302 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXIX. No. 738 



since tie can not refuse and yet affirm his 

 innocence. This ignores the settled construc- 

 tion of the provision in all our constitutions 

 that the accused can never be compelled to 

 give evidence against himself. 



The effect of suggestion on a witness is 

 spoken of as something to be understood and 

 explained only by a professed psychologist 

 (p. 158). The rule of all Anglo-American 

 courts vphich excludes questions naturally lead- 

 ing to a desired answer as to a material fact, 

 shows how well jurists have appreciated this 

 particular tendency of the human mind. 



The position of the Lombroso school that a 

 criminal, like a poet, nascitur, non fit, is pro- 

 nounced untenable (p. 234). We are all po- 

 tential criminals; not actually such, largely, 

 because we are afraid of unpleasant conse- 

 quences, and society has been so kind as to 

 environ us with circumstances favorable to the 

 development of this fear (pp. 238, 250, 266). 

 The clearest sources of pure life are (p. 262) 

 "the motives of private, personal interest be- 

 tween human being and human being." 



Disrespect for law the author counts as an 

 important cause of crime. In that view, it is 

 questionable whether he was wise in giving so 

 much space to the psychological aspects of two 

 recent murder trials; that of Moyer (p. 92), 

 in which he made a scientific examination of 

 the main witness for the state and concluded 

 that he was an honest one, though the jury 

 did not believe him, and another in Chicago 

 (p. 163), where a man was hanged upon his 

 own confession, whom Professor Miinsterberg, 

 without having examined him, pronounced 

 innocent. 



Like all that comes from the author's pro- 

 lific pen, this book is thoughtful and sugges- 

 tive. It would be more valuable if, instead of 

 dwelling solely on the aid which psychological 

 experts could render to courts, he had also 

 discussed the practical difficulties which lie in 

 the way. Simeon E. Baldwin 



8GIENTIFIG JOURNALS AND ARTICLES 

 The American Naturalist for February 

 contains the address of Charles F. Cox, presi- 

 dent of the New York Academy of Sciences, 



on " Charles Darwin and the Mutation 

 Theory." The author presents many facts to 

 show that Darwin was well aware of the tend- 

 ency of many species to sudden and marked 

 variations, these variations being perpetuated, 

 but that, nevertheless, he was convinced 

 that this was exceptional and extraordinary. 

 Such being the case, he would scarcely have 

 subscribed to De Vries's dictum that species 

 and varieties have originated by mutation and 

 at present are not known to have originated 

 in any other way. Robert F. Griggs presents 

 the second, and concluding, part of his article 

 on " Juvenile Kelps and the Eecapitulation 

 Theory," the decision being that except as 

 some tendency has operated to change the 

 heritage the history of the individual does 

 recapitulate the history of the race. 



The Zoological Society Bulletin for Jan- 

 uary opens with part two of a paper on the 

 " New World Vultures," by 0. WiUiam Beebe. 

 This is largely devoted to the California 

 condor, but also contains an account of an in- 

 teresting experiment to test the sense of 

 smell in the vultures; it seems to be almost 

 lacking, and is best developed in the turkey 

 buzzard. There is an account of how the 

 hippopotamus was moved to the new elephant 

 house and a note giving the weights of the 

 elephants and rhinoceroses. Hunting song 

 birds has not ceased entirely in the vicinity 

 of the park and they are occasionally sought 

 with shot-gun and traps. 



The Museums Journal of Great Britain 

 contains, besides its many interesting notes 

 and reviews, " The History of the Ipswich 

 Museum," by Frank Woolnough, and an 

 article by L. Wray, on " The Preservation of 

 Mammal Skins." This is of importance from 

 the fact that the writer gained his experience 

 in the Perak Museum, where he had to con- 

 tend with the hot, moist climate of the 

 tropics. 



The Bulletin of the Charleston Museum for 

 January contains the report of the director 

 for 1908, which notes the good' progress made 

 during the year, especially in the development 

 of the library, which is the only free public 

 library in the city. 



