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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



bly illustrated, and 1 quickly saw that the 

 manifestations of disease were regulated by 

 the same laws which govern physiological 

 processes in general, and that many conditions 

 regarded as pathological in one animal are 

 natural in another." This view is enforced 

 in the successive chapters of the book, in 

 which — according to the author's plan of 

 treatment as summarized by himself — the 

 effects of increased use and disuse of parts 

 are considered in connection with the grad- 

 ual change in function of organs, and the 

 part played by transmission of the effects 

 of increased use and disuse in producing 

 vestigial structures in complex organisms. 

 The tendency of vestigial structures to be- 

 come diseased, or to give rise to conditions 

 disadvantageous to the individual, is dealt 

 with. The transmission of acquired charac- 

 ters and malformations is discussed. Causes 

 of disease arising without the organism, and 

 the relations they bear to inflammation and 

 fever, are given a chapter. Tumors are 

 considered in connection with general mor- 

 bid processes, and the scanty knowledge we 

 possess of the zoological distribution of dis- 

 ease is summarized. The illustrations of the 

 principles have been selected, whenever it 

 was practicable, from animals other than 

 man, for the author believes that man has 

 been studied too exclusively. 



Longmans' School Geography for North 

 America. By George G. Chisholm and 

 C. H. Leete. New York: Longmans, 

 Green & Co. Pp. 384. Price, $1.25. 



The first feature of this work to be no- 

 ticed is its departure from the familiar thin 

 quarto form in which geographies that com- 

 bine maps and text are made. This volume 

 contains only text and illustrations, and is 

 intended to accompany an atlas. An ex- 

 amination of it will not proceed far before 

 showing that it differs from the ordinary 

 geography in something more important than 

 form. The book aims to set before the 

 pupil those facts of geography that are 

 most worth his knowing, and that are most 

 effective as discipline. Hence all countries are 

 not described in conformity with a rigid out- 

 line, but the characteristic features of each 

 are given especial prominence. The authors 

 have sought to make the study of geography 

 something better than a memorizing process 

 by bringing out the relations of cause and 



effect. To aid in this latter purpose, the 

 general laws of physical geography are stated 

 in an introduction, and to this chapter are 

 referred the facts that especially illustrate 

 the laws. Cause and effect are particularly 

 developed in the paragraphs on towns, 

 where it has been sought to show why and 

 on what basis a town exists in any particular 

 place. In the description of the natural 

 features of a region, little regard is paid to 

 the artificial boundaries of political divisions 

 and subdivisions. Thus, in the treatment 

 of North America, which is preceded by a 

 sketch of North and South America to- 

 gether, each of the general topics, surface, 

 climate, life, etc., is dealt with for the whole 

 continent, the portion of each of these feat- 

 ures that becomes the share of one or 

 another country being pointed out later. 

 In this way are avoided the many repetitions 

 that would be involved in describing sepa- 

 rately the geographical characters of the 

 fifty States and Territories of the United 

 States. The facts relating to the products 

 and commerce of a country are also pre- 

 sented from a national standpoint, and com- 

 parisons are made with foreign countries. 

 The work is not confined to North America, 

 as might be inferred from a hasty reading 

 of the title ; the other grand divisions of the 

 globe are treated with more or less fullness 

 according to their importance to the Ameri- 

 can pupil. The text is illustrated by seventy 

 well-selected cuts, but unfortunately the 

 pictures have such a muddy appearance that 

 their value is much impaired. In spelling 

 foreign names the authors have followed the 

 rules adopted by the Council of the Royal 

 Geographical Society. The volume is close- 

 ly printed, and hence contains a great deal 

 of matter within a moderate compass, and 

 different sizes and styles of type, cross-refer- 

 ences, foot-notes, and statistical tables have 

 been made use of to link the various de- 

 scriptions into one connected whole. 



A Manual of Anatomy for Senior Stu- 

 dents. By Edmund Owen, M.B., F.R.C.S. 

 London and New York: Longmans, 

 Green & Co. Pp. 526. Price, $3.50. 



From its title alone one might infer that 

 this work had about the same scope as 

 others on the same subject prepared for 

 medical students, but it has a somewhat pe- 

 culiar character, owing partly to what it 



