422 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



the Testudinata, with notes on the evolution 

 of the pelvis in general. Frof. C. 0. Whit- 

 man has two papers in this number, one 

 dealing with Spermatophores as a Means of 

 Hypodermic Impregnation, the other being a 

 Description of Clepsine Plana. Each is ac- 

 companied by a plate. 



The most extended paper in No. 1 of 

 Vol. V is by W. B. Scott, of Princeton, on 

 The Osteology of Poebrotherium. This num- 

 ber contains also A Contribution to the 

 Morphology of the Vertebrate Head, based on 

 a Study of Acanthias vulgaris, by J^dia B. 

 Piatt; a short paper on the Reproductive 

 Organs of Biopatra, by E. A. Andrews ; the 

 third of Dr. McMurricKs series, dealing 

 with The Phytogeny of the Actinozoa ; and 

 an account of the Bevelopment of the Lesser 

 Peritoneal Cavity in Birds and Mammals, 

 by F. Mall. Plates and small figures accom- 

 pany the papers. 



An address to the New England Crema- 

 tion Society by its president, Mr. John Storer 

 Cobb, has been printed in pamphlet form, 

 with the title The Torch and the Tomb. 

 Mr. Cobb cites many instances in which the 

 decomposition of buried bodies has caused 

 disease by polluting water-supplies, by con- 

 taminating the air that passes over ceme- 

 teries, or by allowing the escape of bacteria 

 into the overlying soil in cases of deaths 

 from infectious disease. Ee also shows the 

 lack of foundation for the current objections 

 to ci'emation, and quotes the enthusiastic 

 approval of this process expressed by a 

 clergyman whose prejudice had been com- 

 pletely removed by witnessing the incinera- 

 tion of a friend's remains. The society was 

 organized in January, 1891, and Dr. W. H. 

 Wescott, P. 0. box 2,436, Boston, is its 

 general secretary. 



The Archaeological Institute of America 

 has published Contributions to the History of 

 the Southwestern Portio7i of the United States, 

 by A. F. Bandelier, one of the archaeologists 

 of the Hemenway Expedition. These papers 

 embody materials derived from the archives 

 of Santa F6, Santa Clara, El Paso del Norte, 

 and Mexico, together with topographical and 

 archaeological data obtained by exploration. 

 A preliminary sketch is given of the knowl- 

 edge which the Spaniards in Mexico pos- 

 sessed of the countries north of the province 

 of New Galicia previous to the return of Ca- 



beza de Vaca, in 1536. This is followed by 

 four monographs, dealing respectively with 

 the wanderings of De Vaca ; Spanish efforts 

 to penetrate to the north of Sinaloa, between 

 1536 and 1539 ; Fray Marcos of Nizza; and 

 the expedition of Pedro de Villazur from 

 Santa Fe to the Platte River in 1720. A 

 subscription of one thousand dollars is so- 

 licited to complete the final report of Mr. 

 Bandelier on his investigations among the 

 Indians of the Southwest. 



The Third Year-book of the Brooklyn In- 

 stitute, 1890-'91, gives evidence of renewed 

 vigor in this old institution. The book con- 

 tains lists of officers and members, the by- 

 laws, a brief history of the Institute, and an 

 account of the work of 1890-91. During the 

 past winter each of the many departments of 

 the Institute provided a lecture once a month, 

 making a large aggregate of such lectures. 

 The library of the Institute comprises 13,000 

 volumes, and its circulation for the year end- 

 ing September 1, 1890, was 55,891. A bio- 

 logical laboratory course was carried on dur- 

 ing July and August, 1891, at Cold Spring 

 Harbor, Long Island, under the direction of 

 Prof. H. W. Conn. In December, 1888, a 

 movement for the formation of Museums of 

 Art and Science in Brooklyn was initiated by 

 the Institute, and considerable progress has 

 been made in this direction. 



The principle of the slide-rule has been 

 applied by Mr. H. J. Thomas in the Slide- 

 Rule Perpetual Cahndar (Jerome-Thomas 

 Co., New York, 25 cents). This calendar 

 can be set for any month of any year, past 

 or future, and old style as well as new style. 

 "We note one misprint — 29 for 59 — in the 

 Year Letter Table. 



An essay from the pen of Edward L. 

 Anderswi, sketching the origin and develop 

 ment of man, has been sent us (R. Clarke & 

 Co., 25 cents). It is untechnical in language 

 and highly finished as to literary style. The 

 author entitles the essay The Universality cf 

 Man's Appearance and Primitive Man, and 

 affirms his conviction that man "appeared 

 everywhere upon the earth, where the con- 

 ditions were favorable, during a certain geo- 

 logical period." He also asserts that man 

 has a soul, and that a pure soul is worthy of 

 immortality. 



The Report of the New York Agricultural 

 Experiment Station, for 1890, records the 



