Popular Science Monthly/Volume 27/June 1885/Literary Notices
Jelly-Fish, Star-Fish, and Sea-Urchins: Being a Research on Primitive Nervous Systems. By G. J. Romanes. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 323. Price, $1.75.
The main object of this work by Professor Romanes is the description of the investigation of the physiology of the animals lowest in organization, with especial reference to determining the presence of a nervous system in them and its extent and functions. The author at first intended to supplement the accounts of his own work with an exposition of the results which had been obtained by other inquirers, concerning the morphology and development of those animals. He found, however, that he would not be able, within the limits of the contemplated book, to do justice to the labors of others, and has confined himself to giving an account of his own researches. The nervous systems of these animals, as studied by Professor Romanes, are mainly subservient to the office of locomotion, the plan or mechanism of which is completely different in the two classes, and unique in each. The investigations of which this treatise is the result were carried on through six summers spent at the sea-side out of the vacations of twelve years, and were profitable and edifying in more ways than one. On this point, the author makes some remarks which form a fitting introduction to the story of his detailed and technical experiments. "Speaking for myself," he says, "I can testify that my admiration of the extreme beauty of these animals has been greatly enhanced—or, rather, I should say that this extreme beauty has been, so to speak, revealed—by the continuous and close observation which many of my experiments required; both with the unassisted eye and with the microscope numberless points of detail, unnoticed before, became familiar to the mind; the forms as a whole were impressed upon the memory; and, by constantly watching their movements and changes of appearance, I have grown, like an artist studying a face or a landscape, to appreciate a fullness of beauty the esse of which is only rendered possible by the percipi of such attention as is demanded by scientific research. Moreover, association, if not the sole creator, is at least a most important factor of the beautiful; and, therefore, the sight of one of these animals is now much more to me, in the respects in which we arc considering, than it can be to any one in whose memory it is not connected with many days of that purest form of enjoyment which can only be experienced in the pursuit of science. And here I may observe that the worker in marine zoölogy has one great advantage over his other scientific brethren. Apart from the intrinsic beauty of most of the creatures with which he has to deal, all the accompaniments of his work are æsthetic, and removed from those more or less offensive features which are so often necessarily incidental to the study of anatomy and physiology in the higher animals." This book is Volume XLIX of the "International Scientific Series."
Geology and the Deluge. By the Duke of Argyll. Glasgow: Wilson & McCormick. Pp. 47.
This is the substance of a lecture delivered in Glasgow, in which is considered the question whether any scientific evidence exists that there has occurred a deluge, or a great submergence of the land under the sea over a considerable area of the globe; of a temporary character; accompanied with the destruction of animal life; since the birth or development of man; in other words, corresponding with the flood described in the Bible. The author finds evidence of such a flood, not only in universal tradition, but also in many superficial geological facts; among them, the existence of beds of recent marine gravel on mountaintops in Wales and other countries; the loess, with its abundant land-shells; the extinct mammalian fauna of Europe, of the sudden destruction of which he adduces many evidences; and the masses of mammoths in New Siberia. The evidences of the contemporaneousness of man with the phenomena are discussed, and the question of his antiquity incidentally. The time of the flood in question is believed by the author to have been about the close of the glacial period.
The Rescue of Greely. By Commander W. S. Schley, U. S. Navy, and Professor J. R. Soley, U. S. Navy. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Pp. 277, with Illustrations and Maps. Price, $3.
This book gives a plain account of the Greely expedition, of the attempts that failed to relieve it, and of the one that finally succeeded. It has been the aim of the writers to describe the events simply as they occurred, and avoid all criticism of the persons who took part in them. This they have done, in the colorless manner in which all stories ought to be told on which the world is to be called upon to pass an impartial judgment. The relation is begun with a general description of the region in which the search was prosecuted, as "the gateway of the Polar Sea," and an account of the circumpolar stations which were established under the auspices of the International Polar Conference, with which Greely's expedition eventually became connected. Then are given accounts of Greely's Lady Franklin Bay expedition and the unsuccessful relief expeditions of 1882 and 1884, and the detailed account of the expedition under Commander Schley which succeeded in bringing back the survivors of Greely's command. Of the spirit in which the last expedition was prosecuted, the author of the book says that all of the officers and men "knew that the object of the voyage was something above and beyond the ordinary calls of service, and. . . felt an earnestness of purpose which a mere exploring expedition would hardly have called forth. At any rate, whatever may have been their feelings, they certainly evinced a determination to spare no pains, to incur any exposure, to assume any required risk, and to be unflagging in watching for opportunities to gain a mile, a yard, or a foot, on the journey toward Greely and his party."
