author classifies socii with reference (1) to vitality, (2) to
personality--i.e. personal resource and capacity--and (3) to social
feeling. Under the third classification he distinguishes (1) the
social class, (2) the non-social class, (3) the pseudo-social class,
and (4) the anti-social class. The first of these, the "social class,"
is well characterized as follows: "Their distinguishing characteristic
is a consciousness of kind that is wide in its scope and strong in
its intensity. They are sympathetic, friendly, helpful, and always
interested in endeavoring to perfect social relations, to develop the
methods of co-operation, to add to the happiness of mankind by
improving the forms of social pleasure, to preserve the great social
institutions of the family and the state. To this class the entire
population turns for help, inspiration, and leadership, for unselfish
loyalty and wise enterprise. It includes all who in the true sense of
the word are philanthropic, all whose self-sacrifice is directed by
sound judgment, all true reformers whose zeal is tempered by common
sense and sober patience, and all those who give expression to the
ideals and aspirations of the community for a larger and better life."
The Pre-eminent Social Class is further discussed in Chapter XII; and
the subsequent chapters, as far as, and including, XIX, describe the
processes by which social results in the balancing of interests,
establishment of rights, assimilation of characters, and general
improvement of social conditions, are realized. The limits which
expediency sets to the pursuit of "like-mindedness" are well shown,
and the advantage and necessity for social progress of free discussion
and wide toleration of individual differences are strongly insisted
on. Chapter XX deals with The Early History of Society, and contains
the statement that "from an apelike creature, no longer perfectly
represented in any existing species, the human race is descended."
The subject of Democracy is well treated in a special chapter (XXIV).
The author is of opinion that, if the natural leaders of society do
their duty, they will wield a moral influence that will give a right
direction to public policy, and secure the continuous advance of the
community in prosperity and true civilization. The "if" is an
important one, but the author has strong hope, in which all his
readers will certainly wish to share, that in the main everything will
turn out well.
The remarks on the State in Chapter XXIII are, as far as they go,
judicious; but we could have wished that the author, who we are sure
desires to make his treatise as practically useful as possible, had
dwelt somewhat on the dangers of over-legislation, and had brought
into fuller relief than he has done the difference between state
action and voluntary enterprise, arising from the fact that the former
always involves the element of _compulsion_. We pass a law when we can
not get our neighbor to co-operate or agree with us in something, and
consequently resolve to compel him. Surely this consideration should
suffice to make parsimony the first principle of legislation. We agree
with our author that it is not well to "belittle" the state (page
214), but it is hardly belittling the state to wish to be very sparing
in our appeals to it for the exercise of coercive power.
We miss also in the work before us such a treatment of the _family_ as
might have been introduced into it with advantage. The family
certainly has an important relation to the individual, and in all
civilized countries it is specially recognized by the state. Mr.
Spencer, in the chapter of his Study of Sociology entitled Preparation
in Psychology, has dwelt on the encroachments of the state on the
family; and Mr. Pearson, in his National Life and Character, published
half a dozen years ago, sounded a note of alarm on the same subject.
What position Professor Giddings would have taken as to the importance
of family life and the rights and duties of the family we do not, of
course, know; but we are disposed to think he could have increased the
usefulness and interest of his book by some discussion of these
points. We would only further say that, while the book is specially
intended for scholastic use, it is well adapted for general reading,
and that it could not be read carefully by any one without profit.
* * * * *
Prof. _Wesley Mills_ holds the opinion that in the present stage of
the study of animal life,[36] facts are much more desirable than
theories. Experiment and observation must go on for many years before
generalizations will be worth the making. Putting this belief into
practice, he has bred and reared a large number of animals, making
most careful notes on their physical and mental development, and
furnishes in his book, resulting from these studies, a contribution of
unquestionable value to comparative psychology.
In his investigation of the habits of squirrels, he finds the red
squirrel, or chickaree, much more intelligent than the chipmunk. The
latter is easily trapped, but the former profits by experience and is
rarely secured a second time. These little creatures are also adepts
in feigning. Two examples are cited in which squirrels apparently ill
recovered rapidly when left alone and made their escape in vigorous
fashion. Many instances of animals shamming death are judged to be
cases of catalepsy induced by excessive fear. The chickaree is also
credited with some musical capacity, one being observed, when excited,
to utter tones that were birdlike; whence it is concluded "likely that
throughout the order _Rodentia_ a genuine musical appreciation exists,
and considerable ability in expressing states of emotion by vocal
forms."
While experimenting with hibernating animals, Professor Mills kept a
woodchuck in confinement five years, and noted that it had a drowsy or
torpid period from November to April. Another specimen subjected to
the same conditions did not hibernate for an hour during the entire
season. Bats began to hibernate at 45° to 40° F., and were so affected
by temperature that they could be worked like a machine by varying it.
The woodchuck, however, was comparatively independent of heat and
cold, but very sensitive to storms. This is found to be true of many
wild animals, that they "have a delicate perception of meteorological
conditions, making them wiser than they know, for they act reflexly."
Some records are given of cases of lethargy among human beings, and in
regard to these, as well as normal sleep and hibernation, it is
suggested that their conditioning and variability throw great light
upon the evolution of function.
In order to observe closely the psychic development of young animals,
Professor Mills raised families of dogs, cats, chickens, rabbits,
guinea-pigs, and pigeons. The data obtained by him, given in the form
of diaries with comparisons and conclusions, constitute Part III, the
larger half of the book, unquestionably first in importance and
interest. It is scarcely possible to overvalue careful studies like
these, undertaken not to justify theories, but to bring to light
whatever truths may be apprehended of the nature of growth and
connection of mind and body.
The last division of the book contains the discussions on instinct by
Professors Mills, Lloyd Morgan, Baldwin, and others, first published
in Science. The beginning of the volume, devoted to a general
consideration of the subject, consists of papers on methods of study
and comparative psychology which have appeared in various scientific
periodicals, including this magazine.
GENERAL NOTICES.
In _Four-Footed Americans and their Kin_[37] a similar method is
applied by _Mabel Osgood Wright_ to the study of animals to that which
was followed with reference to ornithology in Citizen Bird. The
subject is taught in the form of a story, with dramatic incident and
adventure, and miniature exploration, and the animals are allowed
occasionally to converse and express their opinions and feelings. The
scene of the action is "Orchard Farm and twenty miles around." Dr.
Hunter and his daughter and colored "mammy" have returned there to
their home after several years of travel, with two city youths who
have been invited to spend the summer at the place and are told the
story of the birds. Another family have come to make an autumn visit,
but it is arranged that they should spend the winter at the farm.
"What they did, and how they became acquainted with the four-footed
Americans, is told in this story." Most of the common animals of the
United States are met or described in the course of the party's
wandering, as creatures of life rather than as in the cold and formal
way of treating museum specimens, and a great deal of the lore of
other branches of natural history is introduced, as it would naturally
come in in such excursions as were taken. The scientific accuracy of
the book is assured by the participation of Mr. Frank M. Chapman as
editor. At the end a Ladder for climbing the Family Tree of the North
American Mammals is furnished in the shape of a table of
classification; and an index of English names is given. The
illustrations, by Ernest Seton Thompson, give lifelike portraits and
attitudes and are very attractive.
_St. George Mivart_, whose enviable reputation as a specialist in
natural history has perhaps given some justification for his attempts
at philosophy, has recently published a new philosophical work
entitled _The Groundwork of Science_[38]. It is an effort to work out
the ultimate facts on which our knowledge, and hence all science, is
based. A short preface and introductory chapter are devoted to a
statement of the aims of the work and some general remarks regarding
the history of the scientific method. An enumeration of the sciences
and an indication of some of their logical relations are next given.
