occupation, the operation of the laws of supply will tend to make other occupations for women participate in the rise. Get some field in which women are paid as well as men for the same work, and the impulse of that advantage will be felt throughout their labor-world. Moreover, in this, as in every other occupation, if women continue to be paid less for the same work than men, they will eventually, in the public eagerness for cheap education, be called in to undersell the men in certain branches. The economic consequences to the stronger sex are obvious. They are the more deserving of prudential reflection in England because some of them are already happening in the public schools of the United States."

M. Victor Duruy, whose death occurred in November, was Minister of Education from 1863-1869. He was the author of many notable measures affecting the French system of education. He established the agrégation (special professorship) in philosophy, unified the regular course of the lycées, created in them the special or modern course, and the normal school of Cluny for professors of the same, and established public secondary courses for girls; above all, he founded the École pratique des hautes études. In the world of letters he is known chiefly by his histories of Rome and Greece. The former covered the whole field from the foundation of Rome to the time of the late empire. According to the Oxford Magazine: "In its larger and illustrated form it has been the pioneer in the modern method of bringing the treasures of museums and the surveys of archæologists to assist popular study." The death of M. James Darmsteter, professor at the Collège de France, is another serious loss to education and science in France. He is most widely known by his Oriental studies, but perhaps is most interesting to English speaking peoples for his essays on Shakespeare and Shakespeare's plays.

In

The government of Portugal manifests its newly awakened interest in popular education by a recent decree removing the control of primary schools from the communal authorities to the central government. The action has been caused by the poverty of resources and the want of interest in a large proportion of the Communes. Italy, on the contrary, reform projects seem to look toward decentralization. M. Cavallotti, leader of the extreme left, has developed a plan which calls for the division of the kingdom into fourteen autonomous districts of administration. The control and direction of public education in all its branches is to be committed to the authorities of these districts. Following this idea the number of universities. would be reduced also to fourteen. The plan excites much interest.

A. T. S.

AMONG THE BOOKS.

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

STUDIES IN ORIENTAL SOCIAL LIFE, by the well-known author of KadeshBarnea and incisive editor of the Sunday School Times, H. Clay Trumbull, D. D., is a very interesting book. We were sure that any volume from the hand of Dr. Trumbull would be well worth reading, but we are surprised to find how much there is here to throw light on partially obscure passages of Scripture. An exceedingly instructive chapter is that on "Betrothals and Weddings in the East." Others of great interest are on such subjects as Hospitality, Funerals and Mourning, Prayers and Praying, the Oriental idea of "Father," Food in the Desert, Lessons of the Wilderness. Those who begin this captivating book will not like to lay it down until the 408 large pages are ended. It is very handsomely illustrated and the illustrations are remarkably good. It will be an admirable book to give a friend, especially a minister or Sunday school teacher. Philadelphia: John D. Wattles & Co. Price, $2.50.

A GEOGRAPHICAL READER, compiled and arranged by William W. Rupert, superintendent of schools, Pottstown, Pa., contains upwards of one hundred choice selections in prose relating to geography. These selections are from recent writers and all contain reliable as well as interesting facts about the lands, people, productions, etc., of the earth. Superintendent Rupert has the instincts of an editor and has shown rare judgment in his selections. Nearly forty full page illustrations embellish the book. It is handy in form, excellent in type and binding, and a capital book for the geography lesson. Boston: Leach, Shewell and Sanborn.

THE COLLEGE WOMAN, by C. F. Thwing, LL. D., is a little book full of the soundest advice and philosophy on the subject which it treats. The topics discussed are: Some Problems Respecting Her; The Principles, Context and Proportion of Her Studies; Her Environment; Her Health; Methods in Her Education; Demands Made by the Community Upon Her; and After Her Graduation. The discussion is candid, healthy and earnest, and we commend the book to every student in women's colleges and to all parents that have daughters preparing for college. New York: Baker and Taylor Co.

L. Prang & Co. deserve the constant gratitude of the American public for their beautiful holiday publications. Their Christmas and New Year cards and booklets are choice specimens of original artistic work, and are very popular with all classes of people. They have quite a variety of lovely calendars for the new year. One, a crysanthemum calendar, is very warm and delightful to look at. The booklets, with pictures of roses, violets, lilacs and other flowers, and suitable poems, are a delightful feature. The cards are very sweet and of bewildering variety. How much these gracious presentations of flowers and sweet child faces brighten our Christmas and New Year season and fill our hearts with thankfulness and love towards God and our fellowmen. We wish some of these pretty things could find their way into every home in the land this winter.

