After brief chapters on compositions and English usage, considerable space is given to incorrect English, and this is followed by discussions of the grammatical and rhetorical structure of the sentence, including punctuation of words, of paragraphs, and of the whole composition. The last pages of the book are devoted to the essential qualities of style: clearness, force, and elegance. The arrangement is strictly logical, except that it is difficult to see any valid reason why part of the subject of words, under the head of incorrect English, should precede sentences, and part follow. But, if logical, the arrangement is not wise, and it is right here that we find the most serious defect in the book. The treatment of the paragraph should come before that of words. and sentences. Constructive work in composition should begin early, and should not be left until the pupil has a fair mastery of words and sentences. At the time at which this book is intended to be begun the pupil should acquire at least as full a knowledge of the paragraph as is given in Mr. Carpenter's discussion. From that time on his writing should be mainly in the form of complete and properly constructed paragraphs, and his study of words and sentences should be carried on side by side with this broader inventive work. Otherwise his writing is almost certain to become rambling and discursive, and he fails to learn the essential lesson that good writing consists of something more than the stringing together of well-chosen words in properly formed sentences. Experience proves that at the beginning of the high-school course, and even before, the pupil is able to grasp the fundamental principles of the paragraph, and that he can appreciate what is meant by unity, emphasis, and coherence in paragraphs more easily than he can in sentences. One of the strongest features of the book is the judgment displayed in the selection of topics. Several things are treated that are frequently omitted in school rhetorics and that are of great importance to the young student. Equal wisdom is shown in the exclusion of certain topics of purely academic interest that are of little real value to the schoolboy. One cannot help wishing, however, that slightly more attention had been paid to figures. The subject is often overdone in rhetor ics, but in the two paragraphs devoted to this topic Mr. Carpenter has gone to the other extreme. It is not a fruitful subject for young students, but a certain knowledge of it—greater than is vouchsafed in this book-is desirable. The same criticism is also applicable, altho in a less degree, to the treatment of the paragraph, and this is the more surprising in view of the tribute in the preface to the work of Barrett Wendell and F. N. Scott. Mr. Scott's great service to English teaching has been his placing of the paragraph in its true light, and his showing its importance in practical composition work. There is the sanity and the reasonableness in the judgments expressed that we have learned to look for in Mr. Carpenter's writings, and the book is written in the same easy, unlabored style that makes his Principles of English grammar a delight to read. And yet this easy style has its drawbacks in a textbook, for the salient points do not stand out as clearly, and are not grasped as readily by the untrained mind, as when stated more dogmatically and emphatically. That is, a young student will have difficulty in seeing readily the relative importance of different statements. This is well exemplified in the treatment of shall and will, which is admirable for one who knows something of the subject, but in which the "average boy" will need considerable assistance before he sees things in true proportion. In spite of the defects that have been pointed out the book is an excellent one, practical and full of suggestion. In the hands of an indifferent instructor it may not prove an altogether efficient tool, but to a good teacher who knows his subject and what he is striving for, it will be a valuable aid. In her preface the author of Argumentative writing says that the book arises out of "certain beliefs concerning the study of argumentation which, tho perhaps not wholly novel, have as yet found no recognition in the literature of the subject." After a careful reading of the book one is inclined to go a step further and to wonder why they ever should be recognized. The principal article in Miss Buck's creed is that the student should derive the principles of argumentation “inductively," that is, from his own practice, before he knows that he is using principles. She supplies him with raw material for practice from his own daily experience, and strives meanwhile to implant in him the "conviction that the logical basis of argumentation should be ultimately referred to psychology." This is an ambitious program for one little book, but the author has not faltered in her self-imposed task even when it takes pages to lead the student to see how he arrives at the conclusion that green apples are hard and sour, or that some Freshmen are sometimes homesick. The book consists of several chapters of diluted logic, in which the student is led by devious ways to the establishment of principles. After reading them one cannot help wondering if minds that are so weak as to need that sort of reasoning can ever be strong enough to do any arguing for themselves. Attached to each chapter are numerous exercises, some of them ingenious and valuable, others of little worth. It is difficult to see where the book can find a niche. NEWARK ACADEMY, WILSON FARRAND NOTES ON NEW BOOKS Mention of books in this place does not preclude extended critical notice hereafter A revised and enlarged edition of Karl Pearson's Grammar of science calls attention anew to what is in some respects a unique and extraordinary book. The keynote of the book is struck in the sentence from the preface: "There are many signs that a sound idealism is surely replacing, as a basis for natural philosophy, the crude materialism of the older physicists... Step by step men of science are coming to recognize that mechanism is not at the bottom of phenomena, but is only the conceptual shorthand by aid of which they can briefly describe and resume phenomena." The book merits careful study (London: Adam & Charles Black, 1900. 