The third chapter, entitled The Objects of Science, is given up
chiefly to a refutation of idealism. The methods of science, its
physical, psychical, and intellectual antecedents, language and
science, causes of scientific knowledge, and the nature of the
groundwork of science are the special topics of the remaining
chapters. The general scheme of the inquiry is based on the theory
that the groundwork of science consists of three divisions. "The
laborers who work, the tools they must employ, and that which
constitutes the field of their labor.... Science is partly physical
and partly psychical.... The tools are those first principles and
universal, necessary, self-evident truths which lie so frequently
unnoticed in the human intellect, and which are absolutely
indispensable for valid reasoning.... The nature of the workers must
also be noticed as necessarily affecting the value of their work....
And, last of all, a few words must be devoted to the question whether
there is any and, if any, what foundation underlying the whole
groundwork of science." The result at which the author arrives is
stated as follows: "The groundwork of science is the work of
self-conscious material organisms making use of the marvelous first
principles which they possess in exploring all the physical and
psychical phenomena of the universe, which sense, intuition, and
ratiocination can anyhow reveal to them as real existences, whether
actual or only possible.... The foundation of science can only be
sought in that reason which evidently to us pervades the universe,
and is that by which our intellect has been both produced and
illumined."
A large amount of information, mainly of a practical character, has
been gathered by Mr. _William J. Clark_ in his book on _Commercial
Cuba_[39]--information, as Mr. Gould well says in the introduction he
has contributed to the work, covering almost the entire field of
inquiry regarding Cuba and its resources. The data have been partly
gained from the author's personal observation and during his travels
on the island, and partly through laborious and painstaking
classification of existing material, collected from many and diverse
sources. The subject is systematically treated. The first chapter--How
to Meet the Resident of Cuba--relates to the behavior of visitors to
the island, really a considerably more important matter than it would
be in this country, for the Spaniards are strict in their regard for
correct etiquette. It is natural that a chapter on the population and
its characteristics and occupations should follow this. Even more
important than correct behavior--to any one at least but a
Spaniard--is the subject of climate and the preservation of health;
and whatever is of moment in relation to these subjects is given in
the chapter devoted to them. Next the geographical characteristics of
Cuba are described, and the facilities and methods of transportation
and communication; also social and political matters, including
government, banking, and commercial finance, and legal and
administrative systems of the past and future. A chapter is given to
Animal and Vegetable Life, another to Sugar and Tobacco, and a third
to Some General Statistics, after which the several provinces--Pinar
del Rio, the city and province of Havana (including the Isle of
Pines), and the provinces of Matanzas, Santa Clara, Puerto Principe,
and Santiago--are described in detail, with their physical
characteristics, their agricultural or mining resources, their various
towns, and whatever else in them is of interest to the student of
economics. A Cuban Business Directory is given in the appendix.
A Collection of Essays is the modest designation which Professors
_J.C. Arthur_ and _D.T. MacDougal_ give to the scientific papers
included in their book on _Living Plants and their Properties_.[40]
The authors deserve all praise for having taken the pains without
which no book composed of occasional pieces can be made complete and
symmetrical, to revise and rewrite the articles, omitting parts "less
relevant in the present connection," and amplifying others "to meet
the demands of continuity, clearness, and harmony with current
botanical thought." Of the twelve papers, those on the Special Senses
of Plants, Wild Lettuce, Universality of Consciousness and Pain, Two
Opposing Factors of Increase, The Right to Live, and Distinction
between Plants and Animals, are by Professor Arthur; and those on The
Development of Irritability, Mimosa--a Typical Sensitive Plant, The
Effect of Cold, Chlorophyll and Growth, Leaves in Spring, Summer, and
Autumn, and the Significance of Color, are by Professor MacDougal.
Based to a large extent on original investigations or careful studies,
they present many novel thoughts and aspects, and constitute an
acceptable addition to popular botanical literature.
Having described the great and growing interest taken in child study,
President _A.R. Taylor_ announces as the principal aim of his book,
_The Study of the Child_,[41] to bring the subject within the average
comprehension of the teacher and parent. Besides avoiding as much as
possible technical terms and scientific formulas, the author has made
the desire to announce new principles subservient to that of assisting
his fellow-workers to a closer relationship with the child. As
teachers and parents generally think it extremely difficult to pursue
the study of the child without at least a fair understanding of the
elements of psychology, the author intimates that they often forget
that the study will give them that very knowledge, and that, properly
pursued, it is the best possible introduction to psychology in
general. Every chapter in the present book, he says, is an attempt to
organize the knowledge already possessed by those who know little or
nothing of scientific psychology, and to assist them to inquiries
which will give a clearer apprehension of the nature and possibilities
of the child. The treatise begins with the wakening of the child to
conscious life through the senses, the nature and workings of each of
which are described. The bridge over from the physical to the mental
is found in consciousness, which for the present purpose is defined as
the self knowing its own states or activities. The idea of identity
and difference arises, symbols are invented or suggested, and language
is made possible. The features of language peculiar to children are
considered. Muscular or motor control, the feelings, and the will are
treated as phases or factors in development, and their functions are
defined. The intellect and its various functions are discussed with
considerable fullness; and chapters on The Self, Habit, and Character;
Children's Instincts and Plays; Manners and Morals; Normals and
Abnormals; and Stages of Growth, Fatigue Point, etc., follow. A very
satisfactory bibliography is appended.
_The Discharge of Electricity through Gases_[42] is an expansion of
four lectures given by the author, Prof. _J.J. Thomson_, of the
University of Cambridge, at Princeton University in October, 1896.
Some results published between the delivery and printing of the
lectures are added. The author begins by noticing the contrast between
the variety and complexity of electrical phenomena that occur when
matter is present in the field with their simplicity when the ether
alone is involved; thus the idea of a charge of electricity, which is
probably in many classes of phenomena the most prominent idea of all,
need not arise, and in fact does not arise, so long as we deal with
the ether alone. The questions that occur when we consider the
relation between matter and the electrical charge carried by it--such
as the state of the matter when carrying the charge, and the effect
produced on this state when the sign of the charge is changed--are
regarded as among the most important in the whole range of physics.
The close connection that exists between chemical and electrical
phenomena indicates that a knowledge of the relation between matter
and electricity would lead to an increase of our knowledge of
electricity, and further of that of chemical action, and, indeed, to
an extension of the domain of electricity over that of chemistry. For
the study of this relation the most promising course is to begin with
that between electricity and matter in the gaseous or simpler state;
and that is what is undertaken in this book. The subject is presented
under the three general headings with numerous subheadings of The
Discharge of Electricity through Gases, Photo Electric Effects, and
Cathode Rays.
For a clear and concise presentation of the framework of psychology
and its basal truths, the _Story of the Mind_[43] may be commended.
Although the space afforded is only that of a bird's-eye view, no
skeleton bristling with technical terms confronts us, but an
attractive and well-furnished structure with glimpses of various
divisions that tempt us to further examination. The text is simply and
charmingly written, and may induce many to search the recesses of
psychology who, under a less skillful guide, would be frightened away.
A bibliography at the end of the volume supplies what other direction
may be needed for more advanced study. Admirable in construction and
treatment as the book is, there are, however, paths in which we can
not follow where Professor Baldwin would lead, and in others that we
undertake with him we do not recognize our surroundings as those he
describes. This is especially the case with the environment of the
genius. We do not find that "he and society agree in regard to the
fitness of his thoughts," nor that "for the most part his judgment is
_at once_ also the social judgment." If such were the case, how would
he "wait for recognition," or be "muzzled" for expressing his
thoughts? In almost all cases it is the story of Galileo over again.
In art, science, and social reform he sees far beyond his fellows.
Society can not accept him because it has not the vision of a genius.
