CURRENCY TERMS.

The origin of the word sterling has been explained as follows in a correspon dence of the Transcript :

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"Your correspondent refers to the pound sterling, or easterling, which word, I believe, is commonly spelled esterling. Some of your readers may not be aware of the origin of the word sterling, about which antiquarians have doubted. The word esterlings may be found in Spelman's glossary. The word was first applied to English pennies, in the reign of Edward I., about the year 1279. Henry, in his History of G. B., vol. vi., page 297, London, 1814, says In the course of this period, the silver penny is sometimes called an esterling or sterling; and good money in general is sometimes called esterling or sterling money.' It is unnecessary to mention the various conjectures of antiquaries about the origin and meaning of this appellation. The most probable meaning seems to be this-that some artists from Germany, who were called esterlings from the situation of their country, had been employed in fabricating our money, which consisted chiefly of silver pennies, and that from them the penny was called an esterling, and our money esterling or sterling money.

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"I used to be puzzled to know why a certain coin was called a milled dollar. Antoine Brucher, a Frenchman, invented the mill' for making money, and money was first struck with it, in 1553. It was brought into England by Philip Mestzel, and Elizabeth had milled money struck in England, in 1562. It was used in France, till 1585, and in England, till 1572, but gave place to the cheaper expedient of the hammer;' which, in 1617, gave place to the engine of Belancier; which was merged in the great improvements of Boulton and Watt, at Soho, in 1788. In 1811, the art was brought to very great perfection, at the mint in London. One of the most interesting objects, at the present day, in Philadelphia, is the whole process of coinage, from first to last, from the crude California snuff, as it enters the melting pot, till it verifies the proverb and taketh the wings of an eagle and flieth away."

The dollar mark ($) is derived from the use of the old Spanish pillar dollar, which was of very general circulation and known value, the two pillars enclosed with an S became the cypher for a Spanish dollar.

FULMINATING QUICKSILVER.

On the late trial of Dr. Simon Bernard, in London, for conspiracy to murder Louis Napoleon, some very interesting scientific information was elicited in the testimony regarding fulminating powder. J. D. Parker, a druggist, testified that Bernard on the 14th of November, 1857, bought of him 8 pounds of absolute alcohol, 10 pounds of pure nitric acid, and 1 pound of quicksilver, which were the exact proportions for making fulminating quicksilver. C. Nicholson, chemist, engaged in the manufacture of fulminating powder for the government, testified that the ingredients and proportions for making fulminating mercury were 1 part by weight of mercury, 8 of absolute alcohol, and 10 of pure nitric acid. In order to make this powder, the mercury is first dissolved in nitric acid, and the solution thus obtained is added to the alcohol. When this is effected, a violent reaction ensues, accompanied with evolved masses of white vapor, aud the fulminating mercury is precipitated in the form of a dense powder varying from a white to a gray and a yellow-brown color, but the white is the purest and strongest. It is more explosive than gunpowder when dry, but it is kept prepared in a wet state, when it is perfectly harmless. M. C. Picot, director of the chemical laboratory connected with the artillery department in Paris, testified that the powder of the shells or grenades employed in the assassination act in Paris, was pure fulminating mercury. He had examined their contents and was sure of this. W. Tozer, of the artillery works of the Woolwich arsenal in England, testified that fulminating mercury was twenty times stronger as an explosive agent than gunpowder. This he had proved by experiments with shells.

THE BOOK TRADE.

1.-The Life and Times of Sir Philip Sidney. 12mo., pp. 281. Ticknor & Fields.

