LITERARY NOTICES. 



1 27 



as final legislation, and will doubtless at 

 some no distant date call for further consid- 

 eration as to some of its provisions. It 

 leaves us still, in recognition of the claims 

 of literary workers, very much behind the 

 other nations of the civilized world. The 

 result of fifty-three years of effort, it brings 

 this country to the point reached by France 

 in 1810, and by Great Britain and the states 

 of Germany in 1836-'37. Under the pro- 

 visions of the Berne Convention of 1887 — 

 which probably represents the final stage of 

 international copyright in Europe — by fulfill- 

 ing the requirements of their domestic copy- 

 right laws, authors can now at once secure, 

 without further conditions or formalities, 

 copyright for their productions in all the 

 states belonging to the International Union. 

 This union comprises nearly all the countries 

 of Europe, with Tunis, Liberia, and Hayti. 

 " It is not probable," says Mr. Putnam, " that 

 another half-century of effort will be re- 

 quired to bring public opinion in the Ameri- 

 can Eepublic up to the standard of inter- 

 national justice already attained by Tunis, 

 Liberia, and Hayti." 



The Prison Question. By Charles A. 

 Reeve. Chicago: A. C' McClurg & Co. 

 Pp. 194. Price, $2. 



This book gives a theoretical and philo- 

 sophical review of matters relating to crime, 

 punishment, prisons, and reformation of con- 

 victs ; considers mental, social, and political 

 conditions as they bear upon these things ; 

 and presents the author's views about the 

 causes and the prevention of crime and the 

 production of criminals. We do not have to 

 accept the author's views specifically to rec- 

 ognize that he has thought carefully and 

 deeply on the subject, and has reasoned 

 upon it without undue prejudice. The fun- 

 damental principles of the book were first 

 presented by him in a public lecture, about 

 twelve years ago, and have been urged in 

 various papers read before the National 

 Prison Congress. The purpose of the book 

 is to group some important well-established 

 facts and apply them to the subjects of 

 prisons and reforms, in such order as will 

 interest so much of the general public as can 

 be reached, and so aid in creating a public 

 opinion that can intelligently and practically 

 deal with and dispose of the defective classes 



and the causes that produce them. The 

 author believes that an impractical theology 

 on the one hand, and a blind agnosticism on 

 the other, alike operate to prevent a true so- 

 lution of the problems of criminality. From 

 a false position no step can be taken in ad- 

 vance without plunging into falsities. The 

 only practical steps are such as lead to a 

 true position. These the author tries to 

 point out, by studying the criminal's mind 

 and the factors that operate upon it — among 

 which are physical and mental energy, 

 theology, natural forces, marriage, society, 

 and other surrounding influences — as they 

 tend to develop, restrain, perpetuate, or pro- 

 create criminal tendencies. A very impor- 

 tant place is given to heredity, and, by con- 

 sequence, to such regulation of marriage as 

 will best prevent the transmission of crimi- 

 nal appetites. The relations of government, 

 legislation, punishment, and prisons to the 

 criminal are considered ; reformation re- 

 ceives a hopeful word ; but the measures to 

 which real importance is attached are those 

 that appertain to prevention. 



The Sturgeons and Sturgeon Industries 

 OF the Eastern Coast cf the United 

 States, with an Account of Experi- 

 ments bearing upon Sturgeon-culture. 

 By John A. Ryder. Washington : Gov- 

 ernment Printing-office. Pp. 50, with 

 Plates. 



The studies embodied in this monograph 

 were made by the author in the spring of 

 1888 at Delaware City, Del., a very impor- 

 tant center of the sturgeon-fishery. Not- 

 withstanding the results of the effort were 

 in some respects unsatisfactory, a number 

 of novel facts were collected and experi- 

 ments were carried out which must be of 

 great significance in any further attempts 

 at the artificial propagation of these fishes. 

 The embryological data have been drawn 

 partly from the author's own experiments 

 and partly from the work of other authors. 

 The embryos of the common sturgeon here 

 illustrated are believed to be the first of that 

 species that were ever figured. The irppor- 

 tant fact was determined that the common 

 sturgeon (Acipenser sturio) is the only spe- 

 cies which is at the present time of com- 

 mercial value in the fishery of the Delaware. 

 A few specimens of Acipenser brevirostris 

 were obtained — a species which has not been 