THE CENTURY MAGAZINE, Vol. xlviii, May to October, 1894, bound in gilt cloth, sustains the remarkable standard reached in previous issues of this work. It is more than a magazine for mere popular reading. Thoughtful studies of a literary and scientific tone alternate with fiction and sketches of travel, while the artistic features are unsurpassed. For preservation these volumes are a library in themselves and mirror the times in which we live. New York: The Century Company.

From the same source we have the bound volumes, two in number, of Sr. NICHOLAS. Having absorbed nearly all its rivals, St. Nicholas virtually has the field to itself as a richly bound and illustrated magazine for boys and girls. No expense is spared in its making and it delights hosts of young and older readers.

THE FIRST LATIN BOOK, by William C. Collar and M. Grant Daniell, is arranged on lines that must meet the approval of every teacher of Latin. There is made a book which contains no unnecessary word and omits no needed word or help. The author has met the demand for a common-sense text book in Latin for beginners and has met it well. Boston: Ginn & Co.

ELEMENTARY LESSONS IN ALGEBRA, by Stewart B. Sabin and Charles D. Lowry, is designed for use in grammar schools. It is very easy, very simple, very elementary-and thus meets the objections made against many of the new algebras. It must find favor among grammar school teachers. New York: American Book Co.

ROBINSON'S NEW INTELLECTUAL ARITHMETIC Contains a great number of excellently-graded problems designed to be worked mentally by the pupils. The problems for the most part are new and will do much, if the book is properly used, to develop the art of rapid and accurate computing. New York: American Book Co. Price, 35 cents.

ELEMENTS OF PHYSICS, for use in secondary schools, by S. P. Meads, is an elementary text-book by which the pupil may learn the rudiments of physics and become thoroughly familiar with the laws of nature before taking up the more advanced treatises on the subject. The language is simple and easily comprehended, and the book will fill its place well in courses of study in the schools and by private teachers. Boston: Silver, Burdett & Company. Introductory price 72 cents. By the same publishers, we have WAYMARKS FOR TEACHERS, by Miss Sarah L. Arnold, a very bright and helpful book, with chapters on such subjects as Nature Study, Language Lessons from pictures and poems, Moods and Manners, Monday Mornings, the Schoolroom Atmosphere, etc. The author has given her readers her best thoughts in noble English, and every teacher will teach better throughout the week for reading this volume. Price $1.25.

The interest in sociological problems has steadily increased in the past few years until it has become of an almost absorbing nature to those engaged in this study. Therefore a thorough book on the subject, like AN INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF SOCIETY, by Albion W. Small, Ph. D., and George E. Vincent, will be welcomed by a large number of people. A syllabus of sociological method was printed in 1889 by one of the authors for the use of his students and was mentioned in a widely circulated article by President E. B. Andrews upon the literature of sociology. This led to an extensive demand for the article and to correspondence with those interested, which suggested the compilation of this larger work. There is now, in all probability, no fuller manual on the subject before the public, and none more worthy of careful study by specialists and by the general reader. New York: American Book Company, $1.80.

A HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, by John Fiske, Litt. D., LL. D., hardly needs review, the reputation of its distinguished author being a sufficient guarantee of its merit. This is undoubtedly the best history of our country for school use that is now before the public. Its great merit is, that it stimulates the interest and awakens the intellectual life of the pupil, and so is far more than a dry recital of the facts of history. A copyist can make a book of the latter description; only a genius can make one of the former. This work is the production of genius of the first order. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Company, $1.00.

STORIES OF OLD GREECE, by Emma M. Firth, is a small volume of simply told Grecian Myths adapted to the comprehension of little children. The work is well done and the book will be useful in stimulating the healthy expansion of the imagination of its little readers. Boston: D. C. Heath & Company, 30

cents.

PLANT PHYSIOLOGY, by Dr. Walter Oels, translated and edited by D. T. MacDougal of the University of Minnesota. The work is a convenient laboratory guide to a series of experiments illustrative of the more important factors in plant life, and is designed for use in summer schools, university extension, etc. It is a work of great value and its translation will place it in convenient form for students. The editor has made a number of changes and emendations greatly enhancing the value of the book. It contains 77 illustrations. Minneapolis, Minn.: Morris & Wilson.

LITTLE NATURE STUDIES for little people is an admirably adapted book for its purpose which is to serve as an introduction to the study of science and nature. The fact that the subject matter is from the essays of John Burroughs and that it is edited by Mary E. Burt is sufficient evidence of a book suitable for primary grades intended to promote a love for woods and fields, for animals and plants and all living things. It is a pretty book and nicely illustrated. Boston: Ginn & Co.

