart, which corresponds with the map in size and form, the formations, names, synonyms, classification, and common fossils; thickness, lithological and topographical characters, area and distribution; useful products, soils, characteristic timber growth and agricultural features; and the reports in which these features are described, are conveniently shown for ready reference in parallel columns. Mr. Smith's reports, of which we have had many, all bear the marks of good work.

The thirteenth volume of the Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission, 1893, contains the proceedings of the World's Fisheries Congress, which was held in Chicago in October, 1893, and the papers that were read there. These papers, represented by forty-nine in the volume, touched various fishery topics, and in many cases called out considerable debate. The same subject gave rise to the expression of divergent opinions, especially on some phases of the commercial fisheries, which demonstrated that a fair conclusion on any of the subjects discussed can be reached only after a careful consideration of all the views presented. The papers given in the volume, being the views of representative men upon the subjects treated, are necessarily of great practical worth, and are published by the Fish Commission with the idea of furnishing the general public with valuable information concerning the fishery industry, and not with any view of approving or disapproving the opinions expressed. Some of the papers are handsomely illustrated, particularly that of Mr. G. F. Kunz, on pearls.

With 1895 the Journal of the American Public Health Association takes the place of the annual volume of the association's Transactions. It is issued quarterly from Concord, N. H., at $5 a year. The number for January contains the addresses delivered and part of the papers read at the meeting of 1894, in Montreal. Most of the papers in this number deal with water supplies; two others treat of diphtheria epidemics; and there is one, in French, on the general subject of preventive inoculation.

A plan for teaching science in public schools drawn up by Dr. William T. Harris