In the Lena Delta. A Narrative of the Search for Lieutenant-Commander De Long and his Companions, followed by an Account of the Greely Relief Expedition. By George W. Melville. Edited by Melville Philips. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Pp. 497, with Maps and Illustrations. Price, $2.50.
Of the world's heroes, the men of the Jeannette Expedition were certainly among the noblest, the sturdiest, and the most enduring. Whether we regard the single incident of the attitude in which Lieutenant De Long's body was found, with the arm frozen stiff in the position in which it was raised and bent to cast his journal to a safer place; or whether we consider the trials and sufferings and pluck of Melville's party, of eleven men, during their trying and lonely journey—we can almost, and when we take note, as well as of these incidents, of the history of the expedition as a whole, we can quite say with Mr. Philips, that "in all the world's history the story has no parallel." This story has already been told by different persons from different points of view; but by none who had a better right to tell it and from whom the world had a better right to ask for it than Engineer Melville, who after De Long's death was the titular commander of the expedition. The earlier part of the expedition, up to the crushing of the Jeannette by the ice, being already familiar, is but lightly dwelt upon. The real interest begins when the men took to the ice, and increases till the end of the search for De Long's party. The book abounds with incidents that help to realize what Arctic life really is. The constant imminence of its dangers was shown when the floe on which the party were encamped split through the center of De Long's tent; "and had it not been for the weight of the sleepers on either end of the rubber blanket those in the middle must inevitably have dropped into the sea." A strong picture of the straits to which men may be reduced for food appears in the observation that walrus-hide may have the solitary advantage over hemp for ropes, in that "upon a pinch it can be eaten. Indeed, fresh walrus-hide, roasted with the hair on, is toothsome at any time, and many members of our company feasted on it after consuming their rations of pemmican.'" We have views of what traveling on the ice is when we are told that the men did not mind having their toes protruding through their moccasins so long as the soles of their feet were clear of the ice, but they could not keep them clear; and in the incident of their finding—having, in order to keep all their things together, to go thirteen times over each mile—that, after marching from twenty-five to thirty miles a day for two weeks, they had been drifted back twenty-four miles. Finally, at the beginning of winter, on the 6th of August, they were able and glad to take to the sea, in three boats. They kept together till some time after the 10th of September, when they were separated in a furious storm, and one of the boats was never afterward heard from. It was agreed they should all endeavor to land at Cape Barkin, and meet there. How they landed, and what befell either of the two parties that survived the sea-voyage, are graphically told by Engineer Melville, from his own experiences and from the narratives of Nindeman and Noros and the notes left by Captain De Long.
The account of the Greely Relief Expedition is brief, but testifies to the value of Greely's work—that there is no one living competent to criticise his conduct of the expedition on which he was sent, "beyond affirming that he performed the greatest amount of scientific work possible at least expense, and made good his retreat from depot to depot, until he arrived at the point of safety, where our Government had promised to deposit supplies and have a vessel awaiting to carry him and his band away from the 'Land of Desolation.' "Not daunted by what he has seen and experienced of Arctic traveling, Mr. Melville has started again for the north pole, expecting to reach it, and to confirm a theory he has formed of the proper way of getting there. Believing that no vessel can penetrate the ice-barrier much beyond where explorers have gone, he figures to himself a firm or nearly firm ice-cap interspersed with frequent islands, covering the sea from the eighty-fifth parallel to the pole, and that a properly equipped expedition can cross this and return upon it, the whole distance both ways being only a hundred miles greater than his party traversed from the Jeannette to the Lena Delta; and he believes that the results to accrue from reaching the pole will more than pay for all that has been spent in other efforts.
Mind-Reading and beyond. By William A. Hovey. Boston: Lee & Shepard. Pp. 201. Price, $1.25.
An association of gentlemen engaged in scientific investigation was formed in the spring of 1882, under the designation of the Society for Psychical Research, the object of which was stated in its prospectus to be to examine the nature and extent of any influence which may be exerted by one mind upon another, apart from any recognized mode of perception; the study of hypnotism, mesmeric trance, clairvoyance, and allied phenomena; a careful investigation of data regarding apparitions; and an inquiry into the phenomena commonly called spiritual. Among the members of this society were Lord Rayleigh, the Bishop of Carlisle, Professor Sidgwick, Professor Balfour Stewart, William Crookes, and Alfred K. Wallace. They made a considerable number of experiments, in which phenomena were developed that are not yet fully accounted for. From the reports on these experiments made by the several committees to whom the supervision of them was intrusted, Mr. Hovey has prepared the present interesting and suggestive volume.
The Patriarchal Theory, based on the Papers of the late John Ferguson McLennan. Edited and completed by Donald McLennan. London: Macmillan & Co. Pp. 355. Price, $4.
