impressed by the representations of those who fear a growing tendency among us to abandon the public school to the use of the poorer classes. "In France," he says, "an analogous situation is the outcome of aristocratic prejudices." In this long and interesting review of our complicated system of education some errors of fact or judgment are inevitable. I note simply the mistake as to the result of the Butler vs. Little case in the New York court. Dr. Butler was not sentenced (à fait condamner), the case having been set aside.

A. T. S.

BOOK NOTICES.

To accommodate readers who may wish it, the publishers of EDUCATION will send, postpaid, on receipt of the price, any book reviewed in these columns.

PLANT STRUCTURES. A Second Book of Botany. By John M. Coulter, A.M., Ph.D. We have already noticed in a former number the author's attractive. book on PLANT RELATIONS. That work and this both belong to the sumptuous Twentieth Century Text-Book Series of the Appletons. The present volume may follow or precede the other, according as the teacher prefers to introduce his pupils to the subject through the gateway of ecology or morphology. The author prefers the former method, and for that reason has published his books in the given order. While thoroughly scientific and up-to-date, the subject-matter is presented in an attractive style, and will interest the general reader as well as the specialist. The book is a splendid example of the ideal text-book of this ripe age of the world's civilization. There is no half-way work either in its prepartion or its mechanical making. The illustrations are of a high order, and make the subject as plain to the eye as the text does to the mind. No student who intends to master this most fascinating of nature studies can afford to be without these two splendid books, PLANT RELATIONS and PLANT STRUCTURES. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Price, $1.20.

THE INDUCTIVE GEOGRAPHY. By Chas. W. Deane, Ph.D., and Mary R. Davis. There are some unique features about this geography that will commend it to thoughtful teachers and committees. The inductive method is carefully followed, and in connection with the text a large number of map and other questions are asked and the interest of the pupil is well maintained. The size of the book is common sense, and makes it far preferable to the unwieldy books so common on this subject. The dimensions are 7 x 11 inches, and there are 334 pages. The maps are clear and accurate. The foreign possessions of the United States are presented in a separate section. The mechanical make-up of the volume is creditable, and the price, 90 cents, is very reasonable. New York: The Potter & Putnam Company.

BRUMBAUGH'S STANDARD READERS are edited and arranged by Martin G. Brumbaugh, Professor of Pedagogy in the University of Pennsylvania. The books are five in number, and are the very latest school readers in the market. They are constructed on somewhat novel lines, being a vigorous plea for good literature on the one hand, and on the other a strong endeavor to cultivate a taste for the finest and best in our noble language. All of the selections are made with choicest care; they are most intelligently graded, and they are from masterpieces. It may be safely asserted that there is not one trashy or objec tionable extract in any one of the five books comprising the series. The type is

excellent, the paper strong and durable, the illustrations new and pertinent, and the arrangement of the selections logical and progressive. It is one of the best series of readers published, and needs only to be presented to the attention of teachers to win their approval. Philadelphia: Christopher Sower Company.

NATURE'S MIRACLES. By Elisha Gray, Ph.D., LL.D. Vol. I., World-Building and Life. Dr. Gray has made himself famous by the invention of the telephone, which now stands as one of humanity's great benefactions. In the little volume before us he has again, in a more limited sense, but still really, put the world under obligation to him in putting forth so clearly and interestingly some of the fundamental laws of nature whose thorough mastery by himself led long ago to the great discoveries for which he is famous. In popular language he explains the formation of the foundations of the earth, with many interesting facts about coal, slate, limestone, etc. He takes us above the earth, and describes the formation of the clouds, the phenomena of the atmosphere and the conditions of the weather. Under the head of Water he treats of rivers, floods, tides, ice, and the energy stored in these things. Young and old will find his pages fresh, original and suggestive. It is an excellent book to put into the hands of boys and girls. It will lead them to investigate for themselves, and to observe Nature in her interesting laws and phases. New York: Fords, Howard and Hulbert. Price, 60 cents.

Three Latin Books: CESAR FOR BEGINNERS, by William T. St. Clair, is a first Latin book, in which the beginner takes up Cæsar as his first Latin. A number of practical points mark the value of the work: a working vocabulary of five hundred words from the second book of Cæsar; lessons of uniform length, adapted to the average ability of pupils; lessons graded with a view of reaching and mastering the complex constructions of Cæsar; uniform progression in the building of the complex sentence; the first fourteen chapters of the second book of Cæsar simplified and adapted in twenty lessons; the second book of Cæsar complete, with notes. It is a scholarly work, and is made after a well-defined plan, bearing the marks of class room use. New York: Longmans, Green & Co.

