CURRENT LITERATURE.
.St. Nicholas, 1895-96, conducted by Mary Mapes Dodge, Vol. XXIII., Part II. (Macmillan and Co.), begins well with a spirited " Ballad of Betty the Bound-Girl," belonging to the time just before the War of Independence. The artist has scarcely given an impression of "feeble mind" in the finely cut face of " Old Aunt Short," but his illustrations generally are good. Mr. William 0. Stoddard in his " Swordmaker's Son" wentures into Biblical times, the story beginning with the mis- sion of the Baptist's disciples to Christ, and ending with the walk to Emmaus, and seems to have managed his difficult task with discretion. Generally the volume seems to a somewhat ihasty survey to have as many and as varied attractions as usual. The illustrations maintain the high level to which we are accus- tomed in St. Nicholas.—Together with this volume may be men- tioned the similar issue of the Century Magazine, Vol. LII., May-October, 1896 (same publishers). The conspicuous feature -of this year's Century is, of course, the serial issue of Mrs. Humphry Ward's " Sir George Tressady." This volume con- tains the latter half of the novel. There are some highly in- teresting notes, chiefly from the pen of the editor, on recent apolitical developments in the States. Not the least interesting among them is "A Duty of Englishmen to America," this duty 'being, to put the matter briefly, to know more about it. We are bidden to note the "controlling influence of a conservative element," and not to keep our eyes on the "grotesque, the crude, and the bizarre." Very good ; but unfortunately the " grotesque, 4c.," is able to make itself so prominent. The editor is probably not old enough to remember that when we were in the agony of the Crimean War a United States Minister at a foreign Court sent home to his Government a plan for the invasion of England. W-e may have been wanting in sympathy, but we never did any- thing like that. Mr. William S. Sloane concludes his papers on Napoleon Bonaparte, which have been running through the issues of two years. We may mention a paper by Dr. P. C. Knapp on ▪ Are Nervous Diseases Increasing? " His general answer to this
question is negative, definitely negative as regards the special liability of the American population to this class of diseases, and, more generally, as regards civilised life in general. One of his
pr"ori arguments is that the modern conditions of life are much more easy than those of past centuries, and the strain, so far, less. -" Photographing the Unseen " is a fully illustrated paper on the Kantgen rays.
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