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POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



have been edited by Dr. C. Hart Mer- 

 riam, one of the leading contributors 

 to the Buccess of the expedition. The 

 report, as now published, consists of 

 two volumes, but others are promised 

 as remaining material is elaborated. 

 The first volume is largely made up of 

 the narrative of the expedition by the 

 litterateur-naturalist, John Burroughs, 

 and an account of the natives of the 

 Alaska coast region by Dr. George 

 Bird Grinnell. The second volume 

 contains memoirs on the discoveiy and 

 exploration of Alaska, by Dr. William 

 H. Dall; on Alaskan birds, by Profess- 

 or Charles Keeler; on the forests of 

 Alaska, by Professor B. E. Fernow; on 

 the geography of Alaska, by Dr. Henry 

 Gannett; on the Alaskan atmosphere, 

 by Professor William H. Brewer; on 

 'Bogoslof, Our newest volcano,' by 

 Dr. Merriam; on the salmon industry, 

 by Dr. Grinnell, and on fox farming, 

 by M. L. Washburn. Each of these 

 memoirs is a substantial contribution 

 to knowledge of the territory; the 

 whole constitutes a standard source of 

 information concerning Alaska and its 

 resources and possibilities. The vol- 

 umes are no less notable in form than 

 in substance; they are models of book- 

 making technique. Convenient in form 

 and size, they are sumptuous in eflfect 

 and finish; typography and paper are 

 irreproachable, the binding is appro- 

 priate, and the illustrations are ade- 

 quate and well distributed. These 

 illustrations are especially fine. Tliere 

 are 39 lithograph plates, showing 

 landscapes, glaciers, flowering and 

 fruiting plants, birds, mammals, etc., 

 with unsurpassed fidelity and refine- 

 ment; and there are 85 photogravure 

 plates, showing characteristic views of 

 the region with an accuracy and ful- 

 ness of detail seldom attained and 

 never excelled, some of the pictures of 

 glaciers and bergs, for example, being 

 revelations of the possibilities of photo- 

 mechanical reproduction. These admi- 

 rable plates are supplemented by 240 

 text cuts, mainly reproductions of 



drawings notable alike for faithfulness 

 to nature and for artistic perfection. 



SOCIOLOGY. 



Professor Giddings's new book, '' In- 

 ductive Sociology' (The Macmillan 

 Company), is an elaboration of the 

 theories set forth in his previous work 

 on 'The Principles of Sociology.' The 

 present volume covers, however, only 

 one half of the field marked out by 

 the author as general sociology. Its 

 object is, in the author's words, "to 

 present a scheme of inductive method, 

 a somewhat detailed analysis and 

 classification of social facts, and a ten- 

 tative formulation of the more obvious 

 laws of social activity." Studies of the 

 historical evolution of society and of 

 the deeper problems of causation are 

 deferred for future consideration. 



The volume is divided into two 

 books, the first of which deals with 

 social theory, the second with the ele- 

 ments and structure of society. In 

 the first book a new solution is sug- 

 gested for the puzzling problem of the 

 unit of society. Mr. Giddings main- 

 tains that the true unit is neither the in- 

 dividual nor the family but the 'socius.' 

 This introductory book also contains an 

 admirable analysis of the methods of 

 sociology, which is better by far than 

 anything that has been presented since 

 Comte's classification, and is in many 

 respects an improvement upon this 

 earlier attempt. The second book is 

 divided into four parts, dealing respect- 

 ively with the social population, the 

 social mind, social organization and 

 social welfare. Within each^ part the 

 material is classified under separate 

 categories, and the special subjects set 

 forth in a series of propositions, dis- 

 tinctions and definitions. To show how 

 sociology can be systematized, a num- 

 ber of statistical tables, formulae, dia- 

 grams and maps are presented; and 

 to encourage further investigation 

 along these lines, blank forms are fur- 

 nished for the collection and considera- 

 tion of sociological data. 



