SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE. 



277 



Moore utters a protest against the ego- 

 ism or selfishness of our day, and sug- 

 gests an ideal scheme. The problem of 

 life is defined as being the relation of 

 each individual to the rest of the uni- 

 verse, and is peculiarized by the exist- 

 ence of the social problem involving 

 relations of individuals to each other 

 difTerent from those sustained to the im- 

 personal universe. There are in the na- 

 ture of living beings the egoistic ele- 

 ment, which impels action in behalf of 

 self, and the altruistic element, which 

 prompts or prevents movement out of 

 consideration to others. At present the 

 egoistic element predominates, with re- 

 sults that make a picture far from 

 bright. In the social ideal the strong 

 should supplement the weak as they 

 would like to be supplemented if they 

 were weak; individuals not unequal but 

 diverse may mutualize their efforts to 

 the advantage of all; and each indi- 

 vidual should perform in the social econ- 

 omy that function for which he is best 

 fitted, and should receive in return " a 

 graceful equity in the means for satisfy- 

 ing his desires." 



Among the books announced for 

 issue soon by Henry Holt & Co. are 

 The Book of Vertebrate Zoology, by 

 Prof. J. S. Kingsley, author of The Ele- 

 ments of Comparative Zoology, pub- 

 lished by the same house, which can be 

 used as a companion to McMurrich's In- 

 vertebrate Zoology; Elementary Studies 

 in Chemistry, by Prof. Joseph Torrcy, 

 of Harvard, which, while it is charac- 

 terized by the emphasis laid upon quan- 

 titative laboratory work in general 

 chemistry, will be a comprehensive text- 

 book on the whole subject; and Moulds, 

 Mlldeics, and Mushrooms, a guide to the 

 systematic study of the fungi and My- 

 cetozoa and their- literature, by Prof. 

 Lucien Underwood, of Columbia Uni- 

 versity. 



Miss Cornelia E. Horsford, being in- 

 terested in the question of the origin of 

 certain ancient ruins situated on the 

 Charles River, Mass., and elsewhere in 

 America, which were discovered by the 

 late Prof. E. N. Horsford and were be- 

 lieved by him to be relics of the settle- 

 ments formed by the Norsemen in the 

 tenth century, commissioned Mr. Thor- 

 stein Erlingsson to examine for compari- 

 son certain ancient dwellings in Iceland, 



in the summer of 1895. The inquiries 

 assigned to hira related to the method 

 of construction of the long houseS) 

 square buildings, hillside cots with pave- 

 ments, mounds, things and doom rings, 

 irrigation and drainage, ditches, river 

 dams, hithes and ship docks, or nauts, 

 grave-hills, and forts. The results of the 

 study are given, with illustrations, in a 

 small book. Ruins of the Saya Times, by 

 Thorstein Erlingsson. (Published by 

 David Nutt, London.) Mr. Erlingsson's 

 report is supplemented by an outline of 

 already ascertained knowledge regard- 

 ing early Scandinavian home building, 

 derived from previous excavations and 

 investigations furnished by F. T. NOrris 

 and Jijn Stefansson, and a summary in 

 French by M. E. D. Grand. 



The Quarterly Journal of the An- 

 thropological Institute of Great Britain 

 and Ireland was issued during the thir- 

 ty-seven years from the beginning of 

 1871 in the form styled demi-octavo. 

 The small pages of this size entailed 

 some inconveniences, especially when 

 ample plates and tables were needed for 

 illustration. With the double number 

 (August and November, 1898) a new 

 series was begun, in the form styled im- 

 perial octavo, with a page considerably 

 larger than in the old form and corre- 

 sponding in size with the important 

 publications of some of the continental 

 societies of Europe. This number con- 

 tains the proceedings of seven meetings 

 of the society and important anthropo- 

 logical articles, some of them on Ameri- 

 can subjects. Among them is a criti- 

 cism, by Prof. W. Z. Ripley, on Deni- 

 ker's Classification of the Races of Eu- 

 rope. 



In How to Switn (Putnams, $1) Cap- 

 tain Davis Dalton, Chief Inspector of 

 the United States Volunteer Life-Saving 

 Corps, gives a practical treatise upon 

 the art of natation, together with in- 

 struction as to the best methods of 

 saving persons imperiled in the water 

 and of resuscitating persons apparently 

 drowned. The treatise covers every 

 branch of the art, and abounds in cau- 

 tions in connection with nearly every 

 topic, against the mistakes that may 

 arise from timidity or the carelessness 

 of over-confidence. The author holds 

 that swimming is an art to be acquired 

 and learned like other athletic arts, al- 



