AMONG THE BOOKS.

Corneille's POLYEUCTE, edited with an introduction and notes by Alcée Fortier, of Tulane University, has been issued in Heath's Modern Language Series. Polyeucte is one of the most inspiring, as it is one of the most noble of Corneille's tragedies.

The Secretary of Public Instruction in Guatemala has issued his report of the state of public schools in the Republic of Guatemala, for the year 1890. From the report we learn that the schools there are in a very satisfactory condition, that there was an increase of 100 schools over 1889, and an increase of nearly 13,000 scholars. There are seven normal schools, thirteen kindergartens, and various special schools, all supported by the Republic.

To their College Series of Latin Authors, Ginn & Company have added LIVY, Books I. and II., edited, with introduction and notes by J. B. Greenough. In placing the notes at the bottom of the text which they are intended to annotate the usual custom has been departed from, but when these notes are for the specific purpose of aiding the pupil in learning to read Latin with readiness and accuracy, their position is well chosen. The notes are concise, free from historical and intricate grammatical lore, and thoroughly helpful.

D. F. Lincoln, M. D., late Secretary Health Department of American Social Science Association, has prepared a text-book for the use of schools, entitled, HYGIENIC PHYSIOLOGY. The book is intended for pupils from twelve to fifteen years of age, and is written in a style easily understood by children of school age. Starting with the object in view of giving to young people something rather more directly practical than is usually found in school physiologies, the author has on most subjects given a minimum of anatomical detail, but a good deal of practical information and much sensible direction. The book will interest and satisfy teachers and find warm advocates in the children using it. Ginn & Co., publishers.

It is sometimes asserted that English Grammar is worse taught and less understood than any other subject in the school course. Book publishers affirm that this is largely due to the kind of text-books used, and add that their new book will, if properly used, work a revolution in this matter and render grammar one of the most fascinating of studies. But teachers are more than text-books, and even with a poor text-book a good teacher may secure excellent results. Given a good teacher and a good text-book and there will be little room for speculation as to results. In Longmans' SCHOOL GRAMMAR, there is given everything relating to the subject of grammar, and fitted to every grade of school. While it is constructed on somewhat old-fashioned lines, the idea of language teaching has not been lost sight of, and the book is full of examples illustrating the technical definitions. It is a grammar that can be used without the aid of a teacher. Longmans, Green & Co., New York.

HELEN, THE HISTORIAN; a new short story by Pansy. Helen, a little suffering child, who is fading slowly but surely out of life in a city hospital, gathers the children of the hospital about her bed on Sunday mornings and tells them Bible stories. These stories are told very sweetly and simply, so that no child could fail to understand them or be interested in them, and they may be considered a valuable addition to Sunday-school literature. D. Lothrop Company, Boston.

THE DAUGHTER is a book full of sensible suggestions to mothers and daughters on the health, education and wedlock of the latter. The author, William M. Capp, M. D., is a physician of Philadelphia. The topics discussed are: the infant, the child, the girl, the wife, and general suggestions upon health. There is a great deal in this little volume which every mother and prospective mother ought to know. If its wise advice is acted upon, much needless pain, discomfort and bodily suffering may be avoided. It is well worth one dollar. Published by F. A. Davis, 1231 Filbert Street, Philadelphia.

In a book of 292 pages, Prof. George A. Osborne, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has given the elements of the DIFFERENTIAL AND INTEGRAL CALCULUS. This is a difficult subject to present to students in a textbook, and one that will tax the ingenuity of the most erudite in mathematics, but Professor Osborne seems to have happily overcome every obstacle and to have made a book which beginners in Calculus may use with comparative ease. The steps taken in unfolding the subject are slowly taken, technical terms fully explained and illustrated, and numerous examples and applications furnished. Published by Leach, Shewell & Sanborn, Boston.

Prof. G. A. Wentworth of Phillips Exeter Academy, has a reputation for a maker of mathematical text-books second to none in the country. His books bear the marks not only of practical use in the class-room, but also of the rare and high ability of the author as a mathematician. In his HIGHER Algebra, Professor Wentworth has put such work as he knew the student in college and scientific school would need, and he has made a text-book which will be welcomed alike by professors and students. In the arrangement of topics and in the methods of presenting them, there is a decided change from the manner ordinarily pursued, and this change will be appreciated by those who believe that there may be something good in growth and development, even in methods and devices. Ginn & Co., Boston.

Mr. C. W. Bardeen has done a public-spirited act in reprinting from Superintendent Draper's annual report, James Russell Parsons' PRUSSIAN SCHOOLS THROUGH AMERICAN EYES. Mr. Parsons was U. S. Consul at Aix-la-Chapelle for a number of years, and at the request of Superintendent Draper, he prepared a comprehensive and detailed description of the plan of organization and the operations of the Prussian school system. Everybody - teachers in particularis interested in Prussian schools, and this report brings to all just such information regarding teachers, school organization, courses of study, examinations, salaries, etc., as they most desire. It is, as Mr. Bardeen says, "the clearest statement that has ever appeared in English of just what the Prussian schools are doing." Published by C. W. Bardeen, Syracuse, N. Y. Price, $1.00.

Messrs. Lee & Shepard of Boston have just brought out an excellent five volume edition of the LIFE AND WORKS OF HORACE MANN. These volumes are of very great value to every true educator. The price of the set is $12.50; or separate volumes will be sold at $2.50 each.

