Revue de l'enseignement secondaire. Sept 15. Situation des lycées et colléges de la Seine au 1 er Mai, 1886. L'enseignement secondaire public dans les departements de l'Académie de Paris, la Seine exceptée. Projet de réforme de l'enseignement secondaire classique, par M. E Hallberg. - Rapport à M. le Ministre sur le concours d'aggrégation de l'enseignement spécial, par M. Edgar Zevort. Journal of education, October. On teaching modern history (concluded), by F. W. Cornish. School life in the Apennines. Foreign notes. Correspondence: Rev. R. H. Quick on the training of teachers, etc. - The Bordeaux congress. - Free education in the United States. Notes on teaching English in France. - Reviews, notices, etc.

--

Journal of education, November. The cultivation of taste. The unification of secondary schools in Germany. A Bernese village school. - Graphic work in school-teaching, by T. H. Eagles. - A debate on corporal punishment. Technical training for teachers in Switzerland. - Dr. Warner on the physiology of the child. — A cyclopaedia of education. The teacher's guild of Great Britain and Ireland. - Notes and correspondence. - Foreign notes: Schools and universities. Reviews, notices, etc.

Building-up of a university, the. Rev. Dr. Augustus Jessopp. Nineteenth century, November. [An interesting article on the universities of England, suggested by Willis's "Architectural history of the University of Cambridge and of the colleges of Cambridge and Eton."]

Développement des sens chez l'enfant, d'apres M. Preyer, le. H. de Varigny. Revue scientifique, Sept. 25.

[A review of a French translation of Preyer's' Die seele des kindes.' It concludes "L'étude de ce nouveau-né sera toujours des plus interessantes, et ce ne sera pas le moindre des titres de M. Preyer, que d'avoir montre avec quelle methode et quel soin il la faut faire."]

English literature at the universities. Anon. Quarterly review, October.

[This article, though anonymous, is attributed by the critics to Mr. J. Churton Collins. It is a spirited attack on Mr. Edward Gosse and his recently published book, From Shakspere to Pope.' Mr. Gosse's rejoinder may be read in the Athenaeum of Oct. 23. A notice of the Quarterly review article will also be found in the Spectator, Oct 30. In the Athenaeum for Oct. 30, the Quarterly reviewer replies to Mr. Gosse. Mr. Swinburne has also taken part in the controversy, which threatens to become general among the literary men of England.]

Fifteen years of national education in England. Richard Bartram. Westminster review, October. French academy, the. Lady Dilke. Fortnightly

review, November.

Müller. Fortnightly review, November. Mouvement géographique, le. L. Delavaud. Revue de géographie, September.

Origine et la destinée de l'art, l'. G. Seailles. Revue philosophique, October.

Professor Freeman on the methods of historical study. Westminster review, October.

[A favorable review of Professor Freeman's new book.] Questions d'enseignement; le congrès de Bordeaux. M. Vachon. La nouvelle revue, Oct. 15. Recent educational changes in France, in 'Contemporary life and thought in France.' Gabriel Monod. Contemporary review, November. [A brief statement of the changes recently made in the division known as 'enseignement special.']

Réformes de l'enseignement secondaire, les. C. Bigot. Revue politique et littéraire, Oct. 2. Studi sulla psicologia inglese: Giovanni Locke. Guiseppe Tarantino. Rivista di filosofia scientifica, September.

Teacher's handbook of psychology, the. Carveth Read. Mind, October.

[A sympathetic review of Mr. Sully's new book.]

Temperance legislation in England and elsewhere. William Cunningham.

November.

[An interesting survey of recent temperance legislation and its results. The author quotes largely from the statutes of various states in this country.]

Ueber die wahre aufgabe der physiologie. Prof. W.
Preyer. Deutsche rundschau, Oct. 1.
Use of higher education to women, the. Millicent
Garrett Fawcett. Contemporary review, Novem-
ber.

[An address to the students of Bedford college. Mrs. Fawcett criticises the argument of Dr. Withers Moore on this subject in his address before the recent meeting of the British medical association.]

What girls read. E. G. Salmon. Nineteenth century, October.

Calendar of Societies.

Connecticut academy of arts and sciences, New Haven.

Nov. 7. - Professor Hastings, Exhibition of rocksalt lenses and prism; Professor Brewer, A finished breed of horses.

Philosophical society, Washington.

