566 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



tents are not described by this title, though 

 they all treat of kindred questions raised by 

 the progress of recent inquiry. Although 

 not a systematic treatise, this collection will 

 be valuable to students of contemporary 

 thought. It may be strongly commended to 

 general readers upon those subjects, as in- 

 troductory to more methodical works. The 

 book is in an eminent degree of the ex- 

 planatory and helpful sort which, by brief 

 incidental explanations, often succeeds in 

 aiding the learner where more formidable 

 disquisitions fail to be apprehended. All 

 who are perplexed with imperfect appre- 

 hension -of evolutionary doctrines will find 

 these essays especially instructive and use- 

 ful. They are not only full of valuable 

 thought, but they make the topics plain and 

 intei'esting to unproficient minds. 



Memoirs of the Science Department, Uni- 

 versity OF ToKjo, Japan. Vol. I., Part 

 I. Shell-Mounds of Omari. By Ed- 

 ward S. Morse, Professor of Zoology, 

 University of Tokio. Published by the 

 University of Tokio, Japan. Nisshusha 

 Printing-office. 2539 (1879). 



This monograph of Japanese archaeol- 

 ogy has much more than the usual interest 

 of such documents. In the first place, it 

 emanates from a university that has recent- 

 ly arisen in the great city of Tokio, which 

 has a vigorous scientific department, and is 

 filled with native students, who are pushing 

 with enthusiasm into the field of original 

 work. Several English-speaking professors 

 have been called to take positions in this 

 institution — the heathen being apparently 

 more appreciative of the missionaries of 

 science than the missionaries of the gospel. 

 Professor Morse, of Salem, who has for 

 the past two or three years been carrying 

 on the good work of zoology in the Tokio 

 University, has also interested himself in 

 Japanese ethnology and the relics of its old 

 civilization. It is curious that, when we get 

 back sufficiently far in time, modern dis- 

 tinctions disappear, and we are lost in a 

 prehistoric antiquity which discloses com- 

 mon features all over the world. The 

 mound-deposits of Japan early attracted Pro- 

 fessor Morse's attention. He had already 

 studied these phenomena in Massachusetts 

 apd Maine, with Wyman and Putnam, and 

 was prepared to keep a sharp lookout for 



evidence of their occurrence in the East. 

 Soon after his arrival he fortunately dis- 

 covered a large and extensive shell-mound 

 on the line of the railway at Omori, six 

 miles from Tokio. The students of the uni- 

 versity joined him in exploring it, and many 

 interesting specimens of pottery, implements, 

 and weapons were obtained, which are pre- 

 served among the collections of their Archae- 

 ological Museum in Tokio. The present 

 memoir is descriptive of those specimens. 

 Appended to the text of this memoir are 

 eighteen large lithographic plates on folding 

 pages, and containing two hundred and 

 fifty illustrations of archaeological subjects. 

 These lithographic representations are ex- 

 cellently done, and were all drawn by Jap- 

 anesc artists. Nor is this all: the com- 

 position and press-work of the volume are 

 the work of Japanese printers, the type 

 being set by compositors unable to speak a 

 word of English. And, what is more, the 

 paper upon which the book is printed is of 

 Japanese manufacture. The paper is su- 

 perior, the typography excellent, and the 

 printing first rate — in fact, for a " heathen '' 

 production the work is highly creditable. 



Fuel: Its Combustion and Economy. Ed- 

 ited by C. Kinnard Clark, C. E. D. 

 Van Nostrand. Pp. 894. Price, $1.50. 

 This volume is a combination of two 

 works, one by C. Wye Williams and the 

 other by J. S. Prideaux, on the general sub- 

 jects of the combustion of coal, the struc- 

 ture of furnaces, and the atmospheric con- 

 ditions of high thermal effects. It is fully 

 illustrated, and forms a very complete man- 

 ual of the subject. 



Units and Physical Constants. By J. D. 



Everett, F. R. S. Macmillan & Co. 



Pp. 175. Price, $1.10. 



This is a valuable digest of what may 

 be called the data of the physical sciences— 

 the units, constants, standards, and symbols 

 of the foundation facts of the most impor- 

 tant branches of physical science — mechan- 

 ics, hydrostatics, astronomy, sound, light, 

 heat, magnetism, and electricity. Treating 

 of the basal conceptions of quantitative 

 science, its expressions are of course in 

 mathematical form. It is a valuable book 

 for critical students, and done by a first- 

 class man. 



