768 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. a., No. 45. 



maimer not unlike that usnallj- followed, and 

 the belief is expressed that tlie moon has an 

 effect upon the atmosphere which would appear 

 by a proper tabulation of barometric observa- 

 tions. 



The above summaiy is sufficient to give an 

 idea of the scope of the work. It is intro- 

 duced to the public bj' Dr. Julius Hann, who 

 remarks, with regard to deductive investiga- 

 tions, "Even where results derived dcduc- 

 tivel}' find no immediate application in nature, 

 since the actual conditions are never so simple 

 as those which must furnish the basis of the 

 conclusions reached, 3"et the}' are of great in- 

 terest and value in advancing knowledge, since 

 they increase our insight into the nature of 

 phenomena, and open the path upon which, in 

 the course of time, we shall attain to their com- 

 plete understanding." 



Tlie execution of the author's design, how- 

 ever, is not wholly satisfactory'. On account 

 of the fragmentarv nature of the work, it is 

 often difficult to understand the bearing of the 

 subjects discussed, or to see what use can be 

 made of the formulae derived. It is also not 

 alwaj's easy to follow the author in his argu- 

 ment, and eonseqneutly the general eft'ect upon 

 the reader is one of disappointment. The 

 treatise does not merit the title which is given 

 it, though it ma}' furnish useful suggestions to 

 those who are investigating the subjects which 

 it discusses. 



HISTORY OF LAND-HOLDING. 



The earlij history of land-holding among the Germans. 

 By Denman- W. Ross. Boston, Soule §• Bugbee, 

 1883. 8 -I- 274 p. 8°. 



This work of Mr. Ross starts from the prin- 

 ciple of individual ownership and isolated 

 farmsteads, as the primitive usage of the Ger- 

 manic nations. The evidence for this the au- 

 thor finds in the sixteenth chapter of the 

 Germania of Tacitus, in which he explains 

 the vici to be villages, not of free tribesmen, as 

 is generally assumed, but of serfs. Of commu- 

 nity of ownership he finds no evidence, either 

 in Caesar or Tacitus. In the period of the bar- 

 barian laws, too, the facts which have usu- 

 ally been understood to point to common or 

 collective ownership he explains as meaning 

 undivided property. He has no difficulty in 

 proving the general prevalence of the principle 

 of individual ownership at this latter period, so 

 far as the laws and other documents of the 

 period afford any evidence. That ownership is 

 common wherever it appe.ars in these docu- 



ments, is as a rule temporary, and subject to 

 individual claims, seems also fully established. 

 The gap in the evidence is as to the two or 

 three centuries which intervened between Taci- 

 tus and the barbarian codes, — a gap wliich is of 

 no importance, if his interpretation of Tacitus 

 is correct, but which leaves room, if that inter- 

 pretation be not accepted, for the development 

 of free village-communities in this interval, 

 whicli may then, in some cases, have survived 

 to a later period, by the side of the system of 

 individual ownership which we must accept as 

 the prevalent one for this period. 



After developing these general principles, 

 Mr. Ross proceeds (p. 20) to show how the 

 isolated household may, in the course of a few 

 generations, have developed into a clan-village ; 

 here, again, into a community of ownership 

 which is not really corporate in character, but 

 is on its way to divided and individual owner- 

 ship (p. 38). The rules and usages of the in- 

 heritance and transfer of land are described 

 with great fulness, after which the usages 

 which appear to tell in favor of an original 

 collective ownership — the rights of vicini to 

 exclude strangers, to purchase in preference 

 to strangers, and to inherit in case of lack of 

 heirs — -are discussed. Certainly these usages, 

 which, it must be admitted, may accompany 

 a system of private ownership, are, neverthe- 

 less, most easily explained on the assumption 

 of a previous condition of collective ownership. 

 We cannot think the explanation given on 

 p. 52 to be wholly satisfactory. 



The breaking-up of the clan-system is next 

 considered, this being effected especially by 

 female inheritance, adoptions, and alienations. 

 An important topic is the founding of free col- 

 onies, off-shoots of the clan-communities, but 

 modelled upon the serf-communities ; and their 

 organization and management are described 

 with great fulness and lucidity. The relation 

 between these free villages and the serf-villages 



— clan-villages of proprietors and of tenants 



— is discussed; and there is much here that 

 would apply equally well to the village-com- 

 munity theory. They are indeed essentially 

 the same in character with those assumed by 

 that theor}', only that they are represented by 

 Mr. Ross as a later outgrowth instead of a 

 primitive organization. The essay (which 

 occupies 100 pages) ends with some brief con- 

 siderations upon immunity, primogeniture, etc. 

 The conclusions of the essay are supported by 

 a mass of ' Notes and references,' occupying 

 about 130 pages, and containing copious ex- 

 tracts from documents. There is a full index. 

 This book is every way a thorough piece of 