SELECTIONS FROM OVID, edited with introduction, notes and vocabulary, by James N. Anderson, Ph.D., is designed to serve as an introduction to Latin poetry. The notes are copious and are most generous helps in the translating; they are quite free from grammatical references. LATIN COMPOSITION, by Basil L. Gildersleeve and Gonzalez Lodge, contains one hundred and twenty exercises, and is designed for the teacher to use through four successive years without repeating. The book consists of two parts: in the first part the student is practiced in the various forms of the subordinate sentence; in the second, he has to deal with continuous composition. New York: University Publishing Com

pany.

LETTERS FROM QUEER AND OTHER FOLK. Parts I. and II. By Helen M. Cleveland. These little books furnish in an interesting way such instruction in the art of letter writing as all children need and in which they are often uninstructed. It is intended that the letters, which are themselves full of useful information, shall be answered by the young student. Such matters as punctuation, paragraphing, etc., receive attention. The first volume is for lower grammar grades and the second for higher grades. A third book with the same title is a manual for teachers of the subject. New York: The Macmillan Co. Price, 30, 35 and 60 cents.

LIFE is the abrupt title of Gov. John Rankin Rogers's book of some one hundred and fifty pages, in which he sets forth with impelling power his reflections on life as it was, and as it is and as it should be. Progress is firmly believed in, and the bettering of mankind the key-note of the book. To the author the outlook is promising; he is an optimist to the finger tips, and an optimist's writings make cheerful and cogent reading. There is a healthy atmosphere in the book that will, when inbreathed, make the reader a better man and citizen. The author's shibboleth is worthy of setting forth here: Life is a struggle; a school; a test of fitness. No struggle, no school. No school, no fitness. No fitness, no future-either in this world or in any that may follow. San Francisco: The Whitaker & Ray Co.

THE BALDWIN PRIMER, by May Kirk, is the very latest of primers, and is replete with novel and suggestive and excellent features. It is thoroughly unhackneyed; the " "stories are really new; the illustrations are fresh, bright and full of feeling. Many of the illustrations are in colors, and are exquisitely done; we have seen none better in any primer. The author has followed every acceptable and practical method in developing her work; that is, she has taken a plan that is entirely in conformity with the received opinions of those who have made a study of the needs of first-grade children and the kind of reading books they require. It is a book founded on the established principles of mental science and child study. It is safe to say it will delight the eye of every firstgrade teacher. New York: American Book Company.

Heath's Modern Language Series has been enriched by the addition of Hector Malot's SANS FAMILLE, edited with notes and vocabulary by I. H. B. Spiers, of the William Penn Charter School, and Hermann Sudermann's DEr KatzenSTEG, abridged and edited by Benjamin W. Wells.

EXERCISES IN MIND TRAINING, by Catherine Aiken, author of Methods of Mind Training, provides for busy teachers the exercises which Miss Aiken formulated and used for the growth and development of those mental powers most needful to the student in acquiring knowledge-material; viz., quickness of per-' ception, concentrated attention and memory. The exercises are practical, progressive and entirely usable. They not only give to the teacher the kind of exercises needed to train the mind into habits of attention, but they suggest a multitude of other exercises to that end. It is a necessary companion volume to the author's former book which gave the theory of the method and the results obtained. With this book there is now no reason why teachers in secondary schools should not take up the method and pursue it to its logical conclusion. It certainly should find place in every teacher's scheme of work. New York: Harper & Brothers.

A second edition has been put forth of Dr. Fred Morrow Fling's STUDIES IN GREEK AND ROMAN CIVILIZATION, a text-book of the highest order of study and demanding the most thorough work on the part of the student. With this book there is little that the student can bring to the class room that he has not honestly gotten for himself by diligent and severe investigation. Lincoln, Neb.: J. H. Miller.

MILTON'S SHORTER POEMS AND SONNETS, edited by Frederick Day Nichols, is issued in attractive form in Appleton's Twentieth Century Text-Book Series. Price, 40 cents.

Dr. Albert Schneider, of the Northwestern University School of Pharmacy, has prepared a little work of sixty pages, under the title of HINTS ON DrawING, making it particularly for students of biology who have no special knowledge of drawing. Detailed instruction on every point on which the student in biology would need information is given, the text being fully illustrated with cuts and diagrams. It is the first work of the kind, and will find prompt recognition from all students of natural science. Chicago: G. P. Engelhard & Co., 358 Dearborn Street. Price, 50 cents; to teachers, 20 cents.

HEIDI: A STORY FOR CHILDREN AND THOSE THAT LOVE CHILDREN. By Frau Johanna Spyri. The translator of this pretty German story, Mr. Nathan Haskell Dole, tells us that it is from the thirteenth German edition, and that the book is one of the great child stories of the world. It is a pleasing account of a little girl's years of learning and travel and of the use which she made of what she learned. The book is interesting, as all good children's stories usually are, to people of maturer years. It may be safely recommended as pure, elevating and helpful. Boston: Ginn & Co.

