848 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



recorded by Eginhard, a writer of the time 

 of Charlemagne ; and in the one on Possibili- 

 ties and Impossibilities he examines the two 

 accounts of the feeding of multitudes with a 

 few loaves and fishes. The somewhat ex- 

 tended preface to this volume includes an 

 argument against the demonology, or belief 

 in various kinds of evil spirits, which has 

 been made a part of Christian theology. It 

 includes also a statement of the " Synoptic 

 Problem" i. e., the question as to how, when, 

 and by whom the gospels which bear the 

 names respectively of Matthew, Mark, Luke, 

 and John were written. In looking back 

 over his various discussions of theological 

 doctrines. Prof. Huxley declines to admit the 

 charge that he has " gone out of his way " 

 to attack the Bible ; " and I as steadfastly 

 deny," he continues, " that ' hatred of Chris- 

 tianity ' is a feeling with which I have any 

 acquaintance. There are very few things 

 which I find it permissible to hate; and 

 though it may be that some of the organiza- 

 tions which arrogate to themselves the Chris- 

 tian name have richly earned a place in the ' 

 category of hateful things, that ought to 

 have nothing to do with one's estimation of 

 the religion which they have perverted and 

 disfigured out of all likeness to the original." 



The subject of Helical Gears is not a very 

 familiar one, but it appears to be of such 

 growing importance as to warrant a special 

 treatise upon it. In preparing his volume, 

 A Foreman Paltcrn-maker has treated with 

 much detail of illustration the true and only 

 workable methods of development of spur 

 and bevel wheels, and has entered fully into 

 the proper methods of construction of the 

 pattern parts. He has also explained the 

 methods of molding these gears by ma- 

 chine. He has aimed to make his book 

 practical and adapted to the shop and the 

 technical school. (Published by Macmillan 

 & Co., at the price of $1.) 



George M. Dawmn, in his Geological 

 Holes on some of the Coasts and Islands of 

 Bering Sea and Vicinity, notices as one of 

 the most remarkable features of the region 

 the absence of any traces of a general glacia- 

 tion. Respecting the latest changes in ele- 

 vation of the land, evidences of a recent 

 slight general uplift are mentioned as visible 

 in several widely separated places. Mr. 



Dawson also sends us JVotes on the Geology 

 of Middleton Island, Alaska. Both these 

 papers are published in the Bulletin of the 

 Geological Society of America. 



Hugh M. Smith, M. D., reprints from the 

 Bulletin of the United States Fish Commis- 

 sion Economic and Natural History Notes on 

 Fishes of the Northern Coast of New Jersey, 

 and a paper on The Fyke Nets and Fyke-net 

 Fisheries of the United States, with notes on 

 the fyke nets of other countries. In the 

 former paper the subject of Ocean Pound 

 Fishing is dealt with. 



The function of dynamics in evolution is 

 discussed by John A. Ryder in a lecture de- 

 livered by him in August, 1893, at Woods 

 Hole Biological Laboratory on Dynamical 

 Evolution. The author concludes that ob- 

 servers have hitherto allowed purely mor- 

 phological considerations to becloud their 

 vision ; and that when each of the five sci- 

 ences physics, chemistry, physiology, mor- 

 phology, and psychology " shall have been 

 given its due weight and place in the con- 

 duct of the study of life-forms, we shall be- 

 gin to know what the latter really means, but 

 not till then." (Published by Ginn & Co., 

 Boston.) 



J. W. Spencer, State Geologist, publishes 

 as a part of his work The Palwozoic Group 

 Ten Counties of Northwestern Georgia (Polk, 

 Floyd, Barton, Gordon, Murray, Whitfield, 

 Catoosa, Chattooga, Walker, and Dade Coun- 

 ties), embracing the Geological and Physical 

 Characteristics, Economic Geology, and Soils. 

 A chapter on Good Roads is incorporated in 

 the report, and the whole is illustrated by 

 a geological map. 



A part, including numbers six to twelve 

 of Vol. VII of the Annals of the New York 

 Academy of Sciences, contains Coleopterio- 

 logical Notices, by T. L. Casey ; A Revision 

 of the American Ciclidae, by C. H. Eigen- 

 mann and W. L. Bray ; Notes on some South 

 American Fishes, by C. H. Eigenmann ; and 

 The Granite at Mounts Adam and Eve, War- 

 wick, Orange County, N. Y., and some of its 

 Contact Phenomena, by J. F. Kemp and Ar- 

 thur Hollick. 



In a paper on The Widening Use of 

 Compressed Air, applications of this force 

 are mentioned by W. P. Prcssinger in the 

 work of the pneumatic dynamite gun ; in 

 pneumatic block signahng ; to raising water 



