278 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MOXTHLY 



else. There was also a paper, which led to 

 some discussiou, on the orighi aud antiquity 

 of certain social customs, such as bowing 

 and kissing. The communication most in- 

 teresting to the general reader was the 

 address of the president, Dr. John S. Bil- 

 lings, on " Scientific Men and their Duties." 

 Dr. Billings defines a scientific man as one 

 " who uses scientific method in the work to 

 which he specially devotes himself ; who 

 possesses scientific knowledge, not in all 

 departments but in certain special fields." 

 A man of science, on the other hand, is " a 

 man who belongs to science peculiarly and 

 especially, whose chief object in life is sci- 

 entific investigation, whose thoughts and 

 liopes and desires are mainly concentrated 

 upon his research for new knowledge." lie 

 does not, however, agree with the view 

 often expressed that the pursuit of knowl- 

 edge for the mere pleasure of knowing is 

 the true business of the man of science. 

 On the contrary, he holds that the duty of 

 men of science is to promote the welfare of 

 mankind, and not merely to gratify person- 

 al curiosity. He discusses the question of 

 the adaptability of government officers for 

 scientific work, approving their employment 

 in such work, though admitting that it has 

 its drawbacks. In closing, he notes the 

 fact that science has not yet furnished a 

 satisfactory basis for morality, and makes 

 some interesting comparisons between the 

 science of the West and the religion aud 

 philosophy of the Orient. 



Federal Taxes and State Expenses. By 

 William II. Jones. New York : G. P. 

 Putnam's Sons. 1887. 

 The author of this book is an advocate 

 of a plan that has been advanced for dis- 

 tributing the proceeds of the United States 

 tax on liquors aud tobacco among the sev- 

 eral States, the same to be devoted to pay- 

 ing the expenses of the State governments. 

 The United States stand alone among the 

 nations of the earth in having a public 

 revenue so large tliat they don't know 

 what to do with it ; and manif(jld are the 

 Fcliemes that are brought forward for get- 

 ting rid of it. One of the strangest of 

 these is that which is advocated in this 

 volume. Most people would regard it as 

 unconstitutional ; at all events, its adoption 

 would be a great departure from the hith- 



erto uniform practice of the Government. 

 Mr. Jones, however, is a firm believer in it ; 

 and those who wish to know what can be 

 said in its favor will find it in his pages. 



The Game of Logic. By Lewis Carroll. 

 London and New York: Macmillan & 

 Co. Pp. 96. Price, $1. 



With each copy of this book is given an 

 envelope, containing a diagram on a card, 

 with nine counters. The diagram repre- 

 sents in its several divisions different classes 

 of propositions ; the counters are intended 

 to mark the particular kinds of proposi- 

 tions, etc., which are to be employed in the 

 problem at the moment seeking solution. 

 The whole is designed to afford a graphic 

 illustration, with tangible symbols, of the 

 logical processes of drawing conclusions 

 from premises. The game requires the 

 counters to be of two colors, say four of red 

 and five of gray, and may be played by one 

 or more players. 



Elementary Treatise in Determinants. 

 By William G. Peck. New York and 

 Chicago : A. S. Barnes k Co. Pp. 47. 

 Price, 75 cents. 



An acquaintance by students with the 

 elementary principles of determinants being 

 demanded by recent advances in mathemat- 

 ics, this book was prepared for the use of 

 a class about to enter upon a course of mod- 

 ern co-ordinate geometry. It is a work in 

 pure mathematics, the value of which can 

 be adequately estimated only by experts in 

 that department of the sciences. 



Sixth Annual Report of the United 

 States Geological Survey to the Sec- 

 retary of the Interior: 1884-85. By 

 J. W. Powell, Director. Washington : 

 Government Printing-Office. Pp. 570. 



The topographical survey of the United 

 States was extended, during the year cov- 

 ered by this report, over an area of 57,508 

 square miles, at an average cost of about 

 three dollars per square mile. The results 

 of the survey are to be embodied in maps, 

 which will be published in scales of (ap- 

 proximately) one, two, and four miles to the 

 inch ; and is to be engraved in sheets, of 

 which the unit will be one square degree ; 

 so that the maps of the different scales will 

 require, respectively, sixteen, four, and one 



