Matarazzo, Francisco.Chronicles of the city of Perugia, 1492-1503, tr. by Edward S. Morgan.*$1.25. Dutton.
“Matarazzo tells the story of Perugia under the rule of the Baglioni, that clan of full-limbed men and lovely women, whose delicate complexions and golden locks filled and dazzled him with such a sense of their more than human beauty that he almost forgot their crimes in his fervid, well-nigh amorous, worship of their splendor and their strength. Such is the chronicle which Mr. Morgan has ventured to do into English; and it is hardly too much to say that the English is as good as the Italian.”—Nation.
*“Mr. Morgan’s translation, as a piece of English, is most admirably done; the archaic flavor he has imparted to the story has a distinct charm. There is one complaint to be lodged against him, however: we think he should have put his readers in a position where they would be better able to judge of Matarazzo’s veracity.”
“A fascinating picture of the moral, social and religious conditions of society in a typical Italian city during the Renaissance.”
“We have never seen a translation which has more completely caught the spirit of the original.”
“A careful English translation.” Walter Littlefield.
“In these chronicles, Matarazzo ... displays a clear, picturesque style. He is sometimes garrulous, it is true, but seldom prolix.”
Mather, Persis.Counsels of a worldly godmother.†$1.50. Houghton.
“We cannot imagine a goddaughter who would not turn a grateful ear to the tactful ‘Counsels of a worldly godmother,’ by Mrs. Mather. The witty and diplomatic woman of the world, who here attempts to direct a debutante to the right path to genuine social success, is not in any undesirable sense of the word ‘worldly.’ She stands for the best that Society with a large S is capable of producing, and she points to the way of attaining that best and of escaping the pitfalls of sham, snobbery, notoriety, and ostentation. While her counsels are addressed primarily to those who are striving to get on in society, they can be followed with advantage by all aspirants to sweet and gracious womanhood.”—Pub. Opin.
“No less wise than witty are these ‘Counsels of a worldly godmother.’”
“While she never appeals to a particularly high motive or sets up a lofty ideal, the common sense and the sparkle of her curtain lectures may attract notice when more serious writing would fail.”
Mathew, Frank.Ireland; painted by Francis Walker; described by Frank Mathew.*$6. Macmillan.
Subjective views of the country taken by an artist in colors and another in words. The book “is no more than a quiet introduction to Ireland” without statistics and without wrangling. “We find a sympathy with the poor, a love of wild nature, an appreciation of modest perfections, an absence of all ill-temper or rancour which are rare and refreshing in a book about Ireland.” (Ath.)
“On the whole the geography is accurate, and the painter’s sketches are in their outline so also. We cannot lay down this interesting book without the feeling that it is in many senses over-coloured.”
“Ireland is a sadder, grayer country than Mr. Mathew has described or Mr. Walker painted.”
“He is not always accurate. But he knows his history, and he makes it interesting to others.”
Mathews, Frances Aymar.Billy Duane.†$1.50. Dodd.
A story of politics and society in New York, which concerns an estranged couple. Billy Duane, the mayor, turns his Madison avenue house into political headquarters in his wife’s absence. Mrs. Billy objects to rough politicians and cigar stumps, but is fond of roulette at any cost and is discovered at the game when a dress-making establishment is raided by the police. The affairs of the Duanes and numerous friends of their type form the plot, whichworks out happily, ending with a reconciliation.
“With the flashes of inspiration characteristic of this writer. The book is written on a more pretentious scale than its author’s ability in character-drawing seems to warrant.”
“A style that is a composite of ‘The duchess’ and certain more modern and strenuous American writers.”
“It lacks neither rapid movement nor interesting central theme, but is written in an irritating staccato style ... which makes it hard to read.”
Mathews, Frances Aymar.Marquise’s millions.**$1. Funk.
An American girl in France, direct heir to her aunts’ immense estate, learns that it has been the life long intention of these relatives to bequeath their millions to “The Nineteenth Louis” when he should return to France and to his rights. She contrives with the aid of an ambitious mother and a scheming lover to have the latter impersonate the long absent Louis and win the fortune. Finally, her honor asserts itself, she discloses the intrigue, and starts out to battle with life alone.
