LITERARY NOTICES. 



133 



lin; The Philosophy of Crime, by William 

 T. Harris ; Criminal Anthropology, by Ham- 

 ilton D. Wey ; New York's Prison Laws, by 

 Eugene Smith ; Prison Labor Systems ; and 

 The Elmira Reformatory of To-day. The 

 mechanical work upon the publication, in- 

 cluding the etching of the cover, has been 

 done by inmates of the reformatory. 



The Report on the Coal Measures of the 

 Plateau Region of Alabama, made to the 

 State Geologist by Mr. Henry McCalley, 

 treats of all the coal measures of the plateau 

 region, except those that were included in 

 the Report of the Warrior Coal-field, pub- 

 lished in 1886 ; and also speaks of the coal 

 measures of St. Clair and Shelby Counties, 

 whose measures are principally of plateau 

 strata, and have not been considered as a 

 whole in any previous report. A general 

 description of the plateau region is given in 

 the introduction ; and notes and a short re- 

 port by General A. M. Gibson are added on 

 the Coal Measures of Blount and Berry 

 Mountains. Some parts of this plateau re- 

 gion are likely to prove important coal areas. 

 A map of the coal-fields and two geological 

 sections are inserted in the volume. 



The Report of S. P. Lane/leg, Secretary 

 of the Smithsonian Institution, for the year 

 ending with June, 1891, includes the work 

 placed under its charge by Congress in the 

 National Museum, the Bureau of Ethnology, 

 the International Exchanges, the National 

 Zoological Park, and the Astro-Physical Ob- 

 servatory. By saving in other quarters, the 

 Institution has been able to revert in some 

 measure to an early practice of offering aid 

 in original research. It has made grants 

 for work on a universal standard of meas- 

 ure, founded on the wave-length of light ; 

 for determinations of the densities of oxy- 

 gen and hydrogen ; for photographs of the 

 moon ; and for investigations upon chemical 

 compounds. In the Bureau of Ethnology 

 efforts are made to secure records of Indian 

 languages before they pass away. 



A Catalogue of Prehistoric Works East 

 of the Rocky Mountains, preliminary to a 

 complete and thorough catalogue to be made 

 as soon as the work can be accomplished, 

 has been prepared by Dr. Cyrus Thomas, 

 and is published by the Bureau of Eth- 

 nology. It contains lists of all the works 

 . within the territory described, of which 



mention has been found in any books or 

 reports, as accurately located and described 

 as the accounts given in the original or 

 other best authorities will permit. The no- 

 tices are perhaps often indefinite and fre- 

 quently incorrect, on account of defects in 

 these original authorities ; but it is hoped 

 that their appearance in the present shape 

 will lead to more careful examination and 

 to the preparation of the complete catalogue 

 which it is hoped to make. The list is ac- 

 companied by a map of the distribution of 

 mounds in the United States, and by State 

 maps showing the location of prehistoric 

 works. 



The Report of the Botanical Department 

 of the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment 

 Station, by Byron D. Halsted, botanist, is 

 one of the most valuable publications that 

 have yet issued from the experiment sta- 

 tions. A considerable part of the report is 

 devoted to the record of the study of fungus 

 forms injurious to crops, made during a 

 season in which fungoid growths were very 

 prevalent including cranberry scald, sweet- 

 potato rots, etc. The causes of the failure 

 of the peach crop in 1890 are investigated. 

 Considerable space is devoted to the account 

 of the work done on the weeds of the State, 

 including a listing of them with botanical 

 and local names, estimates by different ob- 

 servers of their relative degrees of noxious- 

 ness, and twenty-four page plates of the 

 worst weeds. 



In a Doctor's Thesis on The Right of the 

 State to Be, an attempt is made by Prof. F. 

 M. Taylor to determine the ultimate human 

 prerogative on which government rests. 

 The author assumes that most previous 

 efforts to answer the question presented in 

 the title have referred to incidentals and have 

 not been sufficiently directed to the main 

 question. He seeks the solution of this. 

 First, he maintains the reality of the prob- 

 lem and defines its nature ; next he reviews 

 previous theories, and points out their de- 

 fects ; and, finally, he explains and defends 

 his own theory. This theory bases the right 

 on the prerogative which is assumed to be- 

 long to every person as such to rule, or to 

 interfere coercively with the liberty of other 

 persons in order to maintain his version of 

 the jural ideal. Government then becomes 

 the collective exercise by the community of 



