LITERARY NOTICES. 



853 



insisted on the importance of experiment as 

 well as of observation, recalled men to the 

 study of facts, promoted their emancipation 

 from the bonds of authority and the en- 

 chantments of imagination, insisted on the 

 subordination of scientific inquiries to prac- 

 tical aims, promoted hopefulness, and clothed 

 his thoughts in marvelous language. 



Elements of Geometry. By Simon New- 

 comb, Professor of Mathematics, U. S. 

 Navy. New York : Henry Holt & Co. 

 1881. Pp. 399. Price, $1.75. 



Professor Newcomb does not, like many 

 who have written on this subject, consider 

 Euclid's system periect, but believes that it 

 fails in several points to meet modern re- 

 quirements, and needs remodeling. This he 

 attempts in a few features, most noticeably 

 in the recognition of angles of a larger 

 measurement than 180. He accordingly 

 treats the sum of two right angles as itself 

 an angle, to which he gives the name of a 

 " straight angle," and explicitly defines it. 

 He also uses language more in accordance 

 with modern ideas in speaking of planes. 

 In an introductory book, besides the usual 

 fundamental axioms and definitions, practi- 

 cal exercises are given in the practice of 

 the analysis of geometric relations by means 

 of the eye. Some of the first principles of 

 conic sections have been developed, as a 

 preliminary study of that subject, or to give 

 some knowledge of those curves to those 

 who do not intend to study analytical geom- 

 etry. In proportion, a middle course has 

 been adopted between the rigorous and pro- 

 lix treatment of Euclid and the easier and 

 simpler, but ungeometrical, method of Amer- 

 ican works. 



Documents relating to the History and 

 Settlements of the Towns along the 

 Hudson and Mohawk Rivers (with the 

 Exception of Albany), from 1630 to 

 1684. By B. Fernow, Keeper of the 

 " Historical Records." Albanv, New 

 York : Weed, Parsons & Co. Pp. 617. 



This is the thirteenth volume of the 

 series of documents relating to the colonial 

 history of the State of New York, published 

 officially under the direction of the Secre- 

 tary of State. It embraces deeds, bargains, 

 transactions of councils, memoirs, and cor- 

 respondence, the general bearing of which 



illustrates the relations of the early settlers 

 with the Indians. An important lesson 

 drawn from these relations and their work- 

 ings is that of the practical value of fair 

 dealing with the Indians. It was the rule 

 of the settlement of New Netherland, in- 

 variably enforced from the beginning, that 

 no man could settle upon Indian land un- 

 less the Indian title was first extinguished 

 in a manner satisfactory to the Indian pro- 

 prietors. The consequence of the observ- 

 ance of the rule was that "the Dutch, living 

 at the door of the powerful Five Nations, 

 could always count upon the friendship of 

 their Indian neighbors." This friendship 

 had a momentous bearing upon the future 

 of the continent, for it kept the Hudson 

 River, the only natural route to the North 

 and West, always open and safe for the 

 white man, and thus greatly facilitated set- 

 tlement. 



Houses and House-Life of the American 

 Aborigines. By Lewis H. Morgan. 

 Washington : Government Printing-of- 

 fice. Pp. 2S1, with numerous Plates. 



This, the last work of the lamented 

 author, was completed by him during the 

 later days of his failing strength for pub- 

 lication in Major Powell's reports of the 

 Geographical and Geological Survey of the 

 Rocky Mountain region. It formed sub- 

 stantially the fifth part of the original 

 manuscript of the author's " Ancient Soci. 

 ety," but was omitted from that work on 

 account of the size which it had reached. 

 Parts of it have appeared in detached ar- 

 ticles ; a summary of the whole as a cyclo- 

 paedia article ; the substance of two of the 

 chapters, as " Montezuma's Dinner " and 

 the " Houses of the Mound-Builders," in the 

 " North American Review " ; and other parts, 

 as "A Study of the nouses and House-Life 

 of the Indian Tribes," with a scheme for 

 exploring the ruins in New Mexico, Arizona, 

 the San Juan region, Yucatan, and Cen- 

 tral America, in the "Transactions of the 

 Archaeological Institute of America." The 

 facts and views embodied in these articles 

 being placed now in their proper connection, 

 with others bearing upon the same point, 

 the full force and clearness which they 

 are capable of furnishing are given to the 

 author's theory. That theory is that the 



