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WE PUBLISH IN THIS NUMBER certain suggestions that have been made, by those best able to judge, as to improvements in the taking of the census of the deaf. At the same time we would call attention to certain suggestions by Dr. A. Graham Bell on the census-taking of the deaf which may lead to important results in the study of the heredity of this affection, and to its introduction into certain families through unfortunate marriages. One of the sections in the article to which we refer has reference to the offspring of first-cousin marriages. This is a point of grave importance, and one upon which, up to this time, no special data have been obtained in this country. The committee of the deaf, as it will be seen, recommends the introduction into the census schedules of a question bearing on this point, and it is certainly to be hoped that such a question will be inserted. In examining the ancestry of deaf-mutes, Dr. Bell has had occasion to consult the original population schedules of former censuses, which are preserved in the Department of the Interior, and he has found little difficulty in tracing the families backward from census to census in the male line of ascent. If the name of the father had been

given in former censuses, it might now be possible for genealogical experts to trace from these records the American ancestry of every person now living in the United States in every branch, for the name of the father would give the maiden name of females. Dr. Bell therefore suggests that in the census of 1890 the father's

name should be noted in that part of the schedule that relates to the nativity of the parents, so that the people of the United States may leave to their descendants genealogical records from which their full ancestry may at any time be ascertained. This suggestion is full of interest to the genealogists of the country, and, if carried into effect, would undoubtedly prove of great value to them. The committee of the New England Historical and Genealogical Society, to whom this matter was referred, has strongly indorsed it, and it is hoped that a question on this point, as shown in the proposed schedule, will be inserted.

THE ENUMERATION OF THE DEAF.

A MEETING of the executive committee of the conference of American instructors of the deaf was held in Washington, May 9 of this year, to consider the best method of enumerating the deaf of the next census, and confer with the superintendent of the census, Hon. Robert D. Porter, on the subject. Dr. Alexander Graham Bell and Mr. Frederick Howard Wines were invited to act with the committee. All the members of the committee, including Dr. Bell, were present; but Mr. Wines was unable to attend. After a discussion of several hours and a pleasant interview with Mr. Porter and Dr. J. S. Billings, who has charge of the mortality and vital statistics of the "Eleventh Census," Mr. Porter acceded to the request of the committee, that in the next census the deaf should be separated from the pauper and criminal classes, and promised to give careful consideration to any suggestions the committee might make. In accordance with this, the committee, — consisting of Edward M. Gallaudet, president of the National College for Deaf-Mutes; Isaac Lewis Peet, principal of the New York Institution for the Deaf and Dumb; Philip G. Gillett, superintendent of the Illinois Institution for the Deaf and Dumb; J. L. Noyes, superintendent of the Minnesota School for the Deaf; Caroline A. Yale, principal of the Clarke Institution for the Deaf at Northampton, Mass.; Alexander Graham Bell; and Edward Allen Fay, editor of the American Annals of the Deaf, — on June 21, addressed a letter to Mr. Porter, in which they made the following statements and suggestions:

"At the sixth conference of principals and superintendents of American schools for the deaf, held at Jackson, Miss., April 14-17, 1888, a body representing all the schools for the deaf in the United States, numbering last year 8,372 pupils, - we were appointed a committee to endeavor to effect a reform in the method of enumerating the deaf in the United States census, in the hope of securing fuller and more accurate statistics in 1890 than have heretofore been obtained. In accordance with your request at our interview on the 9th of May last, that we should make such suggestions as might seem desirable in this direction, we respectfully submit the following recommendations:

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"1. Section 17 of the act of Congress, entitled 'An Act to provide for taking the tenth and subsequent censuses' [approved March 3, 1879], provides that Schedule No. 1 (here reproduced) shall contain inquiries . . . as to the physical and mental health of each person enumerated, whether active or disabled, maimed, crippled, bedridden, deaf, dumb, blind, insane, or idiotic, and whether employed or unemployed, and, if unemployed, during what portion of the year.' In accordance with this provision, inquiries were made in the Tenth Census' concerning the disabled; and full returns were sought of all the classes named in the act, excepting the deaf and the dumb. Only those dumb were enumerated who were also deaf, and only those deaf who had lost hearing before the age of sixteen years. We urge that in the Eleventh Census' all the classes named in the act be fully enumerated; and we specially urge that the returns of the deaf be not limited to that sub-class of the deaf formerly denominated the deaf and dumb.' If the requirements of the law are fully complied with, the returns will be much more useful to us, as teachers of the deaf, than if the plan pursued in former censuses of inquiring only for the deaf and dumb' is continued. Pupils are admitted to the schools we represent, not on account of their dumbness, but on account of their deafness. Persons who are merely dumb are not received: persons who are merely deaf are received. Our schools are open to

