possible in the first edition; for with the increase of knowledge the science has been perfected. Professor Dana recognizes the advances that have been made in elucidating the progress of life upon the globe, and gives in his adherence to the great doctrine of evolution, although entertaining speculations of his own in regard to the mode of its working. He admits that "the evolution of the system of life went forward through the derivation of species from species according to natural methods not yet clearly understood, and with few occasions for supernatural intervention." The modifications in the new edition which have reference to the doctrine of evolution are very significant.
The Ship of Fools. Translated by Alexander Barclay. 2 vols. Edinburgh: William Patterson. New York: Appletons. 1874. Price, $25.00.
This curious old book was written by Sebastian Brandt, a German ecclesiastic, two years after the discovery of America. It is a popular poetical satire, directed against the vices and follies of the times just before the Protestant Reformation; but the sorts of people that provoked Brandt to ply his satirical lash are not without representatives in our own day; and hence, as a book of instruction, the "Ship of Fools" is by no means out of date. Soon after its publication it was translated into Latin, Dutch, Low German, and French; and in 1509 it was rendered into English by Alexander Barclay. The work now possesses mainly a philological and bibliographical interest, and has been expensively reproduced in exact facsimile, in type, text, and illustrations, of the original edition. The English version is rather an adaptation of the original to English modes of life than a mere translation. It is well observed in the introduction: "Barclay's 'Ship of Fools' is not only important as a picture of the English life and popular feeling of his time; it is, both in style and vocabulary, a most valuable and remarkable monument of the English language. Written midway between Chaucer and Spenser, it is infinitely more easy to read than either." The language is strongly Saxon. Of the original work it is said that, "for upward of a century it was, in Germany, a book of the people in the noblest and widest sense of the word; and it was assumed to be so familiar to all classes that, even during Brandt's lifetime, the German preacher, Gailer von Kaiserberg, went so far as to deliver public lectures from the pulpit on his friend's poem, as if it had been a scriptural text."
The Psychological and Medico-Legal Journal. New Series, No. 1. July, 1874. Conducted by William A. Hammond, M. D., assisted by T. M. B. Cross, M. D. $5.00 per annum. New York: F. W. Christern.
This is a continuation, in a new form, of Dr. Hammond's Quarterly Journal of Psychological Medicine, and it will probably take a more popular shape in its new phase of development. The leading article of this number is a complete report of the chief editor's address before the Neurological Society, on the "Effects of Alcohol on the Nervous System." It details the results of many experiments made by Dr. Hammond upon himself, to test the physiological influence of various forms of alcohol, and is an interesting and instructive contribution to the literature of the subject. The discussion which followed the address, by various physicians, is given; and there are several important notices and reviews of works upon psychological and medico-legal questions. The periodical is at present a monthly, but this is, perhaps, provisional. It is well printed, and has a neat and attractive aspect.
United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries. Part I. Report on the Condition of the Sea-Fisheries of the South Coast of New England in 1871 and 1872. By Spencer F. Baird, Commissioner. With Supplementary Papers. Washington: Government Printing-Office, 1873.
For many years, in this country and Great Britain, both popular and scientific opinions have been much vexed by the question whether the great harvest of the sea was not in danger of very serious diminution. It seemed to be generally thought, those only objecting who were engaged in such matters, that nets, wears, pounds, etc., were fast exterminating our food-fisheries. It was even argued by many fishermen that,