*“This is a romantic little tale of devotion to the Bourbon cause, light, readable and effective rather than well written.”
“This is a sprightly tale.”
“An original situation which the author has devised and cleverly made much of.”
“A really delightful story.”
Mathews, Shailer.Messianic hope in the New Testament.*$2.50. Univ. of Chicago press.
“The messianic hope of the Pharisees is formulated as a criterion for historical interpretation. With its aid a study is made of the messianic ideas of Jesus, the New Testament doctrine of judgment and justification through faith; the messiahship of Jesus as the basis of the apostolic theodicy; the messianic age and its forerunner the gift of the spirit; the resurrection of the body; the coming of the kingdom; the ‘consummation.’ As a conclusion there is shown the distinction between the essential and the formal elements of historical Christianity made possible by such an investigation.”—Pub.’s note.
*“A very able treatment of this theme, conservative in spirit, yet thoro in research.”
“Is the best monograph on the subject with which we are acquainted.”
Mathot, R. E.Gas engines and producer gas plants.tr. from the French by Waldemar B. Kaempffert. $2.50. Henley.
A practical treatise setting forth the principles of gas engines and producer design, the selection and installation of an engine, conditions of perfect operation, producer gas engines and their possibilities, the care of gas engines and producer gas plants, with a chapter on volatile hydrocarbon and oil engines.
“The original is very clearly written and the translator has succeeded in preserving this clearness.” Storm Bull.
Matthews, (James) Brander, ed. American familiar verse. See Wampum library of American literature. v. 3.
Matthews, (James) Brander.Recreations of an anthologist.**$1. Dodd.
Eleven brief papers, by-products of the author’s work upon his four anthologies. There are essays upon “Unwritten books.” “Seed corn for stories,” “American epigrams,” “Carols of cookery,” “Recipes in rhyme,” “The uncollected poems of H. C. Bunner,” and “The strangest feat in modern magic.”
“A volume of pleasant literary essays.”
“Entertaining little volume.”
Matthews, Mary Anderson.Love vs. law. $1.50. Broadway pub.
The interestingly sketched career of a young Wellesley graduate who returns to her Missouri home and determines to study law. This fair Portia is admitted to the bar, conducts many a successful case, becomes an advocate of equal rights, but withal loses not for a moment her girlish winsomeness nor womanly courage. Eventually she becomes wholly reconciled to the part that Cupid plays in staying the progress of her profession.
Mauclair, Camille.Auguste Rodin; the man, his ideas, his work.$4. Dutton.
In this account of the sculptor and his work, the sculptor speaks for himself and his admiring biographer speaks for him; between them we are given a view of the methods of Rodin, and his valuable views upon the education of other sculptors.
“Though M. Mauclair is rather the advocate than the critic, his book, if only for the many quotations from the master’s conversations, is of genuine interest.”
“A precise though rather over-eulogistic statement of Rodin’s personality and work, and a study of the artist’s psychology and its application to his personal ideas upon the technical principles of sculpture and his methods of work.”
“M. Mauclair is ... a violent partisan.”
“M. Camille Mauclair does not leave us with the feeling that we know the man Rodin.” Charles de Kay.
“From its pages a just appreciation of the artist can be gained.”
Maude, Aylmer.The Doukhobors. $1.50. Funk.
Mr. Maude, who made the arrangements with the Canadian government which led to the migration of the Doukhobors to Canada, and who thru his keen sympathy with the work of Tolstoi was early drawn into a close study of this peculiar people, is especially fitted to write such a work. It contains a history of the Doukhobors, and traces their connection in the past with the Lollards, Anabaptists, Quakers and other sects. It also gives a vivid account of their migration to Canada, and of the famous “pilgrimage” in 1902, which was finally checked by the Canadian government. The author finds in the waywardness of so strange a sect, in their lack of appreciation of the favor granted by the Canadians, a proof that Tolstoi, sincere and earnest and far-seeing as he is, is yet not infallible in point of judgment. Incidental to his account of “The Christian commune of universal brotherhood” Mr. Maude also takes a stand for individual ownership of property. The book, he says, is a public apology for his havinghelped, however unwillingly, to mislead the Canadian government as to the nature and religion of the people he has settled among them.
