Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 53.djvu/583

Rh Commission for a public reservation, a satisfactory arrangement has been made under which the premises of the observatory are reserved to it so far as is necessary for observatory use, so that the continuation of the work is assured, with the expectation that it will ultimately become a part of that carried on directly by Harvard University. At present Mr. A. Lawrence Rotch provides the means for carrying it on. Of the observations recorded in the present report, the most important were those of clouds in co-operation with the international system of cloud observations, and the exploration of the air by means of kites.

The fourth volume, 1896, Studies from the Yale Psychological Laboratory, E. W. Scripture, editor, contains articles on Reaction Time in Abnormal Conditions of the Nervous System; Influence of the Rate Change upon the Perception of Difference in Pressure and Weight, and Weber's Law in Illusions, by C. E. Seashore; and on Reaction Time, Voluntary Effort; New Apparatus and Methods, and Psychological Measurements, by the editor, E. W. Scripture. Published at Yale University, New Haven (pp. 141), for $1.

Owing to the large amount of original matter that has lately appeared in the Pharmaceutical Review, and the consequent reduction in other departments, it has been deemed advisable hereafter to publish the more technical scientific articles under a separate cover, to be known as the Pharmaceutical Archives. This will be supplied for $1 a year, while the price of the Pharmaceutical Review is $2, and both will be sent for $2.50 a year. The first number of the Pharmaceutical Archives consists of 24 pages, and contains four articles. Published at Milwaukee, Wis. Edward Kremers, editor.

In the Thirteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics of Connecticut, the scope of the investigations has been enlarged as to the inquiry respecting the conditions of workingmen. The readiness manifested by the people in assisting the agents' bureau is recognized. Of the five parts into which the report is divided, the first relates to the condition of workingmen, the second to the condition of manufacturers, the third to the hours of labor and wages in mercantile establishments, the fourth to the rates of wages paid in municipal employment, and the fifth includes an abstract of bills passed or rejected during the last session of the General Assembly and decisions of courts in various States. The operation of the act concerning alien laborers is represented as having been "most beneficial." The services of the State Board of Mediation and Arbitration were not required during the year covered by the report (1897).

The Story of Germ Life, in D. Appleton and Company's Library of Useful Stories, has been prepared by Prof. H. W. Conn, of Wesleyan University, one of our most expert bacteriologists, in view of the fact that bacteria are associated in most minds chiefly with disease. "The last few years have, however, emphasized the importance of these organisms in many relations independent of disease, but this side of the subject has not yet attracted very general attention, nor does it yet appeal to the reader with any special force." His purpose, therefore, is to give a brief outline of our knowledge of bacteria and their importance in the world, including, besides their well-known agency in promoting disease, their even greater importance as agents in other natural phenomena. Their nature as plants is described, and their uses in the arts, the dairy, and natural processes are discussed, and the relations of parasitic bacteria to disease and the method of combating them are considered.

The Economic Relations of Life Insurance to Society and State is the subject of Publication No. 218 of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. It includes papers on the subject, read at a meeting of the academy, held in December, 1897, by L. G. Fouse and M. M. Dawson, with discussions by W. D. Whiting, G. E. Freyer, and R. P. Falkner. Published by the academy at Philadelphia, for .55 cents.

N. W. Ayer & Son's American Newspaper Annual for 1898, including its catalogue and accounts of American newspapers and descriptions of towns, etc., in which newspapers are published, forms a volume of 1366 pages, besides those devoted to advertisements. It contains the names of 2,142 publications not found in the previous volume, yet the total net gain is only 137—the smallest, with one