He contradicts its judgment and is fortunate when he escapes with the
name of "crank." The military hero does not enter into this category:
he glorifies the past rather than the future; he justifies the
multitude in a good opinion of itself and, is therefore always
received.
The first edition of Professor _Bolton's Catalogue of Scientific and
Technical Periodicals_[44] was issued in 1885, and was intended to
embrace the principal independent periodicals of every branch of pure
and applied science, published in all countries from the rise of this
literature to the present time, with full titles, names of editors,
sequence of series, and other bibliographical details, arranged on a
simple plan convenient for reference; omitting, with a few exceptions,
serials constituting transactions of learned societies. In cases where
the scientific character of the journal or its right to be classed as
a periodical was doubtful, and in other debatable cases, the compiler
followed Zuchold's maxim, that "in a bibliography it is much better
that a book should be found which is not sought, than that one should
be sought for and not found." The new edition contains as Part I a
reprint from the plates of the first edition, with such changes
necessary to bring the titles down to date as could be made without
overrunning the plates; and in Part II additions to the titles of Part
I that could not be inserted in the plates, together with about 3,600
new titles, bringing the whole number of titles up to 8,477, together
with addenda, raising this number to 8,603, minus the numbers 4,955 to
5,000, which are skipped between the first and second parts.
Chronological tables give the dates of the publication of each volume
of the periodicals entered. A library check list shows in what
American libraries the periodicals may be found. Cross-references are
freely introduced. The material for the work has been gathered from
all available bibliographies, and by personal examination of the
shelves and catalogues of many libraries in the United States and
Europe, and from responses to circulars sent out by the Smithsonian
Institution. The whole work is a monument of prodigious labor
industriously and faithfully performed.
In _Theories of the Will in the History of Philosophy_[45] a concise
account is given by _Archibald Alexander_ of the development of the
theory of the will from the early days of Greek thought down to about
the middle of the present century; including, however, only the
theories of the more important philosophers. In addition to
contributing something to the history of philosophy, it has been the
author's purpose to introduce in this way a constructive explanation
of voluntary action. The account closes with the theory of Lotze;
since the publication of which the methods of psychology have been
greatly modified, if not revolutionized, by the development of the
evolutional and physiological systems of study. The particular
subjects considered are the theories of the will in the Socratic
period, the Stoic and Epicurean theories; the theories in Christian
theology, in British philosophy from Bacon to Reid, Continental
theories from Descartes to Leibnitz, and theories in German philosophy
from Kant to Lotze. The author has tried to avoid obtruding his own
opinions, expressing an individual judgment only on matters of
doubtful interpretation; and he recognizes that speculation and the
introspective method of studying the will appear to have almost
reached their limits.
Dr. _Frank Overton's_ text-book of _Applied Physiology_[46] makes a
new departure from the old methods of teaching physiology, in that it
begins with the cells as the units of life and shows their relations
to all the elements of the body and all the processes of human action.
The fact of their fundamental nature and importance is emphasized
throughout. The relation of oxidation--oxidation within the cells--as
the essential act of respiration--to the disappearance of food, the
production of waste matters, and the development of force, is dwelt
upon. The influence of alcohol is discussed in all its aspects, not in
a separate chapter, but whenever it comes in place in connection with
the several topics and subjects treated. Other narcotics are dealt
with. A chapter on inflammation and taking cold is believed to be an
entirely new feature in a school text book. Summaries and review
topics are arranged at the end of each chapter; subjects from original
demonstrations and the use of the microscope are listed; and many
hygienic topics, such as air, ventilation, drinking water, clothing,
bathing, bacteria, etc., are specially treated.
The prominent characteristic of Professors _F.P. Venable_ and _J.L.
Howe's_ text-book on _Inorganic Chemistry according to the Periodic
Law_[47] is expressed in the title, and is the adoption of the
periodic law as the guiding principle of the treatment, and the
keeping of it in the foreground throughout. So far as the authors have
noticed, the complete introduction of this system has not been
attempted before in any text book. They have made the experiment of
following it closely in their classes, and their success through
several years has convinced them of its value. "In no other way have
we been able to secure such thorough results, both as to thorough,
systematic instruction and economy of time. The task is rendered
easier for both student and teacher." After the setting forth of
definitions and general principles in the introduction, the elements
are taken up and described according to their places and relations in
the periodic groups, and then their compounds are described
successively, with hydrogen, the halogens, oxygen, sulphur, and the
nitrides, phosphides, carbides, silicides, and the alloys. The
treatment is systematic, condensed, and clear.
The purpose of Mr. _John W. Troeger's_ series of Nature-Study Readers
is declared by the editor to be to supply supplementary reading for
pupils who have been two years or more at school. They are composed,
moreover, with a view to facilitating the recognition in the printed
form of words already familiar to the ear, and to making the child at
home with them. In carrying out this purpose the author takes
advantage of the child's fondness for making observations, especially
when attended by his companions or elders. In doing this the aim has
been kept in view not to weary the child with details, and yet to give
sufficient information to lead to accurate and complete observations.
Most of the chapters in the present volume, _Harold's Rambles_, the
second of the series, contain the information gleaned during walks and
short excursions. Among the subjects concerned are birds, mammals,
insects, earthworms, snails, astronomy, minerals, plants, grasses,
vegetables, physics, and features connected with the farm. These
Nature-study readers are published as a branch of Appletons'
Home-Reading series. (New York: D. Appleton and Company. Price, 40
cents.)
Another of Appletons' Home-Reading Books is _News from the Birds_,
which the author, _Leander S. Keyser_, explains has been written with
two purposes in mind: first, to furnish actual instruction, to tell
some new facts about bird life that have not yet been recited; and,
second, to inspire in readers a taste for Nature study. It is by no
means a key for the identification of the birds; but, instead of
telling all that is or may be known respecting a particular bird, the
author has sought only to recite such incidents as will spur the
reader to go out into the fields and woods and study the birds in
their native haunts. For the most part the author has given a record
of his own observations, and not a reiteration of what others have
said. He has gone to the birds themselves for his facts, and has made
very little use of books.
It has been Mr. _Ernest A. Congdon's_ aim, in preparing his _Brief
Course in Qualitative Analysis_ (New York: Henry Holt; 60 cents), to
render it as concise as possible while making the least sacrifice of a
study of reactions and solubilities of chemical importance. The manual
covers the points of preliminary reactions on bases and acids; schemes
of analysis for bases and acids; explanatory notes on the analyses;
treatment of solid substances (powders, alloys, or metals); and
tables of solubilities of salts of the bases studied. A comprehensive
list of questions, stimulative of thought, is appended. The book is
intended merely as a laboratory guide, and should be supplemented by
frequent "quiz classes" and by constant personal attention. The course
has been satisfactorily given in the Drexel Institute within the
allotted time of one laboratory period of four hours, and one hour for
a lecture or quiz per week, during the school year of thirty-two
weeks.
_Lest we Forget_ is the title which President _David Starr Jordan_ has
given to his address before the graduating class of Leland Stanford
Junior University, May 25, 1898--"lest we forget" the dangers and
duties and responsibilities laid upon us by the war with Spain. Though
delivered before the "policy of expansion" was fully developed, the
address describes with prophetic accuracy the dream of imperialism
with which the minds even of men usually sane and honest have become
infected, and points out a few of the logical results to which they
would lead, and the dangers which will have to be incurred in
gratifying them. We cite a few of the strong points made by the
author: "Our question is not what we shall do with Cuba, Porto Rico,
and the Philippines; it is what these prizes will do to us." "Shall
the war for Cuba Libre come to an inglorious end? If we make anything
by it, it will be most inglorious." "I believe that the movement
toward broad dominion, so eloquently outlined by Mr. Olney, would be a
step downward."
PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.
