FRAGMENTS OF SCIENCE. 



7M 



Life of a College Professor. Pp. 8.— Lumholtz, 

 Carl: The Huichol Indians of Mexico. Pp. 14, 

 with 2 plates. — McReynolds, John O.: A New 

 Phorometer. Pp. 7.— Quantz, J. O.: Problems in 

 the Psychology of Reading. Pp. 61— White, Theo- 

 dore G. : A Contribution to the Petrography of the 

 Boston Basin. Pp. 40, with plates. — Udder, J. A. : 

 Loess as a Land Deposit. Pp. 8. — Ward, Lester 

 F.: The Essential Nature of Religion. Pp.24. — 

 Contributions to Hopkins Seaside Laboratory, 

 Stanford University : Geology of the Palreozoic 

 Area of Arkansas South of the Novaculite Re- 

 gion. By G. H.Ashley. Pp. 102; Scientific Names 

 of Latin and Greek Derivation. By Walter Miller. 

 Pp. 82; A Morphological Study of Naias and 

 Zannichella. By D. H. Campbell. Pp. 64, with 

 plates: The Development of Glyphioceras and 

 the Phylogeny of the Glyphioceratidas. By J. P. 

 Smith. Pp. 28, with plates — United States Com- 

 mission of Fish and Fisheries : The Fishes found 

 in the Vicinity of Wood's Hole. By Hugh M. 



Smith. Pp. 30, with maps. — Salmon Investigations 

 in the Columbia River Basin, etc., in 1896. By 

 B. W. Evermann and S. E. Meek. Pp. 72; The 

 Fishes of the Klamath River Basin. By C. H. Gil- 

 bert. Pp. 13. — United States Rational Museum : 

 New Species of Coleoptera, etc. By M. Q. Linell. 

 Pp. 14 ; Notes on Trematode Parasites or Fishes. 

 By Edwin Linton. Pp. 50, with plates; Notes 

 on a Collection of P ishes from the Colorado Basin 

 in Arizona. By C. H. Gilbert and N. B. Scofleld. 

 Pp. 12. with plates; New Mammals of the Gen- 

 era Sciurus, Castor, Neotoma, etc. Pp. 7. 



Stirling, J. H. The Secret of Hegel. New 

 York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 752. 



Todd, David P. A New Astronomy for Be- 

 ginners. American Book Company. Pp. 500. 

 11.30. 



Warren, Francis. The Study of Children and 

 their School Training. New York: TheMacniil- 

 lan Company. Pp. 2t>4. gl. 



xn^mmts of ^ctctice. 



The Effect of Trade Unions on Individual 

 Advance. — The growth of a country in civili- 

 zation and wealth depends chiefly on the 

 efforts of its individuals. The great advances 

 in modern science and industry have been 

 made by men a little ahead of their neigh- 

 bors in clear-sightedness and push. Hence, 

 anything which puts a curb on individual 

 effort and ambition is antagonistic to the 

 best interests of society and civilization. The 

 trade union, which in its inception had only 

 a co-operative function, enabling the men in 

 a given trade to help one another in cases of 

 injury, sickness, etc., and to meet representa- 

 tives of other industries for furthering trade 

 relations and association, has in the modern 

 industrial world assumed quite a different 

 function, whose worst manifestation is the 

 stifling of whatever individuality and push the 

 workman may have, and forcing him to limit 

 his work to that of the least efficient of his 

 fellows. The fact that Brown can do in a 

 day half as much more work than Jones, and 

 do it better, is an item which if known is not 

 considered unless he does it, in which case 

 he is informed that he is doing too much and 

 must " let up." The official amount is pre- 

 scribed, and no one, whatever his ability, is 

 expected to exceed that. There can be only 

 one result of a system which discourages a 

 man's doing his best, and limits him to the 

 capacity of the poorest workman in the 

 union, and that is to destroy individuality 

 and ambition, the two most powerful forces 

 which work for human advancement. That 



such is the real effect of the trade union 

 has recently received additional confirma- 

 tion by the statements of a skilled mechanic 

 who has actually " been through the mill " 

 and risen from the ranks. In the November 

 number of the Engineering Magazine, Mr. 

 Hiram S. Maxim, widely known for his im- 

 portant industrial and scientific work during 

 the past fifteen years, and who began his 

 career as a common hand in a machine 

 works in Fitchburg, Mass., writes on the 

 subject of trades unions. He shows that in 

 every instance the effect of the union is to 

 decrease the work, both in quantity and 

 quality, demoralize the workman, and foster 

 a tendency to soldiering and dishonesty. 



The Metals of Canada. — In his address at 

 the British Association on the Metals of Can- 

 ada, Prof. Roberts Austen showed that the 

 recognition of the extent and variety of the 

 mineral wealth of the Dominion had been 

 comparatively recent, and the development 

 of the related industries slow. This was due 

 partly to the policy pursued by the Hudson 

 Bay Company of keeping the country wild 

 for the sake of the fur - bearing animals ; 

 partly to ignorance in the mother country of 

 the resources of Canada ; and partly to the 

 difficulty of access to the mining districts 

 before the railroads were built. In speaking 

 of the Dominion generally, the richness of 

 the deposits and the hopefulness of prospects 

 must be kept in view rather than the imme- 

 diate output ; but it should be remembered 