In Appleton's Home Reading Books Series we have HAROLD'S QUESTS, by John W. Troeger, A.M., B.S., dealing with trees and other plants, insects, beasts, etc., in a pleasing and instructive way; and THE FAMILY OF the Sun. A series of conversations with a child concerning the heavenly bodies, by Edward S. Holden, LL.D. The books of this series are beautifully made and illustrated, and the subject-matter is up to date in all respects. New York: D. Appleton & Co.

STONES ROLLED AWAY, and OTHER ADdresses to YOUNG MEN, delivered in America. By Henry Drummond, F.R.S.E., F.G.S., LL D. Professor Drummond was a fascinating writer and speaker. He had great power over young men, who instinctively recognized his manhood. The present addresses on some fundamental themes of manhood and Christian thought are helpful in the extreme. They are direct and personal. They reach the heart as well as the head. Coming as it does thus, after its author's death, this book speaks with a new tenderness and significance. It is a choice book to put into the hands of young men. New York: Jaines Pott & Co. Price, $1.00.

BRAIN AND MIND. By Dr. Sanderson Christison, author of Crime and Criminals. This book earnestly combats the materialistic theory of the mind. The doctor speaks as one who has studied deeply, and in a scientific spirit. He carries his readers with him and his arguments are well fortified with facts. Students of sociology, phrenology and medicine will find his book especially readable. Chicago: Published by the author. Price, $1.25.

THE STORY OF ENGLISH KINGS according to Shakespeare. By J. J. Burns, M.A., Ph.D. The historical facts according to the Shakespearean plays are gathered together in connected form in this volume. Interesting side-lights are thrown upon the poet's work, and the book will find its place in the libraries of many admirers of the great dramatist. The illustrations are particularly fine. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Price, $1.00.

MACAULAY'S ESSAYS ON MILTON AND ADDISON, edited by George B. Aiton, M.A., is a late addition to Appleton's Twentieth Century Text-Books Series. The introduction and notes are helpful. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Price, 40 cents.

STORIES OF MAINE are pleasantly told in a prettily illustrated volume by Sophie Swett. They are largely Indian stories, and the book is a good illustration of the interest and value of local historical study. New York: The American Book Co. Price, 60 cents.

RAPHAEL. By Estelle M. Hurll. This is Number I. in the Riverside Art Series, which is intended to reproduce some of the great masters' works of art, with accompanying description and biography, in a form convenient for school use. Issued quarterly, at $1.00 a year, by Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston.

CRIME AND CRIMINALS. By J. Sanderson Christison, M.D. Dr. Christison finds certain mental and physiological marks of criminality in some of the noted criminals of the world and deduces interesting conclusions therefrom. He has had a broad experience in dealing with this class and with the insane, and his book shows the results of profound thinking and wide observation. It will be of service to detectives and others who are practically concerned in handling the criminal classes. It will also interest students, and at the same time the book has a fascination for the general reader. The present is the second edition. Published by the author, at Chicago. Price, $1.25.

REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION for the year 1897-1898. Vol. I. containing Part I. This comprehensive volume, published by the Department of Education at Washington, covers almost every conceivable educational subject. Each topic is treated in the masterly way for which our Commissioner, Dr. Wm. T. Harris, is noted. Although “only a Government report,” bound in the somber black cloth of the standard pattern, it is one of the great books of the year, packed solid full with facts, statistics, plans, working theories, and comparative results of the work and researches of the ablest educators in this and other countries. A set of these reports for successive years would make a complete educational library. At least they are indispensable to anyone who is attempting to form such a library. The tables, indices, lists of college presidents, superintendents of schools, etc., are valuable for reference. The volume will be sent to any educator on application. Washington: The Government Printing Office.

ESSAYS ON THE FOUNDATION OF EDUCATION. By Rev. J. Godrycz, Ph.D. We have in this volume a collection of thoughtful essays on intellectual, moral, physical and religious education, with chapters on methods of teaching history, and on international and civil law. It is a book for teachers, and they will find helpful suggestions in it from one who is thoroughly qualified to speak with authority and certainty on the important themes of which he treats. Lansing, Mich. Lawrence & Van Buren Printing Company.

A MANUAL OF ZOOLOGY. By T. Jeffrey Parker, D.Sc., F.R.S., and William A. Haswell, M.A., D.Sc., F.R.S. The authors of this book present a manual embodying a course of study suited to higher classes of schools, and to some extent to junior classes in the universities. For the sake of condensation certain classes of animals have been left out; also all descriptions of extinct groups. Embryology has been briefly dealt with. The work has been adapted to the uses of American students by the mention of common American forms closely similar to the European and Australasian forms mentioned in the English edition. The book reflects the characteristic thoroughness of English scholarship, and will be adopted by many of our higher schools of learning. New York: The Macmillan Company. Price, $1.60.