“To Mr. Elkinton’s book that of Mr. Maude may justly be looked upon as a pendant.”
“The disconnectedness and lack of sequence in his chapters ... and the large amount of irrelevant matter make the book something of a conundrum to the reader until he reaches the final chapter.”
“At last we have a work from which the student of sociological experiments and systems, as well as the ordinary laymen, can obtain a fair, clear, and sufficiently complete conception of the truly ‘peculiar’ Russian sectarians about whom so much that is prejudiced or erroneous has been written.”
“Although not very well put together, is an extremely interesting study of ‘a peculiar people.’”
“His book is not so good as it should be from a deficiency in the need of perspective; or perhaps a readiness to use up old material.”
Maule, Francis I.Only letters.**$1. Jacobs.
“In the approaching season of the American exodus to Europe, this gay record of pleasant travel, written by an intelligent man to his brother, will prove a welcome addition to the books set aside to read on the steamship. From England, Russia, Egypt, and here and there between, the writer gathered impressions.”—Outlook.
“He is gifted with an extraordinary vocabulary, keen perceptions, and a vast treasury of real American humor, sometimes a trifle exasperating, but never by any chance dull.”
Maurer, Edward R.Technical mechanics. $4. Wiley.
“The author shows close sympathy with the point of view of the beginner, and appreciation of the fact that at certain points the conventional treatment of fundamental principles fails to meet the need of the ordinary student. As features of Maurer’s book may be mentioned the emphasis everywhere given to the vector nature of the qualities dealt with, the parallel treatment of graphical and analytical methods in statics, the admirable chapter on work and energy, and the satisfactory treatment of the subject of units.”—Science.
“As a sound and practical text-book for the use of students of engineering Professor Maurer’s book possesses high merit. The exposition is nearly always concise. The soundness of the logic is rarely open to question.” L. M. Hoskins.
Maxwell, Donald.Log of the Griffin: the story of a cruise from the Alps to the Thames.**$2.50. Lane.
The adventures on land and sea of a strange craft built in the Alps, and carried by wagon to Lake Zurich. She sailed the Rhine, and the East Scheldt, and arrived at the mouth of the Thames on board a steamer. The log is illustrated by a hundred or more sketches of the unique cruise.
“An agreeable novelty in the well-worn ways of European travel.”
“Without being in any way a serious work, the narrative commends itself as well-told, veracious, original; while in its artistic aspect the book is beautiful.” Wallace Rice.
“The account of the evolution of the queer craft and of its adventures cannot fail to amuse, if it does not instruct.”
“Capital reading.”
Maxwell, Joseph.Metapsychical phenomena, tr. by J. I. Finch. $3.50. Putnam.
The method and observation of “physical” manifestations are given chiefly, such as “table-turning,” “rapping,” and “levitation.” There is a preface by Charles Richet, and also an introduction by Sir Oliver Lodge. An additional chapter gives a complex case by Professor Richet, and an account of some recently observed phenomena by the translator.
“One leaves Dr. Maxwell’s book with a perfect conviction of his honesty, some hesitation about his logic, and entire certainty that his records will have no weight with sceptics; but then he does not seem to expect to produce any effect on them.” Andrew Lang.
“It should be said that, in spite of its size, Dr. Maxwell’s book is eminently readable, although the translator has admitted a good many disfiguring gallicisms.”
“Modern in its research. It has a well-balanced scientific skill.” Pendennis.
“Interesting as is his book, it cannot well be deemed a weighty addition to the literature on this fascinating but elusive subject.”
“The effect produced on the mind is mainly cumulative, but by reason of the manifest sincerity of the author and his competency and experience as an observer, its importance as a contribution towards the study of this neglected Cinderella among sciences is unquestionably very high.”
Maxwell, W. B.Ragged messenger.**$1.20. Putnam.
“A sensational novel, in which the hero, a minister of the church, for the sake of his conviction, gives up his parish and preaches on the street and in the slums of London. A large fortune comes to him, all of which he gives to the poor. He is unrewarded for his sacrifices. The heroine, a beautiful woman, is an adventuress”.—Bookm.