Boston:

The only memoirs of Sir Philip Sidney, the poet knight, who fell so gloriously in the Netherlands, while bravely combating for the glory of his country and old Queen Bess, are those written by Greville and Dr. Zouch, both of which being now out of print, the author has herein undertaken to collect the scattered souvenirs of Sir Philip Sidney's life, in whom, we are told, were united, with the patriot, philosopher, and scholar, the hero and pride of chivalry. The book from beginning to end is tinged with a shadow of "lang syne," and carries one back to the time when London, we quote here from the author, possessed only 60,000 inhabitants. The picturesque old timber houses were built with gable roofs, oriel windows, gilt vanes, and immense carved chimney-pieces. Tapestry and wooden panels were just giving way to plaster, on which a contemporary writer thus delightedly expatiates--Besides the delectable whitenesse of the stuffe itself, it is laid on so even and smoothlie as nothing, in my judgment, can be done more exactly.' Wealth was displayed in quantities of silver plate, in mirrors from Venice, and clocks from Germany; but carpets had not yet superseded the rushes that littered even palatial halls. The table was divided by a large salt-cellar, above which were the seats of honor, the choice viands, the Muscadel and Hippocras sparkling in Venice goblets; and below the humble guests and poor kinsmen were content to sit with ale and coarser fare. Kuives were a recent luxury, and forks still unknown. The streets of London were lighted by individual agency, each family hanging out its lanthorn. The Thames was a clear stream, upon which 4,000 watermen plied their craft. Coaches were not introduced until 1650, and were then regarded as an effeminate innovation. St. Paul's Cathedral was the fashionable resort each day from 10 to 12 A. M., and from 3 to 6 P. M. There sauntered the Mercutios and Gratianos, to sport their jeweled rapiers, to learn the news, (for newspapers, those exhilarating little fountains of gossip, had not yet made their appearance, and in the churchyard was the principal book sale of London, for book-shops had, at that time, no existence.) to make appointments, to offer challenges for the duels, to barter and to bribe." Desecrating times we would call these, if at these times our middle aisles do still teem with gallant knights, silken cloaks, and ruffs starched almost as stiff as were even old Queen Bess'.

2.-The Ministry of Life. By LOUISA CHARLESWORTH, author of "Ministering Children," etc., etc. 12mo., pp. 422. New York: D. Appleton & Co. In gathering from the experience of life, says the author, there is found much to regret in the present aspect of many amongst the sons and brothers of oar land who indulge in a reckless selfishness, as if it were a birthright privilege, or who study apathy as if it were repose, and appear incapable of being quickened into self-forgetting interests and animated energy. And equally amongst the daughters and sisters of our land must we mourn the indifference, the unsheltered forwardness which are effacing the true diguity and feminine grace which have been one peculiar glory of our nation. All very sensible Mrs. Charlesworth. She further says, as it would be impossible in so small a volume to delineate all the bearings of society's large circle, no attempt has been made to illustrate the personal effort involved in moral progress on earth, but to illustrate the actual ministry of life, and to point out as it were a more excellent way. It appears to be exceedingly well written, nothing lacking in incident and denouements, the whole narrative running gracefully along with one finger upon the earth and the other pointing to the skies. The moral certainly is a good one, and as such we wish it success.

3.--Southern Institutes; or, an Inquiry into the Origin and early Prevalence of Slavery and the Slave Trade, with an Analysis of the Laws, History, and Government of the Institution in the Principal Nations, Ancient and Modern, from the Earliest Ages down to the Present Time. By GEORGE SAWYER, of the Lousiana bar. 8vo., pp. 393. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co.

