SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE. 



849 



was published in 1731? A reference to Kolben's work would have given 

 the student access to material which depicts the Hottentot before he had 

 been seriously contaminated by contact with intrusive races, and would 

 have explained the curious ceremonies connected with marriage and other 

 rites and functions. 



In regard to the dwarf tribes of Africa he says: "It is a pity tbat Stan- 

 ley . . . has shown his usual tendency to exaggeration. With the dwarfs 

 he has jumbled up children or misshapen beings such as negro chiefs keep 

 at their courts for entertainment." Among the interesting generalizations 

 is this one: "It has been correctly said that among negroes as elsewhere 

 morality seems to stand in inverse ratio to the quantity of clothing, so that 

 tribes that go naked are, so long as they remain untouched by foreign in- 

 fluence, the most chaste; those that are most clothed the least so." The 

 missionaries can not or will not see the significance of this truth, and in- 

 stantly demand a sudden change in habits engendered under a tropical 

 sun, with the inevitable result of physical and moral degeneration of their 

 converts. 



His treatment of the African races is by far the most exhaustive, and 

 the mass of new material in statement and in illustration will be of the 

 greatest value to the American student. 



GENERAL NOTICES. 



The important question of memory and 

 its cultivation is the subject of the last 

 volume in the International Scientific Series 

 to reach us.* What memory is, its place 

 and importance in the economy of the human 

 mind, its divisions and special functions, 

 and, finally, methods for its cultivation, is 

 the ground covered by Mr. Green's book. 

 The great importance of a good memory is 

 manifest; in fact, our intelligence depends 

 almost entirely on the ability to remember 

 what we learn, or, more accurately, what we 

 perceive, as learning a thing implies the use 

 of memory, so that any suggestions which 

 may help to improve our ability to remember 

 are worthy of close attention. Mr. Green 

 says that in his own case, after a use of the 

 methods he recommends, he found that he 

 could learn a subject in about a fifth of the 

 time that it previously took him. The special 

 rules for memory cultivation occupy only the 

 last fifty-five pages, although the whole sub- 

 ject is treated with special reference to this 

 aspect of the question. The rules are simple, 

 and, in fact, those which common sense would 

 dictate such as concentration of attention 

 on the subject which it is desired to remem- 



* Memory and its Cultivation. By F. W. Ed- 

 ridge-Green. New York : D. Appkton and Com- 

 pany. Pp. 307. Price, $1.50. 

 VOL. LII 62 



ber ; the exclusion of unimportant and con- 

 fusing details ; frequent recalling of the im- 

 pression; the use of as many faculties as 

 possible in fixing the original impression ; 

 studying when the nervous force is abun- 

 dant, etc. 



When the political uncertainties of the 

 scientific departments at Washington are 

 considered, it seems really remarkable that 

 anything at all is accomplished by them. For 

 the successful prosecution of original re- 

 search freedom from the petty cares of polit- 

 ical maneuvering would seem essential, and 

 yet some of these sections, notably the ethno- 

 logical and geological, are constantly turning 

 out valuable material. The last of their 

 publications to reach us are a number of 

 Geological Survey bulletins.* The first one, 

 No. 87, is by Charles Schuchert, and gives a 

 synopsis of the American Fossil Brachiop- 

 oda, including a valuable bibliography and 

 synonymy. The richness of North America 

 in well-preserved Palaeozoic brachiopods gives 

 Mr. Schuchert's work a special interest. No. 

 12V, by N. H. Darton, is a catalogue and in- 

 dex of contributions to American geology, 

 and while there can be little said of it in the 



* Department of the Interior. Recent Bulle- 

 tins of the United States Geological Survey. 

 Nob. 87, 127, 188, 139, 140, 141, 142, 114, 145, 146. 