ness or disability?
If so, what is the sick-
business or duties?
attend to ordinary
so as to be unable to

temporarily disabled
tor's visit] sick or
day of the Enumera-
Is the person [on the

all children of school age who are debarred by deafness from attending ordinary schools for hearing persons. We wish the aid of the census in obtaining the names and post-office addresses of such children, in order to bring them into the special schools suited to their condition.

"2. The age or period of life at which deafness occurred is a

which the deafness occurred. They should be instructed that this point is of such vital importance to the correct classification of the deaf that an answer must be obtained in every case, or a reason assigned for non-reply. This reason may in some cases itself reveal the point desired. "3. We recommend that in Schedule No. I the physical and

FORM OF QUESTIONS USED IN SCHEDULE No. 1 OF THE TENTH CENSUS [1880.]

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if of foreign birth. States, or the country or Territory of United person, naming State Place of birth of this

if of foreign birth. States, or the country or Territory of United son, naming the State FATHER of this perPlace of birth of the

eign birth. the country if of forthe United States, or State or Territory of son, naming the MOTHER of this perPlace of birth of the

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SUGGESTED FORM OF QUESTIONS FOR SCHEDULE No. 1 OF THE ELEVENTH CENSUS [1890].

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FORM OF QUESTIONS ON DEFECTIVE CLASSES FOR TENTH CENSUS AND PROPOSED FORM FOR ELEVENTH CENSUS COMPARED.

more reliable element in determining the sub-class of the deaf to which a person belongs than the presence or absence of the power of speech, or the exact amount of muteness involved. We therefore recommend, that, in taking a census of the deaf, the enumerators be specially required to ascertain the age or period of life at

mental condition of each person be noted. The form of questions as to physical and mental condition, as shown in Fig. 2, is suggested for incorporation in that schedule. To ascertain the condition of the hearing, the enumerator should be instructed to ask first whether the person can hear well. If the answer is Yes,' the

of this person.

Name of the FATHER

enumerator should indicate the reply by a horizontal mark (−) placed in the Hearing' column; if the hearing is not good, by a mark sloping from right to left (/); and if the question is not answered, the column should be left blank. If the hearing is reported as not good' (/), the enumerator should then ascertain the extent of the disability. If the person is too deaf to be taught in ordinary schools for hearing persons, or cannot hear conversation in a loud tone of voice, the enumerator should convert the sloping mark (/) into a cross (×), and proceed to put the interrogatories contained in the supplementary schedule or card relating to the deaf (see Paragraph 4, below). If, on the other hand, the person is merely hard of hearing,' or if there is doubt whether the deafness is sufficient to constitute the disability above specified, the cross should not be made, and the person should not be entered on the supplementary schedule or card relating to the deaf.

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If the person was born deaf, write B; if not, state the age at which the hearing was lost.

If it is difficult to find out the exact age at which the person became deaf, ask at what period of life deafness occurred; as, for instance, whether it was in infancy (under 4 years of age), in childhood (under 10), in youth (under 20), in adult life (from 20 to 50), or in old age.

If you cannot get an answer to Question No. 5, state here the reason why you cannot.

Note C.

In answering Question No. 8, use the same checkmarks as in Schedule No. 1.

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The deaf..

The dumb (because of deafness)..

The dumb (because of idiocy).......

The dumb (because of defective vocal organs).....

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5. At what age or period of life did this person become deaf? [See Note B.]