Nov. 20. G. K. Gilbert, Certain new and small mountain ranges (concluded); T. Russell, Normal barometers; N H Darton, On the occurrence of copper ores in the trias of the eastern United States; J. S. Diller, The latest volcanic eruption in northern California, and its peculiar lava.

Anthropological society, Washington.

Nov. 16.-G. K. Gilbert, The geological date of a prehistoric hearth observed in western New York; J H. McGee, Remarks on an obsidian spear-head found in a quaternary deposit in Walker coñʊn, Nevada.

Engineers' club, Philadelphia.

Nov 6.-W. E. Hall, Car lubrication; Frank A. Hill, Accidents in anthracite mines; G. R. Hender son, Efficiency of locomotives and resistance of trains; Herman Haupt, jun., A description of the St. Paul ice-palace.

Publicat ons received at Editor's Office, Nov. 8-20

Abbott, E. Easy Greek reader. (Clarendon press series.) Oxford, Clarendon pr., 1886. 80+96 p. 16°. (New York, Macmillan, 75 cents.) Tr. by Madame 70+129+91 p.,

Bert, P. First steps in scientific knowledge. Paul Bert. Philadelphia, Lippincott, 1887. illustr. 16°. Buckland, A. Our national institutions. London, Macmillan, 1886. 6+111 p. 16°.

Challenger, report of the scientific results of the exploring voyage of. Vols. xv., xvi: Zoology. London, Government, 1886. 827+700 p., 58+64 pl., 1 chart. 4°.

Clifford, W. K. Lectures and essays. Ed. by Leslie Stephen and Frederick Pollock. 2d ed. London, Macmillan, 1886. 443 P., portr., 128. $2 50.

Doberck, W. The law of storms in the eastern seas. Hongkong, Hongkong Telegraph, 1886. 24 p., map. 16°. 50 cents. Gautier, T. Scenes of travel. Ed. by George Saintsbury. (Clarendon press series) Oxtord, Clarendon pr., 1886. 12+ 130 p. 16°. (New York, Macmillan, 50 cents.)

Gueroult, G. Esquisse d'une théorie générale des lampes a arc voltaïque. Paris, Gauthier-Villars, 1886. 43 P. 12°. (New York, Christern, 50 cents.)

Halphen, G.-H. Traité des fonctions elliptiques et de leurs applications. Première partie. Paris, Gauthier-Villars, 1886. 492 p. 8°. (New York, Christern, $5.)

8°.

Harrower, H. D. Captain Glazier and his lake: an inquiry into the history and progress of exploration at the head waters of the Mississippi since the discovery of Lake Itasca. New York, Ivison, Blakeman, Taylor & Co., 1886. 58 p.. to maps. Holbrook, M. L. How to strengthen the memory; or, Natural and scientific methods of never forgetting. New York, The author, [1886.] 152 p. 12°.

Jays, L. Problemes de physique et de chimie. Paris, Gauthier-Villars, 1886. 335 p. 8°. (New York, Christern, $2.)

Kapp, G. Electric transmission of energy, and its transformation, subdivision, and distribution. New York, Van Nostrand, 1886. 12331 p., illustr. 12°.

Marshall, A. and M. P. The economics of industry. London, Macmillan, 1885. 16+231 p. 16°.

Mason, T. B. The war between Chile and the allied republics of Peru and Bolivia in 1879-81. Washington, Government, 1885. 77 P., maps. 8°.

Medical education and medical colleges in the United States and Canada, 1765-1836. Springfield, Ill., State board of healık, 1886. 172 P. 8°.

Niebuhr's Griechische heroen-geschichten. Tales of Greek heroes. Ed. by Emma S. Buchheim. School edition. (Clarendon press series.) Oxford, Clarendon pr., 1886. 8+131 p. 16o. (New York, Macmillan, 50 cents.)

Racine's Esther. Ed. by George Saintsbury. (Clarendon press series.) Oxford, Clarendon pr., 1886. 123 p. 16°. (New York, Macmillan, 50 cents)

United States, tenth census of the, 1880. Vol. xviii. part i.: Social statistics of cities. Washington, Government, 1886. 914 P., maps, diagr. 4°.

Same. Vol. xx: Statistics of wages. necessaries of life, trades societies, and strikes and lockouts Prepared by Jos. D. Weeks. Washington, Government, 1886. 635 P. 4°. Vanden-Berghe, M. L'homme avant l'histoire. Paris, Reinwald, 1886. 83 p. 8°. (New York, Christern, 50 cents.)