Adams, Enos, 2072 Second Avenue, New York. What is Science? Pp. 14.
Agricultural Experiment Stations. Bulletins. Delaware College: No. 41.
Pea Canning in Delaware. By G.H. Powell. Pp. 16.--New Hampshire
College: No. 55. The Feeding Habits of the Chipping Sparrow. By C.M.
Weed. Pp. 12; No. 56. Poisonous Properties of Wild Cherry Leaves. By
F.W. Morse and C.D. Howard. Pp. 12.--New Jersey: No. 130. Forage
Crops. By E.B. Voorhees and C.B. Lane. Pp. 22; No. 131. Feeds Rich in
Protein, etc. By E.B. Voorhees. Pp. 14.--New York: No. 145. Analysis
of Commercial Fertilizers. By L.L. Van Syke. Pp. 100.--United States
Department of Agriculture. Some Books on Agriculture and Sciences
related to Agriculture published in 1896-'98. Pp. 45.; List of
Publications relating to Forestry in the Department Library. Pp. 93.
Allen, W.D., and Carlton, W.N., Editors In Lantern Land, Vol. I, No.
1, December 3, 1898. Monthly. Hartford, Conn. Pp. 16. 10 cents.
Amryc, C. Pantheism, the Light and Hope of Modern Reason. Pp. 302.
Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, The Journal
of. New Series, Vol. I, Nos. 1 and 2, August and November, 1898.
London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co. Pp. 200.
Atkinson, Edward. I. The Cost of a National Crime. II. The Hell of War
and its Penalties. Brookline, Mass. Pp. 26.
Babcock Printing Press Manufacturing Company. Some Facts about Modern
Presses. Pp. 8.
Brinton, Daniel G. A Record of Study on Aboriginal American Languages.
Pp. 24.
Bulletins, Proceedings, and Reports. American Society of Naturalists:
Records, Vol. II, Part 3. Providence, R.I.: Published by the Society.
Pp. 58.--Argentine Republic. Anales de la Oficina Meteorologica
Argentina, Vol. XII. Climate of Asuncion, Paraguay, and Rosario
de Santa Fé. Walter G. Davis, Director. Buenos Aires. Pp.
684.--Association of Economic Entomologists: Proceedings of the Tenth
Annual Meeting. Washington: United States Department of Agriculture.
Pp. 104.--Illinois State Laboratory of Natural History: Biennial
Report of the Director for 1897-'98. Urbana, Ill. Pp. 31, with
plates.--Johns Hopkins University Circulars: Notes from the Biological
Laboratory, November, 1898. Pp. 34. 10 cents.--Secretary of the
Interior: Report for the Fiscal Year ended June 30, 1898. Pp.
242.--Wagner Free Institute of Science of Philadelphia: Transactions,
Vol. III, Part IV, April, 1898. Pp. 150, with plates.
De Morgan, Augustus. On the Study and Difficulties of Mathematics. New
edition. Chicago: The Open Court Publishing Company. Pp. 288.
Gowdy, Jean L. Ideals and Programmes. Syracuse, N.Y.: C.W. Bardeen.
Pp. 102. 75 cents.
Grand View Institute Journal. Monthly. Grand View, Texas. Vol. I, No.
1, October, 1898. Pp. 18.
Hinsdale, Guy, M.D. Acromegaly. Detroit, Mich.: W.M. Warren. Pp. 88.
Holland, W.J. The Butterfly Book. A Popular Guide to a Knowledge of
the Butterflies of North America. New York: Doubleday & McClure
Company. Pp. 382, with 48 colored plates. $3.
James, Alice J. Catering for Two. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. Pp.
292. $1.25.
Lagrange, Joseph Louis. Lectures on Elementary Mathematics. Translated
by T.J. McCormick. Chicago: Open Court Publishing Company. Pp. 172.
$1.
Loomis, Ernest. Practical Occultism. Chicago: Ernest Loomis & Co., 70
Dearborn Street. Pp. 155. $1.25.
Merrill, G.P. The Physical, Chemical, and Economic Properties of
Building Stones. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press. Pp. 80.
National Pure Food and Drug Congress: Memorial to Congress against
Adulterations. Pp. 15.
Owen, Luella A. Cave Regions of the Ozark and Black Hills. Cincinnati:
The Editor Publishing Company. Pp. 228.
Payson, E.P. Suggestions toward an Applied Science of Sociology. New
York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 237.
Reprints. Baldwin, J. Mark. Princeton Contributions to Psychology,
Vol. II, No. 4, May, 1898. Pp. 32.--Brinton, Daniel G. The Linguistic
Cartography of the Chaco Region. Pp. 30.--Gerhard, William Paul.
Theater Sanitation. Pp. 15.--Kuh, Sydney, M.D. The Medico-Legal
Aspects of Hypnotism. Pp. 12.--McBride, T.H. Public Parks for Iowa
Towns. Pp. 8.--Macmillan, Conway. On the Formation of Circular Muskeag
in Tamarack Swamps. Pp. 8, with 3 plates.--Smith, J.P. The Development
of Lytoceras and Phylloceras. San Francisco. Pp. 24, with
plates.--Stuver, E., M.D. What Influence do Stimulants and Narcotics
exert on the Development of the Child? Chicago. Pp. 20.--Turner, H.W.
Notes on Some Igneous, Metamorphic, and Sedimentary Rocks of the Coast
Ranges of California. Chicago. Pp. 16.--Washburn, F.L., Eugene, Ore.
Continuation of Experiment in Propagating Oysters on the Oregon Coast,
Summer of 1898. Pp. 5.
Spencer, Herbert, The Principles of Biology. Revised and enlarged
edition, 1898. Vol. I. New York: D. Appleton and Company. Pp. 706. $2.
Winthrop, Alice Worthington. Diet in Illness and Convalescence. New
York: Harper & Brothers. Pp. 287.
United States Geological Survey. The Kaolins and Fire Clays of Europe,
and the Clay-working Industry of the United States in 1897. By
Heinrich Ries. Pp. 114; Bulletin No. 150. The Educational Series of
Rock Specimens collected and distributed by the Survey. By J.S.
Diller. Pp. 400; No. 151. The Lower Cretaceous Gryphæas of the Texas
Region. By R.T. Hill and T.W. Vaughan. Pp. 139, with plates; No. 152.
Catalogue of the Cretaceous and Tertiary Plants of North America. By
F.H. Knowlton. Pp. 247; No. 153. A Bibliographical Index of North
American Carboniferous Invertebrates. By Stuart Weller. Pp. 653; No.
154. A Gazetteer of Kansas. By Henry Gannett. Pp. 246; No. 155.
Earthquakes in California in 1896 and 1897. By C.D. Perrine Pp. 18;
No. 156. Bibliography and Index of North American Geology,
Paleontology, Petrology, and Mineralogy for 1897. By F.B. Weeks. Pp.
130.
United States National Museum. Bean, Barton A. Notes on the Capture of
Rare Fishes. Pp. 2.--Bean, Tarleton H. and Barton A. Notes on
Oxycoltus Acuticeps (Gilbert) from Sitka and Kadiak, Alaska. Pp
2.--Lucas, F.A. A New Snake from the Eocene of Alabama. Pp. 2, with 2
plates.
FOOTNOTES:
[35] The Elements of Sociology. By Franklin Henry Giddings. New York:
The Macmillan Company, 1898. Pp. 353. Price, $1.10.
[36] The Nature and Development of Animal Intelligence. By Wesley
Mills, F.R.S.C. New York: The Macmillan Company. Pp. 307. Price, $2.
[37] Four-Footed Americans and their Kin. By Mabel Osgood Wright.
Edited by Frank M. Chapman. New York: The Macmillan Company. Pp. 432,
with plates. Price, $1.50.