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The fact that there are three classes of dumb persons shows the liability to error when the enumerator is instructed, as heretofore, to inquire for the deaf and dumb.' Out of 29,776 idiots, whose powers of speech were ascertained from physicians in the last census, 7,396, or about one-fourth of the whole number, could not articulate at all, or had no use of spoken language; 14,707, or about one-half, could articulate but imperfectly, or their use of language was very defective; the number who spoke intelligibly was only 7,673. It thus appears that a large proportion of the idiotic are no less 'dumb' than deaf-mutes; and it is almost inevitable, that, when dumbness is made prominent (as in the term 'deaf and dumb'), the one class should be confused with the other, resulting in the return of intelligent deaf-mutes as 'idiotic,' and of idiotic hearing persons as deaf and dumb.' In the last census, moreover, 2,339 persons were returned as both deaf-mute and idiotic.' It is extremely probable that among these were some deaf-mutes of good mind, and some idiots who could hear. If a census of the deaf is taken, this source of error will be removed. Other advantages of the form of questions above proposed over the former plan of asking for the blind, deaf and dumb, idiotic, insane, maimed, crippled, bedridden, or otherwise disabled,' are explained in Dr. Alexander Graham Bell's communication to Senator Hale (Paragraphs 20-39), which was published in Science of Jan. 18.

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"4. Mr. F. H. Wines of Springfield, Ill., special agent of the "Tenth Census," in charge of the statistics relating to the deaf and other special classes of the population, who was invited to act with this committee, but was unable to be present at our meeting, suggested to us by letter, that, instead of supplementary schedules, the enumerators should be provided with special cards, on which the questions to be asked in the case of each deaf person should be printed, with spaces for the answers; and that the enumerators be required to fill out these cards in duplicate, one copy for use, and the other for preservation. We approve of the suggestion of special cards, and recommend the following form, in addition to such references as may be necessary for identification with Schedule No. I.

Speech?

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13. Were the parents of this person first-cousins?
14. Has this person had any deaf brothers or sisters?

15. Is this person single (s); married (m); widowed (wid); or divorced (d)?

If married, name of the wife (or husband)?

16. Name of the wife's (or husband's) father?

17. Has the wife (or husband) had any deaf brothers or sisters? 18. How many children have been born of this marriage? How many of the children were deaf? young?

19. Is the wife (or husband) deaf?

at what age or period of life? [See Note B.]

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"6. We recommend that some one thoroughly qualified by familiarity with the deaf be placed in charge of the entire work of the census relating to this class.

"7. We recommend that in the publication of the results of the census the deaf be separated from the pauper and criminal classes. “8. In the last census, 4.597 persons were returned as doubly or trebly afflicted with deaf-mutism, idiocy, insanity, and blindness. Those who were returned as deaf and dumb and idiotic' were reported among the deaf and dumb' and again among the idiotic,' etc.; each of the doubly afflicted persons being thus counted twice, and each of the trebly afflicted persons thrice. In this way the 4,597 doubly and trebly afflicted persons counted in the summingup of the insane, idiots, blind, and deaf-mutes (Tenth Census,* vol. xxi. p. vii.), as 9,441 persons, more than double their actual number, making the total of these classes appear greater by 4,844 individuals than it really was. In order to insure accuracy with

respect to these classes, we recommend that the returns of persons doubly and trebly afflicted be not classed with the deaf, the idiotic, etc., respectively, but be grouped in classes by themselves, and placed in charge of some specially qualified person for the careful examination and verification of the returns, and for an investigation into the causes of these terrible afflictions.

"9. An impression is prevalent that deafness, blindness, idiocy, and insanity are often due to consanguinity in the parents; and statistics have been collected which show that a considerable percentage of the deaf, blind, idiotic, and insane are the children of first-cousins. These statistics, however, can be of little value in determining the questions involved until we know what percentage of the general population are the offspring of such unions. We therefore recommend that in Schedule No. 1 the question be asked, 'Were the parents of this person first-cousins?'

"We trust that these suggestions will commend themselves to your judgment, and believe that, if adopted, they will result in a more accurate and satisfactory census of the class in whose welfare we are especially interested than has yet been obtained."

HEALTH MATTERS. Baking Bacilli.

