Round by Purcell as a good exemplification of all the three kinds of melodic successions (Fig. 10): FIG. 10.-ROUND EXEMPLIFYING ALL THREE SUCCESSIONS. INTERNATIONAL CONGRESSES AT BRUSSELS.- "Two International Congresses are shortly to be held at Brussels; the one, for improving the physical and intellectual condition of the working classes, to be opened on the 15th of September; the other, for promoting the principles of free trade, to be opened on the 22nd of the same month. The latter is intended to bring together documents of every kind tending to elucidate the manufacturing and commercial economy of nations, especially in relation to their mutual intercourse. The other is intended to induce a better knowledge of the actual condition, wants, and resources of the industrial population in various countries, and to encourage the adoption of the most practical means for improving their health, comfort, and intellectual development. With this view it will be connected with an exhibition of articles of domestic and sanitary economy, which is to be opened on the 25th of August, and to be closed on the 5th of October. The exhibition will, it is hoped, lay the foundation of a permanent Economic Museum. A committee has been appointed by the Statistical Society of London in aid of the Brussels Philanthropic Congress, while the Society of Arts has similarly undertaken the furtherance of the Economic Exhibition. Notes of New Books. Short Notes to Sophocles. Oxford: Parker. Another volume of the Oxford Pocket Classics. At the commencement of each play there is a succinct account of the subject, and an abstract of the contents. The notes embody the results of the latest criticism, without discussion, but yet with numerous references to works where the student may meet with discussion. The tendency of late years has been to multiply notes ad infinitum: we are glad to have a prospect of the tide setting henceforth in another direction. A Complete Decimal System of Money and Measures. By W. H. Jessop, B.A. Pp. 88. Cambridge: Deighton, Bell, & Co. The distinctive feature of Mr. Jessop's system appears to be the simultaneous change of weights and measures, as well as money, to the decimal method; or, if one must precede the other, the new measures should be the first. This plan would, in his opinion, overcome many of the difficulties which have hitherto frustrated the scheme. By way of illustration, we may take the postage-stamp: the dram is in the first place increased, so as to equal 2.111 old drams; the ounce 10 new drams, or 21.116, instead of 16 old drams. In the next place, the coin is altered so as to make 1,000 instead of 960 farthings to the pound: and new coins are introduced (with old names) to represent the lower decimal amounts, e. g., 5 farthings=1 noble; 10 farthings=1 mark; the noble (it will be observed) exceeding the value of the present penny in the proportion of 4.8 to 4. By the payment of a noble instead of a penny, the Post Office would carry a letter weighing half a new ounce with no greater loss than one penny for every nine letters carried at that rate, whereas the simple change of the penny, orth part of the pound, into theth part would be productive of a greater proportionate loss to the public. As it is, it appears to us that the public would be the losers in a certain way, inasmuch as in future they would only be able to send 200 letters for a pound, instead of 240: it is true that the letters might be heavier than they used to be by more than a quarter, and if the public were in a position to avail themselves of this boon, they would be actually gainers; but the question is, whether the public would care for the proffered boon. Similarly, the mile in Mr. Jessop's system=61,155.14, instead of 63,360 inches, and four new farthings are somewhat less than four old farthings, in the proportion of 25 to 24 A rule of three sum will show that the difference in the length of the old and the new mile is very nearly in the same proportion as the difference in the value of the old and the new four farthings, so that, in short, one new penny for one new mile would be the same as one old penny for one old mile. We do not give any opinion as to the abstract merits of Mr. Jessop's system, or as to its practicability. His theory is no doubt correct: if decimal computations are the best for money, they must also be best for weights and measures. His adaptations of the one branch of the subject to the other are ingenious. We still doubt whether such sweeping changes could be carried into effect. A Plain Commentary on the Book of Psalms. Part I. Pp. 104. Oxford Parker. Such a Commentary has been for some time much needed. Criticism has been exercised on the Psalms more than on any other portion of the Old Testament; but no attempt has hitherto been made to popularize the results of this criticism. In the work before us, the Prayer-book version is adopted as the text, we presume as being more familiar to us : where the text requires emendation, a corrected version is added: the explanation that follows the several verses is of a plain and practical character: and at the close (ought it not to have been rather at the beginning?) of each psalm there is a brief introduction, informing