848 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



dpscriptions of the classes of that division. The chapter on the Philosophy 

 of Zoology includes an exposition of the system of evolution, and that on 

 the history a running account of what each student and author has con- 

 tributed to the subject, A Guide to Modern Zoological Literature is given 

 as an appendix, 



GENERAL NOTICES. 



The object of Professor Shaler^s Otitunes 

 of the Earth's History * is to provide the be- 

 ginner in the study of the subject with a gen- 

 ei'al account of those actions which can be 

 readily comprehended and which will afford 

 him clear understandings as to the nature of 

 the processes that have made this and the 

 other planetary bodies. Those series of facts 

 have been selected that serve to show the 

 continuous operation of energy. The author 

 believes that the progress of science has 

 been much retarded by the prejudices that 

 have grown out of the idea that the existing 

 condition of the earth is the finished product 

 of forces no longer in action — the " static 

 conception of the earth," as he calls it. A 

 special attempt is made to guard the student 

 against such misconception by presenting 

 clear ideas of successions of events that are 

 caused by forces operating in and on the 

 sphere, of which what relates to the work 

 done by the heat of the sun is the most in- 

 teresting. The influence upon the history of 

 the earth of the fate of man is also made 

 prominent, and the author has sought to show 

 the way in which geological processes and 

 results are related to ourselves. Lastly, writ- 

 ing for the begmner, Mr. Shaler has avoided 

 going beyond his depth. It is greatly to the 

 advantage of the book that the author com- 

 mands an easy, flowing style that is an attrac- 

 tion in itself. The first chapter opens as An 

 Introduction to the Study of Nature, which the 

 author insists, in the second chapter — Ways 

 and Means of Studying Xature — should be be- 

 gun outdoors with familiar objects. Next an 

 account is given of the realm of the stars, and 

 this is followed by a general description of 

 the earth. The chapter on the Atmosphere 

 includes so much more than is indicated by 

 the bare title as to embrace all the work by 

 the air, rain, rivers, lakes, the sea, and the 

 geological work of water. The chapter on 



* Outlines of the Earth's Hii'tory. A Popular 

 Study in Physiography. By Nathanial Soutligate 

 Shaler. New York: D. Appleton and Company. 

 Pp. 417. Price, S1-T5. 



Glaciers is also correspondingly comprehen- 

 sive, and could not be passed by without a 

 notice of the Glacial period and the causes 

 of the peculiar phenomena it afforded. In a 

 similar vein are considered The Work of 

 Underground Water, The Soil, and The 

 Rocks and their Order. Here the length of 

 the story already told compelled the author 

 to stop, without presenting the accounts he 

 had contemplated of the geological ages and 

 the succession of organic life. The book is 

 a full one as to all the subjects it covers. 



As in the volume on Aristotle of The 

 Great Educators Series Mr. Thomas David- 

 son tried to give an account of ancient clas- 

 sical and social education, so in the present 

 volume * on Ronsscau he has endeavored to 

 set forth the nature of modern, romantic, 

 and unsocial education. This education 

 originated with Rousseau. The proper con- 

 sideration of it involves the necessity of tak- 

 ing Rousseau's life into the review, and this 

 is dwelt upon at considerable length, with 

 the end of showing that his educational 

 structure " rests, not upon any broad and 

 firm foundation of well-generalized and well- 

 sifted experience, but upon the private tastes 

 of an exceptionally capricious and self-con- 

 ceited nature." Hence Mr. Davidson is 

 moved to say that if his estimate of Rous- 

 seau's value as an educator proves disap- 

 pointing to those who believe in his doc- 

 trines, he is more disappointed than they 

 are. In estimating the measui-e of Rous- 

 seau's influence, the author finds that upon 

 religion it was incalculable, " supplement- 

 ing, and in some ways counteracting, that 

 of Voltaire"; in art and literature, it has 

 been " almost paramount throughout Chris- 

 tendom," and, on the whole, beneficial ; in 

 the sphere of economics, " though entirely 

 averse to socialism and anarchism, he was 

 in a large degree the parent of both " ; in 

 politics he was the father of democracy ; 



* Rousseau and Education according to Na- 

 ture. By Thomas Davidson. New York: Charles 

 Scribner's Sons. Pp. Sa3. Piice, $1. 