AT a meeting of the New York Academy of Medicine, June 20, Dr. A. Jacobi read some notes on the baking of bacilli, being a denunciation of Weigert's advertising scheme, and a review of his own experience with the inhalation of hot air in the treatment of phthisis. Weigert, supposed to be an American physician, now of Germany, claimed to have discovered a method of curing phthisis by the inhalation of hot air, and he had made free use of Dr. Jacobi's name in advertising his apparatus for carrying out this treatment. The treatment was not original with Weigert; nor had Dr. Jacobi, as had been asserted, bought, indorsed, or recommended the apparatus in question. Moreover, as appeared further along, he had little confidence in the method. To Halter belonged the honor of suggesting the treatment of phthisis by the inhalation of hot air with the view of killing the bacilli in the lungs. The idea arose from observing the immunity from phthisis of workmen in a lime-kiln where they were exposed to a high degree of heat (122° to 158° F.), — so high that it would destroy the tubercle bacilli, provided it continued at that degree until it had reached the lungs. The air inhaled by workmen in a lime-kiln was dry and rarefied. A moist atmosphere of a like temperature would be more destructive of the bacilli, but was less endurable by the phthisical patient. Dr. Jacobi said, that, having been requested to admit Weigert's apparatus into his wards at Bellevue Hospital, he did experiment with it some time ago, and for a while the results made a favorable impression on the 'physicians in attendance, for the patients, or a part of them, seemed to improve under the treatment. More careful observation, however, showed that the improvement was doubtless due to rest in the hospital, in an atmosphere much purer than that in which the patients had lived in their tenement homes. The instrument itself was not as good as that which one of ordinary ingenuity could improvise. The atmosphere on its way to the lungs from the flame was found to have fallen from above 300° F. to about the temperature of the body when it had reached the mouth. Of course, if it were above the temperature of the blood, it would become further cooled on its passage toward the lungs. Some of the hot air might get into the alveoli, but very little. In order to obtain benefit from such treatment, it would be necessary not only that the air inhaled be of a high temperature, but that the patient be in a room in which the thermometer registered at least 105.5° F.: in other words, it would be necessary to produce a sort of artificial fever, and it was evident that such treatment must prove injurious to any other than patients in the very first stage of phthisis.

Professor Huxley and M. Pasteur on Hydrophobia.

On Monday, July 1, a meeting called by the lord mayor of London to hear statements from men of science with regard to the recent increase of rabies in England, and the efficiency of the treatment discovered by M. Pasteur for the prevention of hydrophobia, was held at the Mansion House. Several letters were read from those who were unable to attend. Among these letters was one from

Professor Huxley, in which he says, "I greatly regret my inability to be present at the meeting which is to be held, under your lordship's auspices, in reference to M. Pasteur and his institute. The unremitting labors of that eminent Frenchman during the last halfcentury have yielded rich harvests of new truths, and are models. of exact and refined research. As such they deserve, and have received, all the honors which those who are the best judges of their purely scientific merits are able to bestow. But it so happens that these subtle and patient searchings-out of the ways of the infinitely little of that swarming life where the creature that measures one-thousandth part of an inch is a giant-have also yielded results of supreme practical importance. The path of M. Pasteur's investigations is strewed with gifts of vast monetary value to the silk-trader, the brewer, and the wine merchant; and, this being so, it might well be a proper and a graceful act, on the part of the representatives of trade and commerce in its greatest centre, to make some public recognition of M. Pasteur's services, even if there were nothing further to be said about them. But there is much more to be said. M. Pasteur's direct and indirect contributions to our knowledge of the causes of diseased states, and of the means of preventing their occurrence, are not measurable by money values, but by those of healthy life and diminished suffering to men. Medicine, surgery, and hygiene have all been powerfully affected by M. Pasteur's work, which has culminated in his method of treating hydrophobia. I cannot conceive that any competently instructed person can consider M. Pasteur's labors in this direction without arriving at the conclusion, that, if any man has earned the praise and honor of his fellows, he has. I find it no less difficult to imagine that our wealthy country should be other than ashamed to continue to allow its citizens to profit by the treatment freely given at the institute without contributing to its support. Opposition to the proposals which your lordship sanctions would be equally inconceivable if it arose out of nothing but the facts of the case thus presented. But the opposition which, as I see from the English papers, is threatened, has really, for the most part, nothing on earth to do either with M. Pasteur's merits or with the efficacy of his method of treating hydrophobia. It proceeds partly from the fanatics of laissez faire, who think it better to rot and die than to be kept whole and lively by State interference, partly from the blind opponents of properly conducted physiological experimentation, who prefer that men should suffer rather than rabbits or dogs, and partly from those who for other but not less powerful motives hate every thing which contributes to prove the value of strictly scientific methods of inquiry in all those questions which affect the welfare of society. I sincerely trust that the good sense of the meeting over which your lordship will preside will preserve it from being influenced by these unworthy antagonisms, and that the just and benevolent enterprise you have undertaken may have a happy issue."