“The book is carefully written, both in matter of style and development of the plot. The idea of the story is original, and the book as a whole is unusually vigorous and impressive.”
“The reader gets the impression that he is listening to a man talking to himself.”
“As a study in modern phases this story must be considered something more than remarkable. The phases themselves are more than remarkable, the motive almost fantastic in spite of the realistic modern London setting. The yeast of fate brews and works in the whole, and makes of these elements a climax so melodramatic as to seem almost inspired. But it is melodrama pathologically inevitable. One may read the books and ponder on the meaning of faith, science, and common sense, or one may think chiefly of the story—one of humanity probed pretty deep—one somewhat daringlyplanned, but one which shows strength and a seeing eye.”
“A powerful story.”
Maxwell, W. B.Vivien.†$1.50. Appleton.
“The story is told entirely from the point of view of the heroine.... The hero of the book is a cheerfully profligate earl (the villain being gloomily profligate), who is awakened to the seriousness of life when the heroine repels his advances, and he succeeds to a dukedom.... At the end of five hundred and fifty closely printed pages the duke repents of his sin and marries the heroine, who is discovered to possess ‘the golden current, the divine fire,’ which can apparently only be derived from ancestors whose names are in the peerage.”—Spec.
“Mr. Maxwell has other admirable qualities, notably a keen instinct for character, a sense of humour, and many craftsmanlike devices for rendering that humour effective.”
“The first half of the story is better than the last, for in the last we approach very close to sentimental melodrama. It rings feminine.”
“In general, Mr. Maxwell seems to miss the finer point of characterization. For all that, there are passages in his book, even in the fairy tale part of it, which stir the feelings. He has humour; he is master of his words, and he can retain his reader’s attention through a very long and unevenly handled story.”
“Another story almost as extraordinary and possibly even more intense in its holding power [than ‘The ragged messenger.’]” H. I. Brock.
“A novel of more than usual interest and strength.”
“It is the product, not of a philosopher, but of a clever reporter, an emotional wordy piece of work owing its success to cheap sentiment, a fine journalistic style, highly coloured and verbose, effective characterisation, and detailed and no doubt accurate accounts of life.”
“The book is fluently written, and judged by its own standard, is clever.”
Maybrick, Florence Elizabeth (Chandler).Mrs. Maybrick’s own story.**$1.20. Funk.
The author tells the story of her life from the time of her arrest for the murder of her husband, through the course of her trial, and the fifteen years imprisonment which terminated December, 1903. The recital is womanly and pathetic without a trace of bitterness. A legal digest of the case is appended.
“Such a tale cannot help being morbid, but in the main it rings true. To those who have an interest in prison life it will not fail to be of value, yet for the ordinary reader it would be a book worth while avoiding.”
“There is no bitterness in the book, but it is a strong indictment of British justice, and points out the crying need for a British court of appeals in criminal cases.”
Meeker, Royal.History of shipping subsidies.*$1. Published for the American economic association by the Macmillan co.
Part one deals with shipping subsidies historically under the sub-divisions: Great Britain; France; Germany; Italy; Austro-Hungary; Japan; Other countries; and United States. Part two concerns the Theory of subsidies and is divided into: Theoretical arguments; Popular arguments for subsidy; Political arguments for subsidy; and Ethical considerations. There is also a bibliography and an index.
Meigs, William Montgomery.Life of Thomas H. Benton.**$2. Lippincott.
A life of a distinguished statesman of the middle period by one who has made a thoro study of his career. The biography contains accounts of the many historical events with which the great Missourian was connected, such as the admission of his state into the Union, and the election of Andrew Jackson to the presidency. His service as United States senator, his love of the Union, and his personal influence upon the Democrats of his state are dwelt upon.
“A readable account of the Missourian’s career.”
“Meigs appeals to the student by a more judicial and critical attitude. There is hardly an overstatement or a serious error to be found.” W. H. Mace.
“This must be reckoned the most complete and authoritative biography of Benton.”
