708 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



appeal to the difficulty of obtaining or coining judicious or otherwise ap- 

 propriate names. The case is different with the naming of places on the 

 earth's surface, which at this day can be done with direct reference to 

 euphony, to a certain appropriateness of dedication or appeal, and the in- 

 telligence of the student. A map of the world is intended for everybody, 

 and not for a class of specialists, and its symbols are devised for readers 

 of all classes. Maps of America have particularly suffered from irrele- 

 vant and commonplace designations, and only during recent years has the 

 money value of names suggested radical changes, as in the case of many 

 of the seaside resorts of the middle Atlantic coast. But, with all our in- 

 differences and extravagances of even a half century ago the period of 

 Hog Hollows and Yuba Dams a no cruder infraction of the logic of no- 

 menclature can be found than in the coining of such names as " Cape 

 Mary Harmsworth," " Cape Cecil Harmsworth," " Alfred Harmsworth 

 Island," " Harold Harmsworth Straits," " Cape William Bruce," " Bruce 

 Island," "Mabel [Bruce] Islands," "Mabel Bruce Fjord," "Albert Ar- 

 mitage Island," " Cape Alice Armitage," " Ceceil Rhodes Straits," " H. 

 M. S. Worcester Glacier," etc. These have not even the advantage of an 

 old-time arctic " ring " about them. Courting popularity by the be- 

 stowal of all manner of personal names, irrespective of direct relation to 

 the expedition or to geographical exploration, is hardly commendable, and 

 is only less objectionable than the plan suggested a few years ago by an 

 American would-be arctic explorer to " sell " the names of places to be 

 discovered to the highest bidder i. e., according to a graded schedule of 

 contributions to the expedition funds. 



GENERAL NOTICES. 



On the South African Frontier * is a 

 narrative of the experiences and observa- 

 tions of the author, Mr. William Harvey 

 Brown, partly as naturalist of the United 

 States Government Eclipse-observing Ex- 

 pedition of 1889 to the west coast of Af- 

 rica, and partly as a resident in various 

 occupations for seven years in Rhodesia. 

 The principal object in composing it was 

 to give American readers a clearer idea of 

 English operations in conquest and col- 

 onization on the South African frontier 

 than it is possible to glean from cur- 

 rent fragmentary accounts. The author 

 served his apprenticeship at natural his- 

 tory collecting under Prof. L. L. Dyche, 

 of the University of Kansas, and Mr. W. 

 T. Hornady, of the New York Zoological 

 Gardens, and was recommended by 

 Mr. Hornady to the Government for the 

 Eclipse Expedition. He sailed first to 

 Freetown, then to St. Paul de Loanda, 

 where he spent a few weeks collecting, 

 establishing his headquarters at Bishop 



* On the South African Frontier. The Adven- 

 tures and Observations of an American in Ma- 

 Bhonaland and Matabeleland. New York : Charles 

 Scribner's Sons. Pp. 480, with map. Price, $3. 



Taylor's American Methodist Self-sup- 

 porting Mission. Thence, after a short 

 attack of African fever, he proceeded to 

 Cape Town, where he was attacked by 

 the other sort of African fever " an irre- 

 sistible longing to penetrate the Dark 

 Continent for purposes of exploration 

 and of observing both man and Nature." 

 He made the journey overland to Mafe- 

 ting and to the Mashona country, in the 

 region of which he spent seven years as 

 " game-hunter, gold-seeker, landowner, 

 citizen, and soldier," observing and par- 

 ticipating in the settlement and early de- 

 velopment of the new state of Rhodesia. 

 The larger part of the book is devoted to 

 his adventures and observations, " trav- 

 el, collecting, hunting, prospecting, farm- 

 ing, scouting, fighting," and seeing pio- 

 neer life. Two chapters are devoted to 

 ethnology. The race problems which 

 arise during the stage of transition from 

 barbarism, the agricultural and mineral 

 resources of Rhodesia, and its prospects 

 and possibilities, are discussed. 



A very handsome book, in what to 

 many are the most graceful and interest- 

 ing forms of vegetable life, is Mrs. Par,' 