M. Pasteur, in a letter dated Paris, the 27th ult., and read by Sir H. Roscoe, writes, "I am obliged by your sending me a copy of the letter of invitation issued by the lord mayor for the meeting on July 1. Its perusal has given me great pleasure. The questions relating to the prophylactic treatment for hydrophobia in persons who have been bitten, and the steps which ought to be taken to stamp out the disease, are discussed in a manner both exact and judicious. Seeing that hydrophobia has existed in England for a long time, and that medical science has failed to ward off the occurrence even of the premonitory symptoms, it is clear that the prophylactic method of treating this malady which I have discovered ought to be adopted in the case of every person bitten by a rabid animal. The treatment required by this method is painless during the whole of its course, and not disagreeable. In the early days of the application of this method, contradictions such as invariably take place with every new discovery were found to occur, and especially for the reason that it is not every bite by a rabid animal which gives rise to a fatal outburst of hydrophobia: hence prejudiced people may pretend that all the successful cases of treatment were cases in which the natural contagion of the disease had not taken effect. This specious reasoning has gradually lost its force with the continually increasing number of persons treated. To-day, and speaking solely for the one anti-rabic laboratory of Paris, this total number exceeds 7,000; or exactly, up to the 31st of May, 1889, 6,950. Of

these, the total number of deaths was only 71. It is only by palpable and wilful misrepresentation that a number differing from the above, and differing by more than double, has been published by those who are systematic enemies of the method. In short, the general mortality applicable to the whole of the operations is I per cent; and, if we subtract from the total number of deaths those of persons in whom the symptoms of hydrophobia appeared a few days after the treatment, that is to say, cases in which hydrophobia had burst out (often owing to delay in arrival) before the curative process was completed, the general mortality is reduced to .68 per cent. But let us for the present only consider the facts relating to the English subjects whom we have treated in Paris. Up to May 31, 1889, their total number was 214. Of these, there have been five unsuccessful cases after completion of the treatment, and two more during treatment, or a total mortality of 3.2 per cent, or, more properly, 2.3 per cent. But the method of treatment has been continually undergoing improvement; so that in 1888 and 1889, on a total of sixty-four English persons bitten by mad dogs and treated in Paris, not a single case has succumbed, although among these sixty-four there were ten individuals bitten on the head, and fifty-four bitten on the limbs, often to a very serious extent. I have already said that the lord mayor, in his invitation, has treated the subject in a judicious manner, from the double point of view of prophylaxis after the bite and of the extinction of the disease by administrative measures. It is also my own profound conviction that a rigorous observance of simple police regulations would altogether stamp out hydrophobia in a country like the British Isles. Why am I so confident of this? Because, in spite of an old-fashioned and widespread prejudice, to which even science has sometimes given a mistaken countenance, rabies is never spontaneous. It is caused, without a single exception, by the bite of an animal affected with the malady. It is needless to say that in the beginning there must have been a first case of hydrophobia. This is certain; but to try to solve this problem is to raise uselessly the question of the origin of life itself. It is sufficient for me here, in order to prove the truth of my assertion, to remind you that neither in Norway, nor in Sweden, nor in Australia, does rabies exist; and yet nothing would be easier than to introduce this terrible disease into those countries by importing a few mad dogs. Let England, which has exterminated its wolves, make a vigorous effort, and it will easily succeed in extirpating rabies. If firmly resolved to do so, your country may secure this great benefit in a few years; but, until that has been accomplished, and in the present state of science, it is absolutely necessary that all persons bitten by mad dogs should be compelled to undergo the anti-rabic treatment. Such, it seems, is a summary of the statement of the case by the lord mayor. The Pasteur Institute is profoundly touched by the movement in support of the meeting. The interest which his royal Highness the Prince of Wales has evinced in the proposed manifestation is of itself enough to secure it sucAllow me, my dear colleague, to express my feelings of affectionate devotion."

cess.

