than North America, and to more than one-seventh of the entire land surface of the globe. Population about 27,086,000, showing an average density of less than four persons per square mile; it is thus the most thinly peopled of the contirents. The scale of the map is 298 miles to an inch, one square inch comprising 105 times the area represented by one square inch of map of England."

The comparative densities of population furnish material for interesting study and important deductions. Thus we see them ranging from about 100 per square mile in Scotland, 344 in England, 425 in Belgium, to 854 in the province of Kiang-su, China, and down to 4 in South America. These facts point, like the finger of Destiny, to the fertile soil and virgin forests of South America as the reserved retreat for earth's teeming peoples, and as the future seat of a mighty empire, where now rolls the Amazon, "and hears no sound save his own dashings." While referring to this subject we note an oversight of the editor's, or perhaps of the printer's, by which it is affirmed that only one State in the Union, viz., Rhode Island, has a greater density of population than Scotland. The density of population in Rhode Island is given as 166.4 per square mile, while Massachusetts has 186.8, thus giving the precedence in this respect to the Bay State.

The amount of valuable information condensed in the accompanying text is certainly noteworthy, and can be fully appreciated only by long and daily use of the Atlas. It is of almost every variety which can be useful to the numerous classes of men. In addition to the facts of physical geography, such as length of rivers, heights of mountains and other elevations of land, insothermals, surface, climate, etc., there are included the direction and length of ocean and telegraph lines, and other routes of communication, the percentage of increase or decrease of population of States since 1860, the number of counties, of representatives in Congress, and in the two houses of the State legislature, etc. We also notice the names of countries given in different languages, as Germany, Deutschland, Allemagne, Ger mania; also the ancient and modern names, as in Palestine, the city Rabba, ancient Areopolis. This, taken in connection with the locations of ruins of cities, ancient territories, tribes, etc., enables the biblical student to find all he seeks upon the map of Palestine, while that of Italy and Greece answers every purpose of a classical atlas. Further needful information is thrown into a brief note in respect to the signification of foreign terms. Thus we notice in the Arabic, Ard, plain; Jebel, mountain; and in the Chinese, Ho and Kiang, river, etc. We are aware that the publishers have been at much expense in the preparation of this work, and have intended to

make it preeminent in its class, and in this they have clearly succeeded. We have not, however, called attention to all its excellences, many of them new, others not; but we are of opinion that in no other work of the kind can be found so many combined; which, with its facility of reference and accuracy of statement, will render it of great utility and value to all classes of people.

Oxford's Junior Speaker: a Collection of Exercises, Recitations and Representations. Adapted to the Young of Both Sexes. By William Oxford. 12mo, pp. 216. Philadelphia: E. H. Butler & Co., 1872.

AMONG all the excellent educational works which have issued from the press of the publishers of this volume, we know of none better adapted to its sphere than this juvenile speaker. In no direction has more improvement been made of late than in works for the young. Nor was there greater need of it in any class of text-books. The period is past in which hasty abbreviations of standard speeches on the one hand, or nursery rhymes on the other, are considered a1l sufficient to instruct the youthful generation in the art of oratory Works of this class, in order to meet the necessities of the hour, must not only contain abundant selections suitable for early elocutionary drill, but they must also be adapted to the tastes of youth, and at the same time be of a character which will leave no impression upon the youthful mind which later years might wish to erase.

The neat volume before us goes far toward fulfilling these requirements. This is especially noticeable in the selections which constitute the elocutionary exercises. These are classified into "political and martial speeches in prose," "dialogues and concerted concerted pieces in prose and verse," "serious pieces in verse," and "light and humorous pieces in verse," comprising in all nearly two hundred articles. Their brevity and the skill with which a long story is condensed into few words renders them peculiarly adapted to the use of young learners, and for public school entertainments. While there are many brief, stirring and instructive selections from the great orators, few of them are of that stereotyped class which we find in nearly every work of the kind. Indeed, it is remarkable that

compilers of these works have so long confined themselves to those familiar selections, when it is well known that the writings of the great speakers abound in material equally eloquent and suitable for the purpose. The compiler of this work has drawn largely from these original sources, as well as from others not so famous, yet generally well suited for a work of this kind. This adaptation is shown in the subjects of the dialogues, consisting largely in the portrayal of scenes, feelings and incidents peculiar to the school-room and playground.

These exercises in representation are, many of them, dramatized from narratives in a very skilful manner, which brings out the point and illustrates the moral to a degree proportionate to the advantage which the dramatic possesses over the narrative form in this respect. Thus the old story of young Franklin and the axe-grinder is arranged in dramatic form, which vividly conveys the lesson taught by the old cynic to the young philosopher. We will remark, in passing, that it is also emi, nently suggestive of the course of many compilers of juvenile books, who thus seek to give point to their dull literary axes. logues are also mostly so arranged as to be adapted to representation by both sexes, thus supplying a need long felt by many teachers.

