May 1, 1807. J 



KNOWLEDGE 



115 



of rock-masses in the field. The position of geology as 

 an educational subject rests largely upon its outdoor 

 aspects ; and Anglo-Saxon geologists have always pre- 

 ferred to base their classification of rocks upon natural 

 relationships traceable in the field. 



We have left until the last one of the most vital 

 problems of geological research, and one that gives to 

 geology, if we may say so, its enormous moral value. 

 When Lyell published, in 18()3, his work on "The 

 Geological Evidences of the Antiquity of Man '" he was 

 able to take up an attitude of marked opposition to the 

 prevalent opinions of his day. Early flint implements 

 were, even then, only beginning to be studied, and human 

 remains are notably prone to disintegration and decay. 

 Still, Lyell was able to point to the upper part of a skull, 

 discovered in the Neanderthal in 1857, and to Huxley's 

 description of it, as indicating a type of extinct humanity 

 far lower than that of the average of the present day. 

 Considering the paucity of very ancient human remains, the 

 discovery of tvo skeletons with skulls of the Neanderthal 

 type at Spy, in Belgium, in 1886, gave immense probability 

 to the idea that a race of men of low average capacity 

 may have at one time peopled the earth ; and in October, 

 ly'Jl, Dr. Dubois excavated, from volcanic sands near 

 Trinil, in Java, the calvarium described by him as 

 Pit/iecanthropus erectus. This portion of a skull, with a 

 well- developed thigh-bone and a molar tooth, were found 

 associated with truly extinct and also locally extinct 

 mammalia, and are referred by Dubois to an individual 

 actually intermediate between man and the anthropoid 

 apes. Other discoveries in this promising area must be 

 looked for before geologists and anthropologists are all in 

 accord as to the significance of these remarkable remains. 



Meanwhile, Dr. Fritz Xoetling, of the Indian Survey, 

 discovered artificially chipped flint implements in Pliocene 

 beds in Burma in 1894, and has rebutted his critics, with 

 considerable appearance of success, in a second paper in 

 Xntural Science in April of the present year. In the 

 February Number of the same journal, Mr, W. J. Lswis 

 Abbott records similar implements from the Cromer 

 forest bed ; and few geologists can remain who v.ould 

 deny to man an existence in pre-glacial times. What 

 forms preceded reasoning man may still be left in dark- 

 ness ; but the extreme scepticism of some archaeologists, 

 and the self-satisfaction of those who have failed to follow 

 the course of pahiontological discovery, can no longer 

 check research into this diflicult and fascinating field. 



In conclusion, whatever impressions have been made by 

 gifted public teachers, we must never forget that each 

 generalization in geology has been founded on a multitude 

 of researches publifhed in our scientific journals. Hidden 

 away there, known only to the specialist, lie the foundation 

 stones of the science. lu the multiplication of scientific 

 observers, in their frequent self-sacrifice, in the high 

 dignity of their aims, we may see the most stimulating 

 outcome of the progress of these sixty years. 



Koti gg of iS oofeg, 



2'he Xatural History of the Marketable Murine Fishes of 

 the British Islands. By .J. T. Cunningham, M.A. With a 

 Preface by Prof. E. Hay Lankester. Pp. 375. Illustrated. 

 (Macmillan.) 7s. (jj. The Marine Biological Association 

 has accomplished much excellent work since it was founded 

 in 1881 ; but the preparation of this volume under its 

 auspices is more likely to lead to a wide knowledge of s?a 

 fishes and sea fisheries, and thus advance its objects, than 

 anything it has done. The author was for some years 

 naturalist to the Association, at the laboratory on Citadel 



Hill, Plymouth. His knowledge of the structure, habits, 

 and breeding of marine food-fishes is intimate and exten- 

 sive, and the present volume shows that he possesses 

 the ability — rare among specialists in science — of being 

 able to impart that knowledge in words which can be 

 comprehended without a special vocabulary. The work 

 is divided into two parts, the first dealing with the 

 history of modern investigations in marine biology ; the 

 characteristics and distribution of valuable marine fishes ; 

 the generation and development of fishes ; growth, 

 migration, food, and habits; and practical methods of 

 increasing the supply of fish : while the second part 

 contains the histories of particular families and fishes. 

 It will be gathered from this outline that all who are 

 interested in the "harvest of the sea" — either as natu- 

 ralists or as fishermen — will find the volume valuable. We 

 will go further than this, and say that Mr. Cunningham's 

 work is indispensable to all who desire to improve, and 

 preserve by intelligent action, our fishing industry. In the 

 preface, Prof. Ray Lankester points out that the book will 

 not only be a help to trained investigators, but he also 

 expresses the hope " that it may help those who are 

 responsible for giving or withholding pubUc funds to the 

 thorough investigation of marine fisheries, in forming a 

 judgment as to the nature of the problems which have to 

 be solved." With this wish we cordially agree. While 

 the United States Fish Commission receives seventy 

 thousand pounds a year from the Government, our Marine 

 Biological Association has only an annual budget of about 

 two thousand pounds, and this is quite insufficient to place 

 the laboratory at Plymouth upon a proparly efficient 

 footing, while the extension of fishery investigations to 

 other parts of the coast is out of the question. Mr. Cun- 

 ningham's book wiU certainly show the public the need of 

 a more generous recognition of the aid which the Associa- 

 tion is able to give to the sea fisheries industry ; and it 

 will also interest, as well as instruct, all who read it. The 

 illustrations are of the clearest description, and are plenti- 

 fully distributed through the volume. 



A'^tronomieal ' 'bsercations and Uesearches mideat Ditnsink, 

 the Obserratory of Trinity College, Dublin. Tiiis volume is 

 the result of a project in 1835 of Sir R. S. Ball, then 

 Director of Dansink Observatory, in the case of those 

 stars whose proper motion is both large and already well 

 determined, to detect any possible variation in its amount, 

 and where it may be due to errors in previous catalogues to 

 remove any ambiguity. To keep the work within reason- 

 able compass, the investigation was restricted to those 

 stars whose annual proper motion exceeds 0-2 '. In addi- 

 tion to these a number of stars not characterized by excep- 

 tional proper motion were observed for special reasons. 

 These included stars required by Dr. Gill for solar parallactic 

 researches, and by Dr. Downing for use in the XaiiticaL 

 Almanack. In the course of these observations a new 

 determination was made of the latitude of the meridian 

 circle. In the winter of 1873-74 Dr. Briinnow had found 

 for this the values 53" 23' 1408" and 53^ 23 1314", when 

 the clamp of the telescope was in the east or west direction 

 respectively, the instrument having been reversed in the 

 interval. With the same instrument and the same method 

 of observing, Dr. A. A. Rimbart found the latitude 

 values for the east and west positions respectively to be 

 53" 23' 13-07" and 53^ 23' 13 27". The fact that the 

 differences in these two sets of values are of opposite signs 

 seems to negative the idea that they are largely due to 

 division errors at the nadir reading. The adopted value 

 of the latitude is 53" 23 1300''. In all twelve hundred 

 and seventeen observations of two hundred and thirty-six 

 stars were obtained in right ascension, from which the 



