Apeh 8, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



499 



rapliy ' and relates the ceremonials by whicli 

 the males and females are admitted to the 

 rights of puberty and social rank. They are 

 severe in the extreme, but are carried out in- 

 flexibly. No explanation of their rites is satis- 

 factory, and that of the author, that it is merely 

 for convenience, is no better than the others. 



In the midst of the debasement reflected in 

 the general condition of these tribes, it is inter- 

 esting to learn that law and order, as they 

 understand the terms, are maintained, and that 

 a culprit is well aware of the punishment 

 following his misdeeds and submits to it. When 

 that punishment is death he quietly digs his 

 own grave and awaits the spear thrusts which 

 consign him to it. 



The volume contains nothing on the physical 

 anthropology of the natives and is very meager 

 on their religious views. 



D. G. Brinton. 



Iowa Geological Survey, Artesian Wells of Iowa. 



Vol. VI., pp. 115-428. By W. H. Norton. 



Des Moines, State Print. 1897. 



Although the subject of artesian wells and 

 their utilization in the redeeming of the arid 

 regions of the world commands general interest, 

 still one would scarcely expect to find so much 

 of interest to the unprofessional reader in the 

 official report of a State Geological Survey. 



The first section of Mr. Norton's report gives 

 one an excellent idea of the artesian well in its 

 historical development as well as in its present 

 distribution, nomenclature and classification. 

 These chapters will amply repay the untechni- 

 cal reader and will also give the specialist a 

 point of view which he is too apt to overlook in 

 his application to details. 



The remaining chapters are devoted to a very 

 satisfactory and exhaustive setting forth of the 

 records of the artesian wells of Iowa. Very 

 many geological sections of individual wells and 

 also of extended regions, together with full and 

 conservative discussion, help to give one a very 

 clear idea of the stratigraphic, hydrographic and 

 hydrostatic conditions which exist in that State. 

 In view of the interest attaching to the question 

 of subterranean temperatures and the valuable 

 information obtained from wells in the Dakotas 

 northwest of Iowa by Mr. N. H. Darton, it is 



perhaps to be regretted that the report did not 

 Include the temperature of -the flowing water, 

 at least where the volume is considerable. From 

 the popular explanation as to why these wells 

 are called artesian, from Artois, instead of 

 Mutinian, from Mutina, to the technical dis- 

 cussion of the stratigraphic conditions in their 

 relation to sea-level, the volume is interesting 

 and instructive ; and although it is to be re- 

 ceived chiefly as a contribution to our knowledge 

 of the subterranean waters of Iowa, nevertheless 

 it will serve as a valuable key to similar con- 

 ditions in other localities. 



"W. Hallock. 



The Mystery and Romance of Alchemy and 

 Pharmacy. By C. J. S. Thompson. London, 

 The Scientific Press (Limited). Pp. xv + 335. 

 12mo. 111. 



As foreshadowed in the title, the author of 

 this work has not attempted a systematic history 

 of alchemy and of pharmacy, but has gathered 

 much curious information as to the mystery 

 surrounding them in bygone ages and the 

 romance associated with them. The first five 

 chapters deal with the art of healing, the earliest 

 fathers of medicine and the necromantic prac- 

 tices of the Greeks and Romans. In the sixth 

 chapter we are introduced to the alchemists, 

 and here the author shows his unfamiliarity 

 with the results of modern historical researches; 

 he states, for example, that the word chemistry 

 first occurs in the writings of Suidas, whereas 

 everyone knows that it is found six centuries 

 earlier in the astrological treatise of Julius 

 Maternus Firmicus, entitled Mathesis. Mr. 

 Thompson also credits the Arabian Geber with 

 knowledge of nitric acid, nitrate of silver and 

 hydrochloric acid, as described in the Summa 

 Perfectionis and Liber Philisophorum [sic], 

 whereas Berthelot showed in 1893 that these 

 Latin treatises are fraudulently ascribed to 

 Geber, who had no knowledge of the mineral 

 acids. To enhance the romantic and mysterious 

 phase of his subject, Mr. Thompson has intro- 

 duced several chapters on 'The Black Art,' 

 ' Black Magic ' and the occult sciences. The 

 work is stronger on the medical side than on the 

 chemical, the chapters on ' Curious Remedies,' 

 'Surgery in the Middle Ages,' 'Amulets, 



