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POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



in illness; not only idiosyncrasies of con- 

 stitution but incomplete knowledge of 

 physiological chemistry still render the 

 problem difficult. New foods are con- 

 stantly introduced which subsequent ex- 

 periment proves to be harmful. The last 

 dictum, we believe, in regard to saccha- 

 rin is that it is not wholly innocuous, 

 so that it might be as well for the dia- 

 betic patient to learn to do without 

 sweets in the beginning, while as for 

 the digestive ferments, they are at the 

 least hazardous concoctions. We can 

 not be too wary of artificial substitutes 

 and laboratory products which claim the 

 virtues of organic material or living pro- 

 toplasm. 



The reason for the being of Jolin 

 Munro's The Story of the British Race * 

 is briefly indicated in the preface as to 

 be found in tlie fact that the current 

 ideas on the subject are derived from 

 the views of historians representing the 

 doctrines of an earlier and less critical 

 generation, while the fact is overlooked 

 that the new science of anthropology, 

 using careful observations and exact 

 methods, has put the real nature of the 

 British people in a light in which it was 

 never seen so clearly before. Tlie result 

 is that the old ideas on the subject have 

 been greatly modified. Mr. Llunro be- 

 lieves that his little book is the first 

 attempt to bring these important results 

 and views of modern anthropologists be- 

 fore the general public in familiar lan- 

 guage, whereby the oversights of his- 

 torians and teachers may be I'edeemed. 

 An important error to be controverted, 

 in the author's view, lies in the fine- 

 drawn distinctions and sharply defined 

 demarcations that have been made be- 

 tween Celts and Saxons. It is inferred 

 from anthropology that the population 

 of the British Isles is a mixture of all 

 the races of western Europe, in which 

 the Teutonic and Mediterranean ele- 

 ments — " the aborigines of Europe " — 

 predominate, while " the intrusive Celtic 

 race from Asia," still represented by the 

 Bretons, passed into the British Isles in 

 comparatively small numbers. Scotland 

 is perhaps more Teutonic and less Medi- 

 terranean than England, Wales, or Ire- 



* The Story of the British Race. (Library of 

 Useful Stories.) By John Munro. New York : 

 D. Appleton and Company. Pp. 228. Price, 40 

 cents. 



land. Wales is the least Teutonic and 

 the most Mediterranean, if not Celtic, 

 of the three. England has more of the 

 Dutch and Low Country elements than 

 of the Scandinavian, with apparently 

 not far short of an equal share of the 

 ilediterranean and Teutonic elements. 

 Ireland is perhaps as Teutonic as Eng- 

 land, though the better fusion of the 

 elements may disguise the fact. The 

 author thinks that the first chapters of 

 English history will have to be written 

 over again by the light of anthropology. 



The Eighteenth Annual Report of the 

 United States Geological Survey * men- 

 tions, as an important change in the 

 held work that made necessary by the 

 legislation providing for the establish- 

 ment of levels and permanent monu- 

 ments and bench marks, of which 10,840 

 miles of levels were run and 1,820 bench 

 marks were established. The topographic 

 surveys to date covered an aggregate 

 area of 759,525 square miles, of which 

 240,000 square miles were on a scale of 

 four miles to the inch. The topographic 

 work has progressed very satisfactorily 

 under the present organization of the 

 survey, including, in the year covered by 

 tlie report, surveys in the Indian Terri- 

 tory and of the northern part of the 

 boundary line between Idaho and Mon- 

 tana — the first work of the kind as- 

 signed to the Geological Survey — and 

 the beginning of the survey of the forest 

 reserves. The work on the educational 

 series of rocks has been completed. It 

 includes two hundred and fifty larger 

 and smaller sets, which will be distrib- 

 uted to institutions where geology is 

 taught. In his general report the di- 

 rector mentions the work of more than 

 thirty geological parties in all parts of 

 the United States, of six paleontological 

 parties, hydrographic and topographic 

 surveys by States, and the work of the 

 division of mineral resources, the full ac- 

 count of which will constitute Part V of 

 the report. The theoretic and other 

 papers in Part II relate to the Triassic 



* Eighteenth Annual Report of the United 

 States Geological Surrey to the Secretary of the 

 Interior, 18n6-'97. Charles D. Walcott, Director. 

 In Five Parts. Director's Report, including Tri- 

 nngulation and Spirit Leveling. Pp. 4.')0, with 

 4 plates. Part IT; Papers chiefly of a Theoretic 

 Nature. Pp. 053, with 10.5 plates. Part III; Eco- 

 nomic Geology. Pp. 861, with 118 plates. Part 

 IV; Hydrography. Pp. 756, with 102 plates. 



