908 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. IX. No. 235. 



large for convenience. In time a great lit- 

 erature will, doubtless, have to be referred 

 to this division. The realm could be sub- 

 divided, perhaps, on the base of its drain- 

 age. 



Under gh., gd., gd. and ge. the division is 

 troublesome. First, we have Canada as a 

 whole, then the Canadian Dominion west, 

 including Yukon and British Columbia, 

 Mackenzie, Athabaska, Alberta, Saskatche- 

 wan and Assiniboia ; but gd., the Canadian 

 Dominion east, includes only ISTewfouud- 

 land. In this specification Labrador and 

 the neighboring districts seem to be left out. 

 To add to the confusion comes ge. , which 

 takes in the Laurentian Lakes, with no 

 statement as to the limits of the territory 

 included in the category. Following down, 

 we find, after the United States as a whole, 

 a division which includes the northeastern 

 field, i. e. , all the States east of the Missis- 

 sippi down in genei'al to the Ohio and the 

 Potomac, but omitting in the list Maryland 

 and Delaware. The southeastern United 

 States east of the Mississippi does not in- 

 clude a list of States. It may be intended 

 to contain those last mentioned, but under 

 the circumstances the names should be 

 specified. 



The subject classification under Geog- 

 raphy is, as will be observed, much more 

 detailed than the like grouping under Geol- 

 ogy. It appears tolerably complete, but 

 there again the matter of soils and of shores 

 is omitted, though such matters as rocks, 

 minerals and mines, which are less fitly to 

 be regarded as geographic, find a place. It 

 may also be noted that, while under Geology 

 there is a ' seismic ' division (including 

 elevation and depression and mountain 

 building), the matter of earthquakes is only 

 mentioned in the geographic classification. 

 We may fairly wonder whether this sug- 

 gested difference in treatment was actually 

 designed. In the geologic scheme volcanoes 

 are included. They can come in again under 



the head of volcanic phenomena under 

 Geography. Again we wonder whether this 

 arrangement is by chance or design. 



If it is intended by this classification to 

 demark the fields of geologj' and geography 

 it is clearly open to objection from many 

 points of view. Thus such matters as dunes, 

 coral reefs, minerals, mines, etc., which find 

 mention only under Geography, are, by com- 

 mon understanding, regarded as subjects for 

 treatment under the head of Geology. 



jST. S. Shaler. 



Harvard University. 



physiology. 

 The Editor of Science has kindly asked 

 me to comment on the physiological part of 

 the Catalogue of Scientific Literature, pre- 

 pared by the Royal Societj'. I should like 

 to call attention to a few points. 



1. It seems to me that the space given 

 to comparative "physiology is not sufficient. 

 Physiology is undergoing the same change 

 that has taken place in morphology. The 

 latter science was originally confined to 

 man and a few of the higher vertebrates, 

 but at present scientific morphology is 

 identical with comparative morphology. 

 The same change is taking place in physi- 

 olog}'. It is true that the text- books of 

 physiology have as yet taken no notice 

 of this change, but a catalogue of ' scientific 

 literature ' cannot afford to ignore the de- 

 velopment of physiology. The catalogue 

 must take into consideration the fact that 

 the field of comparative physiology is much 

 luider than that of human physiology, and that, 

 therefore, more space and a more prominent 

 position is necessary for comparative physi- 

 ology than is allotted to it in the provi- 

 sional schedule. 



2. It seems to me that physical chemistry 

 has not received the consideration it de- 

 serves. It is hard to tell, for instance, in 

 which part of the catalogue the efi'ects of 

 ions should be mentioned. There is a sub- 