“The author has consulted most of the available authorities on Benton, and has gathered much material from hitherto unknown sources. The work is the best life of Benton yet produced.”
“It is a highly praiseworthy study of the great Missourian, sincere, thorough and judicial.”
“Lacking in dramatic arrangement and wanting in painstaking accuracy of statement.”
“Mr. Meigs’s narrative is diffuse but vivacious, and abounds in anecdote and illustration. It gives an unusually clear and comprehensive survey of a signally useful and pure-minded man.”
“There was distinctly room for a one-volume biography of Senator Benton. [Mr. Roosevelt’s biography in the American statesmen series] gives a picture of Benton superior to any which can be found in Mr. Meigs’s book. The greatest praise that we can award the latter is to say that it is the result of painstaking and laborious investigation and it will be of considerable value to students of history. The material, unfortunately, is put together with very little literary skill, and the style is certainly not such as to attract the general reading public. It is highly regrettable that Mr. Meigs cannot make us take the interest in the character of his picturesque subject which he tells he himself feels.”
“More ambitious in scope than successful in accomplishment. Altogether, we have read the work with distinct feelings of disappointment, the disappointment being heightened by the reflection that the author has undoubtedly grasped Benton’s historical importance, and that had he but bestowed on the execution of his task the care evident in gathering of materials, he would have given us a biography well worth while.”
Meili, Frederick.International civil and commercial law as founded upon theory, legislation and practice, tr. by A. R. Kuhn.**$3. Macmillan.
“The author was a delegate from Switzerland to the Hague international conferences, and this very thorough discussion was at least in part suggested by those conferences. The book of course deals with international private law as distinguished from international public law,and is in the main concerned with the continental views of this branch of jurisprudence.” (Outlook). “Mr. Kuhn has not only translated the work, but has supplemented it with additions from American and English law. Very useful lists, annotations, and bibliographies complete the work.” (R. of Rs.)
“It is a convenient, if not very skilfully planned survey of the whole field. The information which it furnishes as to bibliography is not the least recommendation of the book. But the omissions are far from few.”
“Its exactness of method and thoroughness of research evidently make it a work of lasting value to the jurist accustomed to deal with large legal topics in a scientific manner.”
“Professor Meili has written a very useful book for students of comparative politics, as well as for lawyers.”
“A very handy and valuable legal work.”
Mellor, J. W.Crystallization of iron and steel: an introduction to the study of metallography.*$1.60. Longmans.
“It is certainly a convenience to possess such a book.... In six short and lucid chapters—originally lectures delivered in 1904 to the engineering students of the Staffordshire county technical classes of the Newcastle high school—we are taken from a well-put statement of what is known respecting the solidification and cooling of alloys in general to the consideration of the phenomena recognized in iron and steel in particular, and, lastly, to practical directions for the due preparations of specimens for microscopic examination.”—Ath.
“It must be regarded as an ‘ad interim’ report only. Looking at Dr. Mellor’s little volume in this light, we have nothing but praise to award it.”
*“This second chapter is the only unsatisfactory one of the book. Confining himself to limited space, the writer has sacrificed conciseness to mere brevity. The two predominant features of the book as a whole are the great concentration of information into a small space, and the interesting manner in which it is presented, which latter never fails to attract. This clouding of the main issue by the introduction of data not absolutely necessary is one of the principal weaknesses of the book. When all has been said, this book is the best popular introduction to the study of metallography that we have.”
“The presentation is without bias, and each theory and method is described and examined as clearly and fairly as the author’s evident lack of practical acquaintance with the subject as a whole will permit.” A. McWilliam.
Melville, Lewis.Thackeray country. $2. Macmillan.
A volume in the “Pilgrimage series.” “Mr. Melville treats of those localities which are of primary interest to those who are acquainted with the life and writings of the great novelist. He deals with Thackeray’s London homes and the features and associations of their neighborhood; his homes in Paris, and other places on the European continent, and in America. Special attention is paid to those places that form a background of the scenes of Thackeray’s novels. Biographical information is also supplied connected with the novelist’s residences from his arrival in England from India at the age of six until his death in 1863. The volume contains fifty full-page illustrations mostly from original photographs by C. W. Barnes Ward.” (N. Y. Times.)
