LITERARY NOTICES. 



561 



into others as varieties or subvarieties. Many 

 of these species, furthermore, were made by 

 keen observers who devoted their whole 

 time to making them, and were adepts at the 

 work, and yet in the light of the studies of 

 Baird, Coues, Allen, Ridgway, Brewer, and 

 others these specific distinctions have been 

 broken down, and many of these formerly 

 well-recognized species are now known as 

 geographical varieties. 



His work is filled with a large number of 

 cases of deformation, atrophy, hypertrophy, 

 duplication of parts, etc. Varietal groups 

 are one thing ; double-headed monsters, su- 

 pernumerary digits, etc., are quite another 

 thing, and no one has ever been tempted 

 to look in that direction for new species ; in- 

 deed, the collector has rarely been inclined to 

 save such freaks, and so Mr. Bateson's book 

 is all the more remarkable for presenting 

 such a large array of material. 



After turning the last page we say to 

 ourselves, If such profound structural diver- 

 gencies can arise, how elastic the organism 

 must be, and how infinite must be the num- 

 ber of minor variations of strength, endur- 

 ance, color, proclivities, tc., which is all the 

 material the Darwinian demands to sustain 

 the doctrine of natural selection as an all- 

 sufficient cause ! 



TOTAL ECLIPSES OF THE SUN. By MABEL 

 LOOMIS TODD. Columbian Knowledge Se- 

 ries. Number 1. Edited by Prof. DAVID 

 P. TODD. Boston : Roberts Brothers 

 Pp. 244. Price, SI. 



THE opening volume of the Columbian 

 Knowledge Series is a remarkably pic- 

 turesque book. Dealing with those impress- 

 ive moments, of infrequent occurrence in 

 any one locality, when the face of Nature 

 seems transformed, it appeals strongly to 

 popular interest. Moreover, the fact that 

 these occasions afford rare and precious op- 

 portunities for valuable scientific observa- 

 tions makes the subject doubly attractive to 

 all intelligent minds. Mrs. Todd has made 

 excellent use of her opportunities. With rare 

 powers of description she tells how eclipses 

 occur, describes their phenomena, and re- 

 lates the incidents of various expeditions for 

 observation. A historical sketch of eclipses 

 from the remote past down to 1893 is given. 

 Considerable is told about instruments and 

 VOL. XLV. 43 



photographic appliances used in observing 

 eclipses. A notably interesting feature is a 

 list of future total eclipses of the sun, with a 

 chart showing where they will be visible, 

 and there is a similar list and chart of past 

 eclipses since 1842. The proofs of the book 

 have passed under the scrutiny of Prof. C. 

 A. Young as well as that of Prof. Todd, so 

 that readers need have no fears of inaccura- 

 cies. The volume is copiously illustrated 

 and has an index. 



POPULAR LECTURES AND ADDRESSES. Vol. II. 

 GEOLOGY AND GENERAL PHYSICS. By 

 Sir WILLIAM THOMSON (Baron KELVIN). 

 London and New York: Macmillan & 

 Co. Pp. 599. 



THE volume of Lord Kelvin's Popular 

 Lectures now issued completes the se't of 

 three volumes. Among the subjects dis- 

 cussed in the geological papers and addresses 

 are geological time, geological dynamics and 

 climate, the doctrine of uniformity, the in- 

 ternal condition of the earth, and polar ice- 

 caps. In one of the addresses delivered 

 before the British Association, Lord Kelvin 

 has discussed the sources of available energy 

 in Nature, designating them briefly as tides, 

 food, fuel, wind, and rain, all but the first of 

 which are derived from the sun. There are 

 also addresses, more general in character, 

 delivered at the opening of the Bangor labo- 

 ratories, at the unveiling of a statue of Joule, 

 and at three anniversary meetings of the 

 Royal Society. 



PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN AMERICA. By WIL- 

 LIAM I. FLETCHER. Columbian Knowl- 

 edge Series. Boston : Roberts Brothers, 

 1894. Pp. 169. Illustrated. Price, $1. 



EVERY essential fact regarding the public 

 libraries of America is here told in brief com- 

 pass by the eminent librarian of Amherst 

 College. The claims of the public library as 

 a means of refined entertainment, as a gainful 

 partner to the school, the workshop, and the 

 studio, as here set forth, are certainly weighty 

 enough for national conviction. To the public- 

 spirited men and women who either wish to 

 improve a library already established, or who 

 desire to found one, Mr. Fletcher's chapters 

 are indispensable. He concisely passes in re- 

 view the selection of books, their fit housing, 

 and the management of a library, this last 

 task now much lightened for trustees and 