Wickham, E. C. Selected odes of Horace, with notes for the use of a fifth form. Vol. ii.: Notes. (Clarendon press series.) Oxford, Clarendon pr., 1886. 68 p. 16°. (New York, Macmillan, 55 cents.)

Wolf, C. Les hypothèses cosmogoniques. Paris, GauthierVillars, 1886 255 p. 8°. (New York, Christern, $2.20.)

Wronski, H. Application nautique de la nouvelle théorie des marées Paris, Gauthier-Villars, 1886. 96 p. 4°. (New York, Christern, $3.35.)

Advertised Books of Reference.

PHYSIOLOGICAL BOTANY: I. Outlines of the Histology of Phaenogamous Plants; II. Vegetable Physiology. Goodale (Harvard), 8vo, 560 pp. $2.30. Ivison, Blakeman, Taylor & Co, Pubs., New York.

STRUCTURAL BOTANY; or, Organography on the basis of Morphology; the principles of Taxonomy and Phytography and a Glossary of Botanical terms. Gray Harvard), 8vo., 454 pp. $2.30. Ivison, Blakeman, Taylor & Co., Pubs. New York.

By In

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CHEMISTRY. Theoretical, practical, and analytical, as applied to the arts and manufactures. Writers of Eminence. Profusely and handsomely illustrated two volumes. Each containing 25 steel-plate engravings and numerous woodcuts. Imperial 8vo. Price per set: Extra cloth. $15.00. Library sheep, $18.00. Half morocco, $20.00. J. B. Lippincott Company, Pubs., Philadelphia.

SCRIBNER'S STATISTICAL ATLAS OF THE UNITED STATES: Showing by Graphic Methods their Present Condition, and their Political, Social, and Industrial Development, as Determined by the Reports of the Tenth Census, the Bureau of Statistics, the Commissioner of Education, State Officials, and other Authoritative Sources. 120 Pages Text, 151 plates (31 double), 279 Maps (22 folio). 969 Charts and Diagrams. Sold only by Subscription. sent Descriptive circular on application. Charles Scribner's Sons. Pubs., 743 and 745 Broadway. New York. INSECTS INJURIOUS TO FRUITS. By Prof. William Saunders, F.R.S C. Handsomely illustrated with 440 wood engravings. Crown, 8vo. Cloth. $3. J. B. Lippincott Company. Pubs., Philadelphia.

MAMMALS OF THE ADIRONDACKS. By Dr. C. Hart Merriam. Contains an introductory chapter treating of the location and boundaries of the region, its geographical history, topography, climate, general features, botany, and faunal position. This work consists, in the first place, of a general account of the prominent features of the Adirondack region; and, secondly of a popular narrative of the habits of the animals found within its confines. Imp. 8vo. $3.50. Henry Holt & Co., New York.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1886.

COMMENT AND CRITICISM.

THIS IS THE SEASON of governmental reports, and we are forcibly reminded by them of the intricate and complex administrative system that has been developed in the United States. Most of these reports are of real interest to the community, but all save the most important of them are never read. Yet some of the reports by minor officers contain a great deal of valuable information, and merit notice. One such is the report of the adjutant-general of the army, who touches on the condition of the militia of the various states. Inasmuch as our regular army is too small to merit the name, and since we must depend on our volunteer forces in case of war, the topic is of some importance. The adjutant-general approves of state encampments as a means of drilling and training the militia, but, soldier-like, criticises the prevailing tendency to make an encampment a sort of picnic for the state officials. To be of any real benefit, General Drum says that state encampments should be of ten days' duration, and established at a sufficient distance from the homes of the members of the command to overcome the social and business influences which otherwise interfere with military duties. The camp must be divested of any holiday appearance, and the time devoted to instruction and practice in skirmish and battalion drills, and guard duty, target-practice, etc.; for, says General Drum, " as most of the fighting of the future must be done in open order, a thorough acquaintance with the skirmish drill is of the highest importance." He also disapproves of mere exhibition drills, and favors arming the state troops with the best and newest arms and ammunition.

The superintendent of the naval academy, Commodore Sampson, devotes the major portion of his report to an argument in favor of shortening the present six years' course of study at that institution. He desires to have the fifth and sixth years of the course, now devoted to service on cruising vessels, done away with, and the cadets commissioned at the end of the fourth year, instead of, as

No. 200.-1886.

now, at the end of the sixth, on the ground that the country gains no additional advantage from the last two years. Commodore Sampson also shows that under the existing system, which restricts each congressional district to a candidate every six years, one-third of the boys are never eligible for admission to the academy, because of the various restrictions as to age; whereas, if the course were reduced from six years to four, each congressional district would have an appointment once in four years, and all the boys of the country would be eligible at some time. At the last annual examination, 163 candidates reported; but only 86 fulfilled the requirements, and were entered as cadets.

