628 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



amincrs plucked him. They admitted that 

 his translations from the Latin and Greek 

 were faithfully rendered, but objected to 

 his ungraceful, bald, and inornate English. 

 The biographer adds : " The real cause was 

 beyond all doubt his utter neglect of the 

 special study of the place : a liberty which 

 Cambridge seldom allows to be taken with 

 impunity even by her most favored sons." 

 Universities are very human, after all. 



It is, however, noteworthy and very sig- 

 nificant that Macaulay changed his views in 

 regard to some of these matters in maturer 

 life. Mr. Trevelyan says, " He used to pro- 

 fess deep and lasting regret for his early 

 repugnance to scientific subjects." And 

 well may he have done so, for the sciences 

 in which he was deficient Lad not only a 

 direct bearing upon his work as a states- 

 man and an historian, but they were rising 

 every decade into increasing prominence in 

 the world of philosophic thought. Had 

 Macaulay given to some of the modern sci- 

 ences even a fraction of that untiring at- 

 tention and insatiate interest which he de- 

 voted to almost every form of literary rub- 

 bish, it might have made a wide difference 

 in the conservation of his fame. 



The Logic of Chance. By J. Venn, M. A. 

 New York : Macmillan. Pp. 500. Price, 



$3.75. 



In a work with the above title one is 

 prepared to find most of the illustration 

 and demonstration mathematical. This, 

 however, is not the case with the present 

 treatise, for the understanding of which no 

 knowledge of mathematics is required be- 

 yond the simple rules of arithmetic. The 

 author's object is, to show what are the 

 foundations and province of the theory of 

 probability, with especial reference to its 

 logical bearings and its application to mor- 

 al and social science a matter of strictly 

 philosophical inquiry, though the problems 

 which are met with in the application of the 

 rules of probability often require a profound 

 acquaintance with mathematics. In the first 

 part of his work the author lays down what 

 he calls the "physical foundations of the 

 science of probability." According to him, 

 in those classes of things with which prob- 

 ability is concerned, the fundamental con- 

 ception which we have to bear in mind is 



that of a series. The individual members 

 of a series seem to be governed by no law ; 

 but when we consider the result of a long 

 succession we find a marked distinction : a 

 kind of order begins gradually to emerge, 

 and at last assumes a distinct aspect. In 

 the second chapter the author has an able 

 critique on certain fundamental postulates 

 of Quetelet's system. 



Part II. treats of the logical super- 

 structure erected upon these physical foun- 

 dations, and we have chapters entitled 

 "Gradations of Belief," "The Rules of Infer- 

 ence in Probability," " The Rule of Succes- 

 sion," " Induction," " Causation and Design," 

 " Material and Formal Logic," " Modality," 

 " Method of Least Squares," and " Fallacies.' ' 

 The third part is devoted to considering 

 various applications of the theory of prob- 

 ability. The principle of life and property 

 insurance is explained ; also the laws gov- 

 erning games of chance. Finally, there are 

 chapters on the " Application of Probability 

 to Testimony," " Credibility of Extraordi- 

 nary Stories," and "Statistics as applied 

 to Human Actions." 



Geological and Geographical Survey of 

 Colorado and Adjacent Territory. 

 1874. By F. V. Hayden. Pp. 515, with 

 Maps and Plates. Washington : Gov- 

 ernment Printmg-Office. 



The great amount of work performed 

 by a United States Survey Expedition, dur- 

 ing a field season, and the permanent value 

 of such reports as that before us, will be 

 understood from a brief statement of the 

 method in which such surveys are con- 

 ducted : 1. Such observations are made as 

 will supply the data for a geological map, 

 showing the distribution and extent of 

 the formations which compose the surface 

 of the region. A number of sections are 

 examined, to ascertain how these forma- 

 tions lie upon one another, and to de- 

 termine their relative ages and general pale- 

 ontological relations. The extent and mode 

 of occurrence of all economical products, 

 as minerals, springs, etc., are noted, collec- 

 tions of rocks, fossils and the like, being 

 made as far as possible. 2. The material^ 

 are collected for a map or representation 

 of the surface features of the country, its 

 streams, plains, mountains, cafiona, etc., 