Mr. McLennan, in his book on "Primitive Marriage," and in an essay which he published about fifteen years ago, on "The Worship of Animals and Plants," propounded some original and striking views, and opened up new lines of inquiry into the origins and conditions of primitive society. He was making the investigations of which these publications were the first fruits, his life-work, when his career was cut short, before he was able to perfect anything further, by sickness and death; but not till he had seen his views received respectfully, confirmed in his own mind by new facts and circumstances, and made a part of the light under which the continued study of anthropology would be conducted. It was his purpose, if health and strength had been given him, to undertake a general work on the structure of the earliest human societies. "In particular," says his brother, "he felt that he was able to give a much more consistent and intelligible view of the condition of rude or undeveloped communities than anything that had previously been offered to the public." His research being of a very extensive and far-reaching kind, and involving the use of "a very large apparatus of evidence," he proposed "to prepare the way for his larger work by first issuing a critical essay, by which he hoped to clear out of the way a body of opinion, the prevalence of which seemed to oppose an obstacle to the proper appreciation of his constructive argument." This "body of opinion" was represented by the theory that the family living under the headship of the father was the ultimate social unit, which while it is very old, had recently taken its most important and influential shape in the works of Sir Henry Maine. This "critical essay" he had on hand, assisted by his brother, who now completes it, and had carried out to seven of the nineteen chapters of the present volume, with notes embodying his views as to other parts of the work, when he died. The work is necessarily, by the circumstances of the case, somewhat polemical in form, but not wholly so, for the latter part of it is largely devoted to the building up of a theory of the origin of agnation, in the course of which it became necessary to go into the whole question of the Levirate and of the family custom of the Hindoos. "It has appeared at all points," says the editor, "not only that the phenomena dealt with are not intelligible on the patriarchal theory, but that they carry us back to a stage of society prior to the form of the family which has a father at its head, to the stage of polyandry, and to the form of the family founded upon kinship through women only. The argument has been throughout constructive as well as critical, and no slight part of the work is purely constructive."
United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries. Report of the Commissioner for 1882. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 1,101, with Plates.
The commission having completed the tenth year of its work, the report takes general notice of what it has accomplished. It was formed primarily to investigate the alleged decrease of food-fishes in the United States, but had added to its duties in its second year that of promoting the propagation of fish. It has accomplished much for science by prosecuting, or aiding others to prosecute, researches into the general natural history of marine animals and plants. It has made very large collections of aquatic animals in aid of monographic research, and has given a full series to the National Museum, and sets to several hundred institutions of learning, etc. During 1882 it secured a permanent sea-coast station at Wood's Holl; fitted up the Armory Building as its central Washington station; acquired stations in Maryland and Virginia; furthered the artificial production of oysters, and the production and distribution of the carp; and made inquiries into the extensive destruction of the tile-fish in the North Atlantic. For the future it hopes to extend its general inquiries; to promote improvement in methods and apparatus of fishing, and in fishing-vessels; to determine the extent and general character of the old fishing localities and discover new ones; to improve methods of curing and packing fish for the market; and to continue the work of increasing the supply of valuable fishes in the waters of the United States.
Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the Year ending June 30, 1883. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 519.
One hundred and ninety-four stations were maintained at the close of the year covered by the report—one hundred and forty-nine on the Atlantic, thirty-seven on the lakes, seven on the Pacific, and one at the Falls of the Ohio. The number of disasters to documented vessels and small boats was 416, in which $7,242,729 of property and 4,040 persons were involved, while $5,671,700 of the property and 4,021 persons were saved, and 651 shipwrecked persons were succored at the stations. Twenty-two other persons were rescued who had fallen from wharves, piers, etc. Ten disasters, involving the loss of lives, took place within the scope of the service. All of the nineteen persons lost were entirely beyond human aid.
Researches on Solar Heat and its Absorption by the Earth's Atmosphere. By S. P. Langley. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 242, with Plates.
Professor Langley's observations are already quite well known to the scientific world, and their value is universally acknowledged. They were made on the slopes of Mount Whitney, at a height of twelve thousand feet above the sea, and about three thousand feet below the summit of the mountain, with special instruments of the observer's own devising. Notices of some of the results have been given in the "Monthly." The author expresses the opinion that Mount Whitney is an excellent station for such observations, fully equal to any that is possessed by any other nation; and, upon his recommendation, it has been declared a Government reservation, available for purposes of scientific research. Professor Langley records some very interesting facts respecting a dust-cloud which appears to hang in the Sierras at a certain height above the sea, the effects of which he was able to observe from his camp, and which appears to be permanent. Professor Clarence King ascribes its origin to the loess of China. The author also speaks of large logs, which were found to be quite numerous on the mountain-side at a considerable height above the timber-line, as indicating that the region formerly enjoyed a warmer climate than it now has. The relation of the observations which formed the object of the expedition is very important and interesting to men of science, but too technical for the edification of general readers.