[38] The Groundwork of Science. A Study of Epistemology. By St. George
Mivart. Pp. 328. Price, $1.75. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. London;
Bliss, Sands & Co.
[39] Commercial Cuba. A Book for Business Men. By William J. Clark.
Illustrated. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Pp. 514, with maps.
[40] Living Plants and their Properties. A Collection of Essays. By
Joseph Charles Arthur (Purdue University) and Daniel Trembly MacDougal
(University of Minnesota). New York: Baker & Taylor. Minneapolis:
Morris & Wilson. Pp. 234.
[41] The Study of the Child. A Brief Treatise on the Psychology of the
Child, with Suggestions for Teachers, Students, and Parents. By A.R.
Taylor. New York: D. Appleton and Company. (International Education
Series.) Pp. 215. Price, $1.50.
[42] The Discharge of Electricity through Gases. Lectures delivered on
the occasion of the Sesquicentennial Celebration of Princeton
University. By J.J. Thomson. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Pp.
203. Price, $1.
[43] The Story of the Mind. By James Mark Baldwin. New York: D.
Appleton and Company. Pp. 232. Price, 40 cents.
[44] A Catalogue of Scientific and Technical Periodicals 1665-1895,
together with Chronological Tables and a Library Check List. By Henry
Carrington Bolton. Second edition. City of Washington: Published by
the Smithsonian Institution. Pp. 1247.
[45] Theories of the Will in the History of Philosophy. By Archibald
Alexander. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Pp. 357. Price, $1.50.
[46] Applied Physiology for Advanced Grades. Including the Effects of
Alcohol and Narcotics. American Book Company. Pp. 432. Price, 80
cents.
[47] Inorganic Chemistry according to the Periodic Law. By F.P.
Venable and James Lewis Howe. Easton, Pa: The Chemical Publishing
Company. Pp. 266. Price, $1.50.
Fragments of Science.
=Early Submarine Telegraphy.=--The actual date of the beginning of
subaqueous telegraphy was admitted by Professor Ayrtoun, in a lecture
delivered before the Imperial Institute in 1897, to be uncertain.
Baron Schilling is said to have exploded mines under the Neva by means
of the electric current as early as 1812; and this method was used by
Colonel Pasley to blow up the wreck of the Royal George at Spithead in
1838; but our Morse has the credit of having first used a wire
insulated with India rubber under water. In 1837, Wheatstone and Cooke
were experimenting with land telegraphy, and were considering the
possibility of laying an insulated wire under water. Morse's
successful experiments date from 1842, when he personally laid a cable
between Castle Garden and Governor's Island and sent messages over it;
the next morning it was broken. With the introduction of gutta percha
as an insulator in 1847, submarine telegraphy became practicable. The
Central Oceanic Telegraph Company had been registered by Jacob Brett
in 1845, and a cable was laid under the English Channel by Brett and
his brother in 1850. Messages were sent through it, but, like Morse's
earlier effort, it immediately became silent. Better success attended
the cable of the next year, which was sheathed with iron; and the
first public submarine message was sent over it November 13, 1851.
Morse wrote of the possibility of establishing electro-magnetic
communication across the ocean as early as 1844. A syndicate was
formed for this purpose in 1855, Cyrus W. Field being the most
conspicuous figure in it. An understanding was reached with the Brett
company, and the Atlantic Telegraph Company was formed. The first
effort to lay the cable was made in 1857 by the United States frigate
Niagara and H.M.S. Agamemnon, but the wires broke in deep water when
about a third of the work was done. A cable was successfully laid the
next year, but it died out in a month. Finally, electric communication
was permanently established across the Atlantic by the Telegraph
Construction and Maintenance Company, which, capturing a cable that
had been lost, soon had two. Transatlantic cables have now become so
numerous and so regular in their working that the danger of even a
temporary failure has become very remote.
=The White Lady Mountain.=--Iztaccihuatl (pronounced Is-tak-see-watl)
is about ten miles, measuring to its principal peak, north of
Popocatepetl. In shape it consists of a long, narrow ridge cut into
three well-defined peaks about equally distant from one another, of
which the central is the highest; and the snow-covered peak resembles
the figure of a woman lying on her back; whence the name of the
mountain, which means _white woman_. According to the Aztecs, Dr.
O.C. Farrington, of the Field Columbian Museum, tells us, this woman
was a goddess who for some crime had been struck dead and doomed to
lie forever on this spot. Popocatepetl was her lover, and had stood by
her. Tastes differ as to whether it or Popocatepetl presents a more
striking view, but either is a beautiful enough object to look upon.
The first authenticated record of an ascent to the summit of the
mountain is that of Mr. H. Reniere Whitehouse, who reached the top
November 9, 1889, and found there undoubted evidence that an ascent
had been made five days previously by Mr. James de Salis. Prof. Angelo
Heilprin and Mr. F. C. Baker attempted an ascent in the following
April, but were turned back when about seventy-five yards below the
summit, at a height of 16,730 feet, by two impassable crevasses. "The
ascent of Iztaccihuatl seems, therefore, pretty generally to have
foiled those who have attempted it. Dr. Farrington, who ascended to
the Porfirio Diaz Glacier in February, 1896, describes the route as
steeper than that which leads up to Popocatepetl." The brilliant and
varied flora, picturesque barrenness, and beautiful cascades lend
everywhere a charm to the scene which contrasts favorably with the
somber monotony which characterizes the route by which Popocatepetl is
ascended. The slopes of the mountain are cultivated to a considerable
height--10,860 feet. The lower slopes are largely covered with soil,
and the andesite rock, of gray and red colors, differs completely in
character from that of Popocatepetl. The aiguillelike character of
many of the spurs extending at right angles to the course of the
mountain is a prominent feature. Many caves in the rock furnish
shelter to cattle and persons attempting the ascent. Dr. Farrington
examined the Porfirio Diaz Glacier, and concluded that it formerly had
a much greater extent than now.
=The Adulteration of Butter with Glucose.=--The following is from an
article by C.A. Crampton in the Journal of the American Chemical
Society: In domestic practice the addition of sugar to butter for
purposes of preservation is doubtless almost as old as the art of
butter-making itself; salt, however, is the usually preferred
preservative. Sugar appears in several of the various United States
patents for so-called "improving" or renovating processes for butter,
being added to it along with salt, saltpeter, and in some cases sodium
carbonate. Within the past few years glucose has been used in butter
specially prepared for export to tropical countries, as the West
Indies or South America. It is usually put up in tins, and various
means are resorted to for preventing the decomposition of their goods
before they reach the consumer. Very large quantities of salt are used
by the French exporters, as the following two analyses show:
Butter for Export.
To Brazil. To Antilles.