the reader of its author, title, and substance. We should have liked the work better if some attempt had been made to group the verses of each psalm together, so as to preserve the connection between the different portions: this might have been done in the introduction by the addition of a short abstract, on the method adopted in Hengstenberg's valuable work. Handbook of the Greek Drama. By E. Walford, M.A. Pp. 242. London: Longmans. The contents of this volume are as follow:-A history of the Greek Drama, from its earlier origin to its decline; an analysis of Aristotle's treatise on poetry; a chapter on scansion and tragic phraseology; and an appendix containing the canons of Porson, Blomfield, and Monk, together with other extracts. The general plan of the work is thus the same as that pursued by Dr. Donaldson in his "Theatre of the Greeks." Mr. Walford has drawn his materials from the highest authorities,Donaldson, Müller, Böckh, Paley, Schlegel, and others; and from these materials he has compiled a manual, written in an agreeable style, and characterized with the discernment of a ripened scholar. This work ought to be in the hands of every pupil in the upper classes of our public schools: we venture to recommend it most warmly to the notice of our readers. The Characteristics of Style and Analysis of Ornament. By R. N. Wornum, Esq. London: Chapman and Hall. This is a series of elaborate Lectures, illustrated by wood-engravings, very beautifully executed, showing the features of ornamental art in each epoch. It is scarcely so much an educational as an artistic work; but we cannot withhold the expression of our admiration of the skill, taste, and ability of Mr. Wornum. Practical Astronomy, Navigation, Nautical Astronomy, and Meteorology. By Young and Hugh Brun, John Scoffern, and Lowe. Pp. 584. London Houlstone and Stoneman, 1856. The object of this book is to serve as a guide to the scenery of the Heavens, but its chief merit is in its epitome of nautical astronomy It is and navigation, which part of the work appears to be carefully done. A great deal of it, however, is collated from other works. illustrated throughout, and contains an immense mass of matter. The chief defect in the book seems to be an omission of elementary links, so as to make the book intelligible to learners: it is rather provoking too, in the seventh page, to find that the chapter on logarithms is of no use to them, unless they have another volume to explain trigonometrical terms. Upon the whole, however, the book exhibits great research and industry, and is a valuable addition to the literature of sciences. Elementary Arithmetic. By Edward Sang, F.R.S.E. Pp. 231. London and Edinburgh: Blackwood, 1856. The appearance of this book is prepossessing: its typography and paper are unceptionable. This is always a recommendation, as far as it goes. It is the first of a series of mathematical treatises. The author thinks arithmetic has been hitherto considered a species of legerdemain, and he wishes to make it an intellectual exercise, and to exclude dogmatism. We heartily agree with him; but we must not suppose that he stands alone in this effort. Mr. Tate and others have laboured in the same field, and we think with great success; nevertheless, Mr. Sang has the merit of much novelty in working out his system. Our chief objection to it is its excessive prolixity: the first eighty pages of small type do not bring us even up to simple division. The chapter on ratio and proportion is one of the most important parts of the book, and we think, upon the whole, the most successful. The great puzzle is how this book is to be applied in practice: it contains a vast deal which is too elaborately elementary for teachers, and at the same time it is far too abstract for children, nor would it at all facilitate their acquisition of the rule-of-three to go through Mr. Sang's preliminary disquisition on the nature of ratios: in fact, we think, it might be far more easily and readily taught by Mr. Tate's, Barnard Smith's, Calder's, or Colenso's systems; in short, however, clever and accurate, Mr. Sang's is hardly to be termed a practically useful book on "Elementary Arithmetic." Series of Questions and Answers on Greek Grammar. Part II. By the Rev. J. D. Collis, M.A. Pp. 277. London: Longmans, 1856. The short exercises on the tenses are remarkably good, and the syntax also. It evinces great analytical talent in the explanation of Greek Grammar. The book is beautifully and accurately printed, and we are right glad to find that a "Praxis Latina," on the same plan, is in the press, by the same author. LITTLE BOOKS. The Stepping-Stone to Natural History. By James Owen. Pp. 191. (London: Longmans, 1856.) A very nice little book, paving the way to the study of natural history, and especially of zoology, by a series of questions and answers. It would be impossible to comprise more interesting information in the same scope, or with more clearness.