548 p.). Democracy and empire, by Professor Giddings, is a collection of twenty related papers on current tendencies and problems in civilization (New York: The Macmillan Co., 1900. 360 p. $2.50).The trenchant style of Mr. W. S. Lilly, a natural essayist, is seen to excellent advantage in his First principles in politics. The judicial quality is absent, but vigor and directness are everywhere present (New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1900. 332 p.).332 p.).We most cor dially welcome Economics and industrial history for secondary schools, by Mr. Thurston of the Chicago Normal School. It is a direct, simple, and scholarly text-book on a subject which must sooner or later come to be far more widely taught in secondary schools (Chicago: Scott, Foresman & Co., 1899. 300 p. $1.00).—Dr. Ely's Monopolies and trusts will be much read for its collection of data on matters of immediate public importance (New York: The Macmillan Co., 1900. 278 p. $1.25).$1.25).—————Mr. Lindsay Swift's Brook farm revives interest in an almost forgotten social experiment, remarkable for the ability and character of those who took part in it (New York: The Macmillan Co., 1900. 302 p. $1.25).—Professor Coulter's Plant structure is a worthy successor of his Plant relations. These two books ought to revolutionize the teaching of botany, and put it upon a modern basis (New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1900. 348 p. $1.50). -Dr. Starbuck of Stanford University has done an unusually interesting piece of work in his Psychology of religion. The facts collected by his empirical method of studying the religious consciousness are very important (New York: Imported by Charles Scribner's Sons, 1899. 420 p. $1.50). -Mr. Sheldon's Ethical Sunday school is a plan for the moral instruction of the young without religious admixture (New York: The Macmillan Co., 1900. 206 p. $1.25). The logical bases of education, by Professor Welton of Yorkshire College does not seem to us to make any particular contribution to education, but it is a capital text-book of logic (New York: The Macmillan Co., 1899. 288 p. $1.00). Dr. Macdougal's Nature and work of plants is a thoroly good introduction to the study of botany (New York: The Macmillan Co., 1900. 208 p. 80 cents). -Dr. Warner's Nervous system of the child is a useless book. It is in no small part a repetition of his earlier publications (New York: The Macmillan Co., 1900. 233 p. $1.50).- -Professor Arey of Rochester is an experienced teacher, but his Elementary chemistry does not impress us as a sound text-book. One of the experiments seems to be dangerous (New York: The Macmillan Co., 1899. 272 p. 90 cents).—Watson's Textbook of phyics is a well-arranged and comprehensive work (New York: Longmans, Green & Co., 1899. 896 p.). Department of VI EDITORIAL The Chicago meeting of the Department of Superintendence of the National Educational Association was by general consent the best meeting ever held in the history of the Department. No meeting since that at Cleveland in 1895 has approached it in brilliancy or in practical usefulness. The program was uniformly excellent, and in several respects noteworthy. The three evening addresses were fresh, vigorous, and inspiring. Mr. Page's searching analysis of the defects of our use of written speech, President Alderman's eloquent and scholarly exposition of the opportunities and obligations of scholarship, particularly in the South, and President Wheeler's discussion of the place and function of the secondary school, were warmly appreciated and will not soon be forgotten., The attendance of superintendents and other members of the National Educational Association was exceptional, and the papers and discussions were closely followed by large and attentive audiences. The superintendents were naturally anxious to hear a trained scientist of Professor Atwater's unchallenged standing express his views on the current teaching of what is called "temperance physiology." His paper was a model of clear, straightforward, and scientific exposition. That it carried conviction to all save the few who were present for the purpose of contradicting him, was perfectly apparent. He showed beyond cavil that the extreme statements regarding the physiological effect of alcohol, contained in the commonly used text-books, are not in accord with the facts, and that the result is to attempt to promote a good cause by the systematic propagation of untruth. Professor Atwater pointed out the unwisdom of commingling the moral and the scientific aspects of the whole subject of temperance teaching. It is not unlikely that his experiments and reports have ushered in an era in which common sense and |