422 NATURAL SCIENCE [December 



It is true that exposure of charlatan after charlatan has raised a 

 serious prejudice against such truth as does lie in these obscure 

 branches of knowledge, while the sensational appeal they make to the 

 unbalanced mind of the uneducated must always lead the scientific 

 investigator to approach them with a caution and scepticism greater 

 even than that which lie rightly applies to all subjects of his study. 

 But to write this down as a failure is to go too far. Much has' been 

 attempted and accomplished by trained observers and professional 

 medical men, while mention at least should have been made of the 

 establishment of the entirely new science of psychology, from the 

 critical and experimental study of which far more promising results 

 have already been derived than from the not always edifying exhibi- 

 tions of mediums and clairvoyants. To judge from the fact that a 

 quarter of the book is devoted to it, vaccination is the subject on 

 which Mr Wallace feels most strongly. The opponents of this opera- 

 tion can hardly say that it was accepted and enforced with unthinking 

 speed ; moreover, improvements have been and are constantly being 

 made, and we can hardly regard the statistics here collected as appli- 

 cable to the vaccination of the future. The concluding chapters deal 

 with militarism, the treatment of criminals, concentration of capital 

 with its corresponding increase of absolute poverty, followed by the 

 deterioration of those brought under its influence, and the spoliation 

 of the products of the earth, such as forests, coal, and the fertile soil. 

 That in these respects our century is no better, and often far worse 

 than its predecessors, is too generally admitted to need emphasis here. 

 But, whether or no the remedies to be adopted are those suggested by 

 Mr Wallace, we venture to believe that remedies are being sought for 

 most earnestly by an increasing number of men and women, and that 

 even the nineteenth century may claim more than is here allowed 

 to it. Arbitration has made progress, the treatment of criminals has 

 improved, co-operation has become more general, schools of forestry 

 are held to be essential, even the much-abused Indian Government 

 has constructed irrigation works that will be the wonder of ages to 

 come, and, as Sir William Crookes lately told us, the chemist is 

 prepared to refertilise our worn-out soil. 



Let us not be too pessimistic. No advantage is ever gained without 

 a corresponding disadvantage, and we cannot look for advance in all 

 directions at once. The evils that we all deplore have been caused 

 by those very benefits that we give thanks for, and a recognition of 

 the evil is the first step towards its removal. As an honest attempt 

 to look things straight in the face, Mr Wallace's book deserves a 

 welcome from men of all opinions. 



Geology made Easy 



Geology for Beginners. By AY. W. Watts. Svo, pp. xviii + 352, with 310 illustra- 

 tions. London : Macmillan & Co. 1898. Price 2s. 6d. 



This is one of the best introductions to Geology that we have ever 

 seen. Most books of the kind are ship-wrecked on a syllabus ; but 

 Mr Watts, though planning his work on the lines of the revised 

 syllabus of the Science and Art Department, has managed to steer 

 safely through its narrow passages without sacrificing breadth of view 

 or originality of treatment. 