- -Catechetical Lessons on the Parables of the New Testament. (London and Oxford J. H. & J. Parker.) Very suggestive questions, with judicious references and points of morale. They will greatly assist teachers and clergymen in their practical application and explanation of parables--a duty far too little practised.Adanijah, a Tale of the Jewish Dispersion. By Miss Jane M. Strickland. An -Exami interesting and instructive story, told with the author's peculiar power.nation Papers in Greek and Latin Authors. Edited by J. R. Major, D.D. (Oxford: J. H. & J. Parker.) Very admirably-selected and useful papers, so printed and arranged in separate pages as to be practically serviceable for examinations in school or college. The English Hymnal. A new edition, pp. 304. (London and Oxford: Parker, 1856.) This is a very nice little book, with appropriate hymns and psalms, and the suggestions at the commencement are good, as a means of avoiding the common system of " drawling out hymns."- My First Place-Cottage Homes. (London: Jarrold & Sons.) These are simple tales, with good morals, and calculated to interest the class for whom they are intended.- -First Principles of General Knowledge. By Susanna M. Paull. Second series, pp. 250. (London: Relfe.) This is a most interesting book, and contains a vast deal of useful information. The subjects are arranged as follows:-Chronology-Coins and Money-Weights and Measures-Productions of the Earth used for Food, Medicine, and ManufacturesAnimals, Birds, and Insects-Geology-Mineralogy-Manufactures-MathematicsOptics-Electricity-Physics, &c.-Navigation-Acoustics-Architecture. We hope it will have a large circulation.- -A Complete Catechism of the Descriptive Geography of England. By T. Challener. Pp. 150. (London: Longmans, 1856.) This Catachism is accurate, and contains a multitude of facts, but stated with a brevity which renders them dry. It presents the framework of pictures, to be filled up by the teacher.An Hour with the Kings. By the Rev. Thomas Bourne, B.A. (London : Houlston and Stoneman.) Not a badly-written little history, but too short to be very serviceable. It reduces dates to a sort of memoria technica, which may be useful. -Knowledge made Easy. By George Vasey. Pp. 144. (London: Pitman, 1856. This book contains a vast deal of information on various subjects, commencing with the arts of spelling and reading, writing, and the multiplication-table. principles of short-hand, brief outlines of geography and astronomy, and grammar, are added; a table of abbreviation of words, and the kings and queens of England since the Conquest, appear at the end. It will both amuse and at the same time materially aid a child in gaining knowledge.- -Second Report of the Evangelical Italian School. Conducted by Signore and Signora Ferretti. (London: Hunt & Elliott.) It is the pious object of this institution to evangelize Italian girls in London, and, by their means, as well as by direct efforts, to spread the knowledge of the Gospel in Italy.- -The Eco di Savonarola is a monthly publication, in English and Italian, devoted to the same good objects. We wish to both every possible success. The -Familiar Objects by Straight Lines. By Rev. C. Richson, M.A. (London: National Society.) A series of excellent models for drawing straight-lined objects, and thus training both eye and hand. It aids penmanship as well as drawing. They are excellently done, and exhibit admirable judgment in the highly-accomplished editor, whose zeal and efficiency in all educational works are deserving of the highest praise.- -A Treatise on a Box of Instruments, &c. By Thomas Kentish. Second Edition. (London: Ralfe & Fletcher.) A most useful little book, full of practical information.- -Questions on the Use of the Globes. By W. Hardcastle. (London: Relfe & Brothers.) This little book will save teachers a great deal of trouble, and the questions are judicious and practical.- -A Course of Practical Geometry. By W. Pease. Third Edition. We like this work much. It is condensed, simple, and accurate.Lessons on the Collects appointed for Sundays in the Book of Common Prayer. Lessons on the Epistles appointed for Sundays. Lessons on the Gospels appointed for Sundays in the Book of Common Prayer. Pp. 393. (London: 169, Fleet-street.) This is a valuable book for teachers and pupils, as in the Lessons on the Collects each collect is discussed sentence by sentence, and at the end is a tabular explanation of the more difficult words and phrases used in the collects. Lessons on the Epistles commence with a consideration of the nature of the passage; then the chief and secondary lessons to be inculcated; then give explanatory notes of each verse, and the application; and the Gospels are treated of in the same way. We hope it will be well circulated among teachers.- -Complete Guide to Government Appointments and to the Civil Service Examinations. By James Hurst, of Her Majesty's Civil Service. Pp. 78. (London: Relfe, 1856.) This little book is by no means what it professes to be, namely, a complete guide to Government appointments. It is nothing of the kind. After a wordy preface, there is an analysis of the Civil Service Commissioners' Report, and useful as far as it goes, though it has been published and republished ad infinitum. Then follows a long list of the principal Government offices, omitting all the minor ones, to which candidates who buy the book will alone aspire, and to have given which, with their salaries, might have been of some use. The best part of the |