This treatise of the "peculiar institution" is among the most voluminous we have seen, the author treating his subject in a number of historical and augumentative essays; first, the origin and general prevalence of slavery and the slave trade; second. Hebrew slavery, or slavery in the Old Testament; Greek slavery, Roman slavery, slavery in the New Testament, slavery in the middle ages, moral attitude of slavery in the United States, and its origin in this country, and relative position and treatment of negroes, ending with an essay on the political and judicial attitude of slavery in the United States, and an appendix eliciting some curious statistical facts concerning the institution and its appur tenances. Mr. Sawyer takes the most enlarged views of his subject, taking for his theme in one of his essays nothing less than that redoubtable golden rule "whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them," and that too, in his exhibit of the moral attitude of slavery in the United States. However unpalatable the subject, he is evidently a philosopher who can never pander to public prejudice, or flatter what he deems popular error; in other words, where there is a truth to be told he outs with it. He seems to have begun too, with the purpose of avoiding all sectarian views, in morals, politics, and religion, and of preserving, as far as possible, a high tone of moral and religious sentiment; but the zeal for his cause seems to have carried him away at times, as evinced in his criticism on the remonstrance of Jefferson to King George, and in his hypothetical assertion in the Declaration of Independence, that "all men are created equal, and are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights." In the latter case, holding that men have no natural or political rights that they may not voluntarily or involuntarily forfeit to the body politic, seemingly forgetful that it was but a hypothesis with Mr. Jefferson, which was carried out by the framers of the Declaration of Independence, that there should be no titles of nobility or no hereditary claims to prominence, or that no man should be deprived of his life, liberty, or property without due process of law. Had we time and space a great deal might be said concerning this book, but we will have to dismiss it with an earnest recommendation to the many who go about doing good in this great cause, and the many who prefer that far-reaching sympathy which manifests itself so strongly in the cause of the Southern slave, to the complaining man at their own doors, and we promise them that though Mr. Sawyer may not be able to convert them, they will at least find that within which will recruit their exhausted energies with an additional stimulus, which is probably the most they require.

4.--Electron; or, the Pranks of the Modern Puck. A Telegraphic Epic for the Times. By WM. C. RICHARDS. New York: D. Appleton & Co.

A neat little book from the press of the Messrs. Appletons which may be looked upon as an electric spark of the times, throwing off, in the attractive form of verse, the origin, progress, and marvelous developments of the sciences of electricity and magnetism, from its first discovery by Thales to the failure of that most stupendous enterprise known as the Atlantic Cable, whose waning interest lics dimly now in the gigantic attempt to clasp two worlds in closest brotherhood.

5.--Bertram Noel. A Story for Youth. By E. J. MAY, author of "Louis's Schooldays," Sunshine of Greystone," etc. 12mo., pp. 359. New York: D. Appleton & Co.

Is one of the sweetest and purest domestic tales we have read in a long time, and just the thing for a gilt book for Christmas times.

6.-The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table. 12mo., pp. 364. Boston: Phillips, Sampson & Co.

Those enterprising publishers, Messrs. Phillips, Sampson & Co., have sent us a copy of those Autocrat papers, which originally appeared in the Atlantic Monthly, but which they have since collected in a neat volume. As everybody is aware, they are etchings from the graphic pen of Oliver Wendell Holmes, than whom we have no more pleasing humorist. These breakfastable conversations have elicited a great deal of attention, and are positively refreshing in their quaint humor. The many prismatic colors of life reflected in the partial and incomplete view of everything touched upon, added to the deep underlaying vein of reason running through the whole, lends to them a degree of elasticity which is highly palatable. and remind one of the familiar conversations of an intellectual club-they seem so to draw the substance out of everything, as hot water draws the strength out of tea leaves.

1.-The Four Sisters; a Tale of Social and Domestic Life in Sweden. By FREDRIKA BREMER, author of The Neighbors," "Nina," The Home," Homes in the New World," etc. 12mo., pp. 393. Philadelphia: T. B. Peterson & Brother.

Miss Bremer possesses an enviable reputation as a high toned fiction writer, and, we think, deservedly so, as the womanly purity shadowed forth in all her narratives has a tendency to engender a moral growth very different from most of the literature of this sort. There is a finish and charm in her style, coupled with a womanly purity, which all good and true must appreciate, and which naturally bind us to her with a sort of brotherly love. Her characters are always boldly drawn, never shrinking behind subsidies, but with all her vigor there is no overstraining for mere sake of effect, but all bears evidence of that careful finish known only to cultivated minds. The "Four Sisters," we think, is destined to a merited prosperity.