BOOK-REVIEWS.

Der Hypnotismus. Von Dr. Med. ALBERT MALL. Berlin. 8°. THE modern study of hypnotism may now be said to have outgrown the limits of its birthplace, France, and to have acquired that universal recognition that belongs to a scientifically established body of doctrines. The attitude of Germany towards these extremely fascinating experiments and results was at first suspicious, then rather adversely critical. Now, while retaining a judicious scepticism regarding the more surprising results, German scholars have come to recognize the intrinsic value of hypnotism as a psychologic method, as well as the importance of the place it occupies in modern psychology.

The German literature consists in the main of single contributions, partly critical and partly original, dealing with single phases of the various hypnotic conditions. There have been but few general treatises aiming at a convenient résumé of what has been established, and the present work by Dr. Mall is a rather successful attempt to supply this lack.

The work is methodically arranged, intelligibly written, but is

defective in laying too much stress upon individual minor points of special interest to the author, and in a lack of clear distinctions between the important and the subsidiary, perhaps uncertain points.

After a brief historical introduction, in which some hitherto neglected points in the history of hypnotism in Germany are noted, the general symptoms of the hypnotic conditions are described. The various stages are distinguished as to their intensity merely, no other criterion as yet offered being found satisfactory. The more detailed description consists of a physiological and a psychological portion. In the former the changes in the movements and sensations, in the latter effects brought about in the region of memory association and more complicated processes, are described. This is naturally the most important part of the work, and is a useful résumé of the position taken by the Nancy school. The processes are described throughout as explicable on the ground of suggestion, conscious or unconscious. The role of the latter is particularly important, and finds here due recognition. A further point of view pervading the entire exposition is the assimilation of psychic and physiological conditions observed in hypnotism with analogous occurrences in sleep and waking life. This analogy with the phenomena of normal sleep is both real and important; and, while it does not warrant our regarding hypnotism as something entirely normal, it ought to remove the usual view that places it entirely in the region of pathology.

The latter half of the work deals with various aspects of hypnotic study, its theoretical bearings, its practical bearings as a therapeutic agent, its forensic aspect as a means of concealing crime, the allied conditions found in the lower animals, and so on. While some of the opinions there set forth will doubtless have to be modified, the work none the less reflects the present state of knowledge very well. The work is not original, except in its arrangement and the various degrees of importance it attaches to different results of experimentation. The chief objection to its use by the laity is the rather uncritical collation of good and indifferent works, of important and trivial points. As a contribution to the German literature on hypnotism, it is welcome, and will find use.

AMONG THE PUBLISHERS.

A HOST of boys and girls under eighteen years of age have been profiting themselves, and at the same time entertaining their teachers, parents, and friends, by telling prize-stories in Treasure Trove Magazine of New York. They have won cash prizes to the extent of two hundred dollars, besides seventy dollars' worth of books. Story-telling as a means of education is taking a first place in the regular exercises of our public schools, where the usually irksome task of composition-writing, upon which so many other studies depend, has been turned by these prize-story competitions into a genuine pastime.

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- Messrs. E. & F. N. Spon announce as in preparation "Chemical Technology: the Application of Chemistry to the Arts and Manufactures," by C. E. Groves and William Thorp (about 8 volumes); and "Egyptian Irrigation," by W. Willcocks, M.I.C.E., with introduction by Lieut.-Col. J. C. Ross, R.E., C.M.G., being a physical description of Egypt, with particulars of various methods of irrigation and drainage, and full details of engineering construction, and illustrated by numerous plates. They also announce as nearly ready, "The Engineer's Sketch-Book of Mechanical Movements, Devices, Appliances, and Contrivances," by Thomas Walter Barber, containing details employed in the design and construction of machinery for every purpose; collected from numerous sources and from actual work; classified and arranged for reference for the use of engineers, mechanical draughtsmen, managers, mechanics, inventors, patent agents, and all engaged in the mechanical

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