56 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVIII. No. 706 



■with mediocrity. A schooling devised primarily 

 to produce good character, or patriotism, or 

 dynastic loyalty, or class sentiment, or religious 

 orthodoxy may lessen friction in society, but it 

 can not bring genius to bloom. For this the 

 prime essentials are the communicating of known 

 truths and the impacting of method. 



On the whole we have in this work an able 

 marshaling of the knowledge thus far brought 

 to light on the subject of social psychology, 

 and a clear, untechnical, while at the same 

 time often eloquent, discussion of the laws, 

 principles and leading truths of that rather 

 subtle and recondite branch of sociology. 



Lester F. Ward 



The Solar System,; A Study of Recent Ohser- 

 vations. By Charles Lane Poor, Professor 

 of Astronomy in Columbia University. 

 New York, G. P. Putnam's Sons. 

 From the above sub-title we naturally look 

 for something different from the ordinary 

 text-book on astronomy. Nor shall we be dis- 

 appointed in this respect. The author informs 

 us that the work grew out of a series of lec- 

 tures, that these were mainly historical and 

 were used to supplement standard text-books 

 and to guide the students in their reading. 

 Though the work includes much which may 

 be found in the ordinary text-book, there is 

 also much not usually to be obtained from 

 such sources. On the other hand, some mat- 

 ters of great interest are hardly touched on 

 in the present work. We mention by way of 

 illustration the minor planets and the sub- 

 ject of eclipses. 



The lecture notes seemed to have been fol- 

 lowed quite closely. We are informed, for 

 instance, page 235, that the last opposition 

 of Jupiter took place in the latter part of De- 

 cember, 1906, and that the next will fall on 

 the last of January and the first of February, 

 1908. We also learn that the last favorable 

 eclipse of the sun occurred August 30, 1905, 

 and the next eclipse which can be utilized, 

 will take place October 10, 1912, and will be 

 observable in South America. Precisely 

 what disposition has been made of the eclipse 

 of January 3, 1908, does not appear. 



The subject of the solar energy is treated 



quite fully, with the different theories as to 

 its maintenance, its constancy and results of 

 measurement of the same. We confess, how- 

 ever, to finding ourselves a little disconcerted 

 on learning, page 126, that such measure- 

 ments are of no vital importance. 



Naturally the reader in search of the latest 

 and most interesting information relating to 

 the solar system will turn to the planet Mars. 

 The author acknowledges to having given to 

 this planet more space than the subject really 

 warrants. We find an entire chapter of 

 twenty-four pages entitled " Has Mars 

 Canals ? " The leading authorities — Schia- 

 parelli, Lowell, Newcomb, Barnard and many 

 more are quoted at considerable length, with 

 the result that we are finally told that "very 

 little is actually known in regard to the condi- 

 tions existing on Mars," that many of the 

 problems are psychological and not physical. 

 The seeker after truth, therefore, finds him- 

 self at the end of the chapter precisely where 

 he stood at the beginning. 



The author gives us an account of the dis- 

 covery of the seven satellites of Jupiter, be- 

 ginning with Galileo and ending with Per- 

 rine, but the ink is hardly dry on the page 

 before the discovery of an eighth at Green- 

 wich calls for a revision of the chapter, thus 

 illustrating the impossibility of keeping such 

 a work strictly up to date. In this connec- 

 tion let it be noted that the name of satellite 

 IV. is Callisto, not Calypso. 



Each planet from Mercury to Neptune is 

 taken up in turn. Many facts of historical 

 interest are given, among which are some old 

 friends not usually found in the text-books, 

 such as the famous Moon Hoax of 1835. 



Chapters on comets, on meteors and on the 

 evolution of the system close a very interest- 

 ing and suggestive volume. 



C. L. DOOLITTLE 

 Flower Observatobt 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES 

 The Journal of Experimental Zoology, Vol. 

 v.. No. 3 (March, 1908), contains the fol- 

 lowing papers : " The Physiology of the Nerv- 

 ous System of the Razor-shell Clam {Ensis 

 directus Con.)," by Gihnan A. Drew. The 



