Malthus and his Work. By James Bonar. London: Macmillan & Co. Pp. 432. Price, $4.
No author is more talked about, when questions of political economy or social science are under consideration, than Malthus; no dogma than what is called the Malthusian theory. But, according to the view of the author of this book, very few of those who have so much to say about the man and his doctrines know what they really are. "Malthus," he says, "was the best abused man of the age"; and the temper and abundance of the abuse that has been launched against him "amount to a demonstration" that his opponents are in the wrong, or that his logic is too sound for them. The points at issue were fully enough discussed in his own time between Malthus and his adversaries, "and no one who fairly considers the extent of the discussion, and the ability of the disputants, can fail to believe that we have, in the records of this controversy, ample materials for forming our own judgment on the whole question. . . . Such a privilege is seldom used. The world has no time to consult authorities, though it likes them to be within reach of consultation. When an author becomes an authority, he too often ceases to be read, and his doctrines, like current coin, arc worn by use till they lose the clear image and superscription of the issuer. In this way an author's name may come to suggest, not his own book, but the current version of his doctrines," and this is seldom a wholly fair one. Such, Mr. Bonar seems to think, has been the case with Malthus; and the purpose of the present volume is to give an exact account of his life, his teachings, and the object and character of his book.
Annual Report or the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution for 1883. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 959.
This report contains much valuable information concerning scientific work and progress in various departments in this and other countries. One of its excellent features is its running summaries of the progress of investigations carried on by the members of Government surveys and expeditions, and by private persons in correspondence with the Institution, which cover a wide ground. A full account is given of the inauguration of the statue of Professor Henry, with the memorial address of Chief Justice Waite, the oration of President Noah Porter, and a representation of the statue. Among the special papers arc the accounts of progress during the year in the several departments of science, and a number of accounts of explorations of mounds and other anthropological work.
Cholera: its Origin, History, Causation, Symptoms, Lesions, Prevention, and Treatment. By Alfred Stillé, M. D. Philadelphia: Lea Brothers & Co. Pp. 164.
The author has enjoyed the advantage of studying cholera in two epidemics, and has prepared this volume in view of the general newly awakened interest on the subject and the agitation of Dr. Koch's germ theory. While declining to accept the doctrine of Dr. Koch and his supporters as demonstrated, he seeks "to exhibit the specific nature of cholera by evidence drawn from its origin and mode of propagation; to disabuse the medical profession of the erroneous notion that the disease ever originates de novo; to maintain the necessity of quarantine, not in the literal but in the official sense of that word; to point out the channels through which cholera may be diffused; and to describe the measures which experience has sanctioned to prevent its dissemination and cure those who are attacked by it."
Silver-Lead Deposits of Eureka, Nevada. By Joseph Story Curtis. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 200.
From the year 1869 to 1883, Eureka district produced about $60,000,000 of gold and about 225,000 tons of lead. Owing to the fact that the deposits of this district have been more completely developed than any other of a similar character on the Pacific slope, they offer very full opportunities for the scientific investigation of formations of this class. The information on which this report is based was collected during field-work by the author in 1881 and 1682, and from the reports of Mr. George F. Becker's preliminary examination of the more important mines, and of Mr. Arnold Hague's survey of the geology of the district in 1880.
