78 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXIX. No. 732 



tenance of roads, bituminous macadam, etc. 

 The theory and practise of foundations for 

 pavements are presented in chapter six. 

 Chapter seven relates to brick pavements, and 

 contains complete information as to the most 

 approved method of testing paving brick, and 

 the construction and maintenance of brick 

 pavements. The use of asphalts and bitumen 

 in paving is discussed fully in chapter eight. 

 The treatment and testing of wood blocks and 

 the construction of streets of this material are 

 treated in chapter nine. Chapter ten presents 

 the most approved method of building pave- 

 ments of granite and sand-stone blocks. The 

 eleventh and last chapter presents various 

 methods of arranging city streets so as to best 

 accommodate the traffic. This is a practical 

 book, and is advanced in character. On the 

 vrhole the author covers his subject vcell. 

 Hov^ever, the first chapter could have been 

 more complete, especially the portions relating 

 to the economic value of good roads, cost of 

 wagon transportation, and the benefits derived 

 from road improvement. In the paragraphs 

 relating to the testing of road materials, Mr. 

 Spalding draws from what appears to be the 

 latest published information on the subject, 

 and fails to include a number of important 

 improvements which have been made recently 

 by road-material laboratories, notably the 

 Office of Public Eoads in "Washington, both 

 in testing machines and in the methods of 

 testing road materials. The chapters on brick 

 and bituminous pavements are probably the 

 strongest features of the book. 



AlLERTON S. CtfSHMAN 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES 

 The American Naturalist for December has 

 as its first article a paper on " Some Physi- 

 ological Effects of Eadium Rays " by Charles 

 S. Gager, the author concluding that, up to a 

 certain point the effect of radium is to stimu- 

 late growth, while beyond that it causes re- 

 tardation or death. W. A. Cannon discusses 

 " The Origin of Structures in Plants " and 

 Braxton H. Guilbeau the " Origin and Forma- 

 tion of the Froth in Spittle Insects." His 

 conclusion is that this is made up from two 



sources ; the fluid portion being the anal secre- 

 tion into which air is introduced by the 

 caudal appendages, while the mucilaginous 

 part is secreted by the glands of Batelli. 

 William A. Hilton has a note, with an illustra- 

 tion, of " Peculiar Abnormal Teeth in a Jack 

 Rabbit " ; David Starr Jordan furnishes an 

 unusually large number of " Ichthyological 

 Notes," relating to many papers, and H. E. 

 Jordan gives a "Digest of C. Correns's 

 Memoir on the Inheritance of Sex in Higher 

 Plants." The number is accompanied by the 

 index to Vol. XLII. 



Bird-Lore for November-December has 

 articles on " The Sea Birds' Fortress (Bird 

 Rocks)," by A. C. Bent; "The Drumming of 

 the Ruffed Grouse," by E. J. Sawyer, with a 

 picture from life ; " The Use of a Blind in the 

 Study of Bird Life," by Frank M. Chapman; 

 "A Thrasher Friend," by Emeline Maddock 

 and the seventh paper on " The Migration of 

 Fly-catchers," by W. W. Cooke. The number 

 contains the Report of the Annual Meeting 

 of the National Association (of Audubon 

 Societies) and the Reports of State Societies. 

 This portion of Bird-Lore has grown in size 

 and importance and now constitutes one half 

 the number. 



BOTANICAL NOTES 



NOTES ON RECENT GENERAL PAPERS 



Professor H. M. Richard's admirable lec- 

 ture on " Botany " delivered in the Science, 

 Philosophy and Art course at Columbia Uni- 

 versity is a concise answer to the questions as 

 to the content and scope of the science of 

 botany. Answering the question that it con- 

 siders " all the questions as to the form, the 

 functions, the classification and distribu- 

 tion " of plants, the author rapidly sketches 

 the history of the science from Aristotle to 

 Darwin in a few pages, and then discusses 

 the present aspects of the different depart- 

 ments of the subject. Its reading will well 

 repay any botanical student who wishes to be 

 better informed as to the place that botany 

 fills to-day in the world of science. 



Here may be noted Mr. B. C. Gruenberg's 

 thoughtful paper on " Some By-products of 