Water 10.29 10.19
Curd 1.24 1.31
Ash 10.29 10.06
Fat 78.18 78.44
------ ------
100.00 100.00
Chemical antiseptics, borax, salicylic acid, etc., are sometimes used,
but the method found most efficacious by exporters in this country
seems to be the use of glucose in conjunction with moderately heavy
salting. The glucose used is a heavy, low-converted sirup, known as
confectioners' glucose. The detection of glucose in butter presents no
difficulty. The butter is thoroughly washed with hot water, which will
readily take up whatever glucose is present. This solution is then
tested by means of Fehling's solution. The following is an analysis of
the so-called _beurre rouge_, or red butter, which is exported to
Guadeloupe. It is a peculiar highly colored compound, containing large
quantities of salt and glucose:
Water 21.60
Curd 0.81
Ash 16.42
Fat 51.15
Glucose 10.02
------
100.00
=Decorated Skulls and the Power ascribed to them.=--A collection of
sixteen skulls--eight of men, seven of women, and one of a child--from
New Guinea, is described by George A. Dorsey in the publications of
the Field Columbian Museum, Chicago. They were received from a native
chief, who used them for the adornment of his house, and is said to
have prized them as trophies of war. They are decorated in the frontal
region by engraved designs, and the parts are attached to one another
by very skillfully adjusted cords. The ornamentation and the bindings
are the subject of a special comment by William H. Holmes. Importance
is attached by natives of New Guinea to the preservation of the skulls
of friends as mementoes and of foes as trophies, and of both
categories on account of the virtue--the best qualities of the
individuals whose skulls they are--which they are supposed to impart
in some mysterious way to their possessor. Hence special care is taken
to have them preserved in detail, and that no part be lost. In the
present specimens the jaws were secured by fastenings at right and
left and in front. The teeth were carefully tied in, and when lost
were replaced by artificial teeth. A cord was fastened around the back
molar on one side, and carried along, inclosing each tooth in turn, in
a loop, so as to make a very effective fastening when the cord was
tightly drawn and attached to the back molar on the other side. The
lower jaw was very firmly fastened to the skull by closely wrapped
cords tightened by binding the strands around the middle portion. In
some cases these fastenings are very elaborate and neat; in others,
imperfect and slovenly. All the skulls in the collection are decorated
with designs engraved on the frontal bone, and in some cases the
figures run back. The execution of the work is not of a very high
order, but is rather irregular and scratchy. Nearly all embody easily
distinguished animal forms, and the more formal or nearly geometric
ones are probably animal derivatives or representations of land,
water, or natural phenomena. They are possibly totemic or
mythological.
=Galax and its Affinities.=--One of the most interesting plants of the
Southern mountain region is the galax (_Galax aphylla_), which grows
in the highlands more or less abundantly from Virginia southward. The
slopes of Grandfather Mountain, North Carolina, are carpeted with it
for many square miles of almost uninterrupted extent. Besides being an
attractive plant at home, its thick, leathery, rounded cordate leaves,
deep green or crimson or mixed, according to the season, make it much
in demand for decoration, and tons of it in the aggregate are shipped,
from places where it grows abundantly, for that purpose. Its
affiliations with certain other Alpine and arctic plants are described
in a carefully studied paper on the Order Diapensisceæ, published by
Margaret Farsman Boynton in the Journal of the National Science Club,
Washington. Linnæus found in Lapland a creeping evergreen herb,
matting the surface with its stiff, spatulate leaves, and described it
in 1737 as _Diapensia lapponica_. Then galax was discovered by
Gronovius and given a place by Linnæus--because of its stamens rather
than of its natural affinities--along with Diapensia. Michaux, in the
last decade of the eighteenth century, found _Pyxidanthera barbulata_,
resembling diapensia, in the pine barrens of New Jersey and North
Carolina. More recently other species of diapensia and _Berneuxia_
have been found among the Himalayas, and _Schizocodon_ of several
species in Japan. One of the most remarkable discoveries in the list
was that by Michaux in the mountains of North Carolina of a plant
which was afterward called _Shortia galacifolia_, from the resemblance
of its leaves to those of galax. This plant in a living state was then
lost, and when Gray and Torrey looked for it in 1831 in vain, only one
preserved specimen of it was known to be extant and that in fruit; and
it was not till 1877 that it was collected, rediscovered, in fact, in
flower, as Gray has said, "by an herbalist almost absolutely ignorant
of botany, who was only informed of his good fortune on sending to a
botanist one of the two specimens collected by him." The Shortia, so
far as is known, grows only in a very narrow district, and those who
know the place are careful not to direct the public to it. Specimens
have been collected by a few nurserymen, who cultivate it and have it
for sale. The plants of this list are variously classified as among
one another by botanists, but are regarded as belonging to a common
group. "The real story of their development," says the author of the
paper, "can be gathered only in hints from their present distribution,
for unfortunately they have neither gallery of ancestral portraits nor
recorded geological tree." But their ancestors are supposed to have
been pushed down by the glaciers and left where the modern forms are
found. Almost anywhere in the boreal flora _Diapensia lapponica_ may
be found, whether in northern Asia, or Europe, or America, or even on
the mountains of Labrador and in the Pyrenees, the Scotch mountains,
and our own White Mountains.
=The Academy della Crusca.=--"For three hundred years," says a
correspondent of the London Athenæum, "the learned body, the Academy
of la Crusca (the bran), Florence, has been scrupulously sifting the
Italian tongue and producing successive editions of its monumental
dictionary. Its present seat is in the monastery of St.
Mark--Savonarola's cloister--where it occupies the hall behind the
great library. When an associate is promoted to full membership, his
official reception is still accompanied by the traditional rite.
First, he is solemnly conducted to the Cruscan museum, and left to
solitary meditation among shovel-backed chairs surmounted by the
symbolical sieve and bookcases ingeniously fashioned in the likeness
of corn sacks. The walls are covered with the names, crests, and
mottoes of former members, who in past times usually assumed fantastic
titles descriptive of the academy's labors." Some of these printed
inscriptions and comical devices are more or less quaint. Thus, Dr.
Giulio Maxi in 1590 took the name of _Il Fiorito_, or the flowery one,
with the device of a basket of wheat in bloom and the motto from
Petrarch (translation):
"I enjoy the present and hope for better."
In 1641 the Senator Vieri appeared as _Le Svanito_, the evaporated,
with an uncorked wine flask, the stopper beside it, and the motto:
"Oh, how I long for the medicine!"
In 1660 the Marquis Malaskini adopted the title of _Il Preservato_,
the preserved, the device of olives packed in straw, and the motto
from Petrarch:
"Keep the prize green."
In 1764, the Abbot Giuseppe Pelli, surnamed _Il Megliorato_, the
improved, took the device of a newly invented sieve for the better
sifting of grain, with the Petrarchian motto:
"Follow the few, and not the throng."
In 1770, Signor Domenico Manni assumed the title of _Il Sofferente_,
the sufferer, with a straw chair as his device, and a motto from
Dante:
"The master said that lying in a feather bed
One would not come to fame--nor under the plowshare."
In due time the new member is escorted to the hall where the academy
is assembled, and the chief consul, head of the academy, greets him
with a speech, to which he has to make a fitting reply. Historical
Italian families are numerously represented on the academy's rolls,
and among the foreign members are the names of William Roscoe and Mr.
Gladstone.
=Aboriginal Superstitions about Bones.=--A very interesting
archaeological site in Mexico, visited by Carl Lumholtz and Aleš
Hedlička in the fall of 1896, is near Zacápu, in the State of
Michoacan. The region is marked by many stone mounds on or near the
edge of the old flow of lava, extending for several miles; and
directly above the village stands a large stone fortress, called El
Palacio. Excavating near this fortress, Mr. Lumholtz unearthed several
skeletons, which had been buried without any order, and accompanied by
"remarkably few objects," but some of these were well worthy of study.
The most curious things found were some bones, strangely marked with
grooves across them, exhibiting a little variety in arrangement, but
all similarly executed, and evidently after a carefully devised
system. This feature is so far unique in archæology, and its purpose
can as yet be only a matter of conjecture. Two ways are proposed by
the author of explaining it. The marking may have been an operation
undertaken for the purpose of dispatching the dead. Mr. Lumholtz is
knowing to a belief among the tribes of Mexico that the dead are
troublesome to the survivors for at least one year, and certain
ceremonies and feasts in regard to them have to be observed in order
to prevent them from doing harm, and to drive them away. The
Tarahumares guard their beer against them, and others provide a
special altar with food for the dead on it at their rain-making
feasts, else the spirits would work some mischief. Among many tribes
an offering is made to the dead, before drinking brandy, of a few
drops of the liquor. A relation is also supposed to exist between
disease and pain and the bones of the deceased person. A whole class
of diseases are supposed to have their seat in the bones or the marrow
of them. If the disease does not yield to the shaman's efforts, and
causes death, the Indians think that the pain will continue after
death and vex the ghost, making him malignant and troublesome.
