AMONG THE BOOKS.

THE CENTURY DICTIONARY. Vol. 2. New York: Published by the Century Co. W. B. Clarke & Co.. Boston.

The second volume of this magnificent dictionary is as complete and as rich in matter as was the preceding one, and shows the same scholarship, breadth of thought, and thoroughness of work. It is alike a credit to the labors of Professor Whitney and his able collaborators, and is an indication of the marvellous perfection which the printer's art has attained among us. The type, the paper, the illustrations, the accuracy shown in the smallest particulars is surprising. The information which is found in its pages is the result of great research, and is very full on all subjects of literary or scientific interest. Take for example the word Commonwealth. We have vainly searched all the large dictionaries and many of the encyclopædias trying to learn which of the states of the Union were commonwealths. We find our answer and full information on the subject in the pages of the "Century." This is a work so admirable in all particulars that every scholar who might feel unable to buy it, will, after seeing it, be willing to make great efforts and forego many pleasures in order to possess it.

A CHRONICLE OF CONQUEST. By Frances C. Sparhawk. Boston: D. Lothrop Company. Price, $1.25.

Readers who remember charming little Polly Blatchley will be glad to make her acquaintance again in this new story of Miss Sparhawk's. Polly has grown into a young lady, and a very sensible one, at that; anxious to play her part in life, and to begin at once. Life at the Carlisle school is pictured with a faithful hand. We have pictures of individual Indians for the author has made her studies from life - and we are shown the methods of instruction and discipline that prevail. The intent of the book is to make clear the importance of the work done at Carlisle, and its bearing upon the future civilization of the savage tribes of the West. The story is bright and full of interest, but its great importance lies in the facts it presents and the light it sheds upon the problem of Indian education.

A GERMAN READER FOR BEGINNERS IN SCHOOL OR COLLEGE; with Notes and Vocabulary. By Edward S. Joynes, M. A., Professor in South Carolina University. Boston: D. C. Heath & Co. Pp. 277.

This reader is designed to occupy the first year of German study and gives such elementary help as may enable the student, in the shortest possible time, to read elsewhere for himself. All the forms of the language that the student may meet with are represented here. The material is arranged progressively in distinct parts, of which there are five: Interlinear Introduction; Familiar Prose; Easy Poems; Prose Selections; Letters. In order still further to increase the value of the word-exercises indicated in the Notes, a new edition, which will be ready shortly, will contain an additional Appendix on Cognates with a brief table of the most usual changes and correspondences between German and English.

WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. By John Bigelow. American Men of Letters Series. Edited by Charles Dudley Warner. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Pp. 355. Price, $1.25.

From an intimate personal acquaintance with Mr. Bryant, and business association with him for many years, Mr. Bigelow has prepared this work, with "the hope that in quarters where the nature and importance of Bryant's lifework are little known or imperfectly appreciated, it may assist to awaken a curiosity which will not be satisfied until the name of Bryant has become a household word, and his example the very lowest standard of public and private morals in any American family." The work is compendious, and yet inexpensive, and is of especial value to all having little leisure or opportunity for reading the more elaborate biographies. An Appendix, copious Notes, and portrait add much to the book, which is prettily bound.

We have received from Pres. Geo. W. Atherton of the State College, Pa., the REPORT OF THE COMMISSION ON INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION, of which he is the chairman.

This commission appointed by the governor of the state May 27, 1887, has not confined its labors to its own state, nor even to the United States, but has investigated the systems of industrial education in England, France, Germany, Belgium, and other places.

The subjects especially considered in this excellent report cover a large field; among them may be specified the following: The present condition of Industrial Education in the state and out of it, carried on in public schools; a thorough investigation of the subject as to private institutions in the state, and full discussion of methods for improvement of the same; a careful review of the present condition of the state and the best methods for state and local aid. and supervision of the schools; the training of suitable teachers for such work as these schools require, and as to the policy best to be pursued in such schools as to the purely educational and simply mechanical phases of the work to be done, and how far they can be combined.

This report will undoubtedly be read with great interest by those who are especially interested in the subject, and also with all other educators will it find careful and appreciative readers.

