4i8 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



well as to the south, the name had become 

 so fixed that it was applied to the entire con- 

 tinent. 



The conquests of Mexico and Peru are 

 given a large share of attention, and a very 

 vivid and interesting picture is drawn by 

 Prof. Fiske of these first considerable con- 

 flicts between the two orders of culture of 

 the Eastern and the Western worlds. 



The author closes his account of the dis- 

 covery with the story of the navigators and 

 explorers who, for two centuries after Co- 

 lumbus, were busy with the detailed explo- 

 ration of the great American continent. 



To those familiar with Prof. Fiske's writ- 

 ings, it is needless to say that the work is 

 thoroughly well done. It is drawn from 

 original sources, and, while here and there 

 points remain to be cleared up, we have in 

 the present volumes in graphic and vivid 

 form the story of the great chain of events, 

 in their true historic proportions, which won 

 for civilization a New World. 



Natural Science. Monthly. London and 

 New York : Macmillan & Co. Price, one 

 shilling a number. 



We have the pleasure of welcoming a 

 new scientific magazine, the first number of 

 which appeared in England in March. It is 

 to be primarily a record of new observa- 

 tions and discoveries in the field of natural 

 history adapted to the needs of amateur in- 

 vestigators. " It will be our constant aim," 

 say its conductors, " to expound and deal in 

 a critical manner with the principal results 

 of current research in geology and biology 

 that appear to be of more than limited ap- 

 plication. Original articles referring to the 

 existing status of certain special branches of 

 natural science, with suggestions for further 

 development, will be a prominent feature. 

 Periodical summaries of the latest results in 

 the various departments are contemplated. 

 Reviews of the more important new books 

 will be not merely critical but also descrip- 

 tive. Special attention will be given to the 

 latest news concerning the work of all the 

 principal societies and institutions through- 

 out the world devoted to scientific and edu- 

 cational matters." 



The magazine will have also a polemic 

 tendency, for it starts with the avowed pur- 

 pose of combating professionalism. " Half 



a century ago," it says, " scientific research 

 was almost entirely in the hands of amateurs 

 independent workers, as Humboldt, Dar- 

 win, Lyell, Murchison, Hugh Miller, Water- 

 ton, and others." But a change has been 

 wrought, mainly by the very rapidity of 

 scientific progress. The more rigorous re- 

 quirements of scientific work in recent years 

 have operated to discourage amateurs, and 

 hence to produce a wide gap between the 

 scientific workers and the general public. 

 Both science and the public have suffered in 

 consequence; hence it is to be one of the 

 aims of the new magazine to promote a bet- 

 ter state of affairs. 



The first number opens with a few pages 

 of Notes and Comments, which are followed 

 by articles dealing with Some Recent Obser- 

 vations upon Mimicry, by Frank E. Beddard ; 

 Deep-sea Deposits, by J. J. H. Teall (being 

 a review of the Report on the Challenger 

 Specimens, by John Murray and A. F. Re- 

 nard) ; The Evolution of Fins, by A. Smith 

 Woodward, illustrated ; Some Salient Points 

 in the Study of Mammals during 1891, by R. 

 Lydekker, illustrated; English Lake Dwell- 

 ings, by James W. Davis ; Marine Snakes, by 

 G. A. Boulenger, illustrated; The Explora- 

 tion of Coral Reefs by Borings, by J. W. 

 Gregory; Some Recent Researches on In- 

 sects and Arachnids, by G. H. Carpenter; 

 Relationship of Sigillaria and Stigmaria, by 

 Thomas Hick ; and The Mammals of India, 

 by R. Lydekker, illustrated. There are also 

 review, news, and obituary departments. 



The Philosophical Review. Bimonthly. 

 Edited by J. G. Schuriian. Boston: 

 Ginn & Co. $3 a year. 



Cultivators of philosophy have now the 

 promise of a well-conducted and regularly 

 appearing magazine devoted to metaphysics 

 and the allied subjects psychology, logic, 

 and aesthetics. Its prospectus announces 

 that the review " will be an open forum alike 

 for those who increase the stock of positive 

 data and for those who strive to see new 

 facts in their bearings and relations, and to 

 trace them up to their ultimate speculative 

 implications. An equal hearing will be 

 given to both sides of every unsettled ques- 

 tion. The attitude of the review is non- 

 partisan. Writers alone will be responsible 

 for their articles, which in all cases must be 



