46 
or less popular treatises on the subject is not sur- 
prising. Most of the original memoirs are in tech- 
nical language in serials that are not generally 
accessible, and it is natural that critical summaries 
by those who have taken part in such research 
should be widely welcomed. The curiosity of the 
intelligent public, however, is so eager for satis- 
faction in many matters which are still beyond the 
pale of scientific knowledge that there is ever a 
temptation to make a book successful by pander- 
ing to this taste. 
which have been judiciously considered in scien- 
tific memoirs, and rightly used as tentative hypo- | 
theses, run the risk of being quoted as established 
facts; while unique, isolated discoveries tend to be 
treated as if they were sufficient for the absolute 
determination of their mutual relationships and 
could be used for definite conclusions. 
We venture to think that Prof. H. F. Osborn 
has sadly failed to resist this temptation in his 
new handsome volume on the ‘Men of the Old 
Stone Age,” which has reached a second edition 
in America within six months of its original pub- 
lication. In every respect it is in strange con- 
trast with such works as Huxley’s well-known 
“Man’s Place in Nature,’ which Prof. Osborn 
curiously omits both from his historical sketch 
and from his valuable bibliography of the subject. 
We are definitely told that modern geology “has 
firmly established eight subdivisions or stages of 
Pleistocene time—namely, four Glacial, three 
inter-Glacial, and one post-Glacial,” which can be 
recognised in America as well as in Europe. We 
learn with equal certainty that Piltdown man is 
“four times as ancient as the final type of Nean- 
derthal man,” while Heidelberg man is nearly 
twice as ancient as the Piltdown man, “according 
to our estimates.” The gravels in which Galley 
Hill man was found “are by no means of the geo- 
logic antiquity of 200,000 years assigned to them 
by Keith,” but “lie within the estimates of post- 
Glacial tim from 20,000 to 40,000 
years.”’ In fact, the dates of the successive stages 
in prehistoric man’s. progress are so exactly given 
and so often repeated that they cannot fail to 
deceive the unwary reader, who must feel especi- 
ally impressed by their precision when he notes 
Prof. Osborn’s warning that the odd 1900 years 
of the Christian era must be added to each state- 
ment when he desires to reckon time from the 
present day. 
Prof. Osborn has, indeed, attempted with great 
labour to present a connected story which is dis- 
tinctly premature, and will give the ordinary 
reader an exaggerated idea of the value of the | 
conclusions already reached in prehistoric. re- 
search. With the aid of several industrious com- 
pilers, whose services he acknowledges, he has 
produced a most useful and up-to-date compen- 
dium of the facts, with references to the original 
papers on which his statements are based. Each 
section is also most profusely and beautifully illus- 
trated, often with original photographs which 
were made on a tour through France and Spain. 
We feel, however, that the collected materials 
NO. 2447, VOL. 98] 
NATURE 
Probabilities and possibilities | 
wy 
_ 
‘ 
™ 
» a * 
[SEPTEMBER 21, 1916 | 
have not been used with sufficient scientific dis- 
cretion and adequate literary skill to produce a 
satisfying result. We would only add that for 
those to whom much of the text may prove diffi- 
cult reading, the illustrations with their legends 
will still be a source of instruction and delight, 
| while the excellent chapters on later Paleolithic 
art will be Ae pi aae A. Save 
THE NATURAL HISTORY OF : HAWAIL. 
Natural History of Hawaii: Being an Account of 
the Hawaiian People, the Geology and 
Geography of the Islands, and the Natwe and 
Introduced Plants and Animals of the Group. 
By Prof. W. A. Bryan. Pp. 596. (Honolulu: 
The Hawaiian Gazette Co., Ltd.; London: 
G. E. Stechert and Co., 1915.) 
ie: suspicion that is awakened by the some- 
what typical ‘““American” puff that Prof. 
A. Bryan allows himself in the preface to the 
“Natieal History of Hawaii” is dissipated when 
the book itself is read, and the author is to be 
congratulated on having produced a book that 
is at the same time readable, useful, and trust- 
worthy. It gives the reader a very good general 
idea of the geology, geography, flora, fauna, 
and ethnology of the group, and it will be of — 
especial value to residents who take an interest 
in the local natural history. There is a very large 
number of photographs, some of which are on too 
small a scale to be of any real use, while the- 
details in others are lost on account of ordinary 
photographic, instead of orthochromatic (or 
similar), plates having been used. The volu- 
minous indices are of great practical use. 
The section on the people is disappointing in ~ 
. some respects; for example, it is futile in a popu- 
lar book to say that “North, South, and Middle 
America, as well as Papua, Malay, China, Japan, 
and India, have each in turn been declared the 
cradle”” of the Polynesian race, as the unin- 
formed will be led to suppose that any of these 
alternatives is possible. We know more on this 
subject than the author admits to be probable. 
In view of the recent investigations into the 
problems of Polynesian ethnology, Prof. Bryan 
might have alluded to Dr. H. Allen’s “Study of 
Hawaiian Skulls” (Trans. of Wagner Free Inst. 
of Sci., Phil., v., 1898, p. 1), where a dual 
element in the population is demonstrated, thodene 
the conclusions thereon are possibly erroneous, 
In dealing with the flora and fauna the author 
never loses sight of the problems of distribution ; 
thus not only are the characteristics of the sea- 
shore, lowlands, and mountains described, but 
the variation that occurs from island to island 
and the significance of this are duly noted. In the 
case of the land snails, for example, great varia- 
tion may occur, not only in different valleys, but 
in parts of the same valley, so that the Hawaiian 
group is a famous field for the student of varia- 
tions. 
Another good feature of the book is the caren 
manner in which native species are i 