The Stars and Constellations. By Royal Hill. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. Pp. 32.
This work is intended to enable students and others, who are interested in the appearance of the heavens, to identify the principal objects of interest without reference to star-maps, which as a general thing are very perplexing to unprofessional readers. The plan adopted by the author is new, and constitutes the main feature of the work. It consists in the employment of two accurately drawn time-charts, giving the exact time of rising and southing for every day in the year, of twenty-five of the brightest stars, which are more distinctly identified in the text. From the positions of these "landmarks of the sky," any other object at all likely to attract the attention of naked-eye observers is so described that it is very difficult for any person of ordinary intelligence to miss the information desired. As each object is identified, the student can learn whatever is of interest concerning it by consulting the separate account that is given of every conspicuous star and constellation visible in this country. The subject is suitably introduced by some interesting information concerning the constellations, the names and numbers of the stars, and the methods adopted by astronomers to designate them. It is illustrated by several very clear maps of the zodiacal constellations, upon which the place of the sun for every day in the year is accurately marked. These maps, which show every star in these constellations to the fifth magnitude, we understand are the first ever published based on the admirable photometric observations of Professor Pickering, the Director of Harvard Observatory. We regard the idea on which the plan is based as a sound one, and the execution of the work as conformed to it. The arrangement is simple, and the directions, in the table, in the charts, and in the text, are clear and accurate.
The "Quincy Methods" illustrated. Pen-Photographs from the Quincy Schools. By Lelia E. Partridge, New York: E. L. Kellogg & Co. Pp. 660. Price, $1.50.
The educational world was startled a few years ago by the report of the great things that were going on in the schools of Quincy, Massachusetts. A new superintendent had been placed over them—Colonel Francis W. Parker—who had dared to break through the shell of formalism and routine within which they were being fossilized, and to infuse into them life, spontaneity, and real progress. The fame of the schools and of the new system—which was not new, however, to many, but too few, teachers of rare genius for their work—spread widely, and Quincy became a place of frequent resort for persons having at heart the interests of real instruction. Among those who went there was Miss Partridge, who recorded what she saw, and now publishes her record. She takes the reader into the school-room and its different classes, day after day, and exhibits, in her printed account, a transcript, exact as it may be, of what occurred there—illustrating how the teacher started, now this subject, now that, and patiently, and with tact, drew out whatever suggested itself to each of the pupils upon it. As the lessons are advanced, they shape themselves into a kind of system, the operation of which is to awaken the minds of the pupils to self-action and independent thinking. The manner in which these accounts are rendered justifies the secondary title of "Pen-Photographs" which the book bears. The author is careful to remind her fellow-teachers that the example lessons she gives are not to be copied from but are to serve as types, after which teachers must form their own methods according to the bent of their minds and the kind of children they have in charge. The essential features of the Quincy method are flexibility and spontaneity. What is called by that name might, in the hands of a humdrum teacher, become as dead and worthless as any of the stereotyped forms it is intended to supplant. It is its spirit that must be caught, not any of its particular models followed; and the success of its execution will depend most largely upon the power of the teacher to strike out a way of his own.
Mortality Experience of the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company, of Hartford, Connecticut, from 1846 to 1878. Hartford, Conn. Pp. 91.
A series of thirty-seven tables, showing the mortality results of as many kinds of policies or classes of insured, accompanied by a text explaining the table, and calling attention to the more important of the results.
The Vertebrata of the Tertiary Formations of the West. By Edward D. Cope. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 1,009, with 135 Plates.
This bulky quarto is "Book I" of the fourth volume of the final reports of the Hayden Geological Survey. Its import in paleontological science is of much significance, for it contains a great number of species and genera of vertebrate animals from the fertile tertiary beds of the West, which had not been previously discovered. Some of these fill gaps in the chain of species, and make the connection and the course of development more plain than they were before. The whole collection represents a part only of the results of the researches which the author prosecuted either personally or with the aid of his trained assistants during the exploring seasons of 1872, 1873, 1877, 1878, 1879, 1880 and 1881, and to a lesser extent in some of the intervening years not recorded in this list. The regions in which the explorations were conducted cover portions of the States and Territories included between British America on the north, the western boundaries of Minnesota and Missouri on the east, the northern borders of the Indian Territory and Arizona and the middle of New Mexico on the south, and the Sierra Nevada on the west. The present volume does not include all the results of Professor Cope's researches, for another is to follow. Professor Hayden well says of the whole, in his letter transmitting the report, that "the amount of new matter toward the origin and history of the mammalian groups brought together by the author in these two volumes is most extraordinary, and will probably never be surpassed." In this single volume are given the vertebrata of the Eocene and of the Lower Miocene, less the Ungulata, with descriptions of 349 species, which are referred to 125 genera. The author sums up fifteen important results that have accrued through the researches here set forth in the discovery of new genera and families, among which are the discovery of the phylogenetic series of the Canidæ, or dogs, and the same of the ancestors of the Felidæ, or cats. As the book was stereotyped in 1883, all conclusions of later date than that are necessarily excluded from it; but the author's final conclusions from the material described are mostly to be found in a series of illustrated articles he has been publishing in the "American Naturalist" in the years 1883-'85.
