In “Dorcas,”[S] a story of anti-Christ, the lives and sufferings of the early Christians in Rome are depicted. Dorcas and her friends hid themselves away for many long months in the Catacombs, to escape persecution. In two instances while there, the miracle of bringing the dead back to life occurred, one of those restored being Marcellus, the affianced husband of Dorcas, a young Roman nobleman who was put to death for accepting the Christian religion. The accession of Constantine gave them their freedom. The book affords a good study in the high style of its diction and the purity of its language. It is valuable, too, for its record of the customs of those days, and for its historical incidents. Students of English who enjoy theories about words and expressions will find in “Elements of English Speech”[T] a full measure of them, most ingeniously supported. The book is in no way suitable for readers who are unacquainted with Latin, Greek, French, and German, but for those who have dabbled a little in each it will furnish interesting reading, and some ideas of real value. The house of D. Appleton & Co. is publishing some excellent text-books. Among these is “Elements of Geometry,”[U] a work on plane and solid geometry. The arrangement of the book, its admirable fitness to the needs of the pupils just beginning the sciences, and its abundant exercises make it a very satisfactory work for teachers.——In their series of “Science Text-Books,” “Elements of Zoölogy,”[V] by C. F. & J. B. Holder, is one of the most entertaining, practical, and, beside, thorough, elementary works on animal biology we have ever seen. The illustrations are excellent.——A capital “Second Reader” is “Friends in Feathers and Fur, and Other Neighbors.”[W] We like the idea of giving the young folks good, clear type.——But best of all is “Appleton’s Chart Primer,”[X] a pretty little book with numbers of beautifully colored pictures for color lessons, and a cover so brilliant that it will make it a pleasure for little ones to learn their lessons.