But of the reports thus far made public, with the possible exception of the treasury statements, that of the postmaster-general will attract most attention. Using statistics gathered in 1884since which time our postal service has grown immensely by the international bureau of the Universal postal union, Mr. Vilas shows that our postal machinery far exceeds that of any other nation on the globe. It is estimated that last year one hundred million more letters were mailed here than in Great Britain, long the leading letter-writing nation, and nearly that number more than were mailed in Germany, France, and Austria combined. Of pieces of matter mailed, the annual proportion per inhabitant is 19 in Germany, 57 in Great Britain, and 66 in the United States. At the close of the last fiscal year there were in this country 53,614 post-offices, and 497 stations or branch-offices: of this number, only 2,265 are so-called presidential offices. It is a curious and suggestive fact, that, of the new offices established during the year, over sixty per cent were located in fourteen southern states and Indian Territory. During the year the carriers handled 1,949,520,599 pieces of mail matter, an increase over the previous year of 11.75 per cent. About four millions of dollars were transferred on postal orders, and 1,118,820 special delivery stamps were used. The gross revenue for the year amounts to $43,936,000, leaving a deficiency of nearly $7,000,000 to be provided for by appropriation.

FIGURES ARE SOMETIMES STRANGE things, but no less convincing than strange. They frequently force a man to assent to a proposition against his will, and in opposition to what he has persuaded himself is true. The latest case in point, and the one we have in mind, is a contribution of the London Economist to the discussion on bad times and depression. Great Britain has been commiserating itself on its unprosperous financial condition, and John Bull has loudly asseverated that he is losing money. In the face of this comes the Economist with the statement, that, instead of having grown poorer, Great Britain has, during the last decade, saved and invested at least one thousand million pounds sterling, a sum one-third greater than the national debt. This immense sum is believed to be far within the truth, since it takes no account of the large sums annually spent in improvements, nor of the very considerable sum sent out of the country to secure foreign and colonial investments. The Economist proves its assertion by showing that within ten years the country has invested the following sums: house property, £400,000.000; home railways, £186,000,000; joint stock companies, £200,000.000; colonial loans, £80,000.000; loans to English local authorities, £72.000,000, in all, £938,000,000. Spectator, in noticing this fact, thinks that it is not so much, after all; for it is only a saving of "a hundred million pounds sterling a year, or a fifth more than is paid in national taxation, probably not two shillings in the pound of national income, and certainly not a fourth of the income of those who pay the income tax." This may be so; but practically it may make considerable difference in the expenditures of a people, to find, that, instead of annually running behind, they are really getting ahead each twelvemonth. But be these figures what they may, it seems to be an undoubted fact that a large section of the British population feel that they grow poorer year by year; and, until we can determine more precisely what weight attaches to the statistics prepared by the Economist, we are unwilling to say emphatically that such feeling is without any justification

in fact.

The

FEW ORGANIZED CHARITIES are so uniformly successful and so richly deserving as the Children's aid society of New York City, of which Mr. Charles L. Brace is the efficient and judicious executive officer. In describing the work of the society at the annual meeting of the trustees, Mr.

Brace detailed the principles of the society and the results attained by proceeding upon them. The principles were defined as the absolute necessity of treating each youthful criminal or outcast as an individual, and not as one of a crowd; the immense superiority of the home or family over any institution in reformatory and educational influence; the prevention of crime and pauperism by early efforts with children, and the vital importance of breaking up inherited pauperism by putting almshouse children in separate homes; and, most of all, the immense advantage of 'placing out' neglected and orphan children in farmers' families. The records of the city police courts show how these principles work in practice. While in thirty years the city's population has increased from about six hundred and thirty thousand to nearly a million and a half, the number of girls committed for petty larceny has fallen in the same period from over nine hundred to less than two hundred and fifty. In the same time the commitments of female vagrants have decreased from 5,778 to 2,565.