The Ten Laws of Health; or, How Diseases are produced and prevented. By J. R. Black, M. D. Published by the Author. Baltimore. Price (by subscription), $2.50.
A part of this book was published several years ago. The edition having been exhausted for many years, the matter has been revised to bring it up even with the progress of the age, and an entirely new part has been added, comprising nearly a fourth of the present volume, on thorough disinfection within the sick-room and the sick-bed as the most effective means for preventing the spread of contagious diseases and epidemics. The author is a strong believer in the doctrine that disease is unnecessary and preventable; in his view man is the most sickly of beings, because those—which means most men—"who neither know nor strive to be governed by law in the uses they make of themselves, become victims to hundreds of evils in the various forms of disease." The ten laws of health are taken up in their order and explained; the violations of them are shown, with their attendant results; and the mode of observing them is taught. The first law is, that a pure air must be breathed. To obtain this within the house, supposing that the surroundings arc pure, "the great and imperative requirement is air-movement, a decided though gentle current through an occupied room day and night." Second; the food and drink must be adequate and wholesome. The evil to be guarded against in the United States is excess, for inadequateness or a deficiency of food on this continent, although the common sentiment is quite the reverse, is not often a direct cause of disease. As to the quality of our food, as we prepare it, "of the many books published on the subject of cooking, there are few, if any, that have not receipts by the score which can not be excelled for producing indigestion." The effects of tea and coffee and alcoholic stimulants are carefully considered. The third law enforces the necessity and judicious practice of out door exercise; and the fourth law prescribes adequate and unconstraining covering for the body. The fifth law concerns the exercise of the sexual function. Under the head of the sixth law are considered the effects of changes of climate, and the measures to be taken for safe acclimatization when that step is taken. Regarding changes of climate for the sake of health, the author concludes, from a survey of the available facts on the subject, "that an imprudent change of climate more frequently destroys the health of the healthy than it cures the sickness of the sickly." The seventh law relates to the choice of occupation. Its admonition is to select such pursuits as do not cramp and overstrain any part of the body, or subject it to irritating and poisonous substances; and, of course, to avoid those of an opposite character. Next, we are to keep personally clean, bathing systematically and changing regularly all clothing next to the skin. "Those who for month after month, and even for year after year, do not cleanse and invigorate the skin by frequent baths, followed by brisk friction of the skin, lose the good offices of a very active organ of regeneration, and cause their blood to be in a state very favorable for the production of disease from slight causes." Ninthly, we must preserve the mind in a tranquil state, and secure adequate rest and sleep. "For health, as well as happiness, moderation and diversity of pursuits arc essential requisites." Tenth and last law: "No intermarriage of blood relations." The principle is kept in view and enforced by frequent repetition that violations of any of these laws work injury from the beginning, the evil increasing as the violations become habitual, and that for years, perhaps, before the sinner perceives that anything of the kind is taking place; even while he may be boastful of his strength and his superiority to the bad effects of his wrong-doing; and that, when the injury is at last revealed, it is generally past remedy.
The injunctions in the second part of the book, for preventing the spread of infectious diseases by stamping them out within the sick-room, are based on the germ theory of disease. The principles on which they are justified, concisely stated, are, that "persons sick of infectious diseases are the breeding hot-beds from which the germs issue; that these germs make of air, drinks, and foods, mediums by which they are carried into the bodies of others; and, that when they once pervade the air, mix with foods and drinks, they can neither be detected nor destroyed; and, as a corollary, that the only time effectually to destroy them is at the bedside as they pass from the bodies of the sick." To wait, as is too often done, till they have escaped, expecting then by sterner measures to stop the spread of disease, "is like waiting until a fire becomes an alarming conflagration before making systematic efforts to subdue it"—and "even far worse." The directions for enforcing this summary disinfection are plain and practical.
Resultados del Observatorio Nacional Argentino en Cordoba. (Results of the Argentine National Observatory in Cordoba.) By Benjamin A. Gould, Director. Vols. II, III, IV, VII, and VIII. Spanish and English. Buenos Ayres and Cordoba. Pp. (total) 2,243.