IN DISTANCE AND IN DREAM is the mystic title of a strongly original study of the future life, by M. F. Sweetser. The suggestions of the book are poetic and spiritual while quite out of the ordinary lines of thought about the other world. Those who have recently lost friends by death will find comfort in this little volume. Boston: Joseph Knight Company. 50 cents.

THE SEARCH FOr Andrew FieLD, by Everett T. Tomlinson, is a story of the war of 1812. The object of the author is to give the younger people an insight into the conditions of the times, a history of the war and a glimpse of the results. Andrew Field and his friends are manly and patriotic American boys, and the story of their adventures is told in a bright way that will make this a favorite book with many young readers. Boston: Lee & Shepard, $1.50.

PRIMARY GEOGRAPHY, by Alex Everett Frye, published by Ginn & Company, gives a scientific treatment of its subject, fully and attractively illustrated for its young readers. The teacher using this text-book will find abundant material out of which to make the study fascinating to the pupils.

LATIN AT SIGHT, by Edwin Post, is an excellent book of its kind. It contains many selections for practice in sight reading of Latin, admirably selected, arranged and annotated. The author has given to teachers in his introduction some valuable suggestions to aid them in using the book which in many respects is one of the best of its kind. Boston: Ginn & Co.

THE HISTORY OF GREECE, from its commencement to the close of the independence of the Greek nation, by Adolph Holm, is a work that has enjoyed a large reputation among scholars, and its translation into English makes it accessible to all American students. The history is to be in four volumes, the first of which we have received. This volume takes the reader up to the end of the sixth century B. C. Prof. Holm is an erudite scholar, and is possessed of a catholic taste, and his history is one that the student can use with entire confidence in its reliability. The style is graphic, and the reader is carried perforce from chapter to chapter by its grace and charm. If the subsequent volumes equal the first in power, the work will be a standard one in America. New York: Macmillan & Co.

"SIRS, ONLY SEVENTEEN!" by Virginia F. Townsend, is a quiet, domestic story that will hold the reader to the last page. The plot is not an intricate one and there is no exposition of some sociological theory hanging to it, but it is the story of love, of trials, of compensation and of rest. It will repay buying and reading for the rest it brings to the reader. Boston: Lee & Shepard.

BACK COUNTRY POEMS, by Sam Walter Foss, brings cheer and homely philosophy in every line. Mr. Foss is essentially the poet of rural life, and New England ways, philosophy and dialect have never had a better or a more faithful historian. He has a delicious sense of humor and "cracks off" the country Sir Oracle with a happy knack. His versification is excellent, and his poems set themselves to music as one reads them. The collection in this volume ought to have an extensive sale and a wide reading. Boston: Lee & Shepard.

A SCIENTIFIC FRENCH READER, edited with introduction, notes and vocabulary, by Alexander W. Herdler, Princeton University, contains nearly fifty short articles on scientific subjects, adapted for use in schools. The editor has taken great pains to be accurate and his selections are admirable and up to date. The book is illustrated with excellent cuts and drawings. Boston: Ginn & Co.

"The President's Currency Plan" is ably criticised in the February Arena, by Hon. Wm. J. Bryan, the leading congressman from Nebraska. Many other public questions are interestingly discussed in this bright, independent magazine, each number of which is always thoroughly up to date.The North American Review for February opens with three timely and important articles on "The Financial Muddle," written respectively by the Hon. J. Sterling Morton, secretary of agriculture, Representative William M. Springer, chairman of the house committee on banking and currency, and Henry W. Cannon, president of the Chase National Bank of New York, and formerly comptroller of the currency.' The January Review of Reviews, in its 'Progress of the World" department, discusses some leading questions concerning the public health in an interesting way, and the entire contents presents the life of the age in a form adapted to the comprehension of busy men. — - Harper's Magazine for February has a fine article on "Music in America," with a portrait of the author, by Antonin Dvorak. - Godey's Magazine for February, offers much good matter at the low price of ten cents. Mr. Wm. C. Cornwell, president of the New York State Bankers' Association, has an article in the February Forum entitled "Should the Government Retire from the Banking Business?"—— A rich variety of good things is offered in the Atlantic Monthly for February, including "Physical Training in Our Public Schools," by M. V. O'Shea; "The Present Status of Civil Service Reform," by Theodore Roosevelt; "Celia Thaxter," by Annie Fields; etc. McClure's Magazine for February is largely given to tributes of various kinds to the memory of Robert Louis Stevenson. The McClure Napoleon series deals in this number with the most splendid epoch in the great commander's career, when he was fighting the battles of Austerlitz, Jena and Friedland.