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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



work of similar compass in any other lan- 

 guage." The book is designed to aid the 

 mode of studying this science which is in- 

 sisted on by the so-called " historical school " 

 of political economists lately arisen. It aims 

 to trace the successive economic doctrines of 

 the past, in connection with the conditions 

 of the time in which each one appeared. 

 Passing quickly over the economic thought 

 of ancient and mediosval times, the author en- 

 ters upon the modern period, which he di- 

 vides into three phases. In the first phase, or 

 during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, 

 the " Catholico-feudal system " was breaking 

 down, while a new order, the commercial, 

 was rising beneath it. In the second phase, 

 the collapse of the mediaeval social structure 

 is followed by the advance of the central 

 government, which, while promoting the 

 growth of commerce, levies tribute upon it 

 to obtain the necessary supplies for military 

 operations. The conditions of this time give 

 rise to the " mercantile school " of political 

 economy. In the last phase — during the 

 eighteenth century — a spirit of individualism 

 arose, and the dogma of laisscr faire was re- 

 ceived with general favor. This tendency, 

 in the absence of the moral discipline partly 

 established in the middle ages, led to the dom- 

 ination of national selfishness and private 

 cupidity. But the rising elements — science 

 and industry — are bringing with them a dis- 

 cipline more effective than the old, and the 

 effort to press forward in the path which 

 they point out gives the character to the 

 period in which we live. The author then 

 proceeds to indicate that the respective 

 features of the second and third phases are 

 reflected in the contemporary economic spec- 

 ulation ; those of the first, he says, can scarce- 

 ly be said to find an echo in any literature 

 of the time. He gives an exposition of the 

 mercantile doctrine, with comments on each 

 important economic treatise which appeared 

 during the prevalence of the tendencies which 

 formed the mercantile school. In treating 

 the doctrine of the third modern phase, or the 

 system of natural liberty, the author takes 

 up first the economic writers of France, Italy, 

 Spain, and Germany before Adam Smith, and 

 follows these with an extended review of 

 Smith's teachings. The later economists of 

 England and the Continent next receive at- 

 tention, and a few pages are devoted to those 



of America. The rise of the historical school 

 in the chief countries of Europe and in Amer- 

 ica is then traced. In conclusion, the author 

 says that political economy has been hereto- 

 fore governed to its detriment by the meth- 

 ods of metaphysics, and that its progress de- 

 pends on the substitution of scientific meth- 

 ods ; that it must be studied in its relations 

 with the science of sociology which includes 

 it ; and that the doctrine of right which lay 

 at the basis of the system of " natural lib- 

 erty" must be replaced by a new doctrine of 

 duty regulating the co-operation of each class 

 and member of the community. 



Three Cruises of the United States Coast 

 AND Geodetic Survey Steamer Blake, 

 in the Gulf of Mexico, in the Caribbean 

 Sea, and along the Atlantic Coast of the 

 United States, from 1877 to 1880. By 

 Alexander Agassiz. .Boston and New 

 York : Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Two vols. 

 Pp. 314 and 220. Price, $8. 



The author styles this work " a contribu- 

 tion to American Thalassography," meaning 

 by that word the science which treats of ocean- 

 ic basins. While we have had narratives of 

 explorations with general summaries of re- 

 sults and special treatises and papers on par- 

 ticular points, which may altogether cover 

 the whole subject, there has previously been 

 no American work treating it comprehen- 

 sively and systematically ; although the fruits 

 of English research have been embodied in 

 the masterly books of Wyville Thomson 

 and Wild. The expeditions of the Blake 

 were by no means of minor importance 

 among the enterprises for investigation of 

 the deep seas. They covered a less extent 

 of territory than the Challenger Expedition, 

 but the region in which they operated is 

 among the most interesting divisions of the 

 ocean in the lessons which it affords con- 

 cerning the relations of currents and tem- 

 perature with the development and distribu- 

 tion of organic life ; and its well - defined 

 limitation made a thorough and nearly ex- 

 haustive survey all the more feasible. That 

 the survey has been fruitful in results, in 

 both the physical and biological departments, 

 is attested by this careful and well-arranged 

 presentation of the facts which were learned 

 from it. Condensing the narrative into a 

 very few pages, the author goes at once to 

 the consideration of the immense variety of 