8.-The Battles of the United States by Sea and Land: with official Documents and Biographies of the most distinguished Military and Naval Commanders. By HENRY B. DAWSON, Member of the New York Historical Society, etc., etc. Parts 4, 5, and 6. New York: Johnson, Fry, & Co.

We cannot bestow too much praise on this superb work of Mr. Dawson's, inasmuch that there has hitherto existed no really good military and naval history of the United States prior to this, and for the style in which it is got up, which the author assures us shall be maintained to the end. We will again speak of the merits of this work in some future number.

9.-The New Priest in Conception Bay. A Novel in Two Volumes. 12mo., pp. 309, 339. Boston: Phillips, Sampson & Co.

A beautiful and instructive story, the events upon which it is founded being laid in Newfoundland. This, although a barren spot. is inhabited by a hardy race, whose bold outlines of character correspond to the beetling cliffs that are washed by the ever surging sea on all its coast, and form a good subject for the novelist's pen. It is well written and deeply imbued with that natural piety and religious feeling which commends itself to the best feelings of the heart."

10.--Isabella Gray. A Novel. By a lady. 12mo., pp. 252. Philadelphia: Charles Desilver.

Is seemingly a finely written tale, both generous and spiritual, taking in review the varied vicissitudes of life, in which are shadowed forth the true principles which form the only support for the weary and despondent. It possesses qualities which the authoress need not fear to have indorsed with her name, and that it will serve in some measure to anchor a seasonable thought in the mind of the reader, leading ultimately to an active principle, we do not entertain a doubt.

11.-A Yacht Voyage of Six Thousand Miles; or, Letters from High Latitude E. Being some Account of a Voyage in the Yacht Foam to Iceland, Jan Mayen, and Spitzbergen. By LORD DUFFERIN. 12mo., pp. 406. Boston: Ticknor & Fields.

Sometime in June, 1856, Lord Dufferin started in his yacht Foam for a voyage of pleasure and adventure to Iceland and Spitzbergen. In this volume we have some accounts thereof. The narrative in many respects will be found exceedingly interesting, from the fact that so little is known of the habits and customs of the people inhabiting the high latitudes reached by these daring amateur sailors; besides, Lord Dufferin is evidently a practical, well-educated, business-loving Englishman, possessing all the roystering qualities of a true British sailor, and the lively picture given by him of the countries visited, and of the hospitality they received at the hands of the Norsemen, cannot but well repay a perusal.

12.-Nightcaps. By the author of "Aunt Fanny's Christmas Stories." New York: D. Appleton & Co.

Is another of the Messrs. Appleton's charming tales designed for the festivi ties of Christmas. Aunt Fanny is evidently a brick, as the dedication of her book will fully prove. Here it is verbatim ad libitum :-

13. The Modern Cook; or, Practical Guide to the Culinary Art in all its Branches. By CHARLES ELME FRANCATELLI. Philadelphia: T. B. Peterson & Brother.

Is all that it pretends to be, the best book of the kind in the English languagea guide to compounding good dishes and how to cook them. M. Francatelli's position as Mastre-d'Hotel and chief cook to Her Majesty the Queen is sufficient guaranty of his qualification for doing what he here teaches others how to do, in a style easily understood, while "from the ninth London edition" proves the appreciation of his work. This book "comprises, in addition to English cookery, the most approved and recherche systems of French, Italian, and German cookery," and is adapted to the easy comprehension of every would-be cook or housekeeper for the smallest family or the largest hotel, and is alike complete in all its departments, while a peculiar merit pervades the whole, namely, economy. To live elegantly, nicely, and economically we have only to follow Francatelli. The manner of dressing the dishes too, by over sixty handsome engravings, is a highly useful part, showing, as well as telling, the features of good cookery. And the work itself, a large octavo of 585 pages, is "served up" by the Messrs. Peterson, as a cook book ought to be, in first-rate style, and well worthy of initation by all book makers.