We have already (March, 1882) given a sketch of Professor Gould's life and astronomical work, both at home and in Cordoba, and a notice of the first publication of the results of his observations in the southern hemisphere, in the "Uranometria of the Southern Heavens." The present volumes embrace a part of the record of his work at Cordoba as it has been pursued, in considerable but not complete detail. At the beginning, the author entertained the hope of being able to publish all the observations in essentially the same form as they had been made, affixing the instrumental corrections separately. The observations of the years 1872-'73 were prepared for the press in this form, but the impossibility of carrying out the plan became manifest as the number of results increased; and at last anxiety arose lest it might not be possible to secure a prompt publication of the results in any shape whatsoever. The observations for the catalogue have therefore been given in the compact form adapted to the requirements of the case; and those of the zones with only so much detail as seemed needful when a large proportion of the stars had been observed but once. The original observations and all the calculations have been preserved for reference. The zones which have been surveyed in these observations cover a breadth of 52° 20' in declination, extending from 23° to 80° south. Previous determinations of position by zone-observations have been essentially differential in their character, in one co-ordinate, at least, when not in both; in the present undertaking, Dr. Gould has endeavored to obtain so-called absolute determinations for all the stars observed. During the eight and a half years of work up to the close of 1880, more than 250,000 stellar observations were made with the meridian-circle; and the number of different stars observed is estimated at 35,000—all belonging to the southern hemisphere. Among the special observations was a careful determination, of positions and proper motion, of fifty-four circumpolar stars for determination of the azimuthal errors of the instrument. Vol. II of the present series contains the observations made in 1872; Vols. Ill and IV, those made in 1873; and Vols. VII and VIII, the zone-observations made in 1875. In making these observations, between declinations 23° and 47°, the normal width of the zone was two degrees, with 10' additional at each margin and extremity for overlap; from 47° to 75°, their width increased with the declination; until, finally, the last five degrees, 75° to 80°, were comprised in a single belt. The zones were also subdivided, where that seemed best.
The Distribution of Products, or the Mechanism and Metaphysics oe Exchange. By Edward Atkinson. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 303. Price, $1.25.
Mr. Atkinson, a man of business, has spoken so often, so intelligently, and so much to the purpose on financial questions as to give him a right to be heard and weight to his views. The present volume includes three essays—on "What makes the Rate of Wages?" "What is a Bank?" and "The Railway, the Farmer, and the Public." The subject of the first essay is attended with a complication of conditions and relations, and differences of opinion upon it are inevitable. Mr. Atkinson takes an optimistic view of the prospects of a satisfactory settlement of the relations of capital and labor on the conditions set forth in his fundamental proposition. He shows that a high rate of wages does not necessarily signify high cost of production, and vice versa, and enforces a distinction, too often overlooked, between rate of wages and sum of wages in the manufacture of a given product. The second essay presents an exposition of the principles on which safe banking is conducted. In the third essay the author shows that the railways have performed a great service in our national economy, and that a large reduction in the costs of transportation has been brought about by the consolidation of the principal lines; and maintains that nearly all the features of our present railway system are working, as a whole, for good.
Paradise Found: A Study of the Prehistoric World. By William F. Warren, LL. D. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Pp. 505. Price, $2.
The Count de Saporta, Mr. G. Hilton Scribner, and others, have made our readers familiar with the hypothesis that the cradle of the human race and of all life must be sought at the north pole. The accession of so many men known to be careful observers, imbued with the scientific spirit, and habituated not to express an opinion unless they have reasons at hand with which to fortify it, as have uttered views consistent with this hypothesis, has lifted it up out of the category of speculations to a genuine theory, claiming deliberate investigation. Dr. Warren, who is President of Boston University, has arrived at conclusions nearly coincident with those of Count de Saporta and those who agree with him, through his own independent studies, though not, of course, without having them re-enforced by theirs. In the present work, he offers the considerations by which the theory of polar origin is to be supported, carefully worked out, and in their order. Beginning with a survey of the present state of the question of the location of Eden and of the existing theories upon it, he presents in Part Second his own hypothesis, with a definition of the conditions on which it may be admissible; in Part Third, the scientific bearing on it of geogony, geography, geology, prehistoric climatology, paleontological botany, zoölogy, and archæology and general ethnology; in Part Fourth, confirmations of the hypothesis by ethnic tradition—from ancient cosmology and mythical geography, and from Japanese, Chinese, East Aryan, Iranian, Akkadian, Assyrian and Babylonian, ancient Egyptian and Ancient Greek thought; in Part Fifth, further verifications of the hypothesis, based upon a study of the peculiarities of a polar paradise; and in Part Sixth, the significance of the results he has drawn from these considerations.