The industrial schools, employing over one hundred teachers, and giving instruction to ten thousand pupils, are the most important branch of the society's work. Mr. Brace claims that "the industrial schools act especially in preventing the growth of a race of drunkards, as the children become elevated above the habit. The enormous decrease of some fifty per cent in cases of drunkenness known to the police during the past ten years is one proof of this. The remarkable decrease of some twelve and a half per cent in all crimes against person and property during the past ten years, as well as the decrease from previous years, is one of the most striking evidences ever offered of the effects of such labors as those of this society and of many similar charities. It has gone on regularly in years both of business depression and prosperity. It proves that such labors are diminishing the supply of thieves, burglars, drunkards, vagrants, and rogues." Another original and useful branch of the society is its lodging-houses, which combine the various functions of school, workshop, emigration agency, and lodging-house. Each child pays for his support by labor or money. The liberal benefactions of Miss Wolfe, J. J. Astor, and Mrs. R. L. Stewart, who have each put up large buildings for these purposes, have greatly aided the society. There

are now six lodging-houses, and they have sheltered during the year over 11,000 children at an average cost per capita of $47.65.

A SIGNIFICANT ILLUSTRATION of the interest taken by Russians in anthropological research and the zeal and activity of Russian scientific bodies is furnished by the annual report of the Society of lovers of natural science anthropology and ethnology, read at its annual meeting in Moscow on the 27th ult. In the course of the past year the society has held fifty meetings, at which there were read one hundred and thirty papers and reports; it has organized and sent into the field seventeen scientific expeditions, including one to the Black Sea, one to the valley of the Ob in western Siberia, and one to the Caucasus; it has made valuable collections in all parts of the empire; and, finally, it has published eight volumes of memoirs embodying the scientific work of its members. Six medals of gold and six of silver were awarded at the annual meeting to members of the society who had especially distinguished themselves during the year in scientific research.

OPINIONS SEEM TO DIFFER as to the dangers connected with the use of cocaine. Dr. William A. Hammond does not believe that there is any danger of a person becoming so addicted to its use that he cannot discontinue it at any time. Dr. J. B. Mattison, on the other hand, looks upon it as a drug which already has entangled within its toils a number of persons, who are as unable to stop its use as if the drug were opium instead of cocaine, and for whose relief a proper course of treatment is necessary. The statistics thus far seem to indicate that physicians and apothecaries are especially prone to its unrestricted use, as, up to the present time, they form the larger part of its victims.

THE DISCOVERY of petroleum in Scotland, as mentioned in the Glasgow herald, is interesting in connection with the discoveries made many years ago of petroleum in small quantity in English coal-measures; but it is very probable that this locality, like those in England, will not yield oil in commercial quantity. It is worth while, however, to call attention to the fact that the distillation of oil from bog-head' coal and the Midlothian shales, with which this new pit is probably connected, led eventually to the production of petroleum in the United States.

THE Lancet records the case of a young girl who had attacks exactly resembling delirium tremens from the effect of tea-leaves which she was in the habit of chewing. We have already called attention to the many and varied disorders which may occur as the result of the excessive use of strong tea, and have no doubt that many persons suffering from dyspepsia and palpitation of the heart would find these symptoms to disappear, or at least be markedly diminished, if they would discontinue the excessive use of tea as a beverage.

IN COMMENTING UPON the extraordinary efficiency claimed for the Marchant steam-engine, which has been attracting considerable attention in England of late, Science of Oct. 29 intimated that in the tests made there might possibly have been some source of error, which would be revealed by further trials under more satisfactory conditions. Conclusive tests recently made in the presence of representatives of Engineering, the Electrical review, and other technical journals, prove that the amount of coal consumed for each horse-power per hour, as shown by the brake, was four pounds, instead of eight-tenths of a pound, as shown at previous trials.

MEASLES APPEARS TO BE very prevalent in New York City. For the week ending Nov. 20, there were 253 cases reported, of which 38 were fatal. During the first two years of the war of the rebellion there were 38,021 cases of this disease in the army, of which 1,864, or about 1 in 31, were fatal. Bartholow regards this as an underestimate. He thinks, that, if all the complications and sequels were taken into account, the mortality would be at least 1 to 5. The number of deaths in Brooklyn for the same period was but 4. It is difficult to estimate the probable number of cases of this disease in either city, the mortality varying so much at different times, and for reasons which are not ascertainable, although it is doubtless true that only a very small proportion of the cases are reported to the health authorities in any of our cities While New York is nearly free from small-pox, and has been for a long time, but one case in many months, -Brooklyn appears to have the disease to a considerable extent, some forty or more cases having been reported within the past month. With so much of this disease in a neighboring city, it will be very strange if New York continues to be exempt.