January 27, 1899.] 



SCIENCE. 



151 



ernmenti'm under I object to it!" This general 

 dissatisfaction witli the present order of things 

 is evinced even in the title, where we find 

 taxiuomy instead of taxonomy, this latter 

 word being rejected on the ground that its for- 

 mation is vicious, a view that should meet 

 with the approval of sticklers for uomencla- 

 torial purity. 



Nevertheless, four chapters are devoted to as 

 many orders, or categories, of classification, 

 namely, those of resemblance, structure, degree, 

 {hierarchie) and phylogeny (evolution), all of 

 which are treated as if they were new discover- 

 ies. These chapters contain numerous familiar 

 examples of tJlxonomic methods as well as sun- 

 dry ingenious diagrams, all very good in their 

 way, but all more or less familiar to everyone 

 who has hat do explain the principles of zoolog- 

 ical classification. We are, then, given a dis- 

 course on ' the ternary correlation of the four 

 taxonomic orders,' after which M. Durand pro- 

 ceeds to pour the vials of his wrath upon taxon- 

 omists and taxonomic systems in general and 

 Haeckel and his genealogical tree in particular. 

 After this we are told that genealogical classifi- 

 cation is the only natural method, those founded 

 upon remembrances all being artificial, since 

 they are based upon arbitrarily chosen charac- 

 ters. It is hardly worth while to pursue the 

 subject further, but it may safely be predicted 

 that few will share the author's conviction that 

 his statements are definite and firmly-established 

 facts upon which we may confidently build. 



F. A. L. 



BOOKS EECEIVED. 



ilinerva, JaJirbuch der gelehrten Welt. Edited by K. 

 TEtJBNER and F. Mentz. Strassburg, Karl .T. 

 Triibner; New York, Lemcke and Buechner. 1899. 

 Eighth year, 1898-1899. Pp. xxiv+1139. 



Traiisadioiis of the American Climaiological Association 

 for the year 1S98. Philadelphia, Printed for the 

 Association. 1898. Pp. sxxiii-|-243. 



The Second Washington Catalogue of Stars, together with 

 the anmial results upon which it is based. Prepared 

 under the direction of John R. Eastman. Wash- 

 ington, Government Printing Office. 1898. Pp. 

 lxi+287. 



The Last Link, Our Present Knowledge of the Descent of 

 Man. Eenst Haeckel. With notes and bio- 

 graphical sketches by Hans Gadow. London, 



Adam and Charles Black; New York, The Macmil- 

 lan Company. 1898. Pp.158. $1.00. 

 The Principles of Agricnlture. L. H. BAILEY. New 

 York, The Macmillan Company. 1898. Pp. xx-|- 

 300. 



The History of Manldnd . Friedrich Ratzel. Trans- 

 lated from the second German edition by A. J. 

 Butler. With introduction by E. B. Tylor. Lon- 

 don and New York, The Macmillan Company. 

 1898. Vol. III. Pp. xiii+599. 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 



The Journal of Physical Chemistry, November. 

 'Potassium Chlorid in Aqueous Acetone,' by 

 J. F. Snell ; a study of what the author calls, 

 at Professor E. B . Titchener's suggestion, the 

 dineric surface for the system potassium chlorid, 

 acetone, and water. ' On the Heat of Solution 

 of Liquid Hydriodic Acid,' by F. G. Cottrell ; 

 liquid hydi'iodic acid proves to be an eudother- 

 mic compound with reference to gaseous hydro- 

 gen and solid iodine, but its heat of decompo- 

 sition is only a little more than a quarter of 

 that of the acid in the form of gas. ' Note on 

 the Transference Number of Hydrogen,' by 

 Wilder D. Bancroft. 'Alcohol, Water, and 

 Potassium Nitrate,' by Norman Dodge and L. 

 C. Graton ; a study of the concentration-curve. 



December. ' The Conversion of Ammonium 

 Thiocyanate into Thiourea and of Thiourea 

 into Thiocyanate,' by John Waddell ; the con- 

 version of thiocyanate into thiourea takes place 

 very slowly, if atall, below 110°, but above 150° 

 is rapid and equilibrium is reached, whether 

 starting from the thiocyanate or from thiourea, 

 when the product contains a little more than 

 20 per cent, of thiourea. ' Solution Densities,' 

 by H. T. Barnes and A. P. Scott ; a study of 

 the density curves for different concentrations 

 of solutions of zinc, magnesium, cadmium, po- 

 tassium and sodium sulfates, magnesium, zinc, 

 potassium and sodium nitrates, potassium and 

 sodium chlorids, hydrochloric and sulfuric 

 acids. ' Electromotive Force between Amal- 

 gams,' by Hamilton P. Cady. 



American Chemical Journal, January. ' Meta- 

 thetic Relations between certain Salts in Solu- 

 tion in Liquid Ammonia : ' By E. C. Franklin 

 and C. A. Kraus. ' Some Properties of Liquid 

 Ammonia :' By E. C. Fi'anklin and C. A. Kraus. 



