BOOK REVIEW.

Constitution, By-Laws, and Rules of the Harvard Athletic Association. Cambridge: Printed at the University Press. Price, 25 cents.

THAT the authors of the neat pamphlet now before us should have refrained from making public their names certainly shows commendable modesty. Nevertheless we cannot help regretting that writers who are evidently destined to make their mark in the field of literature should have felt this hesitation. The mantle of the Rev. Edwin Abbott - name dear to Sophomores - has certainly fallen upon these gentlemen; its voluminous folds, however, do not entirely conceal them. Perhaps they anticipated.

We do not think, for instance, that the following would wholly satisfy the captious Edwin: "Any member who is guilty of any misconduct or gross violation of any rule, or for non-payment of dues may be expelled." Or the following, where the sense is slightly obscured by a misplaced comma: "The foil must be thirty-four inches long, .... and be unattached to the hand or wrist by cord or string, to prevent "being disarmed." These, however, are mere minor points and scarcely worthy of mention.

Some of the rules laid down seem to us rather calculated to discourage the trio in athletics. The uniform of the association, for instance, presents some difficulties to gentlemen not accustomed to protean changes in the circus-ring. The accomplished Mr. Robinson, who wore some fourteen waistcoats and any number of unmentionables, would perhaps be equal to the feat of wearing at one and the same time knee-breeches, trunks, and drawers, but an ordinary mortal, who has hitherto contented himself with two thicknesses of nether integuments, would find the garments so liberally provided by the association an embarras de richesse.

Not only is the matter of dress calculated to discourage the beginner, but also the knowledge of advanced mathematics which seems to be required would strike terror into the heart of any one but a Peirce. "The measurement shall be from the nearest break of the ground made by the ball, perpendicularly to the scratch line, extended, if necessary, to meet this perpendicular." We see now the wisdom of the provision in regard to honorary members. The Executive Committee doubtless intend to elect the Professor of Surveying an honorary member, with the special duty of performing this difficult mathematical feat. We would also suggest that the Committee make arrangements for hiring that noble instrument, the marking-machine, which has recently occupied the attention of the undergraduate mind. When not required to grind minus quantities this instrument might prove tractable, even under the direction of some other than the master mind that gave it birth. Its docility, however, must first be ascertained, for, like the gentleman's irrepressible cork-leg, when once started, it might go on forever.

One rule in regard to throwing the hammer does not seem to us quite as it should be: "Letting go of the hammer in an attempt counts as a 'try'." When the "solid iron sphere, weighing sixteen pounds," strikes a spectator in the head, we think it extremely likely that that individual, if able to collect his ideas, would look upon it as a 'throw'. After several spectators in the immediate neighborhood had been carried off prostrated by these 'tries,' the judges might with reason decide that the contestant had done enough for that afternoon, as the spectators seemed not hurt, but somewhat discouraged.

The Executive Committee have given abundant evidence of their ability to wrestle with difficult problems in mental arithmetic. For instance, given three judges and two ends of a piece of tape, problem, to place the judges so that the two ends of the tape shall be supported. The Committee have solved this by a master stroke, by placing two judges at one end of the tape, and the third at the other; but it seems to us that they have left out of consideration the feelings of the third judge. Isolated at one end of the tape, he is obliged to see his companions conversing at the other. This difficulty so enterprising a body as the Committee should meet by placing all three judges at one end of the tape, and hiring a small mucker to support the other.

These suggestions we offer in no captious or fault-finding spirit. The general character of work is so excellent that it seems a pity that these small defects should not be remedied.