270 



SCIENCE. 



rvoL. II., No. ao. 



geologists, that the section of gneiss along the 

 left bank of the Schuylkill in the Park ts not 

 a fair representation of tlie stratigraphy- of the 

 measures. The structure here does not agree 

 with that on the other side of the river for long- 

 distances within the limits of the Park, nor 

 with that exposed by the cuts made for streets, 

 etc., at short distances back from the river on 

 this bank. Nor is it exact to sa}' that the 

 measures here dip ' at high angles ; ' since with 

 the exception of a few hundred feet north of 

 Lemon Hill, where one dip of 60° occurs, the 

 dips for three miles are usually 30°, and never 

 over 40°. 



Under the caption of 'Primal sandstone,' 

 it is the perpetuation of an error to call the 

 ' sagging ' of rocks standing at high angles 

 '■creep.' This term is emploj-ed by glacialists 

 and mining engineers in two senses quite dif- 

 ferent from that which Professor Lewis intends 

 to convey, and different from each other. 

 Again : ' hydro-mica slates ' is a contradiction 

 in tei-ms, though not infrequently used. If the 

 rocks are slates, tiiej- cannot contain hydro- 

 micas, except as adventitious components. The 

 last paragraph of this little pamphlet is very 

 neat and well put ; but we maj' be allowed to 

 dissent from Professor Lewis in the statement 

 that the marble of our doorsteps ' tells of an 

 ocean inhabited by no fishes : ' at least, mine 

 does not tell me what were not in the ocean 

 in which it was formed. 



The blemishes in the main work are both few 

 and superficial. Thus (p. 9), it is a little too 

 hast}- to infer, merel_y from the absence of shells 

 or organic remains in a brick clay deposited 

 on a gravel, that the water ' had a temperature 

 too low to support Hfe ; ' p. 11, the colors of 

 the red and yellow gravels are not satisfacto- 

 rily accounted for by the ' presence of a large 

 body of water ; ' there is a slightly subjective 

 trace in the assertion on the same page, that 

 "there is no trace of glacial action in Penn- 

 sylvania south of the terminal moraine, not- 

 withstanding all statements to the contrary 

 hitherto made by other geologists," — which 

 is in contrast with the modest style of other 

 parts of the work; p. 14, ' Bryn Mawr age' 

 is not a perfecllj' clear designation for the 

 time or times when the gravels called by this 

 name were being deposited, especially as there 

 are crystalline rocks exposed at Bryn Mawr. 



Notwithstanding these trivial faults (as the 

 writer conceives them to be) , the memoir will 

 serve not only to teach our young students of 

 geology to reason from these facts, but wiLl 

 live long, if not permanently, in our literature. 



June 25, 18S3. PeeSIFOE FeAZEE. 



THE IROQUOIS BOOK OF RITES. 



Tlie Troquois bnok of rilen. Edited by Horatio 

 Hale. Philadelphia, Brlnlan, 1883. (Brinton's 

 Libr. Amer. lit., no ii.) 222 p. 8=. 



Those who still hold in remembrance the 

 valuable contributions to linguistics made by 

 Mr. Horatio Hale while connected with the 

 ' Wilkes exploring expedition ' will be pleased 

 to know that from his retirement in Canada he 

 now sends forth this most interesting work. 

 The reputation of the author, added to this fas- 

 cinating title, will insure its favorable reception 

 not only by ethnologists, but also the i-eading 

 public. This aboriginal ' Iroquois Veda,' which 

 furnishes the title, and which may be consid- 

 ered a remarkable discovery and indisputablj* 

 of great ethnological value, is presented in its 

 original Mohawk, with the English translation. 

 An introduction of ten chapters precedes the 

 Book of rites. These are devoted to the gen- 

 eral history of the Iroquois, their league and 

 its founders, condolence council, clans and 

 classes, laws of the league, historical tradi- 

 tions, and their character, policy, and language. 

 Portions of these chapters are deductions from 

 the book which follows them. 



The boundary-line between either folk-lore 

 or myths, and actual history, is always so 

 vague, that, even in the relation of facts, it is 

 no easy task in their details to so discriminate 

 as to keep truth clear from the brilliant color- 

 ing of tradition and conjecture. Especially is 

 this the case vi'hen an author with inherited 

 literary taste and vivid imagination enters a 

 realm where the temptation to allow them full 

 scope is as great as in the early history of the 

 Iroquois. Accordingl}-, we find among these 

 chapters, manj' of which iudicate immense 

 research and are of great value both ethno- 

 logicall}- and philologically, those (such as the 

 ' league and its founders ') wherein the charac- 

 ters are portrayed in so exalted a manner that 

 the sceptical reader will be disposed to assign 

 the story of Hiawatha, as given in all its mi- 

 nute details, not to the realm of mythology 

 even, but to that of classic historical romance. 

 Much less will thej- be willing to accept it as 

 sober Indian history five hundred 3-ears behind 

 its present semi-civilized coudilion. The chap- 

 ter on the ' Iroquois language ' may be consid- 

 ered one of the most important, scientifically, 

 of those in the introduction ; and it is probably 

 one of the best outlines of their formation and 

 structure ever published in English, concern- 

 ing any one of the Iroquois dialects. This fact 

 quite throws the doubt on Mr. Hale's state- 

 ment that no one except Father Cuoq would 