Therefore the pain must be conquered, and driven away from the bones
and the marrow. Hence the markings may have been made in order to
sever all connection between the spirit and his former life, and from
the disease that caused his death. The other explanation is that the
bones were taken from slain enemies for other purposes than as mere
trophies. Personal or bodily relics are supposed to possess some of
the qualities of the deceased, and to give power. This view is
supported by some observations of Mr. Cushing relative to Zuñi
customs; and the author is inclined to favor it rather than the other.
=Estrays from Civilization.=--A curious study of a community of
estrays from civilization who are leading the life of savages is
published by M. Zaborowski in the _Revue de l'École d'Anthropologie_
and _La Nature_. The settlement is about a mile from Ezy, on the
eastern edge of the plateau of Normandy, in a group of caves that were
excavated and used as wine cellars when, several hundred years ago,
wine culture flourished in the now uncongenial region. Later the spot
was a resort for picnics till the old buildings fell into decay, and
about fifty years ago it was given up to wanderers. About eighty men,
women, and children live there, the adults, though not perhaps really
criminals, having been lost to society on account of some offense
committed against it. They have no regular means of subsistence, are
beneath the tramps in grade, and possess, with one or two exceptions,
no articles of property other than what they pick up. Their beds are
wooden bunks set upon stones, filled with leaves, and the coverings
are wrapping canvas. A "family" of seven persons lived in one of the
cellars with only a single bed of this kind. Their kitchen utensils
are old tin cans picked out of rubbish heaps, and their stoves are
obtained in the same way, or often consist of plates and pieces of
iron adjusted so as to make a sort of fireplace. They have a well from
which they draw water with some old kettle suspended on a hooked
stick, each "family" having its own hook. Their clothes are rags,
partly covering portions of the body, and it is not considered
necessary that the younger ones should have even these. Their
housekeeping and their ideas of neatness are such as might correspond
with these conditions. One woman, mother of four children, and the
only one that was adequately dressed, was a native of a neighboring
village, and had been brought to the cave by her mother when she was
eight years old. An old man had been a charge upon the town and was
sent to the cave by the _maire_ to get rid of him. He had found a
woman there and had several children. A woman, still active, who had
lived in the caves three years, had children living in Ezy. The
complaint, so common in other parts of France, that the natural
increase of population has failed, does not apply to the caves. Five
or six of the "families" have four or five children. On these
children, of whom only the most vigorous survive, "the influence of
their debasing misery and of the vices of their parents impresses a
common aspect. Their mental condition has fallen shockingly low, and,
their physical needs satisfied, they seem to want nothing further. No
attraction will induce them to attend school, which is like
imprisonment to them. Their mode of life and the marks of degradation
in their faces separate them from others. Earnest attempts to develop
their intelligence and moral consciousness have been without result."
=German School Journeys.=--It is very common in Germany, says Miss
Dodd, of Owens College, in one of the English educational reports, to
find definite teaching taking place outside the school walls--in the
gardens attached to the schools, and in the neighboring forests, where
the children are instructed in observation of the local forms of plant
and animal life. Further, they are often taken on longer expeditions
to spend the whole day in the forest or on the mountain with their
teachers, who direct them "what to see, and how to see it." More
definite and more ambitious than these minor excursions is the school
journey, which may last from three days to three weeks. It is usually
taken on foot, and is as inexpensive as possible, with plain food and
simple accommodation. Each boy carries his own knapsack charged with a
change of underclothing, towels, soap, etc., and overcoat or umbrella;
while for the common use of the party are distributed clothes brushes
and shoe brushes, needles, thread, string, and pins, ointment for
rubbing on the feet, a small medicine chest, a compass, a field glass,
a pocket microscope, a barometer, and a tape measure. The district
visited is chosen on account of its historical associations or the
geographical illustrations it furnishes, or the richness and variety
of plant life to be studied. Constant pauses are made to afford
opportunities for the examination of features inviting study; and the
scenes visited are often closely connected with the subjects included
in the year's work of the school. In a journey, of which Miss Dodd was
a member, preparations were begun three months beforehand, with the
collection of subscriptions, drawing of road maps, and special
lessons. The fifty boys from ten to fifteen years old, marched off in
groups of four, assorting themselves according to their affinities for
companionship, with advance and rear guards; the regions passed
through were explored for what might be found in them; the roads were
marked and identified, mountains and rivers were named, and the
courses of streams determined; and at each place of considerable
interest its characteristic features and associations of Nature, art,
and history were discussed and studied.
=The Huichol Indians of Jalisco.=--The Huichol Indians of Mexico, the
subject of a study by Carl Lumholtz, four thousand people living in
the mountains of northern Jalisco, have a tradition that they
originated in the south, got lost underneath the earth, and came
forward again in the east, in the country of the _Kikuli_, near San
Luis Potosi. Franciscan missionaries converted them nominally to
Christianity, but there are now no priests in their country, and there
is probably no tribe in Mexico where the ancient beliefs have been so
well maintained as with them. Their exterior conditions have been
somewhat altered by the introduction of cattle and sheep, and cattle
are now the favorite animals for sacrifice at the feasts for making
rain during the dry season. The people are healthy, very emotional,
easily moved to laughter or tears, imaginative and excitable. Young
people show affection in public, kissing or caressing one another.
They are kind-hearted and not inhospitable to those who can gain their
confidence, but have the reputation of being wanting in regard for
truth. They live mostly in circular houses made from loose stones, or
stones and mud, and covered with thatched roofs. Their temples,
devoted to various gods, are of similar shape, but much larger, with
the entrances toward sunrise. Outside of the door is an open space
surrounded by small rectangular god-houses, with gabled and thatched
roofs. The god-houses are also frequently found in the forests, and
are sometimes circular. There are nineteen temples in the country
which are frequented at the times of the feasts, when the officials
and their families camp in the small god-houses. Idols are not kept in
the temples, but are hidden in caves or in special buildings. There
are a great many sacred caves devoted to various gods, and generally
containing some pool or spring that gives them sanctity, and the water
of which is supposed to have salutary virtues. Much religious
importance is attached to the _Kikuli_ cactus, which produces an
exhilarating effect on the system. Ceremonial arrows are inseparably
connected with their life, the arrow representing the Indian himself
in his prayers to the gods. They have other interesting ceremonies and
ceremonial objects, and a curious system of distilling, which Mr.
Lumholtz describes at length.
=Herrings at Dinner.=--The food of the herring consists of small
organisms, often of microscopic dimensions. It is entirely animal, and
in Europe, according to those who have investigated the matter, it
consists of copepods, schizopods (shrimplike forms), amphipods (sand
fleas and their allies), the embryos of gasteropods and
lamellibranchia, and young fishes, often of its own kind. In the
examination of about fifteen hundred specimens of herring at Eastport,
Maine, and vicinity, in the summer and fall of 1893, Mr. H.F. Moore,
of the Fish Commission, found only two kinds of food--copepods or "red
seed," which appeared to constitute the sole food of the small
herrings, and shrimps the principal food of the larger ones. In many
cases the stomachs of the fish were densely gorged with these shrimps,
which are extremely abundant in the waters of the vicinity. Excepting
the eyes and phosphorescent spots beneath, which are bright red, the
bodies of the crustaceans are almost transparent, yet such is the
density of the schools in which they congregate that a distinctly
reddish tinge is often imparted to the water. They are very active,
and frequently avoid the rush of the fish by vigorous strokes of their
powerful caudal paddles, which throw them several inches above the
surface. To capture them requires some address on the part of the
herring, and the fish likewise frequently throw themselves almost
clear of the surface. When feeding upon copepods the movements of the
herrings are less impetuous. They swim open-mouthed, often with their
snouts at the surface, crossing and recrossing on their tracks, and
evidently straining out the minute crustaceans by means of their
branchial sieves. After they have passed the stage known as "brit,"
the herrings appear to feed principally at night, or if they do so to
any considerable extent during bright daylight it is at such a depth
that they escape observation. At night it is often possible to note
the movements of the fish at a depth of several fathoms, and at such
times Mr. Moore has seen them swimming back and forth, "apparently
screening the water, their every movement traced by a phosphorescent
gleam, evoked perhaps from the very organisms which they were
consuming." The herrings evidently follow their prey by night, and the
fact that the shrimps possess phosphorescent spots may explain the
apparent ability of the fish to catch them then.