Profs. Wm. R. Harper and Herbert C. Tolman, of Yale University, have edited EIGHT BOOKS OF CÆSAR'S GALLIC WAR. They have made an ideal textbook. For matter, manner, form, illustrations, information, grammatical, historical, and exegetical notes, no school book on Cæsar has ever surpassed this one. A dozen new features distinguish this edition from others, among which may be noted the indication in the text of every new word by full-faced type, the insertion of "topics for study," based upon the portion read, examples of inductive studies and lists of topics for investigation, etc., etc. American Book Company. Price, $1.20.

HOW TO SHADE FROM MODELS, by W. E. Sparks. This is a very helpful book for students of drawing. It is systematically arranged, and embraces the simple principles governing light and shade, together with experiments verifying the same. Thus the student may take an intelligent interest in his work and be able to account for all lights, shades, shadows, reflections and gradations as they occur. Careful directions with regard to the choice and use of material and methods of working from models, common objects, and casts of ornament are given. These are accompanied by plates illustrating the various steps and adding much to the value of the book. Cassell & Co., New York.

POWER THROUGH REPOSE, by Annie Payson Call, is a book full of sensible and practical suggestions, much needed in these days, when nervous disorders resulting from overwork are so prevalent. The reader is entreated to take rest simply and naturally, to relax or “let go" the muscles and the nerve tension, and let repose balance activity, thus establishing a true equilibrium. The chapter on "Nervous Strain in the Emotions" will be found especially useful in the training of young girls. The author is evidently in love with her subject, and has treated it in an interesting as well as forcible manner. The publishers are Messrs. Roberts Brothers, of Boston.

A bound volume of the CENTURY makes a very substantial, readable, and valuable book. This last volume covers the six months, November, 1890, April, 1891. In these 960 pages the reader, no matter what his mental attainments, will find much to interest and instruct him. Here are three installments of the famous "Tallyrand Memoirs "; several "California Papers," by Gen. John Bidwell, Mrs. Frémont and others, of the greatest interest; then there are papers discussing prison life during the war, our navy, the Congo land, Thibet, and Mount St. Elias; there are delightful stories by Joel Chandler Harris, F. Hopkinson Smith, Edward Eggleston, Maurice Thompson, Mary E. Wilkins, Mrs. Burton Harrison, Richard Harding Davis, etc.; illustrated papers on "The Printing of the Century," "The Century Club," "Salons of France," art articles on "Italian Old Masters," "Two French Sculptors"; solid, valuable essays by Lyman Abbott, Albert Shaw and others, with a fine variety of poems, open letters, briefer stories and miscellaneous matter of present interest. It is a noble book, and as rich in illustration as in text. Published by The Century Co., New York. Price, $3.00.

ENGLISH GRAMMAR FOR BEGINNERS, is a bright little book of 120 pages, by Jonathan Rigdon, of the Central Normal College, Indiana. The author evidently knows the difficulties which beset the path of the instructor, and has made the book a helpful one in many ways. The subject matter is presented in a logical order, and the pupil is lead on by easy steps from the simple to the more complex.

ENGLISH GRAMMAR FOR THE COMMON SCHOOL, by the same author, is well adapted to succeed his more elementary treatise. The book is well arranged, . clear and concise. In the hands of a skillful teacher, it will undoubtedly give the pupil greater proficiency in the use of language, more ability to think, and a more complete mastery of the art of speech. Both books are published by the Rigdon Publishing Co., Danville, Indiana.

The writers of text-books on Physiology have already covered the ground pretty thoroughly, but M. C. Tiers in A COMPEND OF ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY has produced a somewhat novel work. Evidently intended to serve as a detailed key or index to the author's "Anatomical Manikin," it also gives a fairly good general outline of physiology. Its glossary of medical terms is a feature that will be appreciated by the unscientific reader. Published by Fowler & Wells Co., New York.

The Student's Series of Latin Classics, by Leach, Shewell & Sanborn of Boston, has recently received a valuable addition in the shape of MILLER'S LATIN PROSE COMPOSITION, Part II., for college use. This book is based directly upon Cicero, Cato Major and Laelius, and is intended to accompany the class use of these works. The student is thus given a model of style and expression, and a practical vocabulary in the classical author in hand. The use of this book should help to enliven the study of the art of writing Latin, invest it with new interest for the student, and lead to a more accurate classical scholarship.

The practical application of the theory of mechanics to the tools and appliances used in in-door and out-door work involves the use of such intricate mathematical formulæ that elementary classes frequently find the subject one of extreme difficulty. An easy introduction to mechanics, reasonably free from mathematical formulæ and clear in its statements, should receive a welcome. BOWER'S SCIENCE APPLIED TO WORK will help to supply the want in this direction. It is written in language easily understood by the young student, and seems to combine simplicity and accuracy. Published by Cassell & Co., New York.

THE ALHAMBRA, by Washington Irving, has been edited for the use of schools, by Alice H. White, and published by Ginn & Co., Boston. To shorten and simplify this favorite collection of history, legend and dreamy rambling narrative, without destroying something of its charms, is almost an impossibility. The editor of this number of the well-known classics for children, has dealt well with her hard task. The omissions have been made with good taste and judgment, especially the longer ones, which are legends of monkish greed, or chapters full of historic detail which might weary a child's mind. Foreign words and phrases have been translated, or discreetly omitted, and the definitions and notes are clear, simple and practical.