Preliminary Analysis of the Bark of Fouqueria Splendens. By Helen C. DeS. Abbott. Pp. 8.
The Lineal Measures of the Semi-Civilized Nations of Mexico and Central America. By Daniel G. Brinton, M. D. Pp 14.
Proceedings of the Colorado Scientific Society, 1883 and 1884 Denver, Col. Pp. 147, with Plates.
Notes on the Literature of Explosives. By Professor Charles E. Munroe, Annapolis, Md. Pp. 82.
Spiritism; the Origin of all. Religions. By J. P. Dameron, San Francisco. Cal. Pp 108.
Elephant Pipes. Davenport, Iowa. By Charles E. Putnam. Pp. 40.
The Filth-Power. By J. B. Oleott. Pp. 41.
Starling Medical College, Columbus. Ohio. Pp. 16.
Contagiousness of Tuberculosis. By W. II. Webb. M. D. Philadelphia. Pp. 28.
Scriptural Temperance. By W. H. Ten Eyck, D. D. New York: P. Brinkerhoff. Pp. 44.
Light of Comparison Stars for Vesta. Pp. 8. Astronomical Observatory, Harvard Collie. Report of Director. Pp. 12. Observations of Variable Stars in 1884. Pp. 10. All by Edward C. Pickering.
The Lemuroidea and the Insectivora of the
Eocene of North America. Pp. 16. The Position of Pterichthys. Pp. 6. Evolution of the Vertebrata. Pp. So. Marsh on American Jurassic Dinosaurs. Pp. 2. The Amblypoda. Pp. 38. All by Professor E. D. Cope.
Standards of Stellar Magnitudes. Report of Committee A. A. A. Si. Pp. 2.
Proceedings of the State Board of Health of Kentucky, March. 1885. Pp. 32.
Gold and Silver Conversion Tables. Pp. 8. Elevations in the Dominion of Canada. Pp. 48. Fossil Faunas of the Upper Devonian. Pp. 36. On Mesozoic Fossils Pp. 36. Washington: Government Printing-Office.
Sanitary Council of the Mississippi Valley at New Orleans. Pp. 21.
On Color. By Colonel James W. Abert. Pp. 24. Ancient Aztec or Mexican Method of computing Time. By Colonel James W. Abert. Pp. 30.
State Sanitary Survey. Illinois State Board of Health.
Disinfection and Disinfectants. Preliminary Report, American Public Health Association. Pp. S. Batteries. Pp. 24. with Plates. Machinery and Mechanical Appliances. Pp. 12. Reports, International Electrical Exhibition.
The Instruments and Work of Astronomy. By Asaph Hall. Pp. ID.
Dictionary of Altitudes in the United States (U. S. Geological Survey). Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 325.
Herbert Spencer's Philosophy as culminated in his Ethics. By James McCosh. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Pp. 71. Price, 50 cents.
The Diamond Lens, with other Stories. By Fitz-James O'Brien. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Pp. 337. Price, 50 cents.
"American Annals of the Deaf and Dumb." E. A. Fay, Editor. Vol. XXX, No. 1. Quarterly. Washington, D. C. Pp. 92. Price, $2 a year.
"Bulletin of the Philosophical Society of Washington, D. C. Vol. VII. Pp. 135.
Osteology of Ceryle Alcyon. By R. W. Shufeldt. Pp. 16, with Plates
Forests of the Adirondacks. Report of Brooklyn Constitutional Club. Pp. 11.
The Limits of Stability of Nebulous Planets. By Professor Daniel Kirkwood. Pp. 10.
The Morals of Christ By Austin Bierbower. Chicago: Colegrove Book Company. Pp. 200. Price, 53 cents and $1.
The Six Nations. By Judge Daniel Sherman. Jamestown, N. V.: Chautauqua Society of History and Natural Science. Pp. 23.
Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station, Columbus. Report for 1884. William R. Lazenby, Director. Pp. 210.
School Bulletin Year-Book of the State of New York for 1385. By C. W. Bardeen. Syracuse, N. Y.: C. W. Bardeen. Pp. 160.
The Eroding Power of Ice. Pp. 12. The Deposition of Ores Pp IT. Cy J. S. Newberry. Hew York: John Wiley & Sons.
Proceedings of the Natural History Society of Wisconsin, March, 1885. Pp. 40.
Afghanistan and the Anglo-Russian Dispute. By Theodore F. Rodenbough, New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 139, with Map. Price, 50 cents.
Many Drugs, Few Remedies. By George T. Welch, M. D. Pp. 12.
On Oxygen as a Remedial Agent. By Samuel 8. Wallian, M. D., New York. Pp. 52.
