July 1G, 1000] 



SCIENCE 



89 



all my shots which hit outside them we sha'n't 

 count" If we eliminate those who teach for 

 nothing at all, why not disregard those who 

 get less than a specified sum, say $1,500? It 

 would make a still more favorable showing for 

 the average. The writer must confess inabil- 

 ity to follow his critic's logic in this. 



The writer has no prejudice against Temple 

 College. It may be doing the worthy work 

 your correspondent vouches for. The writer's 

 passing curiosity was aroused by the fact 

 that it appears to provide for the needs of 

 2,343 students, and a teaching staff of 198, out 

 of an entire annual expenditure of $72,895, 

 and so he gave voice to it. When all the facts 

 are known, it is quite possible that this insti- 

 tution may be found to have sounder stand- 

 ards than many another guilty of extravagant 

 and ostentatious expenditures. The more 

 light we can get on these points the better. 



After all, your correspondent and the writer 

 don't disagree on the main point at issue, 

 namely, that honest and reliable statistics are 

 ■vitally necessary. Only, the writer was labor- 

 ing under the impression that, so far as con- 

 cerned data not previously common property, 

 he was supplying to a slight extent just that 

 kind of accurate material. Assuredly he has 

 made effort enough to have it so; his con- 

 science acquits him on that score. And it 

 will take rather more convincing proof than 

 that offered by this correspondent to shake 

 his faith in its value. GuiDO H. Marx 



WARNING TO ZOOLOGISTS AND OTHERS 



Zoologists and geologists generally are 

 warned that a clever swindler is making a 

 canvass of the zoologists of New York, seek- 

 ing money under false pretenses. He operates 

 by claiming to be the " nephew " of some well- 

 known scientist who is a personal friend of 

 the intended victim; and the skill and thor- 

 oughness with which he prepares each case 

 is fairly amazing. He knows thoroughly the 

 scientific men of Washington, and especially 

 those of the National Museum and the Cos- 

 mos Club. 



In person he is tall (about 5 feet 10 inches), 

 neatly and cleanly dressed, smoothly shaven 



and weighs about 170 pounds. He can in- 

 stantly be recognized by his broad, flat face, 

 small shifty eyes set widely apart, wide 

 mouth, flabby lips and a long conspicuous row 

 of upper teeth, all of them very evenly dis- 

 colored by tobacco. When attempting to work 

 his game, he laughs nervously fully half the 

 time that he is talking. 



If any intended victim of this man will 

 hand him over to a policeman, I will very 

 willingly arrange for witnesses to appear 

 against him, for the purpose of landing him 

 where he belongs. W. T. Hornaday 



New York Zoological Park, 

 July 8, 1909 



We have also received the following state- 

 ment from the secretary of the Smithsonian 

 Institution: A man familiar with scientific 

 men of Washington and New York, claiming 

 to be a nephew of the secretary of the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, has recently been securing 

 money as a personal loan from friends of the 

 secretary upon false pretenses. The secretary 

 has no such nephew; the man is a swindler. 

 He may be described as follows : Tall and 

 large, weight about 165 pounds; Eskimo-like 

 face, smoothly shaven; mouth, wide; lips, 

 flabby; long conspicuous row of upper teeth 

 evenly discolored by tobacco ; age about 35 ; 

 carries head inclined to the right; laughs al- 

 most constantly while talking. 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 

 Ethics. By John Dewey and James H. 



Tufts. New York, Henry Holt and Co. 



Pp. xiii + 618. 



Characteristic phases of ethical study dur- 

 ing the last twenty-five years are the interest 

 shown in the history of morality and the at- 

 tention given to social, economic and political 

 questions. The works of Letourneau, Suth- 

 erland, Westemiarck and Hobhouse are able 

 examples of the fruitfulness of the genetic 

 method in ethical science, while the books of 

 Wundt, Paulsen and Bergemann combine 

 with the historical and theoretical treatment a 

 discussion of the larger social problems that 

 are agitating the civilized peoples of to-day. 