These dia

While the spirit and terseness of these selections are such as to excite the interest of the pupil, the language employed is a happy mean between stilted verboseness on the one hand and ungrammatical simplicity on the other. Many of the selections possess a kind of humor peculiarly amusing to the young, yet, almost without exception, are of a moral tone and character, to which no parent could objectand at the same time generally convey a useful lesson. The rules for elocutionary practice are brief, practical, and well suited to the capacity of the pupils, while throughout the work words to be emphasized are marked in italics, and those of difficult pronunciation divided and accented. The illustrations are mostly explanatory in design, neat in execution, and ornamental in appearance. Although there are a few selections perhaps too infantile for a "Junior Speaker," and others which might be omitted without loss, on the whole it is one which we most cheerfully commend to parents and teachers.

Reviews and Essays on Art, Literature, and Science. By ALMIRA LINCOLN PHELPS, author of "Lincoln's Botanies," "Phelps' Chemistries and Natural Philosophies," etc. 12mo, pp. 321. Philadelphia: Claxton, Remsen & Haffelinger. 1873.

LOOKING back upon a long life spent in educational and literary labor, the author of the present volume has collected such of its results as seem to possess the most permanent and general value, and presented them to the public as, perhaps, the last production of her pen. Like her sister, Mrs. Willard, the founder of a very respectable literary institution, and author of various standard text-books, essays, etc., and connected with the chief literary, social, and scientific movements of her times, her writings cannot fail to interest her contemporaries and to prove valuable to the younger generation.

It is our

Such we find to be the contents of the present volume. purpose at this time merely to indicate their general scope and character. First we have a "Glance at the Fine Arts," in which the author, commenting upon the causes of the neglect and lack of appreciation of the fine arts in America, proceeds to give a brief history of arts and artists of the several schools, pointing out the leading spirits and distinguishing characteristics of each. These she seizes upon with the intuition of one capable of appreciating the true end and aim of art. Although not wanting in a high estimation of the value of art, per se, the author regards it in an ethical point of view, in its influence upon or as an expression of the moral character of a people.

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In England under the Stuarts," we have a graphic condensation of the history of the mother-country in that thrilling and eventful period. Based upon the conflicting views of Hume and Hallam, her unbiased judgment strikes the happy mean, and her analytical mind. presents in few words the salient points of events and character, while womanly sympathy is evinced towards the unhappy Mary and the illfated Charles, and in condemnation of cruelty and injustice everywhere. In "Social Life in America," she points out the truth as well as error in the strictures of Dickens, Miss Martineau, and other writers upon our society, evincing a knowledge of the weakness and wants of American character as well as its strength and stability.

In "Madame de Maintenon and her Times," we see a vivid and in

general truthful picture of French character and customs in the luxurious court of Louis XIV.; and the much-slandered Maintenon evidently receives ample justice. "The De Saussures and their Writings" is an interesting and appreciative essay upon that eminent family. That upon the "Life and Writings of Goethe," while giving an appreciative estimate of the works of the great poet, shows that the writer's sense of rectitude is not blinded to the moral

imperfections of the man. A very just comparison is drawn be tween a portion of "Faust" and its prototype the "Book of Job,” showing how far the modern falls below the ancient poet in his conception of the character of Deity. The essay upon the character and writings of Mrs. Sigourney is a well-deserved tribute to that excellent lady, and deems her poem of Pocahontas alone sufficient to yield her enduring fame. The chapters upon "Popular Botany" and "Popular Science" embody the author's views upon these subjects, to which she has given forty years of her life as an investigator and instructor.

"The Union of Religion and Science," as exemplified in the life and writings of the late Dr. Edward Hitchcock, is an essay read before the American Association for the Advancement of Science, at Buffalo, in 1866. The paper upon "Circulation by Respiration" is a history of this theory, and defence of Mrs. Willard, as its originator. It is an impartial account of the difficulties and discouragements experienced by that talented lady in her efforts to obtain recognition in scientific circles, not for herself, but for the theory. Its gradual advance and final triumph are illustrated in the following interesting

narration:

"Dr. Ely was one who had opposed and written against the theory. In the meantime, his infant son had cholera and expired. His medical friends had left him, and crape was tied to the front door. Standing by the side of his lifeless babe, Dr. Ely said to himself, 'If this theory should be true, I might yet save my child,' and, profiting by the example of Dr. Cortwright in restoring the dead alligator, he restored his son to life. Remitting his efforts too soon, again the infant ceased to breathe. And again, and yet the third time the father restored him, when the resuscitaton proved complete, and months afterwards the child was living and in perfect health. Dr. Ely then came promptly forward, and, like a noble, honest man, reported the case as convincing evidence of a truth which he had formerly opposed."

The article is an able argument in favor of the claim of an American lady to be ranked as a discoverer in physiology, and, as a tribute to her memory, fitly completes the volume. These reviews, while not claiming to be profoundly critical, yet convey, in a condensed and lucid