226 



SCIENCE. 



LVoi,. II., No. 20. 



best j-et proposed, though he failed as au eth- 

 nologist in the attempt to classify races. 



In the same manner, but to a less degree, 

 scholars have failed to classify peoples bj- 

 languages ; for languages onlj- to a limited 

 extent represent genetic connections of peo- 

 ples. Tribes speaking diverse languages have 

 coalesced ; and languages have thus been com- 

 pounded, and language has supplanted lan- 

 guage. A linguistic classification, therefore, 

 is not completely ethnic, but it comes nearer 

 to the truth than the technologic classification. 

 If a classification bj- philosophies were at- 

 tempted, it also -would fail, though it would be 

 superior to the philologic ; for opinions last 

 longer than words. A sociologic classification 

 of peoples also fails to exhibit genetic relation- 

 ships. Arts, languages, states, philosophies, 

 may be classified, each to show genetic relation- 

 ships ; but they each and all together fail to 

 classifj- mankind in a fundamental and philo- 

 sophic manner. 



Scholars have devoted much time and inge- 

 nuit}' to classify- mankind by biologic charac- 

 teristics, sought for in the color of the skin, 

 the texture of the hair, the form of the skull, 

 the relative proportion of parts, etc. These 

 attempts have all failed. It is probable that 

 in the early historj^ of mankind biologic diflfer- 

 entiation progressed so far as to produce some 

 well-marked varieties ; but the biologic method 

 of evolution by the survival of the fittest was 

 more and more repealed as the anthropologic 

 methods of evolution gained ground, and the 

 scattered and discrete tribes were more and 

 more commingled by the union here and there 

 of distinct streams of blood, bj- the spread of 

 arts, that placed all peoples under conditions 

 of artificial environment, and made them more 

 and more independent of natural environment, 

 and bj' various other anthropologic conditions 

 too numerous and complex to be here set forth. 

 But, altogether, the tendency' to diflferentiate 

 into distinct biologic peoples has been over- 

 come, and the tendency to unification has been 

 steadily increasing : so that the distinctions of 

 biologic varieties of mankind, of which we now 

 have but hints in the biologic characteristics 

 remaining, are gradually being obliterated ; 

 and we ma^' confidentlj' predict that in the 

 fourth stage, yet to be reached, race distinc- 

 tions will be utterly lost. 



In the short articles of this review an at- 

 tempt has been made to give a sj'uopsis of the 

 work in question, to show the relation of ' Dj'- 

 namic sociology ' to current philosophj-, and 

 to point out its more important defects. Little 

 space is left for that commendation which its 



intrinsic merits deserve. Mr. Ward's presen- 

 tation of the subject is simple, clear, syste- 

 matic, and courageous. For its preparation he 

 has explored vast fields of thought ; and his 

 conclusions, however they may be questioned, 

 cannot be ignored by those who are interested 

 in modern philosophy. Ward's Dynamic so- 

 ciology is America's greatest contribution to 

 scientific philosophy. 



ELEMENTARY METEOROLOGY. 



Elementary mele'trology , ivitli met enrol ogical charts 

 and iUustraliims. By 11 H. Scott. London, 

 Kegan Paul, Trench, §• Co., 1883. 408 p. 8°. 



This volume, the latest English contribution 

 to the science of meteorology, is not a treatise, 

 as the title indicates. It is, however, an ex- 

 cellent work, treating the subject from a mod- 

 ern stand-point, and sweeping away manj* 

 untenable theories. We especiall}' note the 

 chapters on the barometer and on the forma- 

 tion of rain and hail. The descriptive chap- 

 ters collecting all known facts relating to wind 

 and ocean currents are ver\- valuable and well 

 presented. 



Our author rejects the once seemingh' satis- 

 factory' theory, attributing the south-west mon- 

 soon winds of India to the rising of heated air 

 above the plains to the north-east of the Him- 

 alaya range, and also the theory that the ex- 

 istence of sea-breezes is due to the rising of 

 heated air upon the land near oceans. He, 

 however, adopts this theory of ascending cur- 

 rents of heated air in explaining the formation 

 of cumulus-clouds. It is difficult to see how 

 the atmosphere can be heated, save graduall}', 

 in strata parallel to the earth's surface, except 

 on mountain sides. This is the theor3- adopted 

 b}- Hann, who regards the cumulus-cloud as 

 simply indicating the layer at which the air has 

 the temperature of the dew-point. 



Mr. Scott seems to indorse the theory that 

 there is an ascending current in the centre of 

 a barometric depression, though his storm- 

 chart on p. 355 shows all the wind-directions 

 near the low centre tangent to the isobars. 

 This shows that the air-motion, which at the 

 outside of the storm is directed more or less 

 toward the centre, gradually becomes circular 

 as it approaches the centre. Such a whirl 

 moving over the earth's surface, losing a part 

 of the air in its path, does not require anj- 

 ascending current at its centre. The same 

 maj' be said of our author's theory that rain 

 can be formed bj' rising currents of heated 

 air. In this case, not onlj^ is there the doubt- 

 ful assumption of an ascending current, but 