“The author has not tackled his task in the right spirit or performed it in the right way; all that he has given us is a rather disconnected short life of Thackeray. There are many distinct mistakes. A large portion of the book has not anything to do with its supposed subject. It is a poor production.”
“He has written an interesting book, which will please the reader the more, the better he knows the author.”
Menpes, Dorothy.Brittany.*$6. Macmillan.
“The latest of the ‘Menpes books’ is devoted to ‘Brittany.’ Mr. Mortimer Menpes has made a specialty of traveling with a water-color box and a literary daughter, and the results of these travels appear each year in time for the holiday trade.” (Nation.) There are some seventy-five illustrations, and they show different parts of Northern France—peasants, scenes in the markets, street scenes, etc.
“Her best descriptions, her brightest sketches, are spoilt for the reader by unnecessary blots of sloppiness.”
“Text and illustrations have a common facility and a common lack of seriousness which is welcome, or the reverse, according to one’s point of view.”
Meredith, Katharine Mary Cheever (Johanna Staats).Wing of love.†$1. McClure.
“A charming child in this book, and a nice young journalist chap, her staunch friend from the day she and her mother find their way to the top floor of the New York lodging house where he and two other bachelors have their abode. This friendship is quite disinterested, the mother receiving only courteous attentions from him, his heart being in another’s keeping—facts concerning which subsequently develop very prettily to connect them with his romance.”—Outlook.
“The chief fault in its development lies in the fact that, instead of making it a short story, she has padded her little tale until it has lost much of its charm.”
Merington, Marguerite.Cranford: a play. $1.25. Fox.
A comedy in three acts made from Mrs. Gaskell’s well-known story of the same name. The full charm of the story is retained in the dramatization.
*“Written with Miss Merington’s usual sprightliness.”
“A not unskillful dramatization for amateur theatricals of Mrs. Gaskell’s ever fresh and delightful tale.”
Merriman, Charles Eustace.Self-made man’s wife: her letters to her son: being the woman’s view of certain famous correspondence.†$1.50. Putnam.
“In her letters the mother advises her son on the treatment of his wife, on the retention of his ideals, on the writing of books and on the reading of them, on quarreling and making up, on the fallacy and folly of aphorisms, adages, and other epigrammatic usages, on economy in households, and a number of other living topics, and aptly illustrates her points by instances taken from her own domestic experiences or observations of the experiences of her neighbors.”—N. Y. Times.
“Upon the whole these letters are tedious and disappointing.”
“A cup of cambric tea is this book.”
“If they are not as entertaining as those of her husband it is only perhaps because the reader has already consumed two volumes of his epistolary lore and is perhaps a trifle satiated.”
“The number of old jokes and the weary waste of platitudes in this book are positively depressing.”
“The letters have a masculine ring. They exhibit a terse expression, a worldly acumen, a sense of humor, and an anecdotal wealth, that strongly resemble the style of the self-made man.”
Merriman, Mansfield.Mechanics of materials. $5. Wiley.
A tenth edition, re-written and enlarged, of this text-book which “deals with the elastic and, to a limited extent, with the plastic properties of materials of construction and the application of the laws of strength of materials to the simple machine parts and structures. The treatment is essentially theoretical.”—Nature.
*“The present book is in some respects an excellent treatise. The first point which strikes a reader is the great looseness of terminology. The author has an aggravating way of describing a thing at first very crudely and inaccurately, but without any reservations, giving a revised statement much later on and a further revision later still, and this in the case of quite simple matters.”
Merriman, Mansfield, and Jacoby, Henry Sylvester.Text-book on roof and bridges, pt. 1, Stresses in simple trusses. $2.50. Wiley.
“Those ... who are familiar with the first edition of this book, published in 1888, will hardly recognize the present volume as being a revision of the same book.... We now have the dead load stresses, the live load stresses and the stresses due to wind and other causes treated in separate chapters for the common forms of simple trusses. The fifth chapter takes up the consideration of long-span bridges.... Chapter VI. discusses portal bracing, sway and lateral bracing and plate girder design. Chapter VII. treats of deflections.... The final chapter takes up cranes, bents, towers, viaducts, and other miscellaneous structures. A notable feature of the new edition is the extensive use of illustrations, including half-tone views of notable truss bridges, folding plates and numerous text drawings.”—Engin. N.