Tableau de Diverges Vitesses (Table of Different Speeds). By James Jackson. 446 Broome Street, New York. Pp. 8.
Geographical Society of Paris. Comptes Rendus, January 23, 1885. Pp. 40.
Recent American Socialism. By Richard T. Ely, Ph. D. Baltimore: N. Murray. Pp. 74. Price, 75 cents.
Australian Group Relations. By A. W. Hewitt. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 28.
Miscellaneous Pages on Anthropology. Smithsonian Report, 1883. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 122.
Architecture simplified. Chicago: George W. Ogilvie. Pp. 75. Price, 25 cents.
Typhoid Fever and Low Water in Wells. By Henry B. Baker, M. D., Lansing, Michigan. Pp. 24.
The Jenner of America. By W. M. Welch, M. D., Philadelphia. Pp. 32.
Why don't He lend a Hand? and other Agnostic Poems. By Samuel P. Putnam. New York: "Truth Seeker" Company. Pp. 16.
The Religion of Humanity better than Eternal Punishment. By M. Babcock. New York: "Truth Seeker" Company. Pp. 86. Price, 10 cents.
The Distribution of Canadian Forest-Trees. By A. T. Drummond. Montreal: Dawson Brothers. Pp. 15.
Bureau of Labor, Michigan. Second Annual Report Lansing. Pp. 445.
National Conference of Charities and Correction. Proceedings at the Eleventh Annual Session, St. Louis. Pp. 433.
Descriptive America. Georgia. New York: George H. Adams & Son. Pp. 32, with Maps. Price, 50 cents.
Prehistoric Fishing in Europe and America. By C. Rau, Washington. Pp. 842.
Annals of the Astronomical Observatory of Harvard College. Edward C. Pickering, Director. Vol. XIV, Parts I and II. Cambridge: John Wilson & Son. Pp. 512.
Anales de la Oficina Meteorológica Argentina (Annals of the Argentine Meteorological Office). By Benjamin A. Gould. Vol. IV. Buenos Ayres. Pp. 599.
Origin of Species. Pp 76. Offices of Electricity in the Earth. Pp. 42. By H. B Philbrook, 21 Park Row, New York.
Notes from the Physiological Laboratory of the University of Pennsylvania. By N. A. Randolph, M. D., and Samuel G. Dixon. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company. Pp. 880.
How to drain a House. By George E. Waring, Jr. New York: Henry Holt & Co. Pp. 222. Price, $1.25.
Geology of the Virginias. By the late William Barton Rogers. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 832, with Charts.
An Introduction to Practical Chemistry. By John E. Bowman. Philadelphia: P. Blakiston, Son & Co. Pp. 248. Price, $2.
The Microtomist's Vade-Mecum. By Arthur Bolles Lee. Philadelphia: P. Blakiston, Son & Co. Pp. 424. Price, $3.
Hegel's Æsthetics. By J. S. Kedney. Chicago: S. C. Griggs & Co. Pp. 302. Price, $1.25.
The Protestant Faith. By D. H Olmstead. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 77. Price, 50 cents.
The Sun and his Phenomena. By the Rev. T. W. Webb. New York: Industrial Publication Company. Pp. 80. Price, 40 cents.
Lessons in Hygiene. By John C. Cutter. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company. Pp. 189. Price, 50 cents.
Organic Chemistry. By Ira Remsen. Boston: Ginn, Heath & Co. Pp. 364. Price, $1.30.
The Nature of Mind and Human Automatism. By Morton Prince, M. D. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company. Pp. 173. Price, $1.50.
Easter Cards. New York: Raphael Tuck & Sons.
The Microscope in Botany. From the German of Dr. J. W. Behrens. By Rev. A. B. Hervey and E. H. Ward. Boston: S. E. Cassino & Co. Pp. 466. Price, $5.
Assyriology; its Use and Abuse in Old Testament Study. By Francis Brown. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Pp. 96.
The Russians at the Gates of Herat. By Charles Marvin. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Pp. 185. Price, 50 cents.
Transactions of the New York State Medical Association, 1884. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 654. Price, $5.
Bureau of Labor Statistics of Illinois. Third Biennial Report. John S. Lord, Secretary, Springfield. Pp. 654, with Maps.
The Lenape Stone. By H. C. Mercer. New York: G. P. Putnam's Son's. Pp. 95. Price, $1.25.
Insomnia, and other Disorders of Sleep. By Henry M. Lyman. M. D. Chicago: W. T. Keener. Pp. 239. Price, $1.50.
The French Revolution. By H. A. Taine. Vol. III. New York: Henry Holt & Co. Pp. 509. Price, $2.50.
Comstock Mining and Miners. By Eliot Lord (U. S. Geological Survey). Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 451.