January 13, 1899.] 



SCIENCE. 



67 



ordinarily be noticed only by an expert, so that 

 we must welcome this new process as a great 

 boon. How diflferent copies agree we have not 

 tested. 



We have spoken thus in detail regarding the 

 plates, not only from our hope regarding this 

 new process, but because of their special value 

 from a scientific point of view; a large number 

 of the figures being. Chancellor Holland states, 

 photographic reproductions from the types of 

 the butterflies described. Strange to say, it is 

 only in a very few instances that the author 

 has specified which these are, and so he has lost 

 an easy opportunity of adding greatly to their 

 value. 



Not all the North American species are de- 

 scribed or figured in the work, the author quail- 

 ing before the numerous and rather insignificant 

 Hesperidae, of which but little more than one- 

 half are treated, and omitting many others 

 found in our lists, but either of doubtful specific 

 validity or differing from their allies by distinc- 

 tions too fine for any but the expert. This is 

 in the interest of the popular audience to which 

 the work appeals. It is, in fact, an iconography 

 of all the forms interesting an amateur, and 

 more. The only really desirable addition would 

 have been to give more figures of the under- 

 surface where this is characteristic, but one 

 should not quarrel with the generosity here 

 displayed; none can possibly complain that he 

 does not get his money's worth, at least. 



As to the text of the work, the first fifth of 

 the book is given up to introductory matter on 

 structure, collecting, etc., and the remainder 

 (except a few interspersed essays) to a systematic 

 but very general account of the insects figured, 

 with very many text illustrations, principally 

 of neuration. The different groups are de- 

 scribed as well as the species — a desirable fea- 

 ture, but one not altogether common in popular 

 works; and the classification used is more 

 modern than in most of such books. The au- 

 thor's use of genera is not equal, and is 'con- 

 servative' — that is, there are many magazine 

 genera here and there, but with a tendency to 

 the discrimination of later times. The descrip- 

 tions of the species are short — often very short; 

 and attention is paid to the early stages, but 

 almost absolutely none at all to life- histories, 



which should be one of the principal aims in a 

 popular treatise. 



The work will surely command a large sale 

 and prove a great stimulus to the study of but- 

 terflies. Certainly we have never before had 

 such a generous aid to those wishing to cover 

 the whole field. Why should the publishers 

 stamp the cover 'The Butter-Fly Book?' The 

 author surely is not responsible for this, for the 

 proofs have been well read. The publishers have, 

 otherwise, done their part well; the topography 

 is clear and careful, and there is a good index. 

 Samuel H. Scuddee. 



books received. 

 3Iichael Faraday, his Life and Works. Sylvanus P. 



TH03IPS0N. New York, The Macmillan Co. 1898. 



Pp. X + 308. 

 The Elements of Physics. Edward L. Nichols and 



William S Franklin. Vol. I., Mechanics 



and Heat. Kew edition, revised with additions. 



New York, The Macmillan Co. 18S>8. Pp. xiii -|- 



219. $1.50. 

 Principles of Plant Culture. E. S. GoFF. Madison, 



The Author. 1899. Pp. 287. 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 

 The Psychological Review for January opens 

 with Professor Miinsterberg's presidential ad- 

 dress before the American Psychological Asso- 

 ciation, the subject being ' Psychology and 

 History.' This address, together with other 

 articles that Professor Miinsterberg has recently 

 published in the Atlantic Monthly and elsewhere 

 on the subject-matter of psychology and its re- 

 lations to other sciences and to philosophj', will 

 shortly be issued in book form by Messrs. Hough- 

 ton, Mifflin & Co. Professor J. E. Angell and 

 MissH. B. Thompson contribute from the labora- 

 tory of the University of Chicago a study of the 

 relations between certain organic processes and 

 consciousness, elaborately illustrated with trac- 

 ings of pulse and breathing. Mrs. C. Ladd 

 Franklin publishes her paper on Professor Miil- 

 ler's 'Theory of the Light-sense,' read before 

 the recent meeting of the American Associa- 

 tion. There are other articles on 'Theories of 

 Play,' by Mr. H. M. Stanley; on ' Eucken's 

 Struggle for a Spiritual Content of Life,' by 

 Professor Francis Kennedy, and on ' The Effects 

 of Ether.' 



