LITERATURE, AMERICAN, IN 1883. (SCIENCE.) 



483 



Middle Ages," Simcox's " History of Latin Lit- 

 erature " (Harper & Brothers) ; Firdusi's " Epic 

 of Kings," translated from the Persian by Mrs. 

 Helen Ziramern (Henry Holt & Co.) ; Dr. Da- 

 vid Pryde's " Highways of Literature " (Funk 

 & Wagmills ) ; Ireland's " Book-Lover's Enchi- 

 ridion " (Houghton, Miffliu. & Co.) ; Tourgue- 

 neff's "Poems in Prose" (Cupples, Upham, & 

 Co.); Home's "History of the Literature of 

 the Scandinavian North," translated by Prof. 

 Rasmus Andersen (S. C. Griggs & Co.) ; Black - 

 ie's "Wisdom of Goethe " (Charles Scribner's 

 Sons) ; Macdonald's " Imagination and other 

 Essays " (D. Lothrop & Co.) ; " Recollections 

 of my Childhood and Youth," by Ernest Re- 

 nan (G. P. Putnam's Sons) ; " Letters and Me- 

 lorials of Jane Welsh Carlyle," edited by 

 Fames Anthony Froude (Harper & Brothers) ; 

 Select Letters of Percy B. Shelley," edit- 

 by Richard Garnett (D. Appleton & Co.) ; 

 j-osse's " Seventeenth Century Studies " (Scrib- 

 ler & Welford) ; "The Story of Ida," by Fran- 

 jsca, edited by John Ruskin (John Wiley & 

 )ns); "The Story of My Heart," by Rich- 

 ird Jefferies (Roberts Brothers), and Bishop 

 "rirlwall's "Letters to a Friend," edited by 

 )ean Stanley (Roberts Brothers). 

 Science. While the literary contributions to 

 American science were not many, there were 

 iveral of importance. " The Law of Hered- 

 /," by W. K. Brooks (John Murphy & Co.), 

 was an acute and careful application of the 

 Darwinian hypothesis to the facts involved 

 heredity, with much that indicated original 

 3h. It was one of the notable scientific 

 )ks of the year. Prof. Alexander Winchell's 

 " World Life, or Comparative Geology " (S. C. 

 iggs & Co.), made a valuable contribution 

 popular science, presenting leading geologi- 

 facts in a fascinating manner. The same 

 ift of popular exposition was characteristic 

 f "Excursions of an Evolutionist," by John 

 iske (Houghton, Mifflin, & Co.), a book likely 

 attract even non-scientific people by its 

 larm of treatment. "Natural Instincts in 

 ten and Animals," by P. A. Chadbourne, was 

 readable presentation of interesting facts. 

 Our Northern and Eastern Birds" (R. 

 r orthington), Edward A. Samuels offered a 

 mtribution to science, v. hich will be prized by 

 ituralists. The same field was largely cov- 

 red by Steam's " New England Bird-Life " 

 (Lee & Shepard). Rev. J. H. Wythe, M. D., 

 . r as the author of an interesting elementary 

 treatise on " Easy Sermons in Vegetable Biol- 

 ogy; or, Outlines of Plant-Life" (Philips & 

 Hunt). Another work on the same subject 

 was " Wonders of Plant-Life." by Sophie B. 

 Herrick (G. P. Putnam's Sons). Students of 

 comparative anatomy and physiology will find 

 a use for the " Hand-Book of Vertebrate Dis- 

 section," in three parts, elaborately illustrated, 

 by Prof. H. Newell Martin, M. D., and Dr. 

 W. A. Moale (Macmilian & Co.). "North 

 America," by Prof. Hayden, U. S. Geological 

 Survey, and Prof. Selwyn, F. R. S., of Canada 



Geological Survey (Scribner & Welford), was 

 a compendium of geography and travel. The 

 more important scientific publications of the 

 United States Government were " Cruise of 

 the U. S. Steamship Corwin in Alaska and 

 the Northwest Arctic Ocean, in 1881, with 

 Notes on Glaciation, Natural History, and An- 

 thropology," by John Muir, E. Nelson, and 

 Dr. Irving Rosse " ; "A History of the Inter- 

 oceanic Canal Problem," by Lieut. J. S. Sulli- 

 van, U. S. Navy ; " Twelfth Annual Report of 

 the U. S. Geological and Geographical Survey 

 of the Territories," by Capt. F. V. Hayden, 

 U. S. Engineers, embracing Wyoming and 

 Idaho, one volume being entirely devoted to 

 the Yellowstone Park ; " Report of the Fish 

 Commission for 1880-'81-'82 " ; " Astronomi- 

 cal and Meteorological Observations made dur- 

 ing 1879 at the U. S. Naval Observatory " ; 

 " An Account of the Progress of Astronomy 

 in 1882," by Prof. E. G. Holden, of the Smith- 

 sonian Institution ; and " Geology of the Corn- 

 stock Lode and Washoe District," by George 

 F. Becker. 



The American issues of English scientific 

 books, and of translations from Continental 

 authors, were numerous and valuable. To the 

 " International Scientific Series " (D. Appleton 

 & Co.) were added " Animal Intelligence," by 

 George J. Romanes, an excursion into the do- 

 main of what might be called the psychology 

 of the lower orders of life ; Joly's " Man 

 before Metals," an investigation of the pre- 

 historic human race ; Hospitalier's " Modern 

 Applications of Electricity," and "The Or- 

 gans of Speech," by George Hermann von 

 Meyer, a study of articulate sound. Frank 

 Buckland's "Log-Book of a Fisherman and 

 Zoologist" (Scribner & Well'ord) was a viva- 

 cious narrative ; and Prof. Ray Lankester's 

 "Degeneration, a Chapter in Darwinism," an 

 able work, worthy of attention. R. A. Proc- 

 tor, distinguished as a popular expositor, has 

 added two books to his many, " Nature Stud- 

 ies" (Funk & Wagnalls) and "Mysteries of 

 Time and Space." Vol. Ill of " Mathematical 

 and Physical Papers," by George Gabriel Stokes 

 M. A., D. C. L. (Macmillan & Co.), reprinted 

 from the original papers and journals, was a 

 valuable contribution to scientific literature. 

 Among the important reprints special atten- 

 tion may be called to the " Northwest Coast of 

 America " (Dodd, Mead, & Co.). This embodies 

 the results of recent ethnological researches 

 from the collections of the Royal Museum of 

 Berlin, published by the directors of the eth- 

 nological department. 



Politics, Economics, and Social Science. In this 

 domain there were a considerable number of 

 noteworthy books from American authors. 

 One of the ablest was by Lester F. Ward, en- 

 titled "Dynamic Sociology, or Applied Social 

 Science " (D. Appleton & Co.). The book was 

 a masterly argument in favor of greater cen- 

 tralization, or what is known as paternalism 

 in government, and an attack on the laissez 



