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POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



show that current theories of the origin aud 

 history of the earth and solar system are 

 wrong ; that the sun does not project light 

 and heat as such to the earth ; that the 

 earth is not a result of nebular evolution, 

 but is self-existent and independent, a3 are 

 other planets and systems, and along with 

 the other bodies is a great electro- magnet; 

 and that the forces of that category devel- 

 oped by these bodies are the power behind 

 all phenomena. His argument consists of 

 variations of the familiar one that the pres- 

 ent explanations accepted for want of bet- 

 ter ones are unsatisfactory. His electro- 

 magnetic idea perhaps not intrinsically ob- 

 jectionable as a general principle still leaves 

 the why and the how unaccounted for. 



A book by Dr. Frank Wood Haveland (pub- 

 lished by the author, 205 West 118th Street, 

 New York, $2), entitled Science, the Ancient 

 Hebrew Significance of the Book of Genesis, 

 is a little bewildering to one not initiated 

 into the mysteries of Christian science. The 

 book of Genesis is described as the founda- 

 tion of all other books of the Bible and of 

 every science, philosophy, and religion of all 

 ages, and 'as explaining various biblical and 

 human mysteries, including the science of 

 healing of the sick, and revealing the high- 

 est conditions of thought. In connection 

 with the authorized version of Genesis, a 

 paraphrase is published, embodying its sup- 

 posed hidden meaning. 



The poem of Josiah Augustus Seitz, en- 

 titled The Colloquy, is further designated on 

 the title-page as Conversations about the 

 Order of Things and Final Good, held in the 

 Chapel of the Blessed St. John, summarized 

 in Verse. The conversations cover a con- 

 siderable part of the field of philosophy and 

 knowledge, and relate to subjects, some of 

 which, as in the tenth conversation, " The 

 World of Wrong and Pain," bearing on the 

 social aspects of life; the twelfth, " Of the 

 Natural Order," setting forth evolution ; and 

 the thirteenth, "Excursion to Mars," relat- 

 ing to cosmogony, bear on subjects coming 

 within the purview of science. (G. P. Put- 

 nam's Sons. Price, $1.75.) 



Certain underground structures found in 

 some of the ruined groups of Yucatan have 

 excited the curious attention of explorers, 

 but have not been satisfactorily accounted 



for. They are generally single chambers, re- 

 sembling vaults in appearance, built ten or 

 fifteen feet below the surface, and having no 

 connection with the outer world except a 

 single opening through the roof. They are 

 particularly noticeable at Labna, and several 

 have been found at Uxmal. Thirty-three of 

 these chultunes, as they are called, at Labna 

 have been explored by Mr. Edward H. 

 Thompson, whose report upon them, The 

 Chulfunes of Labnd, is published as a Mem- 

 oir of the Peabody Museum of Ethnology 

 and Archaeology. Mr. Thompson found in 

 them much dust, flint implements, potteries, 

 and human bones. He believes that they 

 were primarily built and used for the storage 

 of water in a region where that necessary is 

 very scarce and hard to get, and that some of 

 them were afterward converted into tombs. 



Suggestions for laboratory and field 

 work in High-School Geology, by Ralph S. 

 Tarr, is intended as an aid for the teacher. 

 It is an attempt to introduce the object- 

 lesson method into the study of geology, and, 

 while there can be no question of its desira- 

 bility and efficacy, there are many difficul- 

 ties in the way of its adoption in the ordi- 

 nary high school, the chief among which are 

 lack of time and adequate knowledge by the 

 teacher. The subject is taken up chapter 

 by chapter (following the author's Elemen- 

 tary Geology), field and laboratory work 

 being introduced wherever it seems called 

 for. The latter half of the volume consists 

 of a series of questions for use with the 

 author's Elementary Geology. (Macmillan, 

 25 cents.) 



The elementary course in comparative 

 anatomy of the vertebrates includes, in many 

 colleges, the thorough study of some readily 

 obtained, characteristic vertebrate, followed 

 by studies of the various types. Prof. David 

 S. Kellicott, of the Ohio State University, 

 finds that in the preparation of literary 

 guides for these dissections, the Ophidian, 

 or snake, has been omitted. Considering it 

 as really an important and agreeable type, 

 and easily obtained in the spring, he has 

 undertaken to supply the omission with a 

 little handbook on the Dissection of the 

 Ophidian. The Spreading Viper {Heterodon 

 platyrhinns), a common, harmless snake of 

 fair size, is taken as the type for examina- 