*Mertins, Gustave F.Storm signal. $1.50. Bobbs.
Two intertwined love stories provide the romantic interest in this story of the South and the negro. The conditions in the South after the Civil war are vividly presented, the good old negro type is well drawn, but the real story is that of the negro uprising, when black fiends, driven to desperation by the recital of their wrongs in their secret meetings, attack and are repulsed. There are strong dramatic scenes and characters which, tho unpleasing, are strikingly portrayed.
*Merwin, Samuel.Road builders.†$1.50. Macmillan.
“To make an achievement in railroad building dramatic and exciting and to hold the reader’s interest in suspense from beginning to end is a feat in fiction writing which few men would attempt.... The young engineer who with bulldog determination and ever-ready invention puts his engineering feat through on time, in the face of cunning enemies, natural obstacles, and stupid and criminal employees, is a type, but he is also a rousing good fellow.”—Outlook.
*“There is no lack of well contrived incident, and on the whole the book is true to life.”
*“The tale is clear-cut, terse and thrilling. Altogether the book is an industrial romance bristling with human interest.”
*“More important than the adventures and incidents of the feat that is finally accomplished, is the evidence Mr. Merwin gives of his own growth in character delineation. Each man is different from every other, and all are real, whether good or bad.”
Metcalf, Maynard Mayo.Outline of the theory of organic evolution.*$2.50. Macmillan.
A series of lectures given by Professor Metcalf before the Woman’s college of Baltimore, expanded and put in book form. It is not a technical biological book, but it is an introductory survey of the biological theory of evolution and is intended for the general reader. It gives well established facts in their general outlines, and deals with some of the most striking phenomena of anatomy.
“It is a treatise so clear, simple and fascinating withal, that the subject can not only be readily grasped by the most slow-thinking reader, but few who peruse the opening pages will be content to lay it aside. This book is precisely the work that general readers need. It is a volume that should be read by every young man and woman in America.” Amy C. Rich.
“Presents in a clear and simple style the fundamental principles of organic evolution in a form very well adapted to the needs of the general reader and to those who wish an outline of the theory of Darwinism. Perhaps the most striking feature of the book is the wealth of clear and very well selected illustrations.”
“Two features of the book are especially praiseworthy: first, the clearness and distinctness with which essentials are presented; second, the wealth of illustration. It is safe to say that no previous popular treatise on evolution has been so completely and so well illustrated as this. The chief criticism to be made regarding the book as a whole is its failure to give any adequate account of the important results of many of the recent investigations in the field of evolution.”
“The volume under consideration will find its own place, because it is far better than the least technical books on evolution previously published. It will form an excellent introduction to the classical books on evolution. The author has very successfully attempted to write in a non-technical and popular style. No other book in the same field is so lavishly illustrated. Without hesitation the reviewer recommends the book to those who want information about the theory in its non-technical bearings.”
“This is one of the best popular accounts of the theory of evolution that have come under our notice. An excellent feature of the book is its wealth of pictorial illustration. A few points call for criticism.”
*Metchnikoff, Elie.Immunity in infective diseases; tr. from the French by Francis G. Binnie.*$5.25. Macmillan.
Metchnikoff’s theory “is familiar enough now to the reading public with its protective forces in the body; leucocytes ready to mass togetherto repulse the assault of germ organisms as well as their toxic products; but the work is not primarily on macrophages and microphages, but on the great question of immunity from infection. This extends through immunity of protozoans, metazoans (multicellular plants), and finally of animals—immunity either natural or acquired. The ramifications of the work extend over a vast area of experimentation and citation of contemporaneous work, but the immunity always is attributed, in one way or another, to the protective activity of the leucocytes. This makes the work a very agreeably unified one, and clearly drawn colored illustrations of the leucocytic activity do much to enhance the value of the treatise.”—Pub. Opin.