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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



this year from the press of Doerflinger, 

 of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This little 

 volume is of much interest to educators. 

 It treats tlie subject by the physiolo- 

 gical method, Avhich is the point of 

 view to be taken in the education of 

 childhood. Part I is devoted to Infant 

 Education, the Kindergarten, and what 

 are called Physiological Infant Schools. 

 Part II considers the Education of 

 Deaf Mutes ; Part III the Education of 

 Idiots ; and Part IV applies the results 

 arrived at to Popular Education as it 

 is and as it should be. The book is full 

 of valuable information and pregnant 

 suggestions, taking their complexion 

 from the author's professional experi- 

 ence, scientiiic observations, and pe- 

 culiar line of studies. 



We began by remarking that Dr. 

 Seguin's special studies liave a breadth 

 of application that reaches far beyond 

 the technical schools for the feeble- 

 minded. He has taught the world the 

 difficult task of elevating idiots into 

 rational beings. An intelligent appre- 

 ciation of his philosophy might at least 

 prevent us from doing the opposite 

 turning rational beings into idiots in 

 our popular schools. If any are curi- 

 ous about the rationale of this pro- 

 cess, we refer them to the article on 

 " The Artificial Production of Stupidity 

 in Schools," in the second number of 

 " The Popular Science Monthly."' 



LITERARY NOTICES. 



Odontornithes : A Monograph on the Ex- 

 tinct Toothed Birds of North America. 

 With Thirty-four Plates and Forty Wood- 

 cuts. Forming Vol. VII of the Geo- 

 logical Survey of the Fortieth Parallel. 

 By Othniel Charles Marsh, Professor 

 of Paleontology in Yale College, New 

 Haven, Conn. 



Fossil anatomy is generally regarded as 

 one of the driest of subjects ; but, when the 

 vestiges of old bones become the keys to the 

 history of the world and the mysteries of 

 the universe, their study acquires an intense 

 interest. No better exemplification of this 



can be found than that furnished by the 

 author of the splendid monograph before us. 

 Professor Marsh, as is well known, has been 

 engaged for the last ten years in exploring 

 the Kooky Mountain regions in search of 

 fossils, and his enthusiasm, untiring energy, 

 and whole-souled devotion to the work well 

 attest the fascination there is to the scien- 

 tific mind in inquiries which the mass of peo- 

 ple are apt to regard with indifference. 



Two circumstances combined to give es- 

 pecial and powerful interest to the investiga- 

 tion. The region was rich in new material 

 for paleontological science, and the facts dis- 

 covered were certain to have great signifi- 

 cance in their bearing upon biological theory 

 and our whole view of the economy and or- 

 der of nature. 



Geology tells us, in the first place, that 

 the North American stratified rocks, over 

 vast areas west of the Mississippi, were 

 deposited in a continuous, tranquil way, and 

 were so little disturbed by revolution and 

 upheaval that the formations are found in 

 a remarkably unbroken sequence. The geo- 

 logical systems follow each other regularly, 

 so that the record is in an unusual degree 

 complete. But, while the strata under the 

 vast prairies remain nearly horizontal as 

 they were left by deposit and subsidence, 

 the beds have been denuded, and thrust up 

 here and there so that the outcropping 

 strata are open to examination. The maxi- 

 mum thickness of these formations is es- 

 timated at some seven or eight miles, and 

 the " stratigraphical succession " is so per- 

 fect as to be most favorable for the study 

 of the order and dependence of the extinct 

 forms of life. Thus the field was not only 

 fresh, but propitious for new paleontological 

 exploration. In the second place, this in- 

 terest was heightened by the crisis of bio- 

 logical speculation. The theory of the con- 

 tinuous evolution of living forms by descent 

 with variation had got a foothold with nat- 

 uralists, but evidence was sorely wanting to 

 supply the missing links in the chains of 

 organic succession. There was a demand 

 for " intermediate types," and that the con- 

 necting forms predicted by the evolutionists 

 should be forthcoming. The research had a 

 factitious interest from these circumstances. 

 Professor Marsh was, of course, animated 

 by the genuine scientific motive of finding 



