Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 5, No. 31, May, 1860

V >> Various >> Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 5, No. 31, May, 1860

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Apart from more general considerations, there are several reasons which
would induce us to prefer Dr. Worcester's Dictionary. It has the great
advantage, not only that it is constructed on sounder principles, as it
seems to us, but that it is the latest. Stereotyping is an unfortunate
invention, when it tends to perpetuate error or incompleteness, and
already the Appendix of added words in Webster amounts to eighty pages.
For all the words it contains, accordingly, the reader is put to double
pains: he must first search the main body of the work, and then the
supplement. Again, in Worcester, the synonymes are given, each under
its proper head, in the main work; in Webster they form a separate
treatise. One other advantage of Worcester would be conclusive with us,
even were other things equal,--and that is the size of the type, and
the greater clearness of the page, owing to the freshness of the
stereotype-plates.

We know the inadequacy of such hand-to-mouth criticism as that of a
monthly reviewer must be upon works demanding so minute an examination
as a dictionary deserves. For ourselves, we should wish to own both
Webster and Worcester, but, if we could possess only one, we should
choose the latter. It is a monument to the industry, judgment, and
accuracy of the author, of which he may well be proud.

_Elements of Mechanics, for the Use of Colleges, Academies, and High
Schools._ By WILLIAM G. PECK, Professor of Mathematics, Columbia
College. New York: A.S. Barnes & Burr. 1859.

Text-books on Mechanics are of three sorts. Many teachers,
school-committees, and parents wish to add a taste of Mechanics to the
smatterings of twenty or thirty different subjects which constitute
"liberal education," as understood in American high schools and
colleges. For this purpose it is of the first importance that the
text-book should be brief, for the time to be devoted to it is very
short; secondly, it must divest the subject of every perplexity and
difficulty, that it may be readily understood by all young persons,
though of small capacity and less application. Such a text-book can
contain nothing beyond the statement, without proof, of the more
important principles, illustrated by familiar examples, and simple
explanations of the commonest phenomena of motion, and of the machines
and mechanical forces used in the arts. To a few it seems that more
light comes into a room through two or three broad windows, though they
be all on one side, than through fifty bull's-eyes, scattered on every
wall. But the many prefer bull's-eyes,--fifty narrow, distorted
glimpses in as many directions, rather than a broad, clear view of the
heavens and the earth in one direction. Hence superficial, scanty
text-books on science are the only ones which are popular and salable.

The thorough study of Mechanics is, or should be, an essential part of
the training of an architect, an engineer, or a machinist; and there
are several text-books, like Weisbach's Mechanics and Engineering,
intended for students preparing for any of these professions, which are
complete mathematical treatises upon the subject. Such text-books are
invaluable; they become standard works, and win for their authors a
well-deserved reputation.

Professor Peck's book belongs to neither of the two classes of
text-books indicated, but to a class intermediate between the two. It
is at once too good, too difficult a book for general, popular use, and
too incomplete for the purposes of the professional student. As it
assumes that the student is already acquainted with the elements of
Algebra, Trigonometry, Analytic Geometry, and the Calculus, the
successful use of this text-book in the general classes of any academy
or college will be good evidence that the Mathematics are there taught
more thoroughly than is usual in this country. In few American colleges
is the study of the Calculus required of all students. In preparing a
scientific text-book of this sort, originality is neither aimed at nor
required. A judicious selection of materials, correct translation from
the excellent French and German hand-books, with such changes in the
notation as will better adapt it for American use, and a clear, logical
arrangement are the chief merits of such a treatise; and these are
merits which seldom gain much praise, though their absence would expose
the author to censure. The definitions of Professor Peck's book are
exact and concise, every proposition is rigidly demonstrated, and the
illustrations and descriptions are brief, pointed, and intelligible.
Professor Peck says in the Preface, that the book was prepared "to
supply a want felt by the author when engaged in teaching Natural
Philosophy to college classes"; but surely a teacher who prepares a
text-book for his own classes must need a double share of patience and
zeal. Every error which the book contains will be exposed, and the
author will have ample opportunity to repent of all the inaccuracies
which may have crept into his work. Again, the instructor who uses his
own text-book encounters, besides the inevitable monotony of teaching
the same subject year after year, the additional weariness of finding
in the pages of his text-book no mind but his own, which he has read so
often and with so little satisfaction. Even in teaching Mechanics,
there is no exception to the general rule, that two heads are better
than one.

* * * * *

_Stories from Famous Ballads_. For Children. By GRACE GREENWOOD, Author
of "History of my Pets," "Merrie England," etc., etc. With
Illustrations by BILLINGS. Boston: Ticknor & Fields.

All "famous ballads" are so close to Nature in their conceptions,
emotions, incidents, and expressions, that it seems hardly possible to
change their form without losing their soul. The present little volume
proves that they may be turned into prose stories for children, and yet
preserve much of the vitality of their sentiment and the interest of
their narrative. Grace Greenwood, well known for her previous successes
in writing works for the young, has contrived in this, her most
difficult task, to combine simplicity with energy and richness of
diction, and to present the events and characters of the Ballads in the
form best calculated to fill the youthful imagination and kindle the
youthful love of action and adventure. Among the subjects are Patient
Griselda, The King of France's Daughter, Chevy Chase, The Beggar's
Daughter of Bednall Green, Sir Patrick Spens, and Auld Robin Gray. Much
of the author's success in giving prose versions of these, without
making them prosaic, is due to the intense admiration she evidently
feels for the originals. Among American children's books, this volume
deserves a high place.

* * * * *

_Mary Staunton; or the Pupils of Marvel Hall_. By the Author of
"Portraits of, my Married Friends." New York: D. Appleton & Co.

This story has a practical aim, the exposure of the faults of
fashionable boarding-schools. "A good plot, and full of expectation,"
as Hotspur said; but the author had not the ability to execute the
design. The satire and denunciation are both weak, and are not relieved
by the introduction of a very silly and threadbare love-story.

* * * * *

_Poems_. By the Author of "John Halifax," "A Life for a Life," etc.
Boston: Ticknor & Fields.

Some of the verses in this little volume are quite pretty, especially
those entitled, "By the Alma River," "The Night before the Mowing," "My
Christian Name," and "My Love Annie." Miss Muloch is not able to take
any high rank as a poetess, and very sensibly does not try.

* * * * *

_Title-Hunting_. By E. L. LLEWELLYN, Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott &
Co.

This is a miraculously foolish book. Titled villains, impossible
parvenus, abductions, and convents abound in its pages, and all are as
stupid as they are improbable.

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Elements of Mechanics: For the Use of Colleges, Academies, and High
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