LONGMANS' SCHOOL COMPOSITION. By David Salmon. London and New York: Longmans, Green & Co., Publishers. Cloth. Pp. 305.

The publishers have given to the public in a neat, strong binding, a comprehensive and valuable work on Composition. This book carefully covers the entire field of composition from its close relation to Grammar, to a full and copiously illustrated manual of literary style. It is an invaluable book, because of the large number and variety of the examples given covering each. subject discussed.

THE ELEMENTS OF ASTRONOMY, for use in High Schools and Academies, with a Heranography. By Charles A. Young, Ph. D., LL. D., Professor of Astronomy in the College of New Jersey. Boston: Ginn & Co. Cloth. Pp. 470.

This enterprising house has again presented to the school world a book, alike helpful to them and creditable to the publishers. The book does not aim to be so simple as to require no especial ability of instuctors or pupils. It will unquestionably be criticised as too difficult, and yet its high standard should.

be reached. It will not be found beyond careful, thoughtful students. No mathematics beyond simple algebra and geometry are necessary for the study of this volume, though a little knowledge of Trigonometry would be helpful. It is full of illustrative drawings and cuts, is clearly and tersely put, without needless abridgement. It is a valuable addition to the textbooks on Astronomy.

MEMOIRS OF ASCHAM AND ARNOLD. By James H. Carlisle, President of Wofford College, Spartanburg, S. C. Syracuse, N. Y.: C. W. Bardeen, Pub

lisher. Cloth. Pp. 252.

The publisher of this little volume has presented the educational public, with a well bound volume containing Johnson's Memoir of Roger Ascham, and selections from Stanley's Life and Correspondence of Rugby's noted Master. A valuable feature of this book is the Bibliography of Roger Ascham which it contains. This at a glance gives us the entrance into all the literature concerning him, and opens a field of pleasant and interesting research. The author's introductions are scholarly and show the love he has for the men whom he has selected as model teachers. Altogether, the little volume is good and should meet a hearty welcome.

THE MONTHLIES AND QUARTERLIES.

The finely illustrated article on the Astor Library in the April number of the New England Magazine is of special interest at this time when public attention has been drawn to this New York institution by the death of one of its founders, John Jacob Astor. Among the illustrations is a fine reproduction of the bust of the late Mr. Astor, which occupies an honored position in one of the large halls. The April issue of the Quarterly Journal of Economics, published for Harvard University, contains articles by President Francis A. Walker on "Protection and Protectionism," in which arguments for and against protection are discussed; by Professor Taussig, of Harvard, on the "Silver Situation, its History and its Dangers"; E. C. Gonner, of Liverpool, England, on "Ricardo and his Critics"; F. B. Hawley, of New York, on "Profits and the Residual Theory "; N. Matthews, Jr., of Boston, on the "Taxation of Mortgages in Massachusetts." There are also Notes and Memoranda on the law against socialists in Germany, on recent works on finance and political economy, and the usual Bibliography. — The March North American Review discusses the question of "The Limitations of the Speakership," and all interested in the question will want to read the article. Other papers of interest are included in the number. The Magazine of American History opens with a picture of Charles Dickens. Its leading article is" Life in New York Fifty Years Ago." The Edinburgh Magazine continues the series by Lord Lamington, and gives the opening chapters of the serial "Sons and Daughters.". Scribner's still maintains its high standard of excellence. It treats in good style of the Electric Railway of Today, a subject of absorbing interest, and continues its interesting serials.— · Lippincott's this month contains another excellent complete story, "A Cast for Fortune," by Christian Reid. It also numbers among its contributors, Julian Hawthorne, Alfred C. Haddon, Frederick Peterson, and others. Wide Awake is as wide awake as ever. It is an unusually bright Easter number, being brightened by Hezekiah Butterworth, Frances Allen, Harriet Prescott Spofford, and several others. Atlantic Monthly for April contains several especially strong articles.

PAMPHLETS RECEIVED.

Old South Leaflets, Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation.plementary Music for Public Schools, Arbor Day Exercises. Ginn & Co.

The Coda, Sup