SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE. 



55i 



State Normal School, at Brockport, 

 N. Y., contains much of value, presented 

 in a very readable and attractive man- 

 ner. The subjects treated are arithmetic, 

 algebra and geometry. About half the 

 book is devoted to the first. The author 

 sketches the history of the teaching of 

 arithmetic from the earliest times, gives 

 a critical examination of the different 

 systems which have been tried and 

 aims to discover the correct general 

 principles upon which the instruction 

 should proceed. He notices the tend- 

 ency of many of our schools to follow 

 too closely the Grube method, or a 

 modification of it. The chapter on the 

 present teaching of arithmetic is full 

 of valuable suggestions. Algebra and 

 geometry are treated in the same way. 

 Much useless lumber is cleared away, 

 and the whole discussion is marked by 

 strong common-sense, an element not 

 always present in discussions of this 

 kind. The extreme differentiation in 

 the teaching of these three branches 

 which prevails in so many schools is 

 condemned. It is urged that the blend- 

 ing of algebraic method and notation 

 with the higher parts of arithmetic, and 

 the early introduction of the inductive 

 study of geometric form, both contrib- 

 ute to the substantial progress and de- 

 velopment of the student. Valuable 

 references are given to other writings 

 for fuller discussions on special topics. 

 These references cover works in English. 

 French, German and Italian. 



GEOLOGY. 

 Peofessob Suess's great work, 'Das 

 Antlitz der Erde,' has been translated 

 into French with emendations and an- 

 notations, and thus becomes accessible 

 to an enlarged number of readers. No 

 strictly geological publication since the 

 time of the first appearance of Sir 

 Charles LyelFs 'Principles of Geology' 

 has brought together so many data con- 

 cerning the nature of the altitude of 

 the continents in relation to sea level. 

 Geologists have generally assumed that 

 it is the land which rises or sinks when 

 a change of level takes place in relation 



to the sea. Professor Suess attacks this 

 view and endeavors to show that the 

 ocean has and has had its great move- 

 ments, now keeping up its waters in 

 the equatorial district, now accumulat- 

 ing about the poles and transgressing 

 the low lands of its borders. An ex- 

 haustive review of the geological struc- 

 ture of the known parts of the earth, 

 particularly complete with regard to 

 the borders of the oceans and the 

 the Mediterranean, is presented as a 

 basis for discussing the evidence of such 

 changes as the sinking in modern geo- 

 logical times of lands or islands in what 

 is now the North Atlantic. By the 

 sinking of the ocean floor, it is held 

 that the sea level is lowered around 

 the earth, thus giving rise to emerged 

 lands. Parts of these plateaus have in 

 turn sunk, and so the earth has ex- 

 perienced varied and often sudden 

 changes of the relations of land and 

 sea. The work is entertainingly writ- 

 ten, despite the laborious compilation 

 of geological details, which is made evi- 

 dent in its numerous chapters. The 

 geological explanation of the Noachian 

 Deluge is perhaps one of the most in- 

 teresting sections of the work. Aside 

 from the theory which the work sets 

 forth, it affords the best general survey 

 of the earth's surface which is at pres- 

 ent available in any language. It has 

 been supplied with numerous recent ref- 

 erences by M. de Margerie and his 

 able assistants in the work of transla- 

 tion. 



A YEARBOOK OF BIOLOGY. 

 L'Annee Biologique for 1897.— Every 

 year the number of biological workers 

 increases, the number of repositories of 

 researches is multiplied and the diffi- 

 culties of keeping informed of the re- 

 sults obtained in even a restricted de- 

 partment of science are enhanced. 

 Hence, new bibliographical works are 

 ever welcome, especially if they give not 

 only titles but abstracts. L'Annee Bio- 

 logique does not only this, but more, 

 for its abstracts are likewise critical re- 

 views indicating the true place in the 



