28 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVI. No. 9^i 



that in most universities the " college " would 

 form a separate school. In which case, the 

 collegiate faculty should, of course, divide and 

 meet at times with the members of the various 

 other schools. (4) I believe in the financial 

 and educational autonomy of the schools. 

 But in regard to nominations of professors, I 

 see no advantage in the " board of advisers " ; 

 I think the senate should have the final au- 

 thority. I doubt the need of giving veto 

 power to the board of trustees. Each school 

 should have the duty of initiating plans for 

 new professorships. There may be certain 

 " standard " or minimum salaries ; but I do 

 not believe uniformity is possible or indeed 

 advisable. (5) I would emphasize the duties 

 of the senate, and would, I think, allow the 

 board of trustees to appoint from the faculty 

 a certain number of members. Certainly the 

 membership should be small, less than twenty. 

 The chairman, elected for one year, subject to 

 the approval of the board of trustees, might 

 well perform the so-called duties of the presi- 

 dent. You do not make any definite proposal 

 concerning means of contract with the alumni 

 and the public. There should be, I think, an 

 office charged with this duty. At its head 

 should be a most capable man, not a member 

 of the faculty, who might be also the secretary 

 of the senate. 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 

 In Northern Mists: Arctic Exploration in 



Early Times. By Fridtjof Nansen. 



Translated by Arthur G. Chater. In two 



volumes. Frederick A. Stokes Company. 



$8. 



These beautifully printed and lavishly illus- 

 trated volumes are most interesting, but the 

 reader who turns to them solely for " arctic 

 explorations in early times " will be surprised, 

 for less than one fifth of the matter pertains 

 to polar voyages. Dr. Nansen properly had 

 misgivings when he said, " Many think that 

 too much has been included here." Among 

 such matter falls amber, tin, ship-building 

 from 1,200 years B.C., and other similar and 

 slightly related matter. 



Marred though it is by discursive and het- 

 erogeneous treatment, the work is of historic 

 value and literary interest. Most comprehen- 

 sive in its scope of investigation, and in its 

 wealth of assembled material, it will unques- 

 tionably prove of value to geographical stu- 

 dents as a source whence can be drawn infor- 

 mation of, and textual extracts from many 

 rare and little-known works and manuscripts. 

 Its extent and thoroughness may be surmised 

 from the three hundred consulted volumes, 

 and in a dozen languages, whose citations 

 could not be verified under months of labor, 

 let alone the judicial consideration of their 

 pertinency and value. 



For the general reader the volumes have 

 value and interest along two lines especially, 

 Greenland and cartography. It is gratifying 

 to find brought together such extended details 

 relative to the early exploration of Greenland 

 by Europeans, and to the interrelated history 

 of the Scandinavian colonization. 



In cartography there are more than seventy 

 maps reproduced, in whole or in part, those 

 from the geographical works of the middle 

 ages being the most interesting and valuable. 



It is strange that the attractive and well- 

 known woodcuts of Olaus Magnus were not 

 reproduced from the original edition (Rome, 

 1555). One would have gained a much better 

 idea of the landscapes of Greenland and of 

 Iceland if there had been reproductions of the 

 excellent available photographs made by the 

 Danish officers, instead of the present draw- 

 ings, which — artistic though they may be — 

 utterly fail to convey clear and accurate con- 

 ceptions of the polar world. 



Neither in novel views nor in their relations 

 to arctic explorations do the accounts of the 

 voyages of Cabot and of the Portuguese merit 

 publication herein. The rehabilitation of 

 Pytheas, of 300 B.C., is ingenious, though much 

 over-elaborated' and qualified — necessarily. 



The giving of about one sixth of the work 

 to the much-disputed subject of Wineland the 

 Good appears to little purpose. Dr. Nansen's 

 views will not prove acceptable to all the au- 

 thorities on this mooted subject, which is not 

 finally decided. 



