422 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Biilt of causes whose operation has no histori- 

 cal or no written proof to attest them. The gi- 

 gantic stone images on Easter Island, or the 

 great earthworks in America, are among the 

 proofs that but for such material traces of its 

 existence it is possible for a whole civilization 

 to vanish, and to leave only the veriest savages 

 on the soil where it flourished. As we know 

 that Europe was once as purely savage as parts 

 of Africa are still, and can conceive the cycle of 

 events restoring it to barbarism, so in the depths 

 of time it may have happened in places where 

 no suspicion of such a history is possible. As 

 the surface of the earth seems subjected to pro- 

 cesses of elevation and subsidence, land and sea 

 constantly alternating their dominion, so it may 

 be with civilization, destined to no permanent 

 home on the earth, but subsiding here to reap- 

 pear there, and varying its level as it varies its 

 latitude. 



As the practical infinity of past time makes 

 it impossible to calculate the influence exercised 

 in difl'erent parts of the world by migrations, by 

 conquests, or by commerce, except within a very 

 limited period, so it precludes any definite belief 

 in ethnological divisions, and relegates the ques- 

 tion of the unity of the human race, like that of 

 its origin, to the limbo of profitless discussion. 

 No characteristic has yet been found by which 

 mankind can be classified distinctly into races : 

 and with all the difi'ereuces of color, hair, skull, 

 or language, which now suffice for purposes of 

 nomenclature, it remains true that there is no- j 

 thing to choose between the hypothesis tliat we j 

 constitute only one species and that we consti- I 

 tute several. The world is so old as to admit of I 

 several divergences from a single original type [ 

 quite as wide as any that exist ; while, on the 

 other hand, similarity of customs (such, for in- 

 stance, as that Tartars in Asia, Sioux Indians 

 in America, and Kamschadels should all regard 

 it as a sin to touch a fire with a knife) fail us as 

 a proof of a unity of origin, in the face of our 

 ignorance of prehistoric antiquity. 



Should he have succeeded in making any one 

 think better than before, with more interest 

 and sympathy of those outcasts of the world 

 whom we designate as savage, something will 

 at least have been done to claim for them a 

 kindlier treatment and respect than in popular 

 estimation they either deserve or obtain. 



Papers read before the Pi Eta Scientific 

 Society, 1878-79. Rensselaer Poly- 

 technic Institute, Troy, N. Y. Pp. 69. 



This is a collection of ten papers on va- 

 rious subjects, most of which fall under the 

 head of engineering. The first, by S. Edward 

 Warren, on " Graphic Science in Text-book 

 and Teaching," is an explanation of " the 

 idea and intended use" of each volume of a 

 series of text-books prepared by the author 

 on this subject. The second is a technical 

 paper by Hugo Gylden, Director of the Uni- 



versity Observatory, of Stockholm, " On the 

 Relations between the Number, Brightness, 

 and Relative Mean Distances of the Fixed 

 Stars as seen from the Earth," translated 

 by Professor E. S. Holden, of the Washing- 

 ton Naval Observatory and Lieutenant Eric 

 Bergland, U. S. Engineer Corps. Among 

 the remaining papers, " Iron and its Uses 

 in Permanent Structures," by C. J. Bates, 

 and " Tides in the Upper Hudson," by John 

 A. Ferris, are of considerable popular inter- 

 est. A list of the members of the society is 

 appended. 



American Ornithology ; or, The Natural 

 History of the Birds of the United 

 States. Illustrated with Plates made 

 from Drawings from Nature. By Alex- 

 ander Wilson and Charles Lucien 

 Bonaparte. Philadelphia : Porter & 

 Coates. Pp. 788. Price, $7.50. 



This book does not sufficiently explain 

 itself Thei'C are two volumes bound in 

 one ; there are prefixed to it twenty-seven 

 plates containing three or four hundred en- 

 gravings of birds ; there is Baird's list of 

 American species of 1856 ; and a biography 

 of Alexander Wilson, made up chiefly of 

 his letters. Two names appear upon the 

 title-page as authors, but, if there is any 

 statement of their respective shares in the 

 production of the work, we have failed to 

 observe it. 



Alexander Wilson, the ornithologist, was 

 a Scotchman, born in 1766, the son of a dis- 

 tiller, and who himself became a weaver. 

 He early dabbled in poetry, and emigrated 

 to Pennsylvania in 1794. He maintained 

 himself at first by peddling and teaching 

 school. During his journeys he became in- 

 terested in birds, and at length devoted 

 himself to that branch of natural history. 

 He learned drawing, coloring, and etching, 

 and projected a comprehensive work on 

 American birds. Having prepared a large 

 number of fine illustrations, he made tours 

 through the country to extend his ornitho- 

 logical observations and to get subscribers 

 to his work, which was to appear in succes- 

 sive volumes, and to cost altogether $120. 

 He was but poorly sustained, getting many 

 compliments for the beauty of the pictures 

 he presented, with but very little substan- 

 tial support. The first volume appeared in 

 1808. He had completed the ptiblication 



