1 32 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Malthus and his Work. By James Bonar. 



London : Macmillan & Co. Pp. 432. 



Price, $4. 



No author is more talked about, when 

 questions of political economy or social sci- 

 ence are under consideration, than Malthus ; 

 no dogma than what is called the Malthu- 

 sian theory. But, according to the view of 

 the author of this book, very few of those 

 who have so much to say about the man 

 and his doctrines know what they really 

 are. " Malthus," he says, " was the best 

 abused man of the age " ; and the temper 

 and abundance of the abuse that has been 

 launched against him " amount to a demon- 

 stration " that his opponents are in the 

 wrong, or that his logic is too sound for 

 them. The points at issue were fully 

 enough discussed in his own time between 

 Malthus and his adversaries, "and no one who 

 fairly considers the extent of the discussion, 

 and the ability of the disputants, can fail to 

 believe that we have, in the records of this 

 controversy, ample materials for forming our 

 own judgment on the whole question. . . . 

 Such a privilege is seldom used. The world 

 has no time to consult authorities, though 

 it likes them to be within reach of consulta- 

 tion. When an author becomes an authori- 

 ty, he too often ceases to be read, and his 

 doctrines, like current coin, are worn by use 

 till they lose the clear image and superscrip. 

 tion of the issuer. In this way an author's 

 name may come to suggest, not his own 

 book, but the current version of his doc- 

 trines," and this is seldom a wholly fair 

 one. Such, Mr. Bonar seems to think, has 

 been the case with Malthus ; .ind the pur- 

 pose of the present volume is to give an ex- 

 act account of his life, his teachings, and 

 the object and character of his book. 



Annual Repoht of thk Board of Bkgents 

 OF THE Smithsonian Institction for 

 188.3. Washington: Government Print- 

 ing-Office. Pp. 959. 

 This report contains much valuable in- 

 formation concerning scientific work and 

 progress in various departments in this and 

 other countries. One of its excellent feat- 

 ures is its running summaries of the prog- 

 ress of investigations carried on by the 

 members of Government surveys and expe- 

 dition'", and by private persons in corre- 

 spondence with the Institution, which cover 



a wide ground. A full account is given of 

 the inauguration of the statue of Professor 

 Henry, with the memorial address of Chief- 

 Justice Waite, the oration of President 

 Noah Porter, and a representation of the 

 statue. Among the special papers are the 

 accounts of progress during the year in the 

 several departments of science, and a num- 

 ber of accounts of explorations of mounds 

 and other anthropological work. 



Ciioi-ERA : ITS Origin, ITistort, Causation, 

 Symptoms, Lksion.s, Prevlntion, and 

 Treatment. By Ai.frkd Stille, M. D. 

 Philadelphia : Lea Brothers & Co. Pp. 

 164. 



The author has enjoyed the advantage 

 of studying cholera in two epidemics, and 

 has prepared this volume in view of the 

 general newly awakened interest on the sub- 

 ject and the agitation of Dr. Koch's germ 

 theory. While declining to accept the doc- 

 trine of Dr. Koch and his supporters as 

 demonstrated, he seeks " to exhibit the spe- 

 cific nature of cholera by evidence drami 

 from its origin and mode of propagation ; 

 to disabuse the medical profession of the 

 erroneous notion that the disease ever origi- 

 nates de novo ; to maintain the necessity of 

 quarantine, not in the literal but in the offi- 

 cial sense of that word ; to point out the 

 channels through which cholera may be dif- 

 fused ; and to describe the measures which 

 experience has sanctioned to prevent its 

 dissemination and cure those who are at- 

 tacked by it." 



Silver-Lead Deposits of Eureka, Nevada. 

 By Joseph Story Curtis. Washington : 

 Government Printing-Office. Pp. 200. 



From the year 1869 to 1883, Eureka 

 district produced about $60,000,000 of gold 

 and about 225,^00 tons of lead. Owing to 

 the fact that the deposits of this district 

 have been more completely developed than 

 any other of a similar character on the Pa- 

 cific slope, they offer very full opportunities 

 for the scientific investigation of formations 

 of this class. The information on which 

 this report is based was collected during 

 field-work by the author in 1881 and 1882, 

 and from the reports of Mr. George F. Beck- 

 er's preliminary examination of the more 

 important mines, and of Mr. Arnold Hague's 

 survey of the geology of the district in 1880. 