MINOR PARAGRAPHS.
The phosphorescence, which is so beautiful a characteristic of certain
forms of animal life in the sea, has been the cause of much
speculation among the fishermen and scientists; none of the proposed
theories have been entirely satisfactory. It is now stated, however,
that an adequate and provable cause has been discovered in a so-called
species of photo-bacteria; by means of this germ it is stated that sea
water, containing nutrient media, can be inoculated and rendered
phosphorescent; that newly caught herrings with the sea water still
fresh can be rendered phosphorescent by a treatment which favors the
growth of the photo-bacteria. Oxygen is an essential to their growth.
Personal equation was defined by Prof. T.H. Safford, in a paper read
at the American Association, as in reality the time it takes to think;
and as that time is different in different persons, observations are
liable to be affected by it unless correct allowance is made for it in
the case of each one. It has been a subject of discussion since the
end of the last century. The Astronomer Royal of England discharged a
good assistant in 1795, because he was liable to observe stars more
than half a second too late. Bond, several years afterward, took the
subject up and found that astronomers were liable to vary a little in
their observations; some to anticipate the time by a trifle, and
others falling a little behind. The subject has since been studied by
Professor Wundt. In the days when the eye-and-ear method of
observation prevailed, the astronomer had both to watch his object and
to keep note of the time; with the introduction of the chronograph,
the errors resulting from this necessity are in part obviated. But
error enough still exists to be troublesome.
The Educational Extension Work in Agriculture of Cornell University
Experiment Station is carried on by the publication and distribution
of leaflets, visitation of teachers' institutes, and other means that
may bring the station in contact with the people. The results of the
work have been generally satisfactory. Eight leaflets, on such
subjects as How a Squash Plant gets out of the Seed, A Children's
Garden, etc., were published last year in from two to six editions,
and still meet a lively demand. Thirty thousand teachers were enrolled
on the lists as receiving leaflets, or as students of methods of
presenting Nature study to their pupils, sixteen thousand school
children were receiving leaflets suitable to them, and twenty-five
hundred young farmers were enrolled in the Agricultural Reading
Course. Much interest seems to have been shown by farmers in
sugar-beet culture, in investigations of which more than three hundred
of them are cooperating with the station, and two hundred in
experiments with fertilizers.
NOTES.
An important feature in the evolution of trade journalism is pointed
out in the presidential address of E.C. Brown, of the American Trade
Press Association, in the establishment of small trade journals,
covering limited fields. Such industries as brickmaking, stenography,
advertising, acetylene, hospital practice, etc., are ably represented
by their respective trade journals; and this tendency is promoted by
the complementary one of the trades, in their centralization and
concentration, compelling even journals in the same business to make
their field distinct and restricted. The public demands specific
information, not for the purpose of catering to a passing interest,
but for its application directly in the conduct of business or the
formation of a policy; and those trade journals succeed best which
supply accurate information of value to their readers.
The ascent of Mont Blanc was accomplished between June 21st and
September 16th by one hundred and nineteen persons, eleven of whom
were women. By nationality the climbers included forty-four Frenchmen
and eleven Frenchwomen, fifteen Englishmen and one Englishwoman, and
fifteen Swiss, with Germans, Americans, Belgians, Hollanders, Irish,
and Russians. A Belgian lady and a Dutch lady were of this company. A
Frenchwoman, seventy-five years old, was one of the party that reached
the summit on one of the last days in September.
Mr. Horace Brown, whose interesting researches on the enzymes have
attracted much attention during the past few years, has recently
announced the results of some important experiments on the vitality of
seeds. He found that certain seeds subjected to the very low
temperature of evaporating liquid air, about -192° C., for one hundred
and ten consecutive hours, retained perfectly their power of
germinating.
The report made by Prof. W.A. Herdman to the British Association
concerning the liability to disease through oysters recognizes the
possibility of contamination through the proximity of the beds to
sewage water, and recommends steps to be taken, through either
legislative control or association, to induce the oyster trade to
remove any possible suspicion of contamination of the beds; provision
for the inspection of foreign oysters or their subjection to a
quarantine by deposition for a stated period in British waters, as
already takes place in many instances; and the periodical inspection
of the grounds from which mussels, cockles, and periwinkles are
gathered.
As the result of long-continued observations of annual temperatures
the appearance of the earliest leaves, and the return of birds of
passage, M. Camille Flammarion has published the conclusions that the
maximum temperatures correspond with abundant sun spots and the least
humidity, and the minimum temperatures with scarcity of sun spots and
great humidity; and that sparrows begin to sit when horse-chestnuts,
lilacs, and peonies begin to bloom, and the young are hatched about
two days after these plants are in full inflorescence. M. Flammarion
also believes that the temperatures of March and April indicate those
of the entire year.
Little steel capsules containing a small quantity of liquefied
carbonic acid are made, _La Nature_ says, at Zurich, Switzerland. One
of them is placed in the neck of a bottle of water which is provided
with a faucet and the capsule is pricked. The carbonic acid escapes
and charges the water, and a bottle of soda water is the result. The
capsules are cheap and convenient, and are very popular in Switzerland
and Germany.
It is proposed to erect a memorial to James Clerk Maxwell in the
parish church of Corsock, of which he was a trustee and elder.
Subscriptions may be sent to the Rev. George Stimock, The Manse,
Corsock by Dalbeattie, N.B.
Our obituary list includes among men well known in science the names
of Edward Dunkin, an English practical astronomer, for fifty years an
assistant and part of the time chief assistant at the Royal
Observatory, Greenwich, a contributor of many paper on practical
astronomy, aged seventy-seven years; H. Vogel, professor of
photography, photo-chemistry, and spectroscopy in the Technical High
School, Berlin, author of The Chemistry of Light and Photography, in
the International Scientific Series, in his sixty-fifth year;
Alexandre Pillet, curator of the Musée Dupuytre, Paris, and well known
for his contributions on morbid anatomy, at Paris, November 2d, aged
eighty-eight years; George T. Allmann, formerly professor of botany in
Dublin and of natural history in Edinburgh, who described the hydroids
collected by the Challenger Expedition, and was author of a number of
monographs on the invertebrates, aged eighty-six; Thomas Sanderson
Bulmer, investigator in American archæology and ethnography, and
contributor to Filling's Bibliographies of American Languages, at
Sierra Blanca, Texas, October 5th; and Dr. Ewald Geissler, professor
of chemistry at the veterinary school of Dresden, aged fifty years.
Transcriber's Notes:
Words surrounded by _ are italicized.
Words surrounded by = are bold.
Obvious printer's errors have been repaired, other inconsistent
spellings have been kept, including inconsistent use of hyphen
(e.g. "text book" and "text-book").
Illustrations were relocated to correspond to their references in the
text.
Pg 568, year assumed in sentence "...Report for the Fiscal Year ended
June 30, 1898